07-05-73: Celtic (h) 3-4 (HT 1-1) Crowd (34,963)

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Match Action

Big Jack Bows out

Charlton with salver

Charlton with Revie

Kenny Dalglish Steve Murray and Bobby Murdoch line-up before the game.

Billy McNeill gets in a shot.

Norman Hunter holds off Steve Murray.

Allan Clarke gets in his shot ahead of a challenge from George Connelly.

Jock Stein leads the Celtic player as they applaud the Leeds crowd at the end of the game.

Match Report by Alex Cameron

Match Report by Ian Archer

Programme and Ticket:

The game was a fine advert for British Football and the 4,000 Celtic supporters joined with their Leeds counterparts to give a fitting round of applause to both teams at the end of the game. It had been a ding-dong game with Kenny Dalglish giving the visitors the lead after eighteen minutes only for Allan Clarke to level the scores ten minutes later and Half-Time came with the two sides locked at 1-1. George Connelly had to be replaced by Pat McCluskey, as he was unable to continue because of a gash to his leg. United brought off Mick Jones, Johnny Giles, Norman Hunter and Eddie Gray and replaced them with Joe Jordan, Terry Yorath, Mick Bates and Trevor Cherry. Only four minutes of the second half had elapsed when Bobby Lennox gave the hoops the lead, when he turned Gordon McQueen, who had come on for Jack Charlton, inside out, but it took only another four minutes for Allan Clarke to bring the two sides back on level terms. Jimmy Johnstone then wove a little bit of his magic as he put Celtic back in front after sixty-five minutes only for Billy Bremner to swiftly replay just three minutes later with some magic of his own. United sent on Frank Gray for Gordon McQueen. But it was Johnstone and Celtic that got the winner with five minutes left on the clock, as he won the ball on the halfway line and set off for goal and managed to beat Gary Sprake with a perfectly flighted shot from distance, that fittingly won the game. Celtic chose not to use their other substitutes, keeper Denis Connaghan and forwards Harry Hood and Dixie Deans. Big Jack appeared in a Celtic scarf, not doubt thankful for the gate that had swelled his coffers by over £35,000. LEEDS UNITED 3-4 CELTIC (Report by Ian Archer) Celtic last night ended a long season in a way that charmed the heart of every fan who likes his football and loves his country. To a deafening crescendo of noise they toured the Elland Road ground of Leeds United to encore after encore of applause. High on the terraces Englishmen chanted the names of Kenny Dalglish and Jimmy Johnstone. Jock Stein was seen to smile at the compliments and so the bitter disappointment of Saturday’s Scottish Cup final was forgotten. Celtic had come to this Yorkshire city to pay homage to a great footballer on an emotional night. In doing so they reminded people in another country that Scotland’s champions can go anywhere in the world without feeling fear or looking for any favours. They were the honoured guests at a great English occasion and the flattery accorded them eased any pain remaining from Hampden. They were here to play against the same side that had shared the field with them in that epic European Cup semi final of three years ago and to honour Jackie Charlton, that fine infantryman of England’s 1966 World Cup winning side. After 21 years as a player he had the imminent good sense to invite Jock Stein to bring Celtic to play for him. At the end of the evening he was more than £35,000 richer and had the additional comfort of the manager’s job at Middlesbrough waiting for him as well. This was the third time that Celtic had been so invited. They had drawn at West Ham and Manchester United in matches in aid of Bobby Moore and Jackie’s brother, Bobby. Here the result in front of 34,963 spectators was better but, in the time honoured cliché, forget the scoreline. Here we had two fine British sides giving a sporting finale to the season and while it would be wrong to make comparisons between Scottish skill and English method, it is more valid merely to wonder that two countries of such different size can still produce teams of such contrasting styles and such similar stature. Only one discordant note spoiled the occasion. Celtic, after having presented a silver salver to Charlton and conducted themselves with superb good manners, were let down by their fans, who whistled throughout the National Anthem in the presence of the Earl of Harewood, president of the Yorkshire club. They are no credit to the man who leads them and who, 20 minutes after the match, forced Don Revie out of the dressing room to salute the spectators still massed on the terraces, waiting to pay their last respects to the club and its fine centre half. The occasion demanded a good match and on balance Celtic showed the majority of the skill in this particular 90 minutes. They were three times in the lead, three times pulled back to parity, and won in the end with a Jimmy Johnstone goal of high merit and almost indecent eccentricity. Like good guests at any party, they can come back any time they wish. Tommy Callaghan hit a post after five minutes and that set an early pattern. Thirteen minutes later Dalglish swept another pass to him on the left wing and then cantered into the penalty area to strike a header wide of Sprake and give his side the lead. Celtic continued to spray passes about like a sprinkler turning and twisting to water a huge carpet of turf. But after 28 minutes Clarke equalised for Leeds, taking a through ball from a position three yards offside to draw Hunter from his line and shoot into the net. There the matter rested until half time. At the interval Leeds made a rash of substitutes, pulling off Jones, Giles, Hunter and Gray and replacing them with Jordan, Yorath, Bates and Cherry. They do have a league game against Arsenal tomorrow night but it has to be said that this is no way to conduct a football match in front of any paying audience. Celtic took the alterations in their stride and four minutes after half time Lennox turned McQueen inside out on the edge of the penalty area, taunting him like a matador, before striking a left foot shot into the net. The young Scot had replaced Jackie Charlton earlier in the match, possibly because the veteran might have had trouble seeing through eyes that seemed to be full of tears all evening. Leeds equalised again with a good goal after Clarke had chested down a Lorimer cross and struck a right foot shot of the calibre we profoundly wish not to see at Wembley in less than two weeks time. But even that did not unsettle Celtic. Twelve minutes later Murdoch pushed the ball forward, Dalglish swerved past two defenders and Johnstone rolled the ball into an empty net. The lead lasted only three minutes, the time it took Bremner to punish some defensive uncertainty with a killing right foot shot. That set up the end game. Five minutes before the finish, Johnstone, running free from the edge of the centre circle to the Leeds penalty area, clipped a shot too accurately placed for Sprake to reach. That was a grand conclusion not only for a patriot but also for an audience that knew Jackie Charlton demanded the best and Celtic had provided it. Afterwards Charlton appeared in a Celtic scarf, placed round his neck by one of those many fans who had made long journeys to be present on a night that may have had nothing at stake except good will but which proved that footballers do not have to play for points to provide entertainment. As on Saturday, on that very different occasion, the name of the game was glory.