It would be a mistake to describe Billy McPhail as a true Celtic great. He did have his great moments, one in particular, but his career was a short one lasting only two seasons. He played only 57 games for the club, but scored 38 times, and his moment of glory was an immortal one which will be spoken about as long as the club lasts.

He was the younger brother of John McPhail and they more or less collided with each other at the front door in 1956 when John left and Billy arrived from Clyde where he had had a disappointing injury prone career.

He started well enough with Celtic who were making a belated attempt to join the ranks of League Cup winners, and scored twice against his old club Clyde in the semi-final. This put Celtic into the final against Partick Thistle. The first game was a shocker with Thistle unlucky not to win, but McPhail scored twice in the replay as the League Cup was lifted for the first time.

But that was nothing compared with the following year where Billy scored a hat-trick in the 7-1 tanking of Rangers. It was his big moment, but within a year his career had ended because of a damaged knee. “Short and sweet” sums up his career.

He died of dementia in 2003.

David Potter

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s Father’s Day Promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!