Celtic had been very impressive as they made their way through the early rounds of the League Cup in 1966.
They had scored 34 goals in 9 matches, an average of nearly four per game, with names like Billy McNeill, Bertie Auld and Jimmy Johnstone joining the usual scorers on the list.
On this day in 1966, the Celtic players were prepared for the challenge as they walked out at Hampden to meet Rangers in the League Cup final, with 94,532 watching, the third consecutive year those teams had met at that stage of the competition.
The atmosphere was spine-tingling, the players well aware how much was at stake. The Boss was under pressure, too, and had put out a strong side which opened the scoring in 19 minutes.
Bertie Auld sent a well-flighted cross beyond the far post, Joe McBride headed it downwards and backwards and Bobby Lennox arrived to thrash the ball into the net. Guys like McNeill, Ronnnie Simpson and John Clark were really on song that afternoon, which was just as well, as Rangers dominated the play.
However, that goal by Lennox was the only one of the game and the Celtic players were delighted to take the League Cup back to Parkhead for the 4th time in the club’s history.
On this day in 1906, in Milton, Glasgow, Jimmy Crozier was born.
Jimmy joined Celtic on 18th August 1928, making two appearances as an outside-left in that season of 1928-29 before moving on to Derry City in July 1929.
Jim Craig
