Mackay and Gemmell defend at Ibrox but Celtic lose 3-0 in the League Cup on 24 August 1963. Photo The Celtic Wiki
I saw the cavalry, the mounted police, galloping up London Road
But moving away from the Rangers complex, Celtic actually recovered quite well from an awful start. A demonstration by supporters against Robert Kelly after a game against Queen of the South might well have turned nasty – I saw at least two young men with bricks in their hands, and I also saw the cavalry, the mounted police, galloping up London Road (all that was missing were trumpets and John Wayne) to be on hand in case things got silly. Thankfully, the demonstration stayed non-violent, but there was real anger there, that day, justified anger – and it was all directed at Mr Kelly.
Mr Kelly, apparently, was not there that day having prudently opted to go and watch the reserves at Dumfries instead, but he must have heard about it. Indeed, it was highlighted with pictures in all the papers. Still nothing happened, and then in the next game in the League Cup section at Ibrox, another 0-3 defeat, there was serious trouble and many arrests at the Celtic End.
Everyone said “this cannot go on”, but it did, except that the third game against Rangers that autumn at Ibrox in the League saw a distinctly under-populated Celtic End. It was actually a fairly spirited Celtic performance. We were 1-0 up for a spell and it should have been two but we hit the post… but then came the collapse again.
John Divers stands guard at Ibrox 7 September 1963 as Celtic lose 2-1. Photo The Celtic Wiki
At last, after further defeats from Falkirk and St Mirren in September Mr Kelly met some supporters from the Association. It was, by all accounts, a dignified and polite occasion and the Association put their points reasonably. Mr Kelly replied reasonably, promised better days and then suddenly the team began to play better.
While Rangers were being hammered by Real Madrid (for a spell after this, the line in The Soldiers’ Song which ran “tonight we man the bearna bhaoil” – which no-one understood anyway – became “tonight we go to the Bernabeu”) Celtic beat Basle and advanced in Europe, and then there were competent wins over Aberdeen and Dundee United before a spectacular 9-0 doing of Airdrie.
Form was acceptable, if not brilliant, and we made further progress in Europe
From then on until the turn of the year, form was acceptable, if not brilliant, and we made further progress in Europe with a defeat of Dinamo Zagreb.
Yet there was no great tactical reason for all this. The team simply began to get a little confidence. Gemmell, McNeill, Murdoch, Johnstone and Hughes all developed and the supporters began to return – but of course, we still had to play Rangers on New Year’s Day. Hard luck was the order of the day, yet again, but the real problem was the lack of mental toughness and once again, the inferiority complex.
