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Billy McNeill
William "Billy" McNeill MBE (born
2 March 1940)
is a former Scottish footballer and
manager.
McNeill, known as Cesar, was arguably the greatest captain
of Celtic F.C.. His nickname was derived from the actor Cesar Romero, who played the getaway driver in the (original) film Ocean's
Eleven, as McNeill was one of the only Celtic players to own a car at the time.
McNeill was born and brought up a Roman Catholic in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, of part Irish and part Lithuanian descent.
He was signed by Celtic from nearby junior team, Blantyre Victoria, in
1957 as a defender. As captain he won nine Scottish League Championships,
seven Scottish Cups and six Scottish League Cups
He also led the team to victory in the European Cup in 1967, as part
of the "Lisbon Lions", and was the first British footballer
to hold aloft the European Cup. He retired as a player in 1975 after
over 800 appearances for Celtic. He won 29 caps for Scotland.
He began his management career at Clyde F.C. in
April 1977 before moving to Aberdeen F.C. in June. However, in 1978 he
returned to manage Celtic. His five years in charge saw Celtic win three
League Championships, one Scottish Cup and one League cup. In 1983 he
moved to England to manage Manchester City FC.
In 1986-87, he became one of the few managers to manage two relegated
teams in the same season. He started the season as manager of Manchester
City but quit in September 1986 to take charge of fellow strugglers Aston
Villa FC.
But when Villa were relegated after finishing bottom of the First Division
in May 1987, he stood down to make way for Graham Taylor and returned
to Celtic.
In his first season Celtic won the double of the League Championship
and Scottish Cup in the clubs' centenary year. He won the Scottish Cup
the following season, but quit in 1991 after four years as manager. He
also served as an interim manager of Hibernian FC.
He also unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party in the 2003 election to the Scottish
Parliament.
He now lives in Newton Mearns. He has recently had an operation on his leg for an injury,
and is now recovering well.
Denis
Law started
his footballing career with Huddersfield town in 1956. After an unhappy
time in Italy with Torino he joined United with a new British record
transfer fee of £115,000 in August 1962. He scored two goals on
his debut in 1962 and after scoring in United's FA Cup Final win of 1963,
a stream of goals followed. 160 of them in only 222 games over his first
five seasons. Many of them were outrageous, some seemingly impossible,
but everything was done with a confident arrogant style the fans found
irresistible.
Law won the European Footballer of the Year award in 1964 and captained the team
on several occasions. He helped United win the league twice, 1965 and 1967, forming
the legendary trio of Best, Law and Charlton. On the International scene he was
a regular up front with Scotland. Law played in many a clash with England, most
famously when they beat the then World Champions 3-2 at Wembley in 1967. He played
for Scotland a total of 55 times and olds the joint Scottish international goal
scoring record with 30 goals longside Kenny Dalglish. Sadly, such was his fierce
competitiveness Law was sometimes injured, no more costly than when he missed
the 1968 European Cup triumph because of a knee injury.
Controversially, in 1973 he was given a free transfer by Tommy Docherty but had
more good times with Manchester City and Scotland. In an infamous incident at
Old Trafford 1974 with United deep in trouble at the foot of the league and playing
City, Law in the 85th minute half-heartedly back-heeled the ball into United's
net. It won the game for City 1-0 and United were consequently relegated (although
they were down regardless of the result).
The devastation on Law's face after the goal showed the bond he still had with
his old club. In fact, it was his last ever kick in League football as he was
so downcast he retired straight after the game. The fact the United fans never
blamed him for it showed their great affection and respect for him also. His
career in football ended after playing for Scotland in the 1974 World Cup. Since
then he has been involved in media work and working currently for BBC Radio 5,
Sky and MUTV.
Denis is always in great demand as an after dinner speaker of the highest quality.
A one club man - and a one man awkward
squad. That was Jack Charlton - big brother of Bobby and one of the greatest
central defenders to have played the game. Early on in his career, his
firmly held opinions and attitude did not make for a good relationship
with the management, but under Don Revie he blossomed. He finally won
international recognition in 1965, going on to be a crucial part of the
1966 World Cup-winning team and picking up a total of 35 caps and the
1967 Footballer of the Year award. He recognised that he had needed a
bit of a kick up the backside to spur him on - in 1967, he said: "After
following in the footsteps of my uncles Jack George and Jimmy Milburn
to Elland Road just after I left school in Ashington I was scarcely a
model of what a young player should be... I had my own ideas and I am
afraid they did not always coincide with the methods of the men in charge.
Don said: 'You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Instead of playing centre-forward
in the reserves with your ability you should be playing centre-half for
England.' My career should be a warning to every young lad who comes
into the game. With everything in my favour... I still managed to get
off the rails and waste many valuable years before I got on the right
track."
As a player, his longevity was impressive and he was nearly 37 when he
picked up his FA Cup winners medal in 1972. Age was catching up with him,
and after a further year at Leeds, he retired from the field of play.
As a manager, Big Jack enjoyed success with Middlesbrough, getting them
promoted to Division 1, he did well at Sheffield Wednesday, but a move
back to the North East to manage Newcastle didn't get off to a great start.
The fans didn't like it, dished out the abuse and Jack decided he didn't
need it, so he walked away. He was a controversial choice to take over
as manager of the Republic of Ireland, but enjoyed immense success with
a simple game and an assiduous scanning of players' birth certificates.
For making the best of limited resources and doing it in such good spirit,
he was runner-up in World Soccer's Manager of the Year poll in 1988.
Jack has been a favourite on the after dinner circuit for a number of years
with his unique sense of humour and fun.