No-one typified the great Celtic side of the 1960s more than Tommy Gemmell. He was a larger than life character with loads of swagger and arrogance on the field, never afraid to try anything, notably a great ability to shoot from a distance and to score, often on European occasions.
There was no-one was more popular in the Jungle than Tommy Gemmell.
A defeat to Rangers on New Year’s Day 1963 gave Gemmell an opportunity to play at Aberdeen on 5th January, and he impressed everyone on that frosty pitch with his hard tackling and grim determination.
It was the following season however before he really grabbed the left back spot, and he played well in that season which was marred by the “Rangers complex”. Like everyone else, he was at a low ebb of his career and his life until Jock Stein arrived in 1965.
The relationship between Stein and Gemmell was complex, but basically Stein recognised his value to the team and encouraged his buccaneering style of play. Inevitably there were falling outs and transfer requests notably when Tommy was dropped from the 1969 League Cup final because he had been sent off in midweek while playing for Scotland, but both realised the value of the other until the time that Tommy was sent home from America in 1970.
Tommy then went on to play for and manage Dundee, winning the League Cup with them in that dreadful final against Celtic in December 1973.
For Celtic he won 6 Scottish League medals, three Scottish Cup medals and four Scottish League Cup medals. He died in 2017 and remained a Celtic supporter until his death.
David Potter
Loved Tommy Gemmell, the only Celtic player to score in two European Cup finals. How big Jock would tweak tactics to allow Tommy carte blanch to come forward and shoot from outside the box with his cannonball shots, what a player and person, well missed.
Re-reading big Jocks autobiography, its his early days growing up in Burnbank. Always thought that he began to study the game at Celtic, but, but not so, he began studying the game when he played for Albion Rovers. Coatbridge only 30 minutes drive from where Jimmy Gribben lived, Jimmy must have watched him play for Rovers and when he played for them at Celtic Park X2, that must have been the link to Jock Stein coming to play for Celtic. A friendship forged, one that both men held close and never forgot. Stein, Jock Stein. Thank you Jimmy Gribben.