The League Cup section would see Celtic paired with Rangers, Falkirk and Queen of the South, a 4-1 win at Ibrox on Matchday 4 leaving the Bhoys in pole position to qualify before a combination of bad luck and that old failing of inconsistency blew those hopes apart. Captain Jock Stein would suffer the ankle injury that effectively ended his career and plagued his later life as the Ibrox side travelled to Parkhead four days later and scored four goals without reply. That would open the door for Dick Beattie and Jimmy Docherty to receive their debuts in the final section game, an infamous 1-1 draw at Brockville where the story afterwards was more about the trouble on the terracing than the dropped point which cost Celts qualification in a competition they had yet to win. There would always be next season for that.
On Friday, 23 September 1955, Peter would line up at right-back in front of Benny McCreadie, as a Celtic reserve side featuring 17-year-old left-winger Bertie Auld beat their Rangers counterparts 1-0 at Ibrox, thanks to a goal from Matt McVittie. The same quartet would enjoy a 3-1 victory over Clyde Reserves at Parkhead on Saturday, 22 October 1955, whilst a few miles away, Scottish champions Aberdeen were adding a first League Cup to their maiden title by beating St Mirren 2-1 at Hampden. Two weeks later, yet another player followed the well-trodden path from Duntocher Hibs to Celtic Park, this time defender Jim ‘President’ Kennedy the man involved, as he signed provisional forms for his boyhood team on 3 November.
Saturday, 10 December 1955 would see Peter Goldie play alongside his old hero John ‘Hooky’ McPhail, Jock Stein, John Bonnar and Bertie Auld, as the Celtic reserves won 2-1 at Rugby Park, whilst up in Glasgow, Kilmarnock’s first team were scoring twice without reply to record what would be their last victory at Celtic Park for more than half a century. That Parkhead defeat would have repercussions, Celts now displaced by Hibernian at the top of the table and Jimmy McGrory – or Bob Kelly – deciding that change was required for the visit of Partick Thistle. In came Peter Goldie at left-back for his competitive first-team debut, together with Jock Stein, back following four months on the sidelines with the ankle injury sustained against Rangers.
The Celtic team on Saturday, 17 December 1955 lined up as follows.
Dick Beattie; Mike Haughney & Peter Goldie; Bobby Evans, Jock Stein & Bertie Peacock;
John Higgins, Willie Fernie, Jim Sharkey, Bobby Collins & Neil Mochan.
Neil Mochan’s arrival at Celtic had coincided with Peter’s and he continued that connection by scoring a hat-trick on Goldie’s debut, including one directly from a corner kick, the 5-1 win duly completed by Jim Sharkey and a late Mike Haughney penalty. Future Celtic assistant manager Davie McParland had earlier reduced the Jags deficit to 2-1, whilst Peter’s direct opponent was Scotland outside-right Johnny MacKenzie. He had joined Thistle from Petershill in 1944 and would go on to play over 250 League games for the Maryhill club. MacKenzie would later join Goldie’s hometown club Dumbarton and would live to the ripe old age of 91 before passing away on the Inner Hebridean island of Tiree in July 2017, apparently one of the few fluent Gaelic speakers to play international football for Scotland. He wasn’t too bad at the English either, Peter later recalling that Johnny had actually made a point of giving him some words of encouragement during the match. A classy touch from a classy man.
Jimmy Docherty would be loaned out to Alloa Athletic during the following week whilst Peter received an early Christmas gift by retaining his place for the top of the table battle at Easter Road on Saturday, 24 December 1955. The only change to the starting line-up from the win over Thistle was Jimmy Walsh replacing the injured John Higgins at outside-right. Having faced one international winger in Johnny MacKenzie, Peter’s direct opponent in his second game was the wonderful Gordon Smith, the Famous Five member who has the unique distinction of winning the Scottish League Championship with three different clubs.
He would give young Goldie a difficult opening period, however, by full-time the points would leave with the Hoops, Neil Mochan with another brace – he had done the same thing there 18 months earlier to clinch the 1954 title – and Jim Sharkey on target as Celts won 3-2 to remain top of the League. Peter would later recall in his interview with St Anthony how Jock Stein made a point of congratulating him after he had set up Mochan for the first goal, a lovely touch from the skipper. It was not the first one either. Early in his Parkhead career, Stein had taken time to lunch with the young Goldie, at that time recovering from a broken leg and unknown to many of the first team stars, in a Glasgow restaurant. Such was the substance behind the legend.
The Boxing Day Glasgow Cup final with Rangers at Hampden would see another legend, Sean Fallon, return to claim the left-back slot, Celts winning 5-3 to claim the trophy for the first time in seven years. Fallon would remain in that role through a dreadful three-week period in January 1956, as defeats to Rangers and Aberdeen followed by a draw in Kirkcaldy saw Celts plummet to fifth in the table.
The visit of Hearts on the last Saturday of the month brought another opportunity for Peter Goldie as Sean succumbed to injury once more, an otherwise unchanged line-up seeing Bobby Collins and Jimmy Walsh swap positions in the forward line. Things looked ominous when 18-year-old Gorgie sensation Alex Young opened the scoring in the first minute, however, Walsh, playing in a more central role, equalised early in the second half as the match ended 1-1 with Jock Stein a virtual passenger on the left-wing, the skipper having worryingly sustained another injury during the match. Young would be another player who would go on to enjoy success with different clubs, winning a clean sweep of domestic honours with Hearts – including the 1959/60 League title with Gordon Smith as a teammate – then an English League and FA Cup medal with Everton.
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