Celtic had taken part in the rather unusual Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup in 1960 but their first-ever tie in a major European tournament came on 26 September 1962, a Fairs Cities Cup tie in the Luis Casanova Stadium against Valencia, when Bobby Carroll, at centre-forward that night, became the first Celtic player to score in Europe as the Hoops went down 4-2.
On this day in 1962, the teams ran out at Parkhead for the return leg. It was a big night for Celtic fans and 45,000 of them turned up. The line-up that night was Frank Haffey, Dunky McKay, Willie O’Neill, Pat Crerand, John McNamee, John Clark, Stevie Chalmers, Bobby Craig (making his first-team debut), John Divers, Charlie Gallagher and Alec Byrne.
The eventual score of 2-2 accurately reflected the run of play. Celtic spurned a great opportunity to take the lead in the 17th minute when John Clark missed a penalty and the fans had to wait until the 48th minute before an own-goal gave Celtic the lead. Valencia then hit back with goals in the 63rd and 80th minutes before Pat Crerand equalised with five minutes left.
So, the first-ever venture into Europe ended with a 6-4 defeat on aggregate. Fortunately, there were better days ahead.
Right-back Willie McCallum, born on this day in Kilbirnie in 1870, joined Celtic in 1890 after spells with Dumbarton Athletic and Hibs. He made only three appearances for the Hoops over the following two years and moved on to West Bromwich Albion in 1892.
Jim Craig
EAT, SLEEP, DRIBBLE CELTIC
LISBON LION Jim Craig writes his wonderful Celtic Diary every morning on The Celtic Star. There may be other attributes that sets this Celtic site apart from others but it is unarguable that having a Lisbon Lion writing for us is pretty unique and we think is rather special.
We are now looking to have Jim’s diary sponsored – with ALL the money going to Jim. If you run your own business or are have a marketing role in your company and would like to discuss this further please email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we’ll get back to you. We have some great ideas on how this low cost opportunity would give your business some amazing exposure – since launching in February this year The Celtic Star achieved by 17 October an incredible 789,744 users according to Google Analytics. And Jim will also be able to assist at one or two events for you – maybe a few lunch dates with key clients etc? Interested? We’d love to hear from you…
