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Jock Stein
Jock Stein: A Profile
For such a small country, Scotland has an extraordinary record for producing great football managers. Over the past 15 years or so, the names of Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish and George Graham have dominated management in the English game just as Bill Shankly and Matt Busby had done in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Around the same time as Shankly and Busby were leading Liverpool and Manchester United to greatness, a certain Jock Stein was moulding Celtic into not only the most formidable side in Scotland but also in Europe. Celtic's stunning European Cup success of 1967, with a team of inexpensive local talent, confirmed to the world that Jock Stein was a manager of exceptional ability.
Stein began his football career as a player with unfashionable Albion Rovers in Coatbridge. He played as a centre-half on a Saturday and spent the rest of the week working as a miner. In 1951, he signed for Celtic as a reserve but injuries incurred by first team players resulted in him being promoted to the first team.
An ankle injury brought an end to Stein's playing days but he went on to exert considerable influence at Celtic Park in his roles as a coach and scout.
In 1960, Stein was appointed manager of Dunfermline Athletic. Within six weeks of his arrival at the Fife club, he banished the team's relegation worries and guided them to an unlikely Scottish Cup success at Celtic's expense.
Stein had a brief spell in charge of Hiberian before landing the job of his dreams at Celtic in 1965. And so began the most glorious chapter in the history of Celtic FC. Stein was to become the most successful Celtic manager ever, delivering a European Cup and nine consecutive league titles among a staggering total of 25 competitive trophies in just 13 seasons.
The Bhoys' 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the European Cup final of 1967 capped an amazing year as they had won every competition they had entered that season. It was also a triumph for attacking flair over an ultra-defensive Italian style that at the time, was threatening to suffocate the game on the Continent.
What made Celtic's European Cup success all the more remarkable was that the team were all born within a 30-mile radius of Parkhead. The Big Man, as he was known to the football world, had moulded a bunch of talented individuals from the west of Scotland into one of the most feared attacking teams in Europe.
In just two years, Stein had worked wonders at Celtic Park. First, he had transformed the ailing club into the best in Scotland, at a time when Scottish teams were regularly competing at the highest level in Europe. Then, he turned Celtic into the 'Kings of Europe' and continued to achieve unprecedented success with the Glasgow club during the 1970s.
For obvious reasons, the 1967 European Cup success is regarded as Stein's finest achievement. A memorable game in Lisbon was graced by goals from Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers. These goals ensured that Celtic became the first non-Latin side to take home European football's most prized possession. No other Scottish side has even reached the final.
Along with the Europe and league successes, Stein delivered the Scottish Cup on seven occasions. Failures were few and far between but losing the European Cup final in Milan to Feyenoord, in May 1970, was probably the biggest dent Celtic's pride suffered during Stein's reign.
In July 1975, Stein narrowly escaped death in a car crash. A year later, he returned to Celtic a notably quieter, subdued man, and many believe he never fully recovered mentally or physically from the accident.
However, the accident failed to rob Stein of his midas touch and he enjoyed one last season of success as Celtic won the first ever Premier League and the Scottish Cup.
Injuries to Conn and Stanton and the transfer of prolific goalscorer Dalglish to Liverpool in 1977-78 put paid to hopes of bringing the European Cup back to Celtic Park. Stein subsequently bowed out amid rumours that his relationship with the Celtic directors had seriously declined. His successor in the Celtic hotseat was Billy Mc Neill, captain of the all-conquering team of '67.
An ill-fated 44-day stint at Leeds United followed before Stein returned to Scotland to take charge of the national side. He led the Scots to their third successive World Cup finals in Spain in 1982 but as in the previous two World Cups, they failed to make it past the first round stages.
On September 10, 1985, Scotland played a World Cup qualifying match in Cardiff against Wales. The home side led for most of the game but Scotland scored a late equalizer to make it 1-1 to give them the one point they needed to reach the finals. As the final whistle sounded and Scotland celebrated their qualification for yet another World Cup, Stein suffered a fatal heart attack.
Stein's untimely death shocked and saddened not only followers of the game in Scotland but football supporters throughout the world. During his remarkably successful career, Stein gained the respect of players and managers alike, but was never afraid to put a 'star' in his place while finding time to listen to the youngest member of his ground staff.
His achievement in guiding Celtic to 25 domestic titles as well as to ultimate success on the European stage, makes him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, British football manager ever. Stein was once famously described as "a Protestant chieftain emerging from a Catholic stronghold to win great battles and memorable glories for the grand old club," regaining for Celtic supporters "a paradise they must have once thought lost forever."
Jock Stein CBE will always be remembered for single-handedly changing the fortunes of Celtic, turning them from the proverbial underachieving sleeping giants into Champions of Europe. He holds a very important place in the history of the club and is worthy of legendary status.
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