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27 Years since Jock Stein died


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Joy turned to horror that night

 

Rememeber it like it was yesterday - got back to our hotel in Newport - all of us singing away - the next second the place fell silent as the news broke....

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Went along Stockbridge for a celebratory chippy after watching the game in a mates house , devastated when we heard the news on our return.

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We left to drive home after the game, and never had the radio on in the car. It wasn't till we stopped in Biggar on the way up, and went into a newsagents, that we discovered what had happened. :sad:

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Drewjambobusby

We were in the tiny enclosure, just along from the dug outs, and saw him come out and stumble. We actually laughed i am ashamed to say, because we thought he had just tripped. Then the commotion, and we realised it was something bad. Found out news on way back to Cardiff Hotel.

 

Was an eerie atmosphere and needless to say something i will never forget. A great man.

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Baird, King and Michael

Remember him before the game joking with the Scottish fans behind the goal who wouldn't give Neville Southall the warm up balls back. We were on a football special returning to Waverley and never knew till we were back in Edinburgh. A genuine legend.

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Joy turned to horror that night

 

Rememeber it like it was yesterday - got back to our hotel in Newport - all of us singing away - the next second the place fell silent as the news broke....

 

We were staying in Risca,a mining town outside Newport. Went for a pint on the outskirts of Cardiff after the game,got a lift to Risca from the B&B owner,had a couple of drinks with him in the B&B (house) and knew nothing about what had happened until the next morning. "Tea or coffee? .. and I see your manager died".

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We were in the tiny enclosure, just along from the dug outs, and saw him come out and stumble. We actually laughed i am ashamed to say, because we thought he had just tripped. Then the commotion, and we realised it was something bad. Found out news on way back to Cardiff Hotel.

 

Was an eerie atmosphere and needless to say something i will never forget. A great man.

 

We were in the enclosure as well, and actually thought there'd maybe been a bit of a scuffle involving some of the back room staff - then never thought anymore of it.

 

Can't say we ever noticed any eerie atmosphere, and we weren't even aware that he wasn't back in the dug out.

 

As you say, a day never to be forgotten. :sad:

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Drewjambobusby

We were in the enclosure as well, and actually thought there'd maybe been a bit of a scuffle involving some of the back room staff - then never thought anymore of it.

 

Can't say we ever noticed any eerie atmosphere, and we weren't even aware that he wasn't back in the dug out.

 

As you say, a day never to be forgotten. :sad:

 

 

The eerie atmosphere was back at hotel, not at game ,once news had filtered through.

The enclosure had the crappy stand above it, and Rod Stewart and i think, Kelly Emberg, were right above our heads.

The stadium was literally falling down. What a place.

 

Memories of that game are really vivid, for all the wrong reasons.

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The Old Tolbooth

I remember this game, I was just a youngster of course :whistling: and we were celebrating the result as it guaranteed us a spot in Mexico, and then news came that Stein had died, it was a horrible moment, the man truly was one of footballs greats.

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Memories of that game are really vivid, for all the wrong reasons.

 

Funny, I'm the opposite. :huh:

 

Just vague memories of the trip down, the pre-game atmosphere, and the match itself, though I do remember the ground as being little better than Brockville..! :ermm:

 

My vivid memories are from the following morning, of us walking into that newsagents in Biggar, and suddenly being aware of all the newspaper headlines. Of an old bloke in the shop who, in seeing us in our Scotland tops, silently shook each of us by the hand, while the tears ran down his face. Of sitting on the pavement outside the shop, with copies of most of the papers, trying to take in what had happened. Trying to comprehend that we had been there, yet were aware of nothing, and now passers by were stopping to offer us their condolences... :sad:

 

A very surreal experience. :unsure:

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I watched the game on telly and then went to bed as I was only 11 at the time. My Dad came upstairs to tell me the news. Sad times.

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Very sad.

 

I was at the game in the Stand behind Jock.

Didn't find out until the disco we where in later on that night stop for 1 minute silence.

 

Driving home the next day we stopped to ask some road workies(in England where the nearest chippie was.

They all said sorry to hear about Jock and removed there woolie hat's.

Respect!

RIP Big man.

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I watched the game on telly and then went to bed as I was only 11 at the time. My Dad came upstairs to tell me the news. Sad times.

 

Similar story to this DH. I was allowed to stay up though and broke my heart when the news came through. Went from jumping about the living room like a loon to sitting with my nana, who was a big Celtic fan, she was inconsolable.

 

Shankly, Stein, Busby. Lanarkshire/Ayrshire knew how to produce real Football managers back then. Legends each and everyone.

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I remember it well.

 

Watched the game on TV, but when news came through about his death, I went up to my bedroom and nearly had a wee cry. I remember sitting there for ages.

 

The Scotland shorts were honking.

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Hearts Heritage

I remember Stein was on the TV at the end of the season when they were choosing 'goal of the season'. IIRC Bobby Charlton was on as well.

 

Bobby (or some other panellist) picked some shot from about 30 yards out. Jock picked a goal that had about 20 passes and ended up with a 'tap in' from about 5 yards into an empty net.

 

Jock justified his decision by saying that every pass either beat a man or manoeuvred them into a position where a pass would beat them. He said that it was truly unstoppable by ending up with that tap in.

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scots civil war

i was at that game

 

was very quiet outside on leaving the ground behind the stand,and knew summat grim had happened

 

there was a lot of swedging in the shed opposite where i was,big cardiff lads with the perrys on all swaying into us northern mob.

 

the big shed was half n half.swaying back and forth n fists n arms flying wiv all the cops in between everybod.when cooper converted the penalty towards the end of the game,the place went into meltdown

 

 

did see a commotion when stein stumbled tho,did seem odd

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  • 11 months later...
jack D and coke

Remember it well. We were truly rubbish that night and probably didn't deserve the draw that took us through. I was only 12 or 13 at the time but can remember the sheer shock on hearing the news. Can remember I thought Neville Southall had saved Cooper's penalty too until the Scotland erupted. Sad to think Davie Cooper is gone too.

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That train journey home ... joyous celebration being replaced by eerie silence as the news filtered through the carriages ...

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Hearts Heritage
28 years?

 

It doesn't seem that long tbh.

 

That season marked the end of Scottish football as we know it.

 

IF Hearts had won the flag it would have been the first time EVER the Old Firm had failed to win the league for 4 consecutive years. As it is it is now the longest period without a non Old Firm winner.

 

Souness came in at the end of the season at Rangers. Thus heralding the financial mess at Ibrox.

 

The wonderful 'it's only a game' documentaries were made at the end of that season and seem more alien than ever now.

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  • 11 months later...

Watched the documentary about him on BBC Alba a couple of months ago. A true great of Scottish football.

 

Shame it ended in tragedy:

 

RIP Jock.

 

P.S. I wonder what might have become of Hibs had the Celtic job not become available.

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Irrespective of the fact that he managed Celtic, Stein was a class act.

 

One thing is for sure if he had still been around at Parkhead, Lennon, Stokes, Griffiths would never have got anywhere near his team.

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Watched that game in the Luckies it was amazing how quickly the mood changed from absolute joy to shock and silence

Hard to believe it was that long ago

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thisismystorythisismysong

Nice touch starting this thread, great to see the big man remembered so fondly, he truly was one of the greatest to grace the game! It's absolutely abhorrent to think there are certain elements of so-called Scottish football fans who still to this day chant his name in false accusation of perhaps the worst label you could ever be branded.

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Lennon was a decent player.

 

 

Lennon was a shit stirring little ned that caused bother on and off the park. Big Jock would not have put up with that.

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What I remember about Jock Stein was he said he had to watch a player six times before he would sign him.

He would mark on a sheet of paper where the ball was during the game when he was spying.

He was also one of the first managers to ask the advice of coaches.

He had a way of talking to Referees to get them onside.

He was a great man.

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What I remember about Jock Stein was he said he had to watch a player six times before he would sign him.

He would mark on a sheet of paper where the ball was during the game when he was spying.

He was also one of the first managers to ask the advice of coaches.

He had a way of talking to Referees to get them onside.

He was a great man.

 

I watched a programme about him not so long ago and they said the most revolutionary thing he did when he took over at Celtic was introduce footballs at training! Previously they only trained with a ball on the morning of a match.

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I was there that night.

 

Amazing atmosphere on the terrace running alongside the pitch. Most were too busy concentrating on the match to realise what had happened and when outside in the city after the match news started to filter through what had happened it was a celebration that quickly turned into a sombre period of reflection.

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My brother and I knew something had happened but not the seriousness of it. We headed back to our hotel where we had arranged to meet up with some Welsh supporters.

 

It was only when we walked into the bar that we found out.

 

Our hotel was in Aberfan.

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I was watching the game at my then girlfriends house.Game over,job done and then headed for home.As I went Into the room my Father was In,I knew something was wrong and then he broke the news to me that Big Jock had died.It took a few minutes,before his words registered.A great man,coach/manager and run Celtic with dignity,unlike some that could be mentioned.

 

RIP Mr Stein

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queensferryjambo

It was a very sad day for Scotland and he really was a great man.

 

The one thing I remember vividly was watching the News and the Scotland fans were being interviewed after the game and I actually knew 2 of the guys who were interviewed. Both guys massive Scotland and Hearts fans to this day.

 

I actually found the very clip on youtube and it shows how shocked all the fans were.

 

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  • 11 months later...

I remember that night well - Jock didn't look well at all sitting on the bench and sat there while everyone else went mental after Cooper scored the penalty

 

Our joy turned to sadness at the drop of a hat - couldn't believe he died

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Remnants of Standards

A night that turned from joy to horror.

I remember hearing the news and relaying it to my dad in New Zealand by cassette tape as that's how we communicated at the time. He hated football so probably wondered what i was going on about.

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I'd watched the game at my mum's in Corstorphine then headed up to the Oak Inn to meet a mate. When I left the house there was only some knews that Jock had taken ill. When I walked through the doors at the Oak no-one had to say a word, the place was like a morgue and I knew he was gone. Fans today who never appreciated Big Jock's legacy and only see him as a Celtic man will never realise that his achievements as a manager meant that he ended up being loved/or at the very least respected by fans of all teams even Hearts and Rangers. The Oak was 90% Hearts that night and the 90% had a tear in their eye.

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I was at the match and the news did not leak out until after we had left the ground.. it quickly spread throughout the pubs and clubs and the mood changed from celebration to a sombre reflection.

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A great Scot, as was Tommy Burns.  If I'm right, he made Willie Hamilton live with him when he first came to Hibs to keep him on the straight and narrow.

 

I spoke to him at a  Hearts/Hibs reserves game on a cold, wet Friday night at Easter Road.  Told us he had come to watch Cropley because he had heard good things and Hibs were playing Celtic in a couple of weeks.  Congragulated us for coming out to support our reserve team on a miserable night.

 

Treasured memory.

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Met Mr Stein after 79 game v England at Hotel where players SFA staff in these days were allowed to mingle .At the time was in the company of one of Liverpools Directors wives !

Mr Stein came down to mix with players and guests .. As you would autographs were got , Angela turned to me ask if I could get his autograph ... Bold as brass went across , handed to him business card from Angela . She waved to him , he looked at her , took the card put it in his top pocket .. Tell her I give her one later !!

True story !

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