On his own admission, he wasn’t the best centre half in Celtic’s history, With deliberate ambiguity he would describe himself as “passable”, but he came at the right time when Celtic needed him, and very soon his leadership qualities were such they they made him captain.

Nurtured in the hard school of Albion Rovers in the 1940s, Jock came to Celtic via the Welsh team Llanelli and arrived at Celtic when the team were short of centre halves in December 1951.

Jock Stein of Celtic, Black of Falkirk, heads clear, with Hunter on the ground watching during the Scottish League Cup, section C match against Celtic, at Celtic Park. Celtic players seen during this incident in front of the Falkirk goal are Fernie, Jock Stein and Fallon. Celtic won 3-0. 15 August 1954 Photo by Top Foto

In his debut he famously cleared one ball with his knee and it was generally agreed that he was no classy centre half. 1952 was no great year for Celtic, and 1953 was not a great deal better until the Coronation Cup came along, and Jock’s determined leadership, his tenacious grip on Lawrie Reilly and his encouragement of goalkeeper Johnnie Bonnar saw Celtic home in the final against Hibs when the team was virtually overwhelmed by a superb Hibs team.

And then came Jock’s greatest season when Celtic won the 1953/54 League and Cup double. They had many fine players – Tully, Collins, Peacock, Evans, Fernie – but they were all welded together by captain Jock Stein.

Season 1954/55 saw hard luck when a Scottish Cup final was lost by a freak goal from a corner kick, and then early the following season, Jock sustained an ankle injury which ended his career. A lot of people wondered however whether he might be a good Manager some day?

David Potter

David Potter passed away peacefully on Sunday morning 30 July 2023. You can read the message we received from David’s wife Rosemary HERE.