The fans too appreciated the subtlety of the play of Charlie Gallagher. There were fewer of them than there would have been at Celtic Park – 1,000 would be considered an acceptable, even a good crowd – but they knew good football when they saw it. Dumbarton supporters, by definition, are not glory hunters. If they had been, they would have been at Celtic Park every week! They were more patient and in a real sense, supportive. The fact that their team finished fourth in the Scottish League Division Two was considered a triumph. And they had a visit to Celtic
Park to look forward to at the start of the new season which would indeed turn out to be a remarkable one.
In the meantime, Celtic had won the Scottish League and Scottish Cup double, beating Rangers in a replayed final in the latter tournament. The team had been in the throes of transition, and the Lisbon men were now being shaken out in a novel form of diaspora to teams like Morton, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. Symbolically, in the last League game of the season, Stein had played them all for one last time, except for Ronnie Simpson who had now retired, but who nevertheless came out with the rest of the team before the start.
Dumbarton’s game at Celtic Park was played on 31 July 1971, and Celtic Park was a strange sight with the main stand still out of commission as it was being redeveloped. Pre-season Micky Mouse tournament or not, the Dryburgh Cup persuaded 22,000 to appear and Charlie was given a great reception by the crowd as Dumbarton came out. It was however another Charlie who was the main focus of attention, for the great Charlie Tully had died a few days previously in Belfast and was given a very impressive minute’s silence. Gallagher had of course known Tully, for their careers had crossed briefly in the late 1950s.
It was a young Celtic side captained by Jim Brogan, and Dumbarton looked as if they were in with a chance especially when they scored first through an excellent Charlie Gallagher free kick from the edge of the box. Davie Hay had brought down Roy McCormack on the edge of the box, and Charlie showed the Celtic crowd just what they had been missing with a fine strike from the free kick which eluded the defensive wall and Evan Williams.
The reaction of the crowd was interesting. There was of course a cheer from the small band of Dumbarton supporters, and stony silence from the Celtic crowd, but then realisation grew that the free lick had been scored by Charlie Gallagher. A ripple of applause ran round the Jungle with appreciation at a great goal scored by an ex-Celt, and he was given reluctant approval for all the other good things he did in the game. When he was substituted late in the game, the crowd would have risen to him if they had been sitting down, but of course there was no sitting accommodation! Celtic in the event won the game very comfortably 5-2 with a youngster called Kenny Dalglish catching the eye.
It was however a good start to the season for the Sons of the Rock in that it gave them a taste of the big time atmosphere that the team now aspired to. Yet the team got off to a very poor start once the season started officially, explained to a certain extent by the injury to Charlie Gallagher, but the League Cup this year would provide no opportunity for glory as it had done the year before. Home defeats to Queen of the South and Stenhousemuir, quite apart from ruining any chance in the League Cup, also gave the Boghead faithful little cause for optimism for the League campaign.
The League campaign itself also got off to a bad start with a poor run of form which included a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park in late September, but gradually things improved and by the time that winter came, Dumbarton settled down to some sort of form, especially when their ranks were supplemented by the arrival of Davie Wilson from Dundee United. Wilson had of course been an Ibrox legend with Rangers, and Wilson and Gallagher brought a wealth of experience with them to Boghead, something that was most noticed on days when things were difficult for the team.
Gallagher had always been a good “bad weather” player in that wet or hard pitches (unless excessively so) were less of a problem to him, and his value became more apparent in the months leading up to the New Year. Kenny Wilson was on form scoring goals, and there were several high scoring victories – 6-2 for example at Douglas Park, and 7-1 over Alloa the week before Christmas at Boghead. The year 1971 finished with Dumbarton handily placed in 4th position following their 2-2 draw with St Mirren at Love Street.
The County Reporter (Dumbarton’s local paper) is ecstatic about the team, particularly in the context of the 7-1 defeat of Alloa, using phrases like “Sons were brilliant” and singling out Charlie Gallagher of whom it says “I doubt if Charlie Gallagher has contributed as much genius to a game in a Dumbarton jersey as he did on Saturday”. Not only did he score with a penalty kick, but he also had a hand in every other goal! The County Reporter also praises Alloa for their sporting acceptance of their defeat but, tellingly, criticises the Dumbarton crowd for not turning up in greater numbers to see this feast of football. Only 1,300 were there and the “Sons deserve better than that”.
In the domestic front, 1971 had seen an addition to the family when Kieron was born. Charlie and Mary had had plans to adopt a baby girl, but the imminence of Kieron had put paid to that. The following year, a girl did arrive when Claire was born. It was a happy time of Charlie’s life. He had recovered from his injury of a few years ago, and was enjoying playing for Dumbarton where he had already become a cult hero.
