UP AGAINST A FURIOUS JOCK STEIN

Lochee’s ANDY WALKER has become a regular feature in this column . . . and for one reason only.

Andy’s pieces are usually very good and very informative.

His latest batch don’t disappoint and, over the next few weeks, I’ll share them with you.

Andy, well-known for his love of Glasgow Celtic, said, “I was recently introduced to David Duffy, who, as a youngster, played for the legendary Dunkeld Amateurs.

“From there, he signed for Celtic.

“David said it was a great period at Parkhead. They won the League and Cup double and Coronation Cup, and some of the players went on to become household names such as Charlie Tully, Bobby Evans, Neillie Mochan and Jock Stein to name a few.

“As a reserve, Dave got to know them only when they were coming back from injury or had been dropped.

“In those days, he said, you knew your place.

“However, Dave told me that every one of them had the time of day for the players like himself.

“They passed on tips (even the racing variety), who to avoid when angry, but, above all, about playing football . . . how and when to give a weighted pass, the speed, the area, how to sail close to the wind but not be penalised when defending.

“Above all, train, train and train.

“Unknown to Dave, Stein had got the first team to unite in an effort to gain payments from the Press.

“Stein, who, of course, was to go on to become a legendary manager of the club, had, even in those days, seen the benefits of ‘image rights’.

“The team then refused to be photographed at Press conferences, special features in papers and magazines.

“Indeed, they would not appear at photo calls or in any publicity photos.

“Surprisingly, they were backed by the board, but not publicly, though.

“However, at the start of one season, they relented slightly and allowed a team photo to be taken, and Dave was in it.

“Later that week, he phoned the Glasgow newspaper concerned asking when the photo would be ready, informed them who he was and asked what the cost would be.

“The photo would cost him half-a-crown (121/2p) for two.

“After picking them up, he went into training the next day armed with his pictures, with the intention of getting his team-mates to sign them.

“They were all there in the dressing-room, all the big guns.

“He approached Sean Fallon and Bobby Evans, who signed, as did John Bonnar.

“Then came a loud ‘No!’ and Stein leapt out of his chair, his face full of fury.

“Dave described him as ‘an angry bear’ and, fuming, he asked where Dave got them.

“When told, Stein replied, ‘Don’t you think that WE should be getting paid for these? How many papers do you think they’ll sell with us in it?’

“He only quietened down when some of the other players said, ‘Jock, he’s only a laddie.’

“The tension was eventually broken when Charlie Tully remarked, ‘What’s upset you, Jock? It’s not a bad one of you.’

“Dave said he was glad he wasn’t around when Stein was manager.

“How some of the players who got into all sort of scrapes and then had to face him more than once makes Dave shudder. Dave’s ‘mistake’ was totally innocent, but it was enough to make him realise — don’t mess with Big Jock.

“Dave’s parting shot was also an amusing tale about Stein.

“He noted Dave came to training by bus and told him he could save a halfpenny if he got off the bus at Shawfield, which he did.

“However, he found he then had to walk three-quarters of a mile to the ground.

“Dave never asked him if it was a wind-up — he was ‘too afraid’.”

See photo of Celtic team with many of the above players below.

BOOT ON THE OTHER FOOT

A reader, going under the pseudonym of “CAMPBELL T. BARR”, Tait’s Lane, Dundee, was interested to read the article (Sept. 8) concerning “Rae of Sunshine’s” assertion that a match involving Dundee FC attracted the highest crowd of the 1980s to Tannadice.

“BwB pointed out that he was, in fact, wrong,” said CTB, “but the boot could be on the other foot.

“I suggest the biggest crowd at Dens in the 1960s (yes, the era of Dundee’s European Cup adventure) could have been that which attended the United v. Aberdeen Scottish Cup semi final in the mid-1960s.

“This finished 1-0 to Aberdeen, with a Tommy Millar own goal separating the sides,

“Is this Dundee’s second biggest of all time?

“Your column is great and makes up (partly) for the absence of the Sporting Post.”

Reader BRUCE LOW emailed the same details and they are, of course, correct.

MAC MIX-UP

Lochee’s JIM McLEAN reckons Eddie McLaren never played with the two Stans — Matthews and Mortensen — with Blackpool, as intimated in BwB (Sept. 15).

“I think where the mix-up occurs is that Eddie played with Blackpool legend Jackie Mudie, but only when they were both with Dunkeld,” offered Jim.

“I played two years below them with Dunkeld with players such as Tommy McAnearney and Johnny Coyle.

“I was also pleased to see that Tom McGovern writes regularly to you from Manchester. I was great friends with Tom, but haven’t seen him for about 30 years.”

n Contributor Douglas White phoned to say I got one of his addresses mixed up in the September 22 edition. Douglas stayed at William Lane, and not William Street, as published.