8. The Celtic Star of the Decade – 1960-1969 – Billy McNeill..
There can only be one candidate for Player of the Decade in the 1960s. This was, of course, Billy McNeill who played 486 games for the club and won an astonishing total of 23 major medals, one of them being, of course, the European Cup of 1967.
But his medals are less than half of it. Born 1940 died 2019, his playing ability was legendary. An outstanding centre half, particularly in the air, he was also an outstanding leader, and like most great leaders, he was there on the occasions which mattered, notably the goal that he scored at the start of it all against Dunfermline in 1965, or the early goal that laid the marker for the 1969 Scottish Cup final against Rangers.
But he was also a great ambassador for the club. Good looking, articulate, gentlemanly, photogenic he was everything that the club would have wanted. He was a perfect conduit between Jock Stein and the players, and in some ways he was an extension of Jock Stein on the field.
His first game had been back in 1958, and he soon was able to command a place at centre half. His first few years were not happy ones for the club but they were for McNeill who soon earned Scotland caps and became Celtic’s captain in 1963. When Stein came back to the club in 1965, things really took off, and McNeill became a worldwide icon, almost the personification of Celtic FC – something that continues to this day with his statue at Celtic Park.
He was twice badly injured in seasons 1964/65 and 1965/66, but he recovered and from them on was seldom out of the Celtic team. His announcement of his retiral was aptly timed after the 1975 Scottish Cup final.
As with everything else, his timing was impeccable. Words often fail a historian when he tries to quantify the contribution of Billy McNeill to Celtic FC. A brief article on a website cannot do it. It would require a set of encyclopedias to do him justice. And even then, there would be a lot missed out…
David Potter
Some additional reading about Billy McNeill on The Celtic Star…
Celtic 4 Rangers 0 – Billy McNeill opened the scoring with a magnificent header…see HERE.
Farewell Cesar – a wonderful footballer, inspirational captain, fine manager, perfect ambassador and proud Celtic supporter…see HERE.
‘He is more than a Celtic legend. He is a Celtic God,’ David Potter’s tribute to Cesar…see HERE.
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