Only one
King Billy
Watching Billy McNeil walk proudly, if a
little gingerly, down the Celtic way to unveil his long overdue statue
yesterday was a touching moment. Flanked
by his family and a few of the players who helped him conquer Europe, he was
embraced by the Celtic family with all the warmth and affection his
contribution to the club has earned him. Billy served Celtic for all of his
adult life with honour and distinction. His footballing achievements are
immense but more than this he was Celtic to the core and fought for the club on
and off the field. As a player Billy led Celtic to a golden era which saw him
win more than 20 major trophies. All of this was achieved in the face of tough
opposition in Scotland and that is a measure of how good Celtic was in that
period.
There is a tendency among those of a certain
vintage to think that things were better in their youth. You know the sort of
thing; the summers were warmer, TV was better and children were happier. Some
argue that football in days gone past was more exciting too. In terms of
Scottish football there is more than a grain of truth in such claims as any
statistical analysis of given periods will prove. The golden era of Scottish
football which might have been plausibly claimed to be from the around 1960 to
1988, a period which saw Scottish clubs excel in Europe and 7 different clubs
win the Championship. (Celtic, Rangers, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee
& Dundee United) Despite Celtic winning 9 in a row in that era, there was
genuine competition for the title in most seasons and Celtic clinched a few of
those titles in the last games of the season. Competition is the key to driving
up standards and making clubs more able to deal with the rigours of European
football.
That period saw Scottish clubs reach 8 European
finals with Celtic, (1967 & 1970) Rangers, (1960, 1967, 1972) Aberdeen, (1983)
and Dundee United (1987) all flying the flag for Scottish football in Europe,
No nation the size of Scotland can boast such a record. Indeed when one looks
at countries with a similar population (Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, etc.)
it’s easy to see that Scotland has a proud record in comparison.
During that period Scottish clubs jousted
with the giants of European football and claimed many a famous scalp. Aberdeen
defeated sides such as Bobby Robson’s talented Ipswich, Real Madrid and Bayern
Munich in Europe. Dundee United played Barcelona on 4 occasions and won all 4
games. They also battered teams such as Werder Bremen and Borussia
Monchengladbach. Dunfermline beat Valencia and Everton, while St Johnstone
defeated SV Hamburg over 2 legs. Celtic and Rangers were of
course the leading lights and between them defeated teams of quality such as
Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Benfica, Red Star Belgrade, Leeds
United, Borrusia Monchengladbach and St Etienne. Not forgetting Dundee, who
reached the European Cup Semi Final in 1962-63 before losing to AC Milan. Over 35,000 packed old Dens Park for the
second leg which Dundee won 1-0. They also beat AC Milan 2-0 in the UEFA Cup at
Dens Park.
All of these facts serve to illustrate that a
strong case can be made for claiming that period as one of Scottish football’s
great eras. For Celtic to win the title more than all the other clubs combined
in that time illustrates how good they were. They were competitive times with
good sides striving to win the major prizes. An often unremarked truth is that
the Rangers side of the late 1960s was one of the best in their history and yet
they couldn’t overthrow the Stein dynasty. In a wider sense the achievements of
McNeil and his comrades on that day in Lisbon in 1967 had a direct bearing on
the calamities at Ibrox in more recent years. For some, to see the club in the
east end founded by impoverished Irish migrants conquer Europe was hard to
swallow. Much of the debt which eventually killed Rangers was built up as they
sought to emulate the achievements of the Lisbon Lions. Ironically McNeil’s
statue faces south-west towards Ibrox, a poignant reminder of their folly and
failure.
As you pass the statue of Billy McNeil in the
years ahead remember what it represents. Of course it honours this great Celtic
player but modest as he is he would say that honour is shared with those team
mates who helped him to create Celtic history.
As big Jock gazes down the Celtic way towards his Captain he would no
doubt smile and say in that gruff Miner’s voice, ‘Aye, you deserve it Billy.’
Those supporters who saw you play and those who didn’t will no doubt
agree to that. In an era of fine players you were one of the finest and a born
leader. The stars aligned in those times and bequeathed you a fantastically talented group of team
mates who followed you into footballing immortality.
Thank you Billy for the memories of great days
you helped create but above all thank you for caring about Celtic as much as we,
the ordinary fans do. A select few deserve the tag ‘Celtic Legend’ you are one
of them.
I am too young to remember him as a player but as a manager, he was immense. In his first spell, we played some wonderful football and had some fantastic players. I remember when he came back in 1987, he talked about how the standards had fallen a the club and re-introduced players turning up for training in their Celtic tracksuits and for games in their celtic suits. It was little things like that, he said, that instilled discipline and character into the team and helped players realise the magnitude of the club they were playing for. Even now, players from that era - both spells - talk about McNeil the man and the presence and aura he had and that he was both formidable and humble in equal measure. Not many can have that said about them. Big Billy, more that a player or manager, a true legend of a man!
ReplyDeleteI agree with every word of that Brian HH
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