Denis would not be in first-team action on Saturday, 23 October 1971 – St Mirren were the odd team out in the 19-club Second Division – but his career would be positively impacted by events at Hampden, as rank outsiders Partick Thistle shocked the football world by scoring four first-half goals against Celtic to win the Scottish League Cup for the first time.
Jock Stein’s transition of the squad which had reached the European Cup final the previous season was already well underway. John Hughes and Willie Wallace were spectators at Hampden, having only recently been transferred to Crystal Palace, whilst Tommy Gemmell would be at Nottingham Forest within a few weeks. With Evan Williams conceding four goals to Thistle, Stein also took the opportunity to freshen up his goalkeeping options, by swooping for Denis just 24 hours after that Hampden defeat.
Jim Blair reported on the transfer in The Evening Times on Monday, 25 October 1971.
Celtic sign Connaghan – St Mirren keeper goes to Parkhead
Celtic boss Jock Stein today signed St Mirren’s Denis Connaghan to bring the tally of goalkeepers at Parkhead to FIVE!
Connaghan, a one-time provisional Celtic signing who was never called up, now joins Evan Williams, Englishman Gordon Marshall, John Fallon, and Irishman Tom Lally, and looks set to make his debut at East End Park on Wednesday night against Dunfermline.
Speaking about the transfer, St Mirren manager Wilson Humphries said – “I had to let Denis go, for I promised him a move if an offer came along.”
Connaghan is very much a football character. The lanky keeper, who in the past has reserved some of his finest performances for the games against Celtic, has always admitted to being Celtic-daft. This move will no doubt delight him, for he thought he had missed his chance of playing at Parkhead.
Connaghan was one of the many Scottish players who tried to popularise football in America. In fact, he left the local team in Baltimore in 1968 to return to Scottish football…and St Mirren.
Jock Stein, who hasn’t been happy with his goalkeeping set-up for some time, obviously feels Connaghan can do a good job for Celtic.
One question remains, however, IS THERE ROOM FOR FIVE GOALKEEPERS AT PARKHEAD?
Denis did indeed make his Celtic first-team debut at East End Park in midweek, lining up with his old school friend Harry Hood who scored the winner as the Hoops came from behind to win 2-1.
He would then make his home debut in front of a massive 64,000 crowd as Celts faced closest title rivals Aberdeen in a vital League match on Saturday, 6 November 1971. It is another day I remember well, the biggest attendance for a game I had witnessed at Celtic Park at that point. I recall the huge roar as Harry put the Hoops in front at the far end on the hour, then sadly the anguish as Billy McNeill headed past Denis into those distinctive green goalnets at our end to square the match at 1-1.
Denis would be ineligible as Celts continued their quest for a third European Cup final in six years with a 2-1 victory over Sliema Wanderers in Malta to reach the last-eight stage, but the big keeper was an ever-present domestically as Jock Stein’s men went on a long unbeaten run, brushing the opposition aside.
Following the 1-1 draw with closest challengers Aberdeen in his home debut in early November, Denis kept the gloves as the Celts racked up nine straight wins in the League by the turn of the year. These included 5-1 victories at Tannadice, Firhill – some slight consolation or revenge for the previous month’s League Cup final defeat by Partick Thistle as new signing Dixie Deans made a scoring debut – and Fir Park, whilst Kilmarnock were dispatched by the same scoreline at Celtic Park in early December. Hearts were then beaten by the odd goal in five at Parkhead on Christmas Day – still the last fixture Celtic played on that day – as the Hoops maintained a single-point lead over the Dons at the halfway stage.
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