Jock Stein

Today, as you may have read in the newspapers, is the 20th anniversary of the death of Jock Stein. 13 at the time I remember the night he died well. It was the kind of big match that was common place for Scotland fans then, but seem to come far and few between nowadays.

As I recall the game itself wasn't that great, but then with what happened at the final whistle you tend to forget what went on during the match. I remember it being typical Scotland in that we got the result but made it hard for ourselves.

My Dad was a big Celtic fan and when I was young would constantly regale me with stories of Stein's legend. I think he went to bed before news came through that Stein had died. I remember my Mum worrying that my Dad would take some kind of turn when she told him the next day.

Four days later a minute's silence was held at every match in Scotland. At that time Clydebank were enjoying their first season back in the Premier league having achieved promotion the season before. We played host to Rangers that day and I remember the feeling that as Stein was a legendary figure at Celtic there would be the chance that some Rangers supporters would distrupt the silence.

What I remember clearly about that day was the complete silence around the 10,000 capacity crowd, as the memorial was spotlessly observed.

Stein is talked about in legendary terms today. But that was also the case while he was alive. Celtic are well known as the first British team to win the European Cup, but at the time Stein led them to victory, the European Cup had only ever been won by sides from Spain, Italy and Portugal. A Scottish side made a breakthrough where other Northern European countries had failed. Of course within a few short years the Dutch and the West German sides began to enjoy the dominance that at that time looked possible for Scottish clubs.

As a protegee of Stein Sir Alex Ferguson went on to emulate him 14 years after his death by lifting the European Cup.

Here's two articles on Stein from today's Scotsman.