However, it now seemed to me that it wasn’t quite as rosy a deal as I’d expected. Apart from the low signing-on fee, it also meant that, if I agreed, I would receive nothing from Hearts for the six years’ service I had given them and I would be on only a six-month contract with Celtic. So I said “no” and was standing up ready to leave the boardroom when Mr Stein suggested I should wait until the Hearts’ party arrived. I agreed, left the room and went back to my seat on the bench under John Thomson’s picture.
When the Hearts people arrived, they simply said “hello” to me before going into the boardroom. John Harvey was the only one of the party who knew I had been at Parkhead since 4.30pm; the others thought that, like them, I had just arrived.
After a few minutes, John Harvey and Jock Stein came out of the boardroom, had a short chat just outside the door and then Mr Stein went back inside. John walked over and asked me what the problem was. I explained exactly what had happened since I had been there.
He also appeared to be disappointed with the offer. “Leave it with me,” he said and he walked back into the boardroom. I waited for about 10 minutes before John emerged again. He told me Hearts would give me £2,000 as their part of the deal.
That was fine with me, so now the only remaining problem was the six-month contract. John advised me to take the offer now and, if things didn’t work out, they would have me back. Knowing and trusting John Harvey – I always found him to be an honest man – I decided I would sign for Celtic.
I phoned Olive to tell her the news. She seemed happy with the outcome but a little confused over the details. I said to her that rather than go into it all over the phone, I would explain everything when I saw her at home. When I arrived, she had dinner ready so I opened a bottle of wine and, as we ate, we discussed how it would affect us – more than that, how it would change our lives.
This was especially important as many members of my family supported Rangers and the rivalry between the Old Firm clubs – and their huge supporter groups – could sometimes become pretty intense. I explained to her how much bigger Celtic was as a club than Hearts, that the team was full of top-class players, that I would benefit as a footballer and, of course, that we would benefit financially.
The discussion probably became a bit less focused as we finished both dinner and a second bottle of wine but at least I must have managed to convey part of the story effectively enough, as she summed it up by saying: “Good – and you won’t have to drive through to Edinburgh every day!”
Willie Wallace scoring on his debut a few days later…
Some members of the family were clearly disappointed I had signed for Celtic and not Rangers. I told them Rangers hadn’t asked me to sign and had never expressed an interest in me. I had never had any problems with my family over which clubs I played for.
However, some of my “friends” proved less loyal. I realised I’d lost some of these – mostly Rangers’ supporters – on the first Tuesday night after I’d signed for Celtic. I went down to the pub in a village called Torrance, three miles from Kirkintilloch, as I’d been doing for many years, to play cards and have a pint or two. As I walked through the doorway, I was quickly challenged with: “What do you want?”
The question came from the pub’s owner, who was also the barmaid. When I said I wanted a pint and to play cards with my mates, she replied: “There’s none o’ them here and we don’t serve turncoats in this bar – so get oot!” As I turned to leave, I glanced over at the corner table where we usually played cards. There was no one there. It didn’t take long for me to realise things had changed.
Willie Wallace, Lisbon Lion
An extract from Willie Wallace, Heart of a Lion, published by The Celtic Star’s Editor back in 2013…
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