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Personal
Fullname: George Connelly
Born: 1 March 1949
Birthplace: Fife, Scotland
Signed: 9 July 1964 (prov); 19 June 1965 (full)
Left: 18 October 1976
Position: Midfield/Defender
Debut: substitute v Dunfermline Athletic 2-1 league 30 April 1968
Last appearance: Motherwell 1-1 league 13 September 1975
First goal: Aberdeen home 2-1 league 28 September 1968
Last goal: Ayr United away 2-3 league cup 14 August 1974
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 2 caps
International Goals: 0
| “George is basically a very shy person who conquered it every time to go out on the pitch.” Davie Hay (former playing colleague at Celtic) |
Biog
The above quote from friend and former Celtic team-mate Davie Hay, perhaps more than any other, sums up the man that was George Connelly. If you ask those who were around back in the halcyon days of the early 1970’s who was the greatest Celtic player of that era, to the surprise of many now, a large number will put George Connelly right at the top of the pile.
For youths brought up on stories of the club’s legends such as Jimmy Johnstone, Danny McGrain and Billy McNeill, George Connelly appears to be a bit of an enigma.The truth is, that is exactly what George Connelly was and still is, an enigma.
When you read other biographies you’ll read about Frank McAvennie’s high living, Paolo Di Canio’s ‘leetle‘ problems or Danny McGrain’s single minded professionalism, but with George Connelly there is genuine emotional tragedy at the heart of his story. For privacy reasons we’ll probably never know the whole truth – nor is it necessarily our business – so out of respect, we will go by what he has said, what his friends have added, and speculation will be left to one side when we take a look at his fascinating story.
The Rise…
George Connelly signed for Celtic from Tulliallan Juniors, and it was not long until he made his debut, later in the same year on 12th January 1966, aged just 16. Jock Stein sent him onto the Parkhead pitch just before the start of the the European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final first leg against Dynamo Kiev, and George Connelly is said to have thrilled the crowd with an astonishing display of keepie-uppy, dancing around the ground while keeping the ball off the turf – his average at this art was said to be 2,000 non-stop. Already people were being dazzled by his skills.
With that level of ability, there were high expectations building and it was just two years later, in 1968, that he became a permanent fixture in the first team. In the early days it was clear that he was a precocious talent, and many already had him ear-marked for the unenviable role to succeed Billy McNeil when the time came for the handover as team captain. No easy position to be placed in at such a young age but many believed he was more than capable of stepping up to the task. Talented beyond his years, he was carefully nurtured by the coaching staff who developed his ability with the ball and his intelligence off it.
During his time a select band of players were emerging through the Celtic ranks, dubbed the ‘Quality Street Gang‘. Some of the names are spoken about with reverence even now such as the sublime talents of Dalglish, McGrain, Macari and Hay, yet amazingly, it was George Connelly who was most highly rated by many.
In 1969, he played a memorable part in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers, helping Celtic to a convincing 4-0 victory, with Connelly right at the heart of it. He dazzled the support with a fine goal and some cocksure antics on the pitch, practically walking the ball into the net for his goal. Famously, George Connelly did keepie-uppies in the penalty box to wind up Rangers’ fans. A brash move, for sure, but it worked and irked the opposition much to the enjoyment of the crowd. He really had stamped his name on Celtic during a golden era for the club, deservedly mentioned in the same breath as Lisbon Lions such as Chalmers, Wallace and Clark. He was credited by many observers to be the best in his position in the country and beyond and Jock Stein claimed he was on a par with Franz Beckenbauer. High praise indeed and it wasn’t far from the truth.
The pinnacle for George Connelly was the European Cup semi-final in 1970 against Leeds United when the young Scot announced his arrival on the world stage. He’d raced through the youth structures and developed his game to be able to stand toe-to-toe against any opposition player on the domestic front, but this game was different. The encounter between the Scottish and ‘invincible’ English champions was a battle for national pride and Celtic were determined to make a mockery of their underdog tag against the strongly fancied Yorkshire club.
Along with Jimmy Johnstone, George Connelly put Leeds to the sword scoring the winning goal at Elland Road as Celtic went on to defeat United over two legs in the ‘Battle of Britain‘. George Connelly played a key role in these games and was attaining legendary status for many. What more could Celtic achieve with someone of his quality in the squad? The final may ultimately have been lost to Dutch champions Feyenoord, but with the youngsters in the squad – added to the experience of McNeill and Co – the future looked bright and it was Green.
On being presented with a ‘Player of the Year‘ award in 1973, the compère at the dinner – on seeing Jock Stein beside George Connelly – described the scene as: “A proud father wi’ his son, that’s what we’re seeing here”. Such an anecdote perfectly encapsulates the high esteem that George Connelly was held in back then. George Connelly was the most lauded player at the club, a remarkable achievement during an era when the Celtic team was brimming over with quality.
To this point, George Connelly had now scored in a European Cup semi-final and 2 Scottish Cup Finals.
George Connelly was manager Jock Stein’s jewel in the crown and literally had the footballing world at his feet.
…and Fall
Born and raised in Fife, George Connelly was brought up in a relatively serene setting in comparison to his Glasgow-bred counterparts. The move to Celtic was thus a bit of a shock to the system for the youngster, although he wasn’t exactly alien to city life as has been painted. Both he and his brothers had grown up as Celtic fans and had travelled to watch the team on various occasions.
However, the move affected George Connelly who just wasn’t prepared for Glasgow and he didn’t settle in. A football team environment is not always an easy place for everyone, and for George Connelly – being a shy individual at heart – it was simply one step too far. His brashness on the pitch betrayed an insular personality off it. A combination of personal issues and an unsuccessful first marriage fed an apparently troubled mind, leading to George Connelly taking solace in alcohol. As time went on, his introverted nature ended up back-firing on him and he sank deeper into alcoholism, further escalating his problems.
One tale records that on an away trip, a practical joke played on George Connelly by his team-mates back-fired, which alienated him further from certain others in the squad. Davie Hay – his best friend at the club – has kept the details private, but whatever the details, it simply added to the numerous, growing problems for George Connelly at Celtic. Soon after, George Connelly walked out on the club for the first time but was persuaded to return after a heart-to-heart with Jock Stein. This would happen again on numerous occasions, most famously, after just receiving a ‘Player of the Year‘ award in 1973, he walked out on Scotland just as they were boarding a plane for international duty.
Billy McNeill recalls one of George Connelly’s strangest disappearing acts. At that time the squad would regularly run up and down a course nicknamed ‘Cardiac Hill‘ which had a self-explanatory impact on the players’ respiratory rates. On one occasion, the players were doing the run and George Connelly managed to reach the top first, but then to everyone’s bewilderment he ran straight back down to the car park, got into his car and drove off! They didn’t see him again for a few days.
In the end, it was all too much for Connelly and he just couldn’t handle the pressure. The sudden departure of his close friend Davie Hay to Chelsea in 1974 was the catalyst to his walking out on Celtic forever. Sean Fallon had taken temporary charge of Celtic while Jock Stein recovered from a serious car accident and when George Connelly again walked out in 1975, Fallon didn’t have any more the patience or strength of character to talk him around.
As one by one the ‘Quality Street Gang’ of players left the club for various reasons, the hopes and ambitions of the fans subsided. Losing George Connelly was no surprise with the way things had gone over the last few seasons, but it still hurt. Respected journalist Archie MacPherson, in his majestic biography on Jock Stein, rated Jock’s inability to handle the events surrounding George Connelly as his biggest failure. In fairness, there was little more Jock Stein or anyone else could have done. George Connelly’s mind had been made up. He had fallen out of love with football even though football had not fallen out of love with him. He just couldn’t handle everything.
Post-Celtic
Author & journalist David Bennie, in his wonderful autobiographical/Celtic book ‘Not Playing for Celtic, another Paradise Lost‘ eulogised lovingly about George Connelly. For the rest of us it’s a case of what might have been if George Connelly had been able to tackle his demons as well as he could tackle any man on the pitch. All too often the darker side is dwelled on when it comes to footballers, but the truth is that there is much more good to be said about George Connelly’s time with Celtic than bad. The darkness plays a major part of his story, of course it does, but the talent and genius of George Connelly is something to be celebrated.
After his exit from Celtic Park Connelly tried to live in obscurity away from the limelight but his achievements could never be hidden from view. Even the most hardbitten journalist found it impossible to get a word from George Connelly no matter how hard they tried.
It took around 30 years before Connelly felt able to to go back to Celtic Park again. His return was an emotional moment for him and his family and the emotion was a collective one amongst the Celtic family. Seeing him back where he belonged, his spiritual home, was magical. Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawell called on George Connelly to never be a stranger again, and it was a sentiment shared by Celtic fans young and old. As George Connelly was to say himself:
“I can’t believe the phenomenal reception I received on revisiting Celtic Park. It’s great to return.”
George Connelly, with the help of a ghost writer, penned an autobiography 30 years after leaving Celtic, giving a fair and frankly honest account of his career and life. He admitted he is sorry for many things – especially for the waste of a potentially great career – but he was a man with troubles and that should always be borne in mind. His love and respect for Jock Stein remains intact, and like everyone else he is still in awe of the great man.
In 2018, he returned again to Celtic and now it seemed he had fully found peace within himself. He had now gone 4.5 years without touching a drop of alcohol. We were all proud and happy for him.
We wish him and his family all the best, we’ll never forget him and will always respect him.
Quotes & Anecdotes
“Believe it or not, he [Jock Stein] was sympathetic, even towards the end. He never even scolded me, or anything like it. He didn’t scream at me but if he had I doubt if it would have done any good. No, he was good to me. Always was. I was 16 when that European match against Dynamo Kiev came about and I did the keepie-uppie at half time. Stein said he would give me a fiver if I would do it. That was a lot to me.
“Was I nervous? I wasn’t, really. I was too stupid to be nervous. Nowadays, I’m one of those people who gets awfully easily embarrassed. If they said to me to go and do that now, I wouldn’t go near it. But then, you just did it.”
George Connelly
“How I wish I could have justified his [Stein’s] confidence in me. My once buoyant spirit was beginning to flag faster than he could have imagined. And, in spite of my upbeat prediction about there always being the 1978 World Cup, I just knew it was never going to happen for me as far as Scotland, or Celtic, for that matter were concerned.”
George Connelly
“He was so different off the park from on it. On it, he was a genius. He could take the ball from me on my six-yard line and start an attack from there. He could make the ball talk.
“But when the game was done he could be so quiet. There could be a big group of us chatting and George wouldn’t say a word. He was a nice boy but very sensitive and when Davie Hay, his big pal, left the club [for Chelsea] he was lost.
“He didn’t join in the banter. If we were all telling rude jokes or swearing George was out of it. Wee Lou [Macari] would sometimes wind him up. On the flight back from playing Ujpest Dozsa George was having a sneaky wee beer. Lou shouted: ‘Another beer for Connelly!’ This caused Jock, who frowned on alcohol, to turn round. The rest of us had to tell Lou to shut up or we’d all get fined.
“George was the sort of guy who if you said ‘What’s wrong with your hair?’ he’d worry about it all day. You had to be able to laugh at yourself although some of the jokes went too far.”
Evan Williams (2016)
“George is basically a very shy person who conquered it every time to go out on the pitch.”
Davie Hay (former playing colleague at Celtic)
“He was brave enough to go out and do the keepie-uppie routine for the fans when Jock asked him and he played in front of 136,000 people at Hampden Park when we beat Leeds in the 1970 European Cup semi-final. I don’t like making comparisons, but George had it in him to be Franz Beckenbauer.”
Davie Hay (former playing colleague at Celtic)
Playing Career
| LEAGUE | LEAGUE CUP | SCOTTISH CUP | EUROPE | TOTALS | ||||||
| SEASON | App (Sub) | Goals | App (Sub) | Goals | App (Sub) | Goals | App (Sub) | Goals | App (Sub) | Goals |
| 1967-68 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| 1968-69 | 6(1) | 1 | 7(1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16(2) | 3 |
| 1969-70 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3(2) | 1 | 15(2) | 2 |
| 1970-71 | 22(3) | 3 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 43(3) | 6 |
| 1971-72 | 32 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 55 | 0 |
| 1972-73 | 32 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 55 | 2 |
| 1973-74 | 14 | 1 | 10(1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 33(1) | 2 |
| 1974-75 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| 1975-76 | 1(2) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(3) | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup