I Was There….Ten Men Won The League

Date: Monday May 21st 1979
Venue: Celtic Park
Match: Celtic v Rangers (Match Page)
Occasion: It is Celtic's final league match of the season. Facing Rangers the Bhoys know that a win will secure them the title. Anything else and the visitors – with games in hand – will be favourites to take the crown.
Result: Celtic 4 (Aitken (66), McCluskey (74), Jackson o.g. (85), MacLeod (90)) Rangers 2 (Macdonald (9) Russell (76)).

Attendance: 52,000* (*While the offical figure is frequently quoted as 52,000 many perople who were at the game state the ground was sold out).

Celtic Team: Latchford, McGrain, Lynch, Aitken, McAdam, Edvaldsson, Provan, Conroy (Lennox), McCluskey, MacLeod, Doyle

In The Big Wide World: In this month Margaret Thatcher is elected as Prime Minister as the Conservatives sweep to victory in the General Election. The Tories enjoy a swing of 5.2% in their favour to take 339 seats and gain a majority of 43 in the House of Commons.

A fire at the Woolworth's store in Manchester city centre kills 10 people.

A Bit of Culture: Films released in the early months of 1979 included Alien, The Warriors, Zulu Dawn and Rocky II. Later in the year would see the release of Scum, Quadrophenia and Monty Pythons Life Of Brian.

Albums released in 1979 included Elvis Costello 'Armed Forces', The Undertones 'The Undertones', Michael Jackson 'Off The Wall', The Clash 'London Calling', Pink Floyd 'The Wall', Joy Division 'Unknown Pleasures and Neil Young 'Rust Never Sleeps'.

Season 1978/79 saw both Celtic and Rangers with new managers following the departures of Jock Stein and Jock Wallace. With Billy McNeill now in charge at Parkhead what was the mood among Celtic fans as the club entered a new era?

I thought, as did a lot of fans, that Mr Stein had lost his way big time since the car accident. When he finally took back his position in the dugout his judgement never seemed to be the same. However a great majority of the fans were outraged at the boards handling of the situation. Everyone took it for granted that he would automatically take his rightful place on the board, but to slap him in the face by having him look after the pools was appalling. Even worse was the suggestion that they could not contemplate a protestant, if in fact true, on the board sickened the biggest cross section of the fan base.

The appointment of Cesar was welcomed by the all the people I knew and we were quietly optimistic for the future. The appointment of Greig, however, was seen as an appeasement to the hun support (no change there then) but most people were saying that they slipped up as he still had friends in the dressing room and that the hare couldn’t run with the hounds.

John Greig had replaced Wallace as Rangers manager. Wallace’s Rangers had been direct, and physical but ultimately successful. Greig’s Rangers adopted a more patient passing approach to the game and having knocked out highly fancied PSV Eindhoven and Juventus sides from the European Cup the Ibrox boss enjoyed an impressive start to his new job. How much did you rate this Rangers side?

They had a good few players in their side that could inflict damage to other teams, with the likes of, Parlane, Cooper, McLean aye and even BFDJ (Derek Johnstone) etc. but Greig, as I recall, just couldn’t bring the mix together on a regular basis. On the subject of their Euro run I can’t recall any of it but then again I’ve probably erased it from my memory. I thought they had a decent bunch of players in that side.

The early months of 1979 had seen Scotland gripped by an unusually pro-longed and devastatingly cold winter as snow and ice brought the country to a near stand-still for months. The arctic-type conditions wreaked havoc with the football fixtures. Indeed that remarkable night in May we are about to discuss would never have occurred if the game hadn’t originally been snowed off back in January. What do you remember about that winter and the chaos it brought to football?

I remember having to walk along London Road every morning to go to work and, believe me, it was Baltic so much so that I actually looked forward to getting in. Again, from memory, there was some talk of writing the season off but I don’t recall the exact details.

Another supposed victim of the weather was the Rangers v Celtic game scheduled for Saturday March 24th. This crucial fixture – to be played at Hampden due to the redevelopment of Ibrox – should have been held just 42 hours after a weary Rangers had exited the European Cup following a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Cologne. However the game was called off call off on the Friday afternoon due to the wintry conditions and Rangers were saved from facing their title rivals so soon after that draining defeat. Celtic reacted angrily to this premature call-off and would point out that come kick-off time the conditions, on the both pitch and terracing, had been perfectly fine. Rangers stated the decision to call off the game had been made by Queen’s Park but to the further fury of Celtic it emerged that on the same afternoon they should have been facing their city rivals in a vital league clash Rangers were actually playing Partick Thistle in a Glasgow Cup tie at Ibrox – a game arranged in advance of the official call off of their league clash! What do you remember about the controversy surrounding this fixture?

Just about every Celtic fan saw it for what it was, a poor excuse to get the huns off the hook. I don’t recall what the press had to say about it but everyone involved in Celtic were livid as, at the time, we had the upper hand and it was felt that we would have saw them off and picked up vital points. The idea that Queens Park were responsible for the call off fooled no one, the culprits behind this were the SFA acting in collusion with TFOD. Were we angry? I guess you could say that!!

So, it’s May 21st 1979 – Celtic v Rangers. Rangers had won the controversially re-arranged fixture from March at Hampden 1-0 and the race for the Championship was now perfectly and dramatically poised. This is the Bhoys’ final game of the campaign and a victory ensures the league flag will be flying over Celtic Park. Anything else and, with games in hand, the title is all but Rangers. How were you feeling as the match drew closer?

I am never confident going into a game against them, but felt that we could get the necessary victory to clinch the title. The general mood among the support was, in the main, complete comfidence. My biggest fear was that they would sit back and play for the draw which would have suited them.

These days we are used to saturation coverage on the internet, in the press and on TV. But what was the media build up like for this crucial game?

I can’t really say I noticed any great hype, but I tend not to pay too much attention to any match build ups and the like (even today I don’t even go into the pre match threads or listen to the so-called experts opinions). As for newspaper pull outs the Times and Citizen (one for the teenagers) vied with each other, putting out special souvenir editions. I do remember that the Citizen had a much better class of poster than the Times!

When did you decide you would be going to Parkhead?

I would have been going to the game whether it was a title decider or a meaningless end of season game, the thought of going never entered my head.

How did you travel to the game?

The easiest answered question. I left my flat on London Road and walked along to the Celtic social club for the pre match shandies and to meet my mates who all lived across the road from it. Our usual meeting place, pre-match was The Grapes (St Kentigerns) bar on Tollcross Road near the bus deopt but when we played them it was considered enemy territory. There were no unusual events before the game as both sets of fans tended to ignore each other with maybe the odd comment from one to the other.

Can you describe the scene when you arrived at the ground?

It was just the usual. Crowds milling round the park, making their way to a favourite entrance. I always entered the Janefield st turnstiles at the West terracing. The policing was heavy but to an extent good natured, they were only interested in keeping the queues moving but not putting up with any nonsense at the same time. There was always singing whilst waiting to get in, and I suppose that’s when the match mood kicks in for real.

What do you remember about taking your place on the terracing?

When in the Celtic end we always stood behind the goals about half way down the terrace, but that night I got in a bit later and had to settle for a position to the left of the goal.
I don’t think there were any big displays of colour in those days you have to remember that the most common type of scarf was a green with thin white and darker green stripes, which didn’t readily lend itself to a display. Not until the advent of the green and white bar scarf could a Celtic scarf stand out (when they first came out they were known as “Walk On” scarves). The ground itself was packed to the rafters, literally, as fans climbed up onto the back wall of the terrace and stayed there ‘till half and full time. The hun end was just as packed but you normally never heard them as we were both singing at the same time.

It’s kick-off time. How were you feeling and what was the atmosphere like as the whistle blew?

As soon as the whistle went it was a wall of noise from both sets of fans. I don’t remember that night in particular it was just the way it was.

Despite an initially positive start Celtic would find themselves a goal down after nine minutes when good work by Davie Cooper allowed Alex McDonald to stike the opener. How did you react to this early setback?

The opening goal was met, initially, with stunned silence, but when the monkeys started their celebrations in earnest we replied in, more or less, defiance.

Celtic would regain their composure and spent much of the first half hammering away at the Rangers defence. How did you feel when the half-time whistle blew and Celtic still trailed?

The first half passed in a blur. To this day I could not tell you how many chances we had; I was more worried in case the huns got another. At half time all the terrace experts discussed what Caesar should do to get back in the game, but there was still optimism as we felt we had the men who could do the job.

Ten minutes after the re-start Celtic’s comeback hopes suffered a bitter blow when Johnny Doyle kicked out at Alex McDonald and was shown the red card. What do you recall about the incident and what were your feeling as the Celts were reduced to 10 men?

I never saw the incident for the ordering off but at the time the support was outraged because the way we saw it, it was nothing less than the ref helping the huns out of a tight spot (sound familiar). If that was the case then it backfired spectacularly. Johnny Doyle was one of the most popular players at Parkhead, but he had a helluva temper on him and I’m convinced to this day that McDonald was winding him up knowing he would lash out.

Despite being a man short Celtic continued to dominate and on 67 minutes their relentless attacking finally paid dividends when Roy Aitken equalised. What do you remember about that moment?

The breakthrough came as Roy Aitken grabbed the equaliser. He got the ball about mid way into their half and crossed to Davie Provan who took the ball to the line and passed it back toward goal, and into the path of big Roy who only had to pass it into the net. Just then pandemonium broke out and we were still celebrating when the second one went in!

Celtic continued to flood forward and with 15 minutes to go George McCluskey gave the Bhoys the lead. Can you describe the goal and the scenes which greeted it?

Big Roy, who had taken the game by the scruff of the neck, got hold of the ball just outside the area and totally miss-hit his shot, luckily enough into the path of George McCluskey, who hit a an unstoppable shot on the angle. Cue mass celebrations in the packed jungle and terraces

The joy was to be short-lived. A minute after that McCluskey goal Rangers equalised through Russell. Did you feel that was the end of Celtic’s title dreams?

We were still celebrating like mad when they were awarded a corner, ach who cares we’re in front, and as they say now “you couldny make it up”. I don’t remember how their goal want in I just know it went in. The Celtic crowd were silenced and the bigot brigade went into full triumphalist mode. On the park you would have thought that the manky mob had just lifted the world cup, the European cup and the league in one fell swoop.

Hope was now turning to desperation for the Celtic fans. Their heroic team however pressed on relentlessly in search of both a winner and justice. With just seven minutes remaining McCluskey sent in a dangerous cross from the right which spun off Rangers keeper Peter McCloy and into the path of the retreating defender Jackson. Can you describe what happened next?

Again I don’t recall a lot about the own goal, just that we were pressing hard and it was backs to the wall defending from them. I do remember the ball coming off Jackson and into the net, but the first thing I did was not celebrate but look at the linesman (and no, I’m not paranoid) when I saw him run to the centre line I knew it was OK. On a side note I did see one of our players, possibly Provan, run past Jackson and cheekily pat him on the back in congratulation. At this time I thought it was game over, but you could never tell in a match like this.

With just minutes to go, a man down and a goal ahead Celtic just needed to hold out and the Championship was theirs. But that’s not the Celtic way. The Hoops continued their onslaught and in the final minute Murdo MacLeod burst through the midfield and received the ball about 25 yards from McCloy’s goal. What do you remember about the following moments?

I was screaming at them to get the ball into the corner and keep it there instead of fluffing aboot like effin nancys when Murdo let fly right into the top left corner. The whole Celtic support went absolutely mental, you just grabbed the nearest body to you a jumped around like a whirling dervish.

The final whistle. Can you describe the party on the pitch and the terraces?

To be honest I didn’t realise the final whistle had gone as most of were still dancing about like maniacs. When the realisation sunk in the only way it can be described is a wall of sound, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a noise like it, but the song which won the day was “We’ve won the league again, fly the flag”.
I had been separated from my mates and had to walk along London Road, through the huns, back to the club, which, depending on the result, had a late license. Not being totally stupid I removed my scarf and stuck it up my “duke”. I got as far as Belvedere hospital without incident when I noticed a group of huns across the road, ignoring them. I thought I heard one of them shout “right there’s a fenian, get him”. I remember thinking “I hope the poor bastard can run” when they swarmed in my general direction, it turned out my scarf had worked it’s way out the bottom of my jacket so I got off my mark, and believe you me I could shift when I had to. Luckily there was a delegation of tims outside the club who were on the lookout for trouble, they noticed my predicament and launched an immediate counter attack which turned the tide. No actual fighting took place as the guys were there to stop trouble rather than start it. The enormity of the victory never sank in ‘till the next day but it was right up there with the biggest moments of my following Celtic

Victory had been a huge team effort but it’s been said that if Roy Aitken had never played again for Celtic he would have been a Hoops legend for his performamce on that night alone. What do you remember about the young Aitken’s display?

As I’ve already stated Aitken took control of the game and urged, cajoled and pushed the team forward. To me he was outstanding on the night. I don’t remember any of that team letting us down on this occasion, there well might have, but it’s one of those games you only remember everyone having a good game. Good job there was no post match thread in those days!

How do the events of that night compare to other great Celtic occasions in your lifetime?

Of course that was special, any win against that mob is always good but to come from behind with ten men to do it and get the title at the same time is a triple whammy, so although it may not be as important as being in Lisbon for the final, or both the Leeds semis it was another great night for the club, the team and the support

It’s what supporting Celtic is all about.

magherareagh of the KDS forum

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I was a ‘jungle’ regular in ‘79 and loved watching Johnny Doyle play ..he gave everything

not as refined or cultured as Davie Provan, He had plenty enough of the skill for his role ..what he did excel in was guts and determination, he had that in spades and he loved the Celtic and the fans knew it and loved him in return

the 4-2 game was a school night (Monday) and there was a public transport strike ..thank god Southern buses of Barrhead were running and loaded up the Peter Scarff CSC Linwood…. a title decider against the currants at CP was not to be missed.

It was a strange night in many ways, an extremely early kick-off time and we could not get near our usual spot at 7/8 in the ‘jungle’ and ended up in middle of the Celtic end ..for the first time ever our entire bus were all together at the game as there was no time for everyone to find their usual perch:

McGann, Bradley, McMahon, Doherty(s), Belliew, Doak, Agnew, McKay, Keenan, Taney, Muggins, Rogers, McCormick, O’Hara and many more…neighbours, parishioners, friends and Celts

I remember that night like it was yesterday…beautiful spring evening and the currant hordes in full voice (confident and swaggering as ever…on the back of 2 trebles in 3 years)

Celtic fans were strangely subdued in the early part of the game and the tension was unbearable. A sense of occasion I did not feel again until the 2nd leg at Boavista.

When Johnny Doyle was sent off I remember thinking that we were stuffed. Then a remarkable thing happened …the roar, nay growl, from the older men around me (guys who probably never sang much at games) began to rise and reached a pitch that maintained for the rest of the game

I recall a particularly rousing rendition of Hail Glorious St Patrick …every Celtic throat …the passion was almost feverish and how those green and white hoops on the park responded. I have never seen or felt anything like it since.

When Murdo rattled that shot high into the net at the Celtic end for the fourth goal, I was right behind it ..it was the most stupefyingly wonderful moment this 16 year old had ever experienced

10 men won the league ..they thought removing the spirit of Johnny Doyle from the team would finish us..They never reckoned with the spirit of the Celtic support that ‘replaced’ him that night

RIP Johnny

M