AWAY from bothersome microphones and obtrusive TV cameras, I’ve frequently heard managers praise the attributes of those in positions of authority at the SFA.
There was a well-known team manager who frequently said, “There is enough stupidity at the SFA to start a new country.”
Back then, an off-the-record remark stayed unnoticed and unheard. There was definitely a camaraderie between the media and the team chiefs back then that is not present today.
I apologise if this sounds like Methuselah talking endlessly about the good old days, but there were times you missed news on the front and back pages that would have had dire ramifications for the person who had initially trusted you.
I never wavered in that belief. I have never indulged in such physical stunts because it is quite difficult to pat yourself on the back while trying to pin medals on your chest. Praise of oneself is a time waster. I doubt that I would have rested better at night if I had broken a confidence.
There once was a referee who held a deep hatred for Jock Stein and anything Celtic. He would routinely file a report with the SFA about the iconic club manager’s post-match remarks, which would almost certainly result in a fine for the coach.
Over several seasons, Stein endured a pitiful series of events that resulted in him facing financial penalties while he had to travel to the SFA’s previous headquarters in Glasgow’s Park Gardens to respond to the whistleblower’s allegations.
I recall Big Jock being charged with an agonising £100 fine after a series of charges. In any case, that was a sizable sum of money in the 1960s and early 1970s (about £2,000 in today’s currency), yet the club did not pay for it. The person who had the misfortune of being in the SFA’s line of fire responded to that.
It was left to their management, by dear old chairmen like Bob Kelly and Desmond White, to be the club’s spokesperson, but the employee was on his own if he said something inappropriate.
Bobby Davidson was the match official who kept bringing up Stein’s name to his shady superiors. In the modern era of technology, the Airdrie referee’s performances during Celtic games would not be scrutinised. When green and white hoops were around, he made a number of glaringly clear mistakes that even the most acerbic VAR couldn’t ignore.
Watch a video of Aberdeen vs. Celtic in the 1970 Scottish Cup Final if you think what I’m saying is over the top. Stein’s squad lost 3-1 in the most horrible application of football laws I have ever seen.
There were 108,434 confused onlookers at Hampden that April afternoon, including me. The guy with the whistle resumed his unrelenting journey to ensure that the trophy would be adorned with red and white ribbons and directed towards the northeast when the disastrous chaos had calmed, seemingly enjoying the fury that flowed down the ancient terracings on that particular occasion.
It will come as no surprise to hear that all four of the Celtic players who took part in that game—Davie Hay, Tommy Gemmell, Bertie Auld, and John Hughes—who have co-authored autobiographies, regarded Davidson’s exhibition as one of the worst they had ever seen in their lengthy careers.
I seem to remember that Stein verbally attacked the referee following the Cup Final, and as a result, the SFA fined him a meagre £10.Subsequently, I learned that Eddie Turnbull, the manager of the Toronto Dons on that particular day, was questioned about his reaction if his team had been the ones subjected to the referee’s absurd calls at the national stadium.
The football community knew him as Ned, and he was never known for his fast one-liners or sense of comedy.
After giving it some thought, Turnbull, who was known for his curmudgeonly ways, said, “To put it this way, if I had been in big Jock’s shoes, I would have had twenty quid’s worth!”
Thus, my dear reader, here we are in the present, with Brendan Rodgers being called to the sixth floor of Hampden to address an SFA complaint.
While time passes, some things remain the same.
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