His Tynecastle record had been highly impressive. In terms of competitive matches, Willie had scored 131 goals in 248 appearances. That tally included five hat-tricks plus another game in which he had went one better with four goals. He would be a tough act to follow for Hearts.
Twenty-four hours after signing for Celtic, Willie Wallace would watch his new club claim a place in the quarter-final of the European Cup by repeating their 3-1 first-leg victory over French champions Nantes at Parkhead. He would then make his debut on the same pitch three days later, Saturday, 10 December 1966, partnering his old friend Stevie Chalmers for the visit of Motherwell in front of 40,000 spectators. Chalmers would grab the accolades on the day with a hat-trick, with Bobby Murdoch adding another for a 4-0 win. And there was another curious twist in the never-ending weave of Celtic connections, as the Steelmen’s own centre-forward, John ‘Dixie’ Deans, was ordered off for a bad challenge on Jimmy Johnstone. The two men would later become teammates and great friends, whilst Dixie would feature in the Willie Wallace story in the autumn of 1971. More to follow on that one.
The following Saturday, 17 December 1966, saw Willie score his first goal for Celtic, and his second, as the Hoops destroyed Partick Thistle by 6-2 at Parkhead. The frightening firepower now available to Jock Stein is best illustrated by a front four of Stevie Chalmers, Willie Wallace, Joe McBride and Bobby Lennox, with Jimmy Johnstone a not-too-shabby option to come on from the bench. Chalmers also grabbed a brace on the day whilst Bobby Murdoch and McBride were on target, as was a young Arthur Duncan for the visitors.
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.
