Remembering Bertie Auld
Bertie Auld approached life with a smile on his face and was
one of the great characters of Scottish football. He learned his trade in the
rough street games of Glasgow’s working-class community and was steeled further
playing in the Junior league with Maryhill. There was no doubt he was a tough
cookie on the field of play but he could play the game too.
The boy from Panmure street in Maryhill wasn’t from a
traditional Celtic family but from the day in 1955 when he returned home from
Celtic Park clutching a £20 signing on fee given to him by Jimmy McGrory, he
was Celtic to the core. His fiery temperament and lippy nature ruffled a few feathers
in the stuffy days of the 1950s and after
less than a hundred games for Celtic, the club sold him to Birmingham City where
he won the League Cup in 1962-63 and appeared in the Inter-Cities Fairs cup
final. (A forerunner of the UEFA Cup)
One of football’s great raconteurs, the stories Bertie told
are the stuff of legend. He recalled playing for Birmingham in a European tie
and noticing the referee was fellow Scot, Tiny Wharton. He approached Wharton
and said before kick-off, ‘You know, we’re the only two Scots on this field
so any chance you could do us a wee turn tonight? Tiny ignored him until
later in the game when Bertie clattered an opponent. The six-foot four referee
approached him saying, ‘Remember you said there were the only two Scots on
the field? Well, there’s only one now. Off!’
Bertie had some measure of revenge when he returned to Celtic
in the mid-1960s. He asked Wharton what would happen if he called him a
bastard. Wharton replied that he’d send him off. He then asked, ‘what if I
just think you’re a bastard?’ Wharton replied, ‘I can’t do anything if
you just think it.’ To which Bertie replied, ‘well I think you’re a
bastard!’
His time at Birmingham also saw him lay out the golden boy of
English football, Johnny Haynes of Fulham. He recalls in his book the incident
in the following words…
‘As we trotted back
Haynes was giving as good as he got, ‘I’ll get you the next time you little
Scottish bastard.’ I snapped as we reached the centre circle and thought it
would be a good idea to give him a dull one. I whacked him. Our pitch was hard
as flint and he went down like a sack of spuds. His head thudded off the
surface and he just lay there.’
Bertie was sent off and
as he trotted from the field, Fulham’s hulking centre half Maurice Cooke
approached him to extract some revenge. To the astonishment of all, the little
Scot clocked him too and left him on his back on the turf.
Bertie’s brand of tough, incisive football, combined with a
certain gallusness, made him a mainstay in the Celtic side Jock Stein
constructed in the years after 1965. That side had an alchemy, a magic which
made it more than the sum of its parts. From their experienced old goalkeeper,
Ronnie Simpson to a defence in which the full backs were expected to attack as
much as they defended and the imperious McNeill was backed up by that great
reader of the game, John Clark. The midfield comprised of the dynamic Bobby
Murdoch ably assisted by Bertie Auld. These two could tackle, run and pass with
an accuracy which suited the pace of Lennox and the virtuoso ball playing
genius of Jimmy Johnstone. Up front Wallace and Chalmers posed a threat to any
defence.
It is recorded that as Celtic lined up in the tunnel beside
the tanned athletes of Inter Milan on that hot day in Lisbon in 1967, Bertie
sensed they needed a spur. He began to sing the Celtic Song as the bemused
Italians looked on. Soon every Celtic player was belting it out, and Inter knew
they had a real game on their hands. The eleven pale Scots proceeded to tutor
Inter on the art of attacking football and the 2-1 score line barely registers
Celtic’s mastery that day.
Bertie Auld was a man of his time and never forgot his roots.
He’d be seen standing chatting to fans, posing for photos with them or signing
autographs for far longer than modern professionals would. He epitomised the
spirit of the Lisbon Lions and took huge pride in what they had achieved. Above
this he was also a lifelong friend to all the players he played with at Celtic and
he simply loved their company. So many video clips exist showing him happy and
at ease among his old comrades, his infectious laughter echoing around the room.
It was obvious that that band of brothers had great love for each other.
As the old brigade leave us one by one, we are left with
memories and thankfully a video record of their brilliance to show the young
who never saw them play. For me Bertie will be the man holding the ball in the
air after defeating Leeds United at Hampden in 1970. He will be the gallus
Maryhill lad winding up Herrera’s Inter in the tunnel in Lisbon. He will also be
the man who took such pride in wearing that hooped shirt and in entertaining
the fans. Above all he was one of us and he loved Celtic with a passion that so
many of us share. That shone through in his interactions with the fans, his
tales, his jokes and his willingness to attend supporters’ functions from
Lanarkshire to Las Vegas.
His great rival at Rangers, John Greig, once stood in the
tunnel at Ibrox before a game with Bertie nearby. ‘How much is your win
bonus today?’ Greig enquired. Bertie replied, ‘we’re on a fiver each if
we win.’ Greig smiled, ‘Really, we’re on ten quid win bonus.’ ‘Aye,’
said Bertie, ‘but we’re guaranteed it. You’re getting nothing.’ That was
Bertie, a sharp wit, a sharp footballer and a man forever recognised as Bertie
Auld; Celtic legend.
He'd like that.
