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Personal
Fullname: William Price
aka: Billy Price
Born: 5 Oct 1934
Died: […2004… TBC…]*
Birthplace:Tarbolton
Signed: 31 July 1961
Left: 30 Apr 1964 (free); 13 June 1964 (Berwick Rangers)
Position: Left-half
Debut: Hibernian 2-2 Celtic, League Cup, 19 Aug 1961
Internationals: none
*Acc to Wikpedia
Biog
The experienced left-half Billy Price was a £1,000 purchase from Falkirk in July 1961, and made his debut in a 2-2 League Cup draw on 19th August 1961 at Hibernian. He’d previously had a long career at Airdrie and even had a good goal scoring record at the club.
The young Ayrshireman from Tarbton was an excellent reader of the game. He was a cool and collected player who was regarded as someone who had a calming influence on those around him. A silky left-half with a bit of a dig.
“Billy Price can become great Celt” and “Price gives Celtic touch of brilliance” were a couple of the headlines that predicted a great career with Celtic.
He was a mainstay in the first team for season 1961-62 & 1962-63, but in time was to lose his place to Jim Kennedy in 1963-64.
His three goals were all in season 1962/63, in a 7-0 win v St Mirren, 2-2 draw v Hearts and a 2-0 win over Hibs.
Sadly, he had the ignominy to play in the demoralising Scottish Cup defeat in May 1963 v Rangers (with a replay) and in the demoralising losses in the league cup group in matches August 1963 (again v Rangers). All three matches were lost 3-0.
In some ways, the 1963 Scottish Cup final (first match) was the high mark of his time for him, with Celtic having hit another fallow period with inept management at both team & board levels. No place for any aspiring footballers, and this was despite Celtic having plenty of great young players in the squad. Celtic finished in the top four each season but still way behind Dundee and Rangers (twice) who took the title.
His final match was a 3-2 victory in August 1963 v Queen of the South in the League Cup, both sides had little to play for as they were already in the bottom two spots in the group. Almost grabbed a goal having:
“… fired a real rocket which Wright (opposition goalkeeper) safely dealt with“.
Apparently Billy Price inspired a Celtic chant of “Cel-tic! Cel-tic! Cha-Cha-Cha!” for the time.
One notable match he played in, was one where the Celtic team faced Real Madrid in 1962. This was a friendly match arranged by Glasgow businessman & Celtic supporter Max Benjamin who wanted to raise money for the Jewish National Fund Charitable Trust and the rehabilitation of refugee woman and children from Europe and north Africa.
He was released by Celtic in April 1964 and joined Berwick Rangers soon afterwards, a club who, at this time, were one of the teams the Scottish League was reportedly trying to ‘disappear’ from existence.
In his tenure at Celtic, Billy Price played 74 times and scored three goals for the Bhoys.
It is reported that he passed away in 2004 (TBC), according to Wikpedia.
Note: He is one of a rare number of Scottish footballers (and even footballers across the world) that have scored three penalties in one match; he achieved this feat in a game for Falkirk against Hamilton.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1961-64 | 51 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 74 |
| Goals: | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Articles
Celtic’s Billy Price and the ‘political shirt’ -A Shamrock ‘too prominent’, rescued from the flames
By David Potter 13 August, 2020
https://icdn.thecelticstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/image-1-480×459.jpg
https://thecelticstar.com/celtics-billy-price-and-the-political-shirt-a-shamrock-too-prominent-rescued-from-the-flames/
Billy Price was one of the many Celtic players in the early 1960s who might be described as “good enough”. He would probably have done a great deal better under Jock Stein, but as it happened their paths never crossed. He came from Ayrshire, from Tarbolton. It is often said that Ayrshire is a Rangers stronghold. I am not so sure. There have been many great Celtic players who came from the land of Robbie Burns, and Billy Price deserves at least an honourable mention among them for his hard tackling and passing ability.
He had started his senior career with Airdrie and then moved to Falkirk. Then Celtic paid £1,000 for him in 1961. It was not something that Celtic did very often in those days, preferring to bring on their own youngsters, although now and again, they felt, a more mature and experienced player might be of use to bolster the youngsters. Billy played a full part in the 1961/62 season which was, arguably, the best of Celtic’s “lean years”. There were clear signs of some good players developing, notably the half-back line of Crerand, McNeill and Price. Celtic ended up third that year and reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, and Price was generally well liked and admired by the Celtic fans.
Next came the awful year of 1963 when the team were robbed of League Cup qualification by a whisker, then in spite of the loss of Pat Crerand, reached the final of the Scottish Cup against Rangers. They did well enough in the first game to earn a replay through a draw, and might just have snatched a victory at the end.
Price gets a few commendations in the Press, but the replay itself was a 0-3 horror story, as indeed were another two 0-3 defeats to the same merciless opposition at the start of the next season. Billy’s Celtic career never got back on the rails as Jim Kennedy came in from left back to left half, and by the end of that season, Billy was on his way to Berwick Rangers. He died in 2004.
He was always a hard-working player for Celtic. He played 74 games and scored 3 times, one of them in a 7-0 win over St Mirren in autumn 1962 when it was beginning to look as if the new Celtic team had arrived. Alas, it was one of the frequent false dawns that Celtic suffered from at that time.
The only matchworn Celtic jersey to remain in existence after apparently the SFA objected to the size of the Shamrock.
On one occasion in season 1961/62, Billy managed to rescue a Celtic reserve strip. It was one of the “Hibs reverse” strips of white with green sleeves with shamrock on the crest. Therein lay the problem for someone in authority objected to the shamrock being just a little too large, and the strip was to be decommissioned and thrown out.
Billy managed to save his own strip – as he thought – but he made a mistake. The strip was lying upside down and Billy mistook the no 9 which had been worn by John Hughes for his own no 6! His family still have that strip, but it is a strange story.
Why couldn’t the strips have been retained by Celtic for training purposes?
That most rare of all Celtic match worn shirts remains a proud possession of Billy’s family and his son David has this week contacted The Celtic Star and has shared various photographs of his dad Billy Price and of the shirt his dad referred to as ‘the political shirt”.
David Potter
“The political Jersey 1961, the only one left in the world,” Billy’s son David told The Celtic Star.
“This top earned its name due to the fact there was a protest by the the SFA hierarchy, as to the size of the shamrock on the top being too predominant, after a match against Glasgow Rangers.
“The Celtic players were told to put their tops in a bag after training to be burnt outside. My father Billy Price lifted what he thought was his at the time Number 6 which turned out to be Number 9 and kept it in his bag.
“The top at the time belonged to a young John Hughes a part time player at the time.
“Over the past 35 years or so I have been asked by many people including the late Bertie Peacock who wanted it for his bar in Coleraine.”
