The beginning of season 1966/67 was a period of uncertainty for Hearts striker Willie Wallace. Having finished the leading goalscorer at Tynecastle since his arrival from Raith Rovers back in 1961, his requests for an increase from his original deal were continuing to fall on deaf ears. It is difficult to argue that his stock was anything but rising, however, in those days the power most certainly lay with the club, the Gorgie board refusing to budge, if you pardon the pun.
In addition to the three full international caps gained for Scotland whilst with Hearts, Willie had also been picked twice for the Scottish League select in that period. Those Inter-league matches were a big deal at that time, the clashes against the English, in particular, taken very seriously by all of the players involved. His first appearance at that level had been back on Wednesday, 8 September 1965, a 6-2 victory over the Irish League at Ibrox, Willie scoring twice in the first half to add to Andy Penman’s opener to put the Scots 3-0 by the 20th minute. Willie Henderson would later grab his own brace with John Hughes scoring from the spot.
Despite those goals, I would suggest that it was Willie’s second appearance for the Scottish League which would prove more significant in terms of his later career. The opposition on this occasion would be a huge step up in class, as the superstars from the English League awaited the Scots at St James Park, Newcastle, before 33,000 screaming Geordies, on Wednesday, 16 March 1966. The hosts included many of the men who would win the World Cup at Wembley within a few short months, local favourites the Charlton brothers, Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles, together with the wonderful Jimmy Greaves, at that time the best striker in the country.
The Scottish forward line included Celtic wingers Jimmy Johnstone and John Hughes and Dundee’s Andy Penman, whilst Willie would partner another Parkhead favourite for the first time, centre-forward Joe McBride.
Greaves would open the scoring before half an hour had been played, a lead the English held until the interval. However, it would be all change after the break. Within a minute of the restart, Penman had equalised, with McBride then adding a double before the hour to seal a tremendous 3-1 victory for the Scottish League. I often wonder if a certain Jock Stein was an interested observer, as Wallace and McBride tormented the best defenders that the highly-regarded English League could muster. Watch this space.
McBride was on fire again as the 1966/67 season opened with another League Cup sectional match between Hearts and Celtic, this time on Saturday, 13 August 1966 at Tynecastle. Seven days earlier, Jock Stein’s new League Champions had destroyed a full-strength Manchester United side by 4-1 at Celtic Park as the new Jungle was opened for business. They would continue to blow teams away for the foreseeable future, Joe McBride’s double in Edinburgh sealing a 2-0 victory as the competitive season got underway.
Fourteen goals were then scored in two home matches against the other sides in the group, Clyde and St Mirren, followed by a Bobby Lennox hat-trick at Ibrox as Rangers were humbled 4-0 in the Glasgow Cup before 77,000 spectators. Next up was Hearts, three days later, Joe repeating the medicine with another brace, either side of a Stevie Chalmers strike as Celtic eased home 3-0. And, quite incredibly, Joe McBride would score twice against Hearts for the third time that season, as Stein’s unbeaten team again won by 3-0 in the first League fixture between the clubs, played at Celtic Park on Saturday, 26 November 1966.
That would be Willie Wallace’s last appearance for Hearts against Celtic, and seven days later, he unwittingly wore the famous maroon jersey for the final time, in a 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle at Firhill, strike partner Alan Gordon rescuing a point after Tommy Rae’s early opener. The following Tuesday, he was contacted at home by Hearts manager John Harvey, enquiring if he would be interested in a move to Parkhead. Following some interesting negotiations at Celtic Park that evening, Tuesday, 6 December 1966, Willie Wallace became a Celtic player.
His Tynecastle record had been highly impressive. In terms of competitive matches, Willie had scored 131 goals in 248 appearances. That tally included five hat-tricks plus another game in which he had went one better with four goals. He would be a tough act to follow for Hearts.
Twenty-four hours after signing for Celtic, Willie Wallace would watch his new club claim a place in the quarter-final of the European Cup by repeating their 3-1 first-leg victory over French champions Nantes at Parkhead. He would then make his debut on the same pitch three days later, Saturday, 10 December 1966, partnering his old friend Stevie Chalmers for the visit of Motherwell in front of 40,000 spectators.
Chalmers would grab the accolades on the day with a hat-trick, with Bobby Murdoch adding another for a 4-0 win. And there was another curious twist in the never-ending weave of Celtic connections, as the Steelmen’s own centre-forward, John ‘Dixie’ Deans, was ordered off for a bad challenge on Jimmy Johnstone. The two men would later become teammates and great friends, whilst Dixie would feature in the Willie Wallace story in the autumn of 1971. More to follow on that one.
The following Saturday, 17 December 1966, saw Willie score his first goal for Celtic, and his second, as the Hoops destroyed Partick Thistle by 6-2 at Parkhead. The frightening firepower now available to Jock Stein is best illustrated by a front four of Stevie Chalmers, Willie Wallace, Joe McBride and Bobby Lennox, with Jimmy Johnstone a not-too-shabby option to come on from the bench. Chalmers also grabbed a brace on the day whilst Bobby Murdoch and McBride were on target, as was a young Arthur Duncan for the visitors.
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