Magical things happened when Celtic signed Willie Wallace

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The Christmas Eve visit to Pittodrie which followed would prove significant for Willie’s new strike partner, Joe McBride. Jock Stein had returned from a midweek visit to Madrid to watch Atletico lose a two-goal lead and the plot to exit the European Cup following a 3-2 play-off defeat by Yugoslav champions, Vojvodina Novi Sad, despite the visitors finishing the match with just nine men.

The Serbs would now be Celtic’s opponents in the March quarter-final. In the match with Aberdeen, Bobby Lennox would give Celts the lead before former Rangers and Dunfermline winger Harry Melrose equalised for the Dons, as the match ended 1-1. This would ultimately be the end of Joe McBride’s season, Scotland’s top goalscorer, with 38 goals from 29 games, injured in training shortly afterwards and failing to recover by the end of that incredible campaign. He would never enjoy that level of scoring record again in his career.

The calendar year then ended on another negative note, as Celtic’s unbeaten record, which had stretched from the beginning of the season, was blown away in three manic minutes at Tannadice. Celts had led 1-0 then 2-1, Bobby Lennox then Willie Wallace setting the Bhoys up for the two points, however, late goals from Denis Gillespie and Ian Mitchell consigned the visitors to a first domestic defeat of the season, on their 27th outing. This longstanding record was only beaten by Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic Invincibles in January 2017, some 50 years later.

There was a significant milestone on Saturday, 14 January 1967, Willie Wallace’s seventh game for his new club, as Jock Stein named the following line-up for the League game against St Johnstone at Muirton Park, Perth:

Ronnie Simpson; Jim Craig & Tommy Gemmell; Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill & John Clark; Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Wallace, Stevie Chalmers, Bertie Auld & Bobby Lennox.

Charlie Gallagher was an unused substitute.

This is the first occasion when the eleven Lions of Lisbon would start together for Celtic. Jimmy Johnstone opened the scoring just after the hour mark, then doubled Celtic’s lead six minutes later. Two late strikes from Stevie Chalmers and Bobby Lennox finished the scoring at 4-0.

With his registration for European football not completed ahead of the deadline for the last eight stage, Willie would have to watch from the sidelines as Celtic took on Vojvodina for the right to progress to the semi-final of the Champions Cup. The match in Novi Sad on the evening of Wednesday, 1 March 1967, saw Celts slip to only their second defeat of the season, Stanic scoring the only goal of the game following a mistake from Tommy Gemmell with 20 minutes remaining.

The return in Glasgow seven nights later is regarded as one of the all-time classic European ties at Celtic Park. As the match headed towards a Rotterdam play-off, Steve Chalmers goal on the hour levelling the tie, Billy McNeill’s soaring last-gasp header from Charlie Gallagher’s corner raised the roof from the old stadium as the dream remained alive for the 70,000 souls lucky enough to be in attendance.

Two days later, the draw paired Celtic with Czech champions, Dukla Prague in the semi-final. The Czech Army side had knocked out Ajax in the previous round, the Dutch having humiliated English champions Liverpool in round two, Shankly’s men beaten 5-1 in Amsterdam then requiring an injury-time equaliser to avoid defeat at Anfield. This would be a tough ask.

The semi-final first leg would take place on Wednesday, 12 April 1967, meaning that Willie Wallace’s first European game for Celtic would take place on his daughter Lynn’s first birthday. Who writes these scripts? Anyway, proud dad Willie celebrated the way he knows best, his two second-half goals giving Celts a 3-1 lead to take to Prague the following week, after Jimmy Johnstone’s opener had been cancelled by Strunc on the stroke of half time.

The following morning, Willie Wallace’s dream season continued, as he replaced the injured Jimmy Johnstone for that weekend’s Scotland’s match against the Auld Enemy at Wembley Stadium, additional spice added, as if any were required, by the fact that England had remained unbeaten since becoming World Champions at the same venue the previous July. Willie had assumed that he would be joining the Scotland party as a reserve, only to be stunned as new manager Bobby Brown named him as a direct swap for Jinky in his old right-wing berth, a role he had not carried out for several years. This would be Wallace’s fourth full international cap, and his first as a Celt.

The Scotland team tasked with ending England’s undefeated run on Saturday, 15 April 1967, lined up as follows:

Ronnie Simpson (Celtic)

Tommy Gemmell (Celtic)

Eddie McCreadie (Chelsea)

John Greig (Rangers)

Ron McKinnon (Rangers)

Billy Bremner (Leeds United)

Willie Wallace (Celtic)

Denis Law (Manchester United)

Jim McCalliog (Sheffield Wednesday)

Jim Baxter (Sunderland)

Bobby Lennox (Celtic)

Ronnie Simpson at 36 years-old that day became the youngest-ever Scotland debutant, with Gorbals-boy Jim McCalliog, 16 years his junior, the other player making his first appearance for his country. England fielded their World Cup-winning team with only one change, which hardly weakened them, Jimmy Greaves replacing Roger Hunt in the white number eight shirt.