On this day in 1998, Jo Venglos was appointed manager of Celtic. He was perhaps a surprise choice but nobody could have said that he lacked managerial experience, having already been in charge of Slovan Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (twice), Sporting Lisbon, Malaysia, Aston Villa, Fenerbahce, Slovakia and Oman.
The season did not get off to the best of starts, Celtic going out of the Champions League to Croatia Zagreb and then the UEFA Cup to Zurich. And an early exit in the League Cup to Airdrie was not to the liking of the fans either.
However, a 5-1 win over Rangers in the second Glasgow Derby contest of the season raised morale, Henrik Larsson and Venglos’s first buy, Lubo Moravcik, both getting a double.
However, in the League, Rangers proved too strong and although Celtic reached the final of the Scottish Cup, their old rivals from across the city scored the only goal of the match to leave Celtic trophy-less for the season.
After one season in charge at Celtic Park, Jo Venglos left to take up a technical director post with UEFA.
Born on this day in 1930, utility player John Millsopp joined Celtic in September 1948 and over the following four years, made 26 appearances for the club. He was taken ill after training on 9 September 1952 and whisked off to hospital, where he was operated on for appendicitis. Tragically, complications set in and a week later, John died in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Jim Craig
