Bobby Craig is a tragic example of a player who could have saved the day but who was badly handled by those who ran the club.
In the first place he should have been at Celtic Park a great deal earlier, but when he left Third Lanark, he was allowed to go to Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers before Celtic eventually bought him for £15,000.
The circumstances of his purchase are quite unbelievable. He arrived at Glasgow Central Station in the afternoon and played for Celtic v Valencia at Celtic Park a few hours later!
But then Celtic had a couple of good results against Airdrie and St Mirren, and everyone went around saying that he was the answer to all Celtic’s problems with his slick passing and good ball control.
And just when we were beginning to believe this, the team suddenly blew up against Queen of the South at Parkhead and we were back to square one. The rest of the season, he was inconsistent – sometimes brilliant against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, Queen of the South at Palmerston Park, other times totally invisible.
And absolutely nobody could have predicted that he would suddenly be asked to play on the right wing in the replayed Scottish Cup final of May 1963. Jimmy Johnstone had played well in the first game. He was suddenly dropped in favour of Bobby Craig who had never played in that position before!
He barely got a kick of the ball, and departed to St Johnstone at the start of the next season! He died in Canada in 2010.
David Potter
