On the international front, there had been three further appearances for Willie in ‘68/69. On Wednesday, 4 September 1968, he had lined up for the Scottish League for the third time, for a match at Dalymount Park against a League of Ireland select.
Unlike the friendly match there with Celtic six months earlier, he would fail to get on the scoresheet that evening as the match ended goalless. On Wednesday, 26 March 1969, Willie did open the scoring at Hampden against the English League, his fifth-minute opener setting the hosts up for a good result. Sadly, the game would get away from the Scots, Frank Casper equalising just before the break before Alan Ball and Bobby Tambling, another who would reappear in Willie’s story, sealed a 3-1 win for the visitors.
England would also be the opponents for Wallace’s final appearance in the navy of Scotland. On the evening of Saturday, 10 May 1969, Willie would replace Alan Gilzean of Tottenham Hotspur just before the hour mark at Wembley, with the Scots trailing 2-1. The hosts would add two further goals as their 1966 heroes Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters both completed their personal doubles at the expense of Scotland and their now-beleaguered manager Bobby Brown. It was a far cry from the same fixture two years earlier, Brown’s first game in the national post, where Willie had been instrumental in a famous Scottish victory.
Season 1969/70 would be a rollercoaster of joy and despair for Celtic. The Hoops would edge another League Cup section including Rangers after both sides had won their home games, the Ibrox side’s dropped point against Willie’s old club, Raith Rovers, proving critical.
Wallace had then received his marching orders for the second time as a Celt, brawling with Dunfermline Athletic’s Willie Renton in a bad-tempered clash at East End Park on Saturday, 6 September 1969, the hosts winning that one 2-1.
Ronnie Simpson then, sadly, became the first of the Lions to cease the wearing of the green, after dislocating his shoulder at Hampden in the replayed League Cup semi-final against Ayr United, on Monday, 13 October 1969, just two days into ‘Faither’s’ 40th year. Willie Wallace would come off the bench to replace the stricken keeper, with Tommy Gemmell taking over in goals as the Hoops won 2-1.
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