David Potter: Celtic – How the League was Won 49 Times

CELTIC HISTORIAN David Potter will release his latest Celtic book in September . It’s titled Celtic – How the League was Won – 49 Times and we caught up with David yesterday to ask him about his latest project. We started by asking why he didn’t wait until Celtic had won 50 times before releasing this book…

Confirmation that David Potter will be releasing his latest book on Celtic in September. Celtic – How The League Was Won – 49 times will be published for £14.99. 9781780915746 pic.twitter.com/9exvOKZQlb

— DB Publishing (@DB_Publishing) June 5, 2018

“Well, there is no guarantee that we will make it 50 next year! I hope I am wrong about that, and indeed a dispassionate look at things would put us favourites, but you can never take anything for granted in football.

“But there was another reason as well, in that, following my “Invincibles” book of last year, I was hoping to write an “Invincibles 2”, but that would not have been honest, for 2017/18’s side were certainly good and knew how to win when they had to, but they were certainly NOT “invincible”.

Were there any surprises you found in your researches?

“Yes, very seldom (until the 21st century) do Celtic come a close second. They either win it or are nowhere. For example, between 1938 and 1966 we won the League only once in 1954, and apart from the year after that in 1955 when we gave Aberdeen a run for their money, we were never really close in any other year, even in 1948 flirting with relegation, although that was not likely either.

“The other thing is how seldom teams other than Celtic or Rangers win the League. Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen have won it 4 times, and there are another 5 teams who had won it once each, and then we have Dumbarton who have won it 1 and a half times because they shared it with Rangers in 1891.

“Statistically too, Celtic tend to do badly in League games on either side of European fixtures. The “eye off the ball” syndrome.

Who are the five best Celtic sides to have won the League?

“Certainly 1908 and 1967 (because each of them won everything else as well!), 2001 and I also have a sneaking admiration for 1936, the year of McGrory’s fantastic goalscoring. Oh yes, and of course 2017!”

Which was the poorest?

“Well, I am tempted to say 2016 when the manager was sacked in spite of winning the League, but actually (and a lot of people will disagree here) 1979 wasn’t all that great. The way in which the League was won was both breathtaking and dramatic, but I recall going to a good few games that season and pleading with the referee to blow the final whistle, because you could never relax. One awful game on 31 March at Easter Road sticks in my mind. Rangers were winning the Scottish League Cup that day on my transistor radio, and we were absolutely dire!

When, in history, was it easy? And when was it most difficult?

“It is easiest when you have a run going (as now) and Celtic are expected to win it, and the players themselves expect to win it. Sometimes in the 9-in-a-row from 1966 until 1974, Celtic got off with a lot because other teams gave up too easily. Some of these years Rangers disappeared, Hibs could always be relied upon to have a bad week about the end of February and beginning of March when they lost everything, and then of course we had Aberdeen in 1972 who suddenly in the middle of a close race with Celtic, they decided to sell Martin Buchan!

“Other than in terms of sheer greed, that decision was totally inexplicable – but then of course, they didn’t EXPECT to beat Celtic, and of course they didn’t. Football is a very psychological game. It is played in the mind as much as on the park, and clever tacticians and experts in psychological warfare like Maley and Stein wised up to that.

“On at least two occasions in history in 1915 and 1968, at a given period of the season, Celtic could not win the League on their own. But in 1915, somehow or other, Maley made Hearts lose a few games, and Stein did the same with Rangers in 1968, making sure that Celtic won their own games comfortably and spectacularly and putting the pressure on the rivals to “crack”. And they did.

“Conversely, it is difficult to create a League winning culture when you have not won it for a while. 1996 saw Celtic better than Rangers most of the season, but they didn’t quite have the power or belief to get over the line. They didn’t expect to do so.

“It is also necessary not to make colossal boobs at the start of the season. Rangers, for example, won a treble in 1977/78 for no other reason than that Celtic sold Kenny Dalglish before a ball was kicked! The stunned Stein simply could not cope with that, and in particular, did not replace him! Another horror story came at the start of the 1988/89 season when we went down 1-5 to Rangers. That in itself was not necessarily fatal, but the depression which it caused certainly was, as Billy failed to pick everyone up and fight back. It was the start of a decade of sheer, unremitting horror. Football, I repeat, is a very PSYCHOLOGICAL game.”

Should we be happy with 49?

“No, we should never stop. 54 should be our target, I think, in about 2023, if I am counting correctly. That would beat the 53 and a half of Rangers! Mind you, in another sense, yes, we should be happy and proud with 49. Some of them were great years with great games.”

What about the near misses?

“Most of them are quite recent and painful. 2003, 2005 and 2009, for example spring to mind. In addition in 1980 and 1983, we blew up badly to Aberdeen and Dundee United when, in a strong position at the start of April, we fell into the trap of thinking that with Rangers defeated, we would be all right. But as I say, we tend not to do near misses all that often.”

What are your favourite years?

“1898 and 1986 when Barney Battles and Albert Kidd played a large part (in spite of both of them playing for Dundee at the time), 1979 (in spite of what I said about it earlier), 1998 because it was SO important and because I (like everyone else) suffered severe trauma and anxiety the week before! And on a personal note 2008 because it was a great fightback and because I was forced to follow the final night at Tannadice via the TV after a hip replacement operation. “Leap ye lame for joy!” is one of my favourite Biblical quotes. Remarkable how quickly I recovered! I Umpired a cricket match about a week later!”

What is needed to win the League?

“You can always get off with a few bad results, as long as you recover from them. You need to have resilience and fight back. In addition, four things have to be borne in mind;

1. It is great to beat Rangers, but the points you get from beating St Mirren and Falkirk are just as valuable.
2. You mustn’t concede own goals like transferring a good player or upsetting your supporters in any other way
3. You mustn’t “blow up” in April when the heat is on.
4. Never underestimate anyone. Assume you are playing Real Madrid every week, even though they wear the strips of Hamilton Academical or Livingston.
5. Never sacrifice one tournament for another. Yes, players need to be rested now and again, but do it sparingly. Far too many League games are lost on either side of European games. The League is just as important! Maybe more so!