MURDO MacLeod will forever hold a place in the hearts of Celtic supporters for scoring the all-important final goal in the Scottish title decider against Rangers at Parkhead back in 1979 when “10 Men Won The League”.
Fans of the Glasgow club sing about that epic 4-2 triumph over their city rivals to this day and voted MacLeod’s strike – a 25 yard piledriver which he lashed in from outside the opposition penalty box in the last minute – as their greatest in an Old Firm derby in 2000.
Yet, the former Scotland internationalist cherishes the memory of his equally spectacular winner against the Ibrox side in the League Cup final at Hampden three years later every bit as much.
“That goal was a wee bit special,” said the Celtic great yesterday as he looked ahead to the meeting between the two Glasgow giants in the denouement of the Premier Sports Cup in Mount Florida on Sunday and back on his first triumph in the competition as a player.
Indeed it was. The midfielder ghosted in to the edge of the area after a headed clearance by Dave Mackinnon – the Rangers defender who also happened to be his cousin – on the half hour mark and rifled a first-time shot beyond goalkeeper Jim Stewart and into the top corner.
It proved to be the difference between the two teams at the end of the 90 minutes.
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MacLeod can vividly recall how dominant Celtic, who had Pat Bonner, Roy Aitken, Paul McStay, Davie Provan, Tommy Burns, Frank McGarvey and Charlie Nicholas in their starting line-up, were that day in what was, despite the narrow margin of victory, a one-sided encounter.
Yet, he also remembers how, in what should be a warning to Brendan Rodgers’ men ahead of a match against Philippe Clement’s charges which they are widely expected to prevail in, Billy McNeill’s side switched off temporarily and allowed John Greig’s team to reduce their seemingly commanding lead.
“It was one of these games we always felt we were on top in,” he said. “We knew we were going to win it. But then Jim Bett scored a free-kick for Rangers at the start of the second half. All of a sudden it was a case of, ‘Oh, we need to start working hard here again’.
“Fortunately, all of our players were ready to go and fight again. Celtic and Rangers are two massive clubs and when you are part of them, when you are in there, you know you are always going to have to battle for the green and white or the blue and white. That is especially true in cup finals.”
MacLeod continued: “I go to all of the Celtic home games these days and they are looking sharp, really sharp, just now. But, as I can testify, anything can happen in a cup final. So they can’t afford to think they’re favourites ahead of this game.
Celtic fans have savoured, the 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in Germany back at the start of October aside, their heroes’ performances in the Champions League this season and are hopeful they can progress to the knockout round play-offs next month.
But MacLeod knows just how important lifting the League Cup can be from personal experience and thinks, despite the years of domestic superiority which his old club have enjoyed, the outcome this weekend is of vast importance to his old club.
He certainly believes the winning the competition in 1997 during the season that he spent as assistant to Wim Jansen at Parkhead was the catalyst for the historic success they subsequently enjoyed in the Premiership.
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“It was really good for us,” he said. “We had been up and down up until that point that season, had had good games and bad games. But going to Ibrox, beating Dundee United and lifting the first trophy of the season was a turning point. The whole place was taken over by the Celtic supporters and the atmosphere was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
“To get to the cup final, win it at Ibrox and take the cup back home to Celtic Park gave the players a lift and a belief. They had won a trophy in Scottish football. They kept on going after that, got stronger and stronger as the season went on.”
Celtic had very much been second best to the ancient adversaries in the preceding years. But they built on that 3-0 victory, won their first Scottish title in 10 years on a dramatic final day in May and prevented Rangers from making Scottish football history and completing 10-In-A-Row.
MacLeod relished working under the tactically astute, softly-spoken and cerebral Jansen during that landmark campaign. He was left bitterly disappointed when, due to simmering tensions with the then hierarchy behind the scenes, the Dutchman decided to depart just after they had been crowned champions.
He recounts in Murdo! Murdo!, the excellent autobiography he has penned with his old mucker Hugh Keevins, how general manager Jock Brown had to be persuaded not to carry the trophy off the team bus when they returned to Parkhead following their League Cup win.
MacLeod knows that Celtic are in a good place heading into the Premier Sports Cup final on Sunday. He reckons their midfield, not least their captain Callum McGregor, has been integral to the form they have shown both at home and abroad of late and will be crucial again this weekend.
“They're very comfortable in the middle of the park,” he said. “They have Callum running about in every game taking the ball from everyone everywhere. Take the ball, take the ball, take the ball. He does it all of the time. That means they’re keeping possession and controlling games.
“He can just calms everything down. Callum takes a touch, gives it to someone else and lets them go and play. He is always there to take the ball off of the players who are under a little bit of pressure all around the park and that is so important.”
McGregor should be joined in the Celtic midfield by Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo at Hampden on Sunday and Arne Engels, despite his impressive cameo in the 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia on Tuesday night, should once again find himself on the bench.
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Rodgers has stressed it will take the 21-year-old, who moved to Parkhead in a club record £11m transfer from Bundesliga outfit Augsburg back in August, time to adapt to a new system and style of football and establish himself as a first team regular.
MacLeod, though, does not accept that the Belgian internationalist should be given extra leeway just because of his tender years.
“I was 20 when I joined Celtic and I played straight away,” he said. “Arne has just got to settle down a wee bit. He's got to start speaking to people about his game to see what he needs to do to make him a better player. It's a lot of money to spend for a youngster so he's got to show people how good he is.”
Spending three years in the second tier with part-time Dumbarton in the mid-1970s gave the teenage MacLeod an excellent grounding in the game and prepared him for life at Celtic. He later went on to manage The Sons and still attends their home games when he can. He has been distraught to see them go into administration due to their off-field difficulties this term.
“What's happened has been terrible,” he said. “It’s just sad. I feel that people within the Scottish football community should be helping them. This is a club that's 151-years-old. I certainly think it’s wrong that they’ve had 15 points taken off them. The game should be trying to look after them, not punishing them. But I’m hopeful they can come through this. It is not an awful lot of money which is needed.”
MacLeod, who is now 66, has had his own issues to contend with in recent years. He recounts his health struggles, undergoing an emergency heart operation, fighting for his life on a ventilator for eight weeks in hospital, losing his toes and having to learn how to walk again, in detail in his engrossing memoir.
He is in fine form at his home at Rhu outside Helensburgh when we speak and is looking forward to spending Christmas with his family. “Life's a wee bit easier for me just now,” he said. “I’m getting out. Mind you, the weather's changed, we’re back to Scottish winter weather. But I’m gradually getting better.”
He will never walk alone when Celtic fans are around. He still marvels at how they cheered and chanted from kick-off until the final whistle despite standing on an uncovered terrace in high winds and heavy rain at Hampden when Rangers were beaten in the League Cup final in 1982. He is hoping they are in fine voice again come Sunday evening.
“It was absolutely pouring down in that game and they sang and danced throughout it,” he said. “I can remember thinking, ‘This is amazing!’ I still meet Celtic fans all the time when I’m at Parkhead. They speak to me about the 4-2 game, but they talk about the cup final as well. It’s nice to be reminded about all the good times.”
Murdo! Murdo! by Murdo MacLeod with Hugh Keevins is published by Black and White Publishing, costs £20 and is available to buy now.
