A first Ibrox winning goal for Harry Hood

A first Ibrox winning goal for Harry…but not For Celtic…

Clyde would then have a free weekend, the squad heading down to Inverclyde for a training camp as the farcical situation of ‘byes’ for a number of teams in the first round of the Scottish Cup continued, despite pressure from clubs and customers alike to amend the format.

There would be controversy of a different kind closer to home, though, as news then emerged of plans to amalgamate the Bully Wee with East Kilbride Juniors and relocate from Shawfield to the Lanarkshire New Town, with a stadium already under construction. Clyde chairman Willie Dunn explained the rationale behind the proposal.

“The club is in with a very good chance of winning promotion this year, but our attendances are averaging no more than 3,000 at home games. No club, even a Second Division club, can live on that income, and we think that, by moving house, we can give East Kilbride a football team worthy of a new town, and definitely improve our own future. [The stadium] is a beautiful bowl, well sited, and the turf on the playing pitch has already been laid. We would need to erect a stand worthy of a First or Second Division club, but that is not an insuperable barrier. The ground should certainly be able to hold more than 50,000 fans.”

Within 24 hours of that story breaking, Clyde were hitting the headlines again, this time on the pitch. Having made his debut at Ibrox in a 3-1 League defeat in November 1962, Harry found himself lining up once again in Govan against Rangers on Wednesday, 15 January 1964, this time in the semi-final of the Glasgow Cup.

The visitors were written off, one newspaper talking of a miracle being required to prevent the first Glasgow Cup final between Celtic and Rangers since 1956 taking place.

In fairness, it was a stretch. Whilst Rangers had been humiliated in Europe by Real Madrid, losing 6-0 in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu after a late Ferenc Puskas goal had won the first leg at Ibrox, they were on course for a domestic Treble, tucked in behind Kilmarnock at the top of the First Division with the League Cup already secured after their 5-0 victory over Morton.

Ibrox boss Scot Symon now declared his intent by naming the same eleven men who had won 5-1 at Ochilview on the Saturday, to knock Stenhousemuir out of the Scottish Cup. On the other hand, Second Division Clyde boasted a small squad made up entirely of part-time players. A win for the underdogs would therefore be a huge ask, as the following teams took the field.

Rangers: Billy Ritchie; Davie Provan & Eric Caldow; Harold Davis, Ronnie McKinnon & Jim Baxter;
Willie Henderson, John Greig, Jimmy Millar, Ralph Brand & Craig Watson.

Clyde: Tommy McCulloch; Eddie Mulheron & Alex Blain; Jim Murray, Jim Fraser & Davie White;
Jim McLean, Sammy Reid, Graham Macfarlane, John McHugh & Harry Hood.

Clyde would enjoy the better of the first half, that superiority rewarded when Harry “spooned the ball past Ritchie” for the opening goal five minutes before the interval, as the majority of the 10,000 crowd expressed their dissatisfaction in the traditional manner.

The second turning point of the night would arrive just after the hour, Ibrox winger Craig Watson’s shot handled on the line by Shawfield skipper Davie White with keeper Tommy McCulloch beaten, with some suggestion that the ball had actually crossed the line. Any sense of injustice being harboured by the home support would be exacerbated by McCulloch’s wonderful save from Davie Provan’s spot kick.

That would be it for the hosts, as Clyde defied the odds to secure a cup final date with Celtic or Third Lanark, a first for the young Harry. No doubt that left arm of his was raised in triumph, as he acknowledged the presence of his dad, his brothers and his best pal in the Ibrox crowd.

A “Viva” overload for the Hood family that night, I’d bet. Author and historian David Potter recalls a joke of the day which he heard from and attributes to his father, which went along the following lines.