On this day in 1966, there was a crowd of around 20,000 packed into Love Street, in Paisley, the home of St Mirren for the visit of Celtic in a League Cup tie.
Knowing the fervour of the Celtic support, you can bet that at least half of the crowd would have been supporting the Hoops and, although they would not have been aware of it at the time, they were to be witness to an historic moment in the history of the club.
The Celtic team that day was Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeil, Clark, Johnstone, McBride, Chalmers, Lennox, Gallagher; the side won 1-0 to clinch a place in the quarter-finals ; and the historic moment came in the second half when Jimmy Johnstone went off and was replaced by Willie O’Neill, who became Celtic’s first-ever substitute.
Just three weeks later, in a match against Dundee at Dens Park, on 24 September 1966, Stevie Chalmers came on for Joe McBride to become Celtic’s first-ever substitute in a league match. On 18 February 1967, Willie Wallace became the first substitute in the Scottish Cup, replacing Bobby Murdoch in the 7-0 rout of Elgin City.
Willie Wallace was a busy man in those days. He became Celtic’s first European substitute when he came on for Steve Chalmers in the 1-1 draw against Red Star Belgrade on 27 November 1968. Steve Chalmers himself was the first substitute in a Hampden cup final when he replaced John Hughes in the 1-0 League Cup final win over Rangers on 29 October 1966.
John Clark was the first substitute in a Scottish Cup Final, replacing Jim Brogan during the Celtic v Rangers Final of 26 April 1969; and George Connelly, who took over from Bertie Auld against Feyenoord in 1970, was the first substitute in a European final.
Many Happy Returns to Johannes Edvaldsson, born on this day in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1950.
Jim Craig
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