03-08-68: Celtic (n) 2-1 (HT 0-1) Crowd (75,110)

Match Action:

Tommy Gemmell scores from the spot

Leeds defending under pressure

Billy McNeill tries to keep his opposing Captain, Billy Bremner, out of trouble with the referee

Billy McNeill pleads with the Referee for leniency for the Leeds Captain.

McNeill wins an aerial battle with Jack Charlton and Mick Jones

Referee Kelly takes a firm line with the Leeds defence

Referee Kelly has words with Billy Bremner and Bobby Lennox

Because of demand the game was switched to Hampden Park and the crowd of 75,110 saw the referee, J.Kelly (Wishaw), try and keep control of a game which was always close to boiling point on a hot summer's day. Celtic, who played in all green, as Leeds kept their regulation all white strip, tried a tactical manouever involving Jimmy Johnstone playing at Centre Forward with John Hughes deployed on the Right Wing. The substitutes were John Clark and Charlie Gallagher for Celtic and Rod Belfitt and Jimmy Greenhoff for Leeds. Celtic dominated the first half and but for an outstanding display by Sprake in the Leeds goal would have been much further ahead than a Tommy Gemmell thirty-sixth minute penalty, by half-time. Giles equalised for Leeds after fifty-two minutes and Jack Stein called a halt to his Johnstone experiment by moving him back to the right wing on the hour mark, but it was to no avail as Lorimer grabbed the winner for Leeds after sixty-three minutes.

Match Report: Jack Harkness: The Sunday Post 4th August 1968 (Courtesy Mark Ledgard)

Leeds "Hoodoo" is still in business

About eight years ago Real Madrid and Eintract came to Hampden and put on such a show that it spoilt our appreciation of Scottish League football for a long, long time.Here on the very eve of a new season, we had Celtic and Leeds United threatening to do likewise. Why, oh, why, then, did this magnificent showpiece take on a totally different mantle after that vital sixty-second minute? Well, it was a simple matter of human nature. That was the moment that Leeds suddenly found themselves in the lead. That was the moment the Leeds players realised that they could perhaps, after all, topple the mighty Celtic. And that was the moment they decided to forget all about their manager's pre-match patter about attacking play. The prospect of winning was just too much for them.So they quietly crept into their defensive shell, which had already proved so successful last season against Hibs, Rangers and Dundee. After all, so long as they could keep Celtic from scoring, victory was theirs. So nobody could really blame for their action, no matter how much it robbed the game of its non-stop excitement.

EFFICIENCY

Fortunately it did not rob the game of its skill, because even in defence you could not but admire the expertiseof the Leeds players and their efficiency in carrying out the task in hand. Anyway there were so many good things in this game that the score was really of secondary importance. In actual fact, Gary Sprake had so many positively brilliant saves in the Leeds goal that, but for him, the score could easily have gone the other way-only more so. The first half was really a tremendous affair. In the first few minutes Leds shattered the home fans with the ease in which they made progresstowards the Celtic goal. Then play swung completely round, and nothing better has been seen at Hampden than the tremendous non-stop bombardment Celts set up on the Leeds goal. Lennox, Murdoch and Hughes all had what looked like scoring shots either blocked or kept out by terrific goalkeeping. Offhand I should say there were at least half-a-dozen of these thunderbolts. Yet it took a penalty kick to put Celtic in the lead. Murdoch the magnificent swung a picture ball across to Lennox on the left. Bobby was clean through. Out came Sprake, and as Lennox rounded him, the keeper sent him sprawling on the turf.

Gemmell made his usual immaculate job of the spot kick, sending the keeper one way as the ball went the other. And that's how it was at the interval. This gave us time, apart from admiring everything that had so far taken place, to discuss the mystery of the "substitute" ball. Auld was the first to complain about the shape of the original ball. Then Sprake did likewise. The referee called for a new one, and such was the delay that the crowd were wondering if the game would have to go on without a ball. When the "new" ball did ultimately come ot, I was suspicious that it was still the "oval" one. A suspicion which seemed to be confirmed shortly afterwards when yet another one was thrown onto the field. However this aded a spot of humour to relieve the tension of the atmosphere, because this surely was the hardest-fought "friendly" ever. The second half started off where the first had left off. At a humdinger of a pace. Suddenly, right out of the blue Leeds equalised. Although they deserved this goal, nobody really expected it when it came. Auld had passed a loose ball to Hughes and the big fellow could not gather it properly. It bounced to the feet of Giles.

From all of thirty-five yards, Johnny took a pot-shot at goal, and, lo and behold, this long swerving ball entered the net high up in the top right-hand corner. Ronnie Simpson was out of his goal at the time and could do nothing about it.Celts shook this off and were soon buzzing around again. However, not with their previous fluency. After twelve minutes there was a bit of a soft-shoe shuffle in the Celtic ranks. On came Chalmers, off went Auld, Johnstone went to the right wing, and Hughes switched over to the left. The forward line then read-Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox, Hughes. Unfortunately for Celtic, this new formation was just in the process of finding its feet when Leeds sensationally struck again. It was another surprise goal. This time Charlton swung the ball away over to the left. Celts' defence seemed to hesitate as if expecting off side. Peter Lorimer, however, did not hesitate. As Simpson came out to meet him Peter sidefooted the ball for goal, and it caught the inside of the far post before entering the net. It was a stunner for Celtic-and their fans. And that was the moment that Leeds decided to win this game-and changed their tactics accordingly. even at that, Celtic did get past that stonewall defence on occasions. Once, for instance, only yet another brilliant save by Sprake denied O'Neill of what would have been a glorious equaliser. But it was not to be. Even in the last minute, Celts were buzzing around Leeds' goal and during one incident following a corner kick, Billy Bremner had hos name taken for something he said to the referee. But, despite all the fast, hard-tackling this was a remarkably clean game.Only once in the first-half, when Auld and Bremner were squaring up, did we think we would perhaps need to send for Frankie Vaughan. Anyway, I thought Bremner unlucky to be booked, and it looked as if Celtic skipper Billy McNeill thought so too. Celtic's experiment in playing Johnstone at centre was not a success. Not, I think, because of any weakness on Johnstone's part, but rather in the fact that wee Jimmy was opposed to the best defence in Britain and directly up against England's World Cup centre-half. So you don't class any move a failure against such opposition. Leeds made many friends. They impressed me even more than when I saw them in so many Fairs Cities Cup matches. Every single man played his part well, but their five-star players were-Sprake, Cooper, Bremner, Charlton, Madeley, Giles and Gray.