“Charlie Gallagher? What a Player!” – Little Credit for Jock Stein as Charlie and Celtic part company

Ironically, after all his fine exploits in spring 1968, Gallagher played only one more competitive game for Celtic in Scotland. Gallagher had played well in the games of the American tour, but when the serious business came round in August, Stein introduced George Connelly at the expense of Charlie Gallagher.

We do not know at what stage or for what precise reason Stein decided that Gallagher, still regarded as the hero of last year by many supporters and pundits, should give way. For the high prestige friendly against Leeds United, Gallagher was named as one of the substitutes, but the very fact that Celtic lost that game 1-2 made one feel that Gallagher might yet be preferred for the first real game of the season against Rangers at Ibrox.

But it was Connelly that got the nod. To an extent, we cannot blame Stein because the claims of the immensely
talented young George could not really be ignored, but most supporters felt that this was hard on Charlie. Most supporters had been waiting for Connelly to break through. He had first come to their attention in January
1966 at half-time in the Dinamo Kiev game when he had entertained the crowd with a demonstration of keepy-uppy and ball control.

It had been thrilling stuff and consistent good reports filtered through about his performances in the reserves, and it was certainly in character with Stein to keep introducing youngsters. Any objections were easily squashed with the undeniable fact that the team were off once again to a great start.

Every single game of the League Cup section was won, and won well, with Willie Wallace in a particular in great goal scoring form. Partick Thistle and Morton were swept aside, but the games that really mattered were the ones against Rangers. Celtic opened the season on a lovely sunny day at Ibrox with a 2-0 win and two weeks later beat them again 1-0 at Parkhead.

Charlie had opened the season at Celtic Park, playing in the Reserve League Cup against Rangers. The team contained quite a few experienced men – Chalmers, Craig and McBride for example as well as Gallagher – but there were also talented youngsters like David Hay, Jimmy Quinn and Lou Macari as well. Celtic won 2-1, but in the next Old Firm reserve game, Gallagher was missing. It may have been a coincidence, but Celtic lost 2-5.

It was a valuable role for Charlie, even though he would have been a great deal happier playing in the first team and indeed, many supporters, recalling his great days of early in the season, thought that he should have been there. Youngsters, however talented, need mentoring and supporting, and Charlie was ideally cut out for just that job. He was sympathetic, kind and understanding, for he recalled his own apprenticeship of ten years ago, and how men like Willie Fernie helped him along. In addition, he was a model professional showing a perfect example to the youngsters in his habits of training hard, abstinence from anything that might do him harm, and that sheer fact that he was Celtic through and through.

But in August 1968 something happened on the world stage which at one point threatened major repercussions, and it was something that Celtic, enjoying their new major role in European football, involved themselves in. The Soviet Union, with its Warsaw Pact allies, on the night of August 20/21 invaded Czechoslovakia.

This was because they feared that the “liberalising” tendencies of Alexander Dubcek, who had already done things like allow the freedom of the Press, might encourage Czechoslovakia to defect from the Warsaw Pact and join the West. So, they sent in the troops.

This high-handed action, by no means dissimilar to what Hitler had done to the same country thirty years before and very like what the Soviets had done to Hungary in 1956, was of course roundly condemned by the West, but short of provoking nuclear war with a counter invasion, what could they do?

In any case, the USA were hardly, themselves, squeaky clean as they were raping Vietnam at the time. But Celtic now intervened.

Celtic had been drawn in the European Cup to play Ferencvaros of Hungary. Mr Kelly felt that it was unfair that in the prevailing circumstances Celtic should be asked to play a game in Hungary whose troops were now invading another country. He approached the European authorities and asked for a re-draw of the European Cup. He canvassed hard for support, and won his point. The draw was scrapped, re-done and Celtic now found themselves playing St Etienne of France instead of Ferencvaros.

There were those who questioned Mr Kelly’s motives. Cynics felt that when he won his Knighthood on New Year’s Day, it was for this very political stand, but he certainly won his point and it was an indication of just how far Celtic had come in the past few years. In 1952, Celtic and Kelly had won their point over flying of the Irish tricolour at Celtic Park; now they were able to make their effect on world politics!

The one first team game that Charlie Gallagher played that season was in a game that didn’t matter. It was a Scottish League Cup quarter final second leg against Hamilton Accies at Douglas Park on 25 September, and Celtic had already won the first leg 10-0! Celtic, fielding virtually a reserve side, won 4-2 in pelting rain, and the only real factor of historical relevance in the game was that Charlie was substituted in the second half and replaced by a young man called Kenny Dalglish, another example of Stein’s willingness to bring on youngsters if and when they were good enough.

Soon after that, Charlie began to have problems with his cartilage and ligaments, and an operation was necessary at Bon Secours hospital in November 1968. Jock Stein was notoriously bad at visiting injured players in hospital, particularly those who were now deemed to be on the fringes. Other players and backroom staff visited regularly and there were loads of well wishers among the support, but only once, and then under pressure from people like Sean Fallon, did Stein come to see him. His words were less than totally encouraging “I’ve signed Tommy Callaghan to replace you!”

He had indeed done just that. Stein had bought Callaghan from Dunfermline. Having managed Callaghan from his time as Dunfermline boss, Jock knew he was good. It would not be entirely true however to state that Callaghan was a direct replacement. He was merely an addition to the very rich pool of Celtic talent available to Stein. In effect, Tommy was mainly used as a substitute, at least for the rest of the season.

What this incident proves however is that the relationship between Stein and his players was not always all that it could have been. No-one would ever dare to doubt the tactical nous and sheer managerial ability of Jock Stein. His record speaks loudly for itself. There are some players who will not have a bad word said about him – Billy McNeill for example – but others, mainly those on the fringes carry a legacy of bitterness.

John Hughes, for example, could not bring himself to go to Stein’s funeral after several humiliations at his hand. John Fallon has recently told his story of Jock Stein, and it is one from which Stein does not emerge with credit.
Fallon was also treated very poorly by Stein when he was injured and in hospital with one churlish visit during which he said to Fallon that he should get a hair-cut!

These stories sit ill with the fans who worshipped Jock Stein, but it is clear than his tremendous record as a trophy winner must be balanced against his lack of sympathetic man-management skills. Stein was born in 1922 into a tough Lanarkshire mining background. It is often fashionable to describe in romantic terms these coal mining villages where everyone looks out for each other. There is a certain truth in that, but there is also the other side of it. One has to be tough and competitive to survive, and sometimes sheer nastiness can be looked upon as a virtue.

This is certainly true of miners who play football. Jock made his debut in the middle of World War II for Albion Rovers. Neither in the mines, nor on the football field was life easy for him, and he was little more than a solid centre half. He himself described himself jocularly as a “passable” centre half – something that can of course mean two things! When he moved to Wales, it appeared than his footballing career was coming to an end, but then by a happy set of chances, he found himself at Celtic Park – absolutely not where his family would have wanted him to go – became captain, won the Coronation Cup in 1953, then a League and Cup double in 1954, but sustained a bad ankle injury in 1955 which compelled him to give up the playing side of the game. His sole International honour was in a Scottish League International game against England at Stamford Bridge – and England won!

His managerial career before he came to Celtic in 1965 was a success, and this continued. But he had seen the hard side of life too. He had lost games – in particular the 1955 Scottish Cup final against Clyde gave his a deep-seated distrust of goalkeepers – and competitions, (any Manager, player or supporter will have a few disappointments in his life) but there was still very little in Stein’s background to justify the paranoia that he
sometimes seemed to suffer from as far as some players were concerned.

As to why he did not like Charlie Gallagher, we cannot tell. One could find reasons why he did not like some of his other players, but the inoffensive, hard-working, never-complaining Charlie was a man to whom it would have been difficult to take a dislike. Perhaps Stein wanted him to show a little more of the devil in him, because, ironically, he sometimes seemed to like some of his bad boys. Jimmy Johnstone, for example, did enough on several occasions to earn himself the sack or a transfer to some English club, but Stein went the extra mile for him. Tommy Gemmell more than once asked for a transfer, and to an outsider, it often appeared that he and Stein were at daggers drawn. Yet the mutual respect was there. Bertie Auld likewise could get himself into trouble on and off the field, but always managed to keep the affection of his Manager.

Perhaps it was the sheer inoffensive nature of Charlie Gallagher that made Jock Stein not like him. There was certainly no rational reason, other than perhaps that Gallagher was one of the few of the Kelly Kids that had been unknown to Stein when they met up at Celtic Park. But Stein’s dislike of Gallagher would be shown up in an incident when Gallagher was playing for Dumbarton. We shall read this story in due course, and it is a story that shocks and horrifies those who profess a liking for Jock Stein.

And yet, even the players who do not speak highly of Stein as a character all unanimously admit that they would have been nothing without him. Had Stein not been appointed in 1965, the subsequent history of Celtic would have been a lot less pleasant. It is difficult to imagine Celtic winning a European Cup, for example, and indeed the likelihood is that Celtic would have ended up in perpetual decline, not unlike the English example of Newcastle United who have now not won an English trophy since 1955.

Yet Newcastle’s fans have stayed loyal. Celtic’s might not have. In January 1965 there were ominous signs that a lot were not coming back.

The truth is that Celtic, to survive as a major Scottish power, had to appoint Stein in 1965. It is also true that most successful men, not only in football but also in every other walk of life, have to have a ruthless streak. This Stein certainly did. Whether it can be used to justify the way that he treated men like John Hughes, John Fallon and Charlie Gallagher is open to question, to say the least.

So what would have happened to Gallagher without Stein? He might have retained his place on the Celtic staff, he might have even won back his first team spot, but without Stein there probably would have been no, or very few medals. He might have departed to Dumbarton or Partick Thistle or Kilmarnock a lot earlier than he eventually did. It would have depended on who the new Manager might have been. He might have been just as ruthless and nasty as Stein – but with a lot less of a football brain. Who is to say what might have happened with a new Manager, or in the real nightmare scenario of Mr Kelly keeping the status quo?

Certainly, if what Stein was reputed to have said about wanting rid of Charlie Gallagher along with Jimmy Johnstone and John Hughes is true, we have to face facts and point out that he did NOT actually do it. He may have SAID it (although never in public) but he certainly did not DO it. Charlie may have been heading for the exit in summer 1965 along with men like Hugh Maxwell and John Divers (who survived summer 1965 but not summer 1966) but he saved himself, in Stein’s eyes, by a fine performance in a few games, notably the Wednesday night of 31 March when he starred in the replay of the Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell.

Gallagher had been brought in on the Saturday but Celtic, with Gallagher still a little nervous and unsure of himself, had been feckless, unimaginative and possibly lucky to get a draw; with Gallagher on song on the Wednesday night, Celtic had booked their final spot soon after half time. Possibly more pointed were the games against Hibs. Without Gallagher, Celtic were well beaten at Parkhead; with Gallagher Celtic “attuning themselves for the Cup final”, beat Hibs (who were still challenging for the Scottish League) 4-0.

His successful Cup final was the high point of his career, and 1965/66 saw him in and out of the team, good enough to win a Scottish League and a Scottish League Cup medal, but noticeably he did not play in the games against Liverpool not the replay of the Scottish Cup final. He had played in the first game, a disappointing 0-0 draw, but Bertie Auld came back for the replay. Gallagher’s silky passes might just have made a difference on that awful night when Celtic, with most of the pressure, failed to breach the Rangers defence, then lost the one goal of the 180 minutes.

Stein certainly considered him worth keeping before and after Lisbon, and Stein’s trust of the player was rewarded in Gallagher’s glorious spring of 1968. But then he was hardly used in 1968/69 even before he went into hospital. In truth, even after Charlie’s complete recovery from his cartilage operation, there was now no way back for Gallagher at Celtic Park. Not only had Tommy Callaghan been bought from Dunfermline, as Stein had said he would, but it was difficult to spot any chink in their armour.

The team was doing remarkably well, it has to be said, lifting a domestic treble in April 1969 and but for one uncharacteristic error from Billy McNeill against AC Milan in a European Cup quarter final, they might have won that trophy as well. Indeed, many people think that the way that the team played in 1968 and 1969 was better than how they did in 1967.

Gallagher was back playing for the reserves by the spring of 1969, a role he accepted in the circumstances, and thus he was not involved in the remarkable month of April 1969 when Celtic, playing devastating football managed to win all three Scottish trophies in one calendar month, including two memorable Cup finals – 6-2 against Hibs in the Scottish League Cup final and then three weeks later 4-0 against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final

On the Tuesday night after Celtic had won the treble, the Reserves made it trophy no 4 for the season as they beat Aberdeen Reserves 2-0 at Hampden in the Scottish Reserve League Cup final. The team is interesting – Wraith, McGrain and Gorman; Dalglish, Connolly and Cattenach; Gallagher, McMahon, Macari, Callaghan and Davidson.

Charlie was back on his old stamping ground of the right wing, the team had two experienced players in Charlie and Tommy Callaghan, a few of the others had played a first team game or two (notably George Connolly who had won the Scottish Cup a few days previously) but most of them were callow youths, clearly learning a lot from Charlie Gallagher. Young Kenny Dalglish, for example, playing at right half, is described as a “carbon copy of Bobby Murdoch”, and there could be no higher praise than that!

Gallagher was retained in 1969 for the following season – although it would have been fascinating to see what would have happened if some English team had shown an interest. Charlie trained hard all over the summer. He was still only 28 and felt that he had a certain amount of football left in him, but he must have felt that his chances of playing first team football for Celtic must have diminished. Harry Hood had also joined the club, Davie Hay was now a first team regular, and there were other men in the queue as well. But he never complained. Indeed he still enjoyed a good standard of living, and he also rather enjoyed playing for the reserves, acting as a kind of mentor to young men like Danny McGrain who continually sang his praises.

In the year of 1970, Celtic did in fact make it to the European Cup final again. This had followed the two games against Leeds United and a distinctly unfortunate Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen in which the refereeing of Bobby Davidson played a disproportionate part in the proceedings. But by the time that the European Cup final was played, Charlie had been given a free transfer. His wife and he made jokes about it, for now there would be loads of time for painting the house!

But before that happened, a weird event occurred. Sometime in early 1970 when it was obvious that Charlie would probably not get back into the Celtic side, however well he played in the reserves, Stein told him one day that there was a Manager of a “north of England club” wanting to talk to him. Stein refused to say who it was, but gave Charlie an address of a disused warehouse in the Manchester area so that he could go and talk to the Manager concerned.

Charlie duly travelled down to the place concerned and waited for the man to appear. He had a long wait and no-one turned up. An hour or two passed, and eventually Charlie gave up and headed home. He told Stein about it the following day, but Stein just shrugged his shoulders and still would not tell Charlie who the Manager was nor which team he represented. Charlie heard no more about it!

What was behind this? Was Stein sufficiently insecure and vindictive to send Gallagher on a fool’s errand of this nature? If so, it reveals an almost sadistic side of Jock’s nature which we find hard to accept. Many other
players will testify to the vindictive side of Stein’s character, but would he go so far and be so nasty as to do something as bizarre as all that? Yet if not, and if Jock was simply wanting rid of Gallagher, why did he not tell
him who the Manager was? He might have earned the club some money instead of simply giving him a free transfer. The truth of this strange matter will never be known.

It was on Friday 1 May 1970 that the axe fell, and even then there was more than a touch of nastiness about. With all of Celtic Park agog with the prospect of the European Cup final in Milan, and Celtic preparing to take all their playing staff to see the game, Charlie was looking forward to the trip. Two planes had been chartered, but the first inkling that Charlie had to the effect was that he was getting the boot came when Sean Fallon came to him and said that he could not see Gallagher’s name on the list for either plane. The announcement was then made
that the playing staff had been reduced from 32 to 31 with Charlie Gallagher given a free transfer. He was the only one, for everyone else was retained. There would thus be no trip to Milan for Charlie and no future at Celtic Park.

The handling of this situation was shoddy, humiliating and, frankly, not worthy of the fair name of Celtic Football Club. It may have been realistically the best decision for both Celtic and Gallagher himself. Gallagher had after all hardly played in the first team for two years, new players had been brought in and things had moved on from Gallagher’s great spring of 1968. Things can and do change very quickly in football as we have seen, but this hardly excuses the insensitive way that Stein handled the situation.

A more humane Manager (even Stein himself perhaps in his early years) would have sought the player out for a quiet word before any brutal announcement, explained the situation and offered to do his best to get him another club (Stein had considerable influence in Scottish football). Things could have been amicable and friendly, even
though the situation was difficult. But then again, as events in the next few weeks would indicate, Stein seemed to be under a great deal of pressure in spring 1970 in spite of all the obvious success that the team was achieving.

There was very little in Milan or the USA that reflected any kind of credit on Jock Stein.

Charlie’s departure itself was curt and brief. The conversation went along the lines of “Charlie, I’m releasing you” to which Charlie said “Good” and left Stein’s office to find Sean Fallon waiting for him. Sean was not always
liked by all players, for he had a tendency to tell the truth, but he was efficient and reliable. He also had the ability to provide a shoulder to cry on. He and Charlie got on well together. He had already used his influence,
it was believed, to get Gallagher capped for Ireland, and on this occasion he was able to fix him up with another job. ”Don’t worry, Charlie”, he said. “I’ll get something fixed up for you”. He would be as good as his word.

In the meantime, Malcolm Munro of The Evening Times was sympathetic but realistic. ”Odd man out Charlie shouldn’t wait long for a club. He is one of the most accurate passers of a ball in the game and had a big say three or four years ago in forming the present European Cup team. He lacked the pace required by Celtic and fell out of the reckoning. In fact, Charlie played only once for the first team in the last two seasons and seldom for the reserves. No matter. Charlie is an inside forward of quality and if he wasn’t just good enough lately for Celtic, then there are a lot of other clubs in the country who aren’t either”.

It was a sad end to a Celtic career, but Charlie’s departure was very quickly overtaken by other and sadder events as far as Celtic and their supporters were concerned. Celtic departed for Milan, seriously optimistic about their chances of a second European Cup. They were, in fact, too optimistic. Bertie Auld wrote a ghosted piece for The People entitled “Why Celtic Will Win”, and other players made similar pronouncements.

Indeed, given their success against Leeds United in the semi-finals, very few people betted against them. According to Tommy Gemmell, Stein’s team talk was dismissive of Feyenoord, and it is now generally reckoned that the team selection and the team formation, particularly in the midfield, was wrong. To be fair to Jock, most of that criticism came with the benefit of hindsight and very few people stated it before the game, but there was a certain complacency about Celtic as they took the field.

Perhaps they might have taken their defeat by Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final a little more to heart. They were in the throes of their Leeds United games at the time, and the other factor was of course three awful decisions given against them by referee Bobby Davidson – a penalty when Murdoch was hit in the chest, a disallowed goal and a penalty refused. But Stein and Celtic hid behind these decisions and made them the excuse, in apparent contradiction of Stein’s much quoted dictum that “if you are four or five ahead, then refereeing decisions don’t matter”.

Perhaps a long hard look at themselves might have been a better idea, but a few days later they beat Leeds United in the European Cup semi-final and we were all swept away in the euphoria.

The atmosphere in Milan was dominated by the Dutch claxons and in spite of scoring first, Celtic were outplayed, going down in extra time in the most heart breaking of circumstances. It was one of the saddest nights imaginable for a Celtic supporter. A less gracious and less gentlemanly person than Charlie Gallagher might have felt entitled to gloat or a quiet “serves him right” in the direction of Jock Stein, whose biggest failure this was, but Charlie was still a Celtic supporter. He grieved like everyone else.

Indeed it must have been hell for all the players, however much they tried to pretend otherwise. The press took a malicious delight in their discomfiture, highlighting for example a consortium arrangement to handle the money that they had earned – something that went down distinctly badly with their supporters who had impoverished themselves by going to Milan.

Things were made a lot worse when they were taken on a pointless, squabbling, unhappy tour of the United States of America after that. Charlie did well to miss all that, as he pondered the re-orientation of his life now that Celtic, that huge component of his existence, had been taken away.

For Celtic, too, this wasn’t exactly the end of an era, but it was certainly a watershed in the great years. The tour of America saw Tommy Gemmell and Bertie Auld being sent home by Sean Fallon, and that was after Jock Stein himself had suddenly walked out of a game and gone home! He may have been suffering from some sort of nervous breakdown after the Milan fiasco, for which he knew that he himself was at least partially responsible.

Rumours abounded that he was going to Manchester United, but he decided to stay and rebuild a new Celtic. Indeed, the pressure that Stein was under may help to explain some of the crazy things that he did.

The departure of Gallagher must be seen in this context. Simpson had already retired in any case, and Gemmell, Clark, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld and Hughes would not last much more than another season as new players like Lou Macari, Danny McGrain, David Hay and Kenny Dalglish began to appear more regularly. One of Stein’s claims to greatness was this ability to create a second great team out of the first one. There can be no argument about Stein’s tactical acumen. It was a shame however that his way of doing this lacked tact and diplomacy. It was even more of a shame that the ever likeable Charlie Gallagher was the victim of his insensitive behaviour.

Even if Gallagher never again played for the first team, he would still have been able to play in the Reserves, acting as guide, philosopher and friend for the all the talented youngsters who were beginning to appear.

But it was not to be. Gallagher and Celtic parted company. Nothing lasts forever. It was time for a fresh start somewhere else. Time to move on.

David Potter

To be continued