Bertie Auld

Yeh it was absolute baltic today but worth the wait to say goodbye to a Celtic legend. Not ashamed to say I shed a few tears but, looking around me, I wasn't the only one

 

Bertie, what’s the best away result you remember?

Oh, I canny tell ye that, the wife might be listening. You hink am a grass Peter?

 

Must have been 8 or 9 as it three amigos time, at the time, my uncle James drank a lot in Bairds my ma took me down one day as she had to get something from him as we sat in Bairds for half an hour there was an older guy behind the bar talking to everyone and came up to me talking to my uncle and me, my uncle told me he is Bertie Auld one of the Lisbon Lions and I remember being awe struck at that, few weeks later my uncle handed me a Lisbon Lions posted signed by a fair few.

 

Woulda loved this today....* Bless Bertie

 

Celtic legend, Bertie Auld was born on this day 84 years ago in Maryhill, an area that meant almost as much to him as Celtic Park did.

Here we revisit an interview with the inimitable Bertie who sadly passed away last November.

COMING HOME
Some people might say that the highlight of my Celtic career was the 1967 season, but I always look back to when I returned here from Birmingham in ‘65. I had always believed that I would come back and all of a sudden I arrived on a Monday morning, to meet Jimmy McGrory again and also Tommy Riley and Sean Fallon. I flew up that morning with my wife and my daughter and dropped them off in Knightswood at my mother-in-law’s. I then went to Celtic Park, put on one of the old grey training tops, a pair of sandshoes, shorts and socks and went out and loosened up. Jimmy then came out with Sean and Tommy and everything just fell into place. As far as I was concerned, Jimmy McGrory was the most honest man I ever met. You only had to look at him to know what he was thinking and he was Celtic through and through. Even just putting on the training gear that day and going out for a run, I felt that I had ‘arrived’. There might have been ups and downs, but from that day on things just seemed to click into place.




FAVOURITE GROUNDS
There were two or three grounds that I loved to play at, apart from Celtic Park and one was Cathkin, Third Lanark’s ground. That’s all closed up now, but that was a great place to play, because they always had a team who would try to play football against you and would lift their game. Dens Park in Dundee was another magnificent ground, as was Tynecastle in Edinburgh. Those games always felt like cup finals and there was no love lost in any of the games we played. They were always end to end, with no tackles pulled. Kilmarnock games were a bit like that as well and Rugby Park was another great place to play. But the quality of player during that era of Scottish football was outstanding, there was an abundance of talent. It was an era when people came in their droves to watch the games and it was a fabulous time to play in.



TOUGHEST OPPONENT
There was one player who never gave me a kick of the ball and I must have played against him around about half-a-dozen times. Albert Murphy was definitely my toughest opponent. He was an Irishman who played for Clyde and what a player he was, he was long before his time and was like Danny McGrain - with a bit more height. He was a magnificent player. He went back to Ireland when he finished playing and had so much passion, so much ability and charisma, but was not egotistical. He was certainly the best full back I ever played against.

LISBON
It wasn’t until Celtic took us all back to the Estadio National in 2007 for the game against Benfica that I really started to remember the build-up to the European Cup final. Standing in the tunnel, the memories just started to flood back. I could remember sitting in this big, dark dressing room, with the noise and excitement all around me. The ones who looked the least excited were the ones who were going to play, they all had this calmness about them. Then we walked out into the tunnel, 30 yards up to the steps leading out to the pitch and they then kept us there until everything was ready. I can remember wee Jimmy looking them up and down and talking about the size they were. Now when we were at home, on the bus going to games, we used to sing Celtic songs and that’s what came to me that night. It was second nature and I just started to sing ‘The Celtic Song’. We started in a quiet, low, deep voice and then, by the final verse, Pavarotti would have been proud of us!



THE CELTIC SUPPORT
There were two great rewards that I have enjoyed from being a part of that Celtic team, the first is the closeness we have and we are such great friends. The second thing is actually something that my Dad said would happen when I signed in 1955 and he told me that if I did well, then I would become a part of that Celtic support. The people who gathered every week to watch us on the terraces, they were a part of us, as much as we were a part of them. That’s why I have always said that we are ‘a family’. The Celtic supporters were fantastic, they came to us when we were in need and supported us at all times and we will always appreciate that.








BERTIE’S TROPHY TRAIL

• League (5): 1965/66, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70,
• Scottish Cup (3): 1964/65, 1966/67, 1968/69.
• League Cup (4): 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70
• European Cup (1): 1966/67

STATS
Apps Subs Goals

• League 167 9 50
• League Cup 42 5 20
• Scottish Cup 26 2 8
• Europe 22 2 1
• Total 257 18 79

BERTIE AULD FACTFILE

• Born: March 23, 1938, Maryhill
• Joined: April 2, 1955 from Maryhill Harp.
• Left: Freed May 1, 1971 and joined Hibernian.

PLAYING HONOURS

• European Cup: 1967
• League Championships: 1965/66, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70
• Scottish Cup: 1965, 1967, 1969
• League Cup: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

SCOTLAND HONOURS

• 3 Scotland caps

 

Should have had so many more caps.

 

World Cup in Brazil 2014, I met a Uruguay fan who raved about Bertie, guy kept repeating, "Bertie Auld, what a player, what a man", he got no argument from me. Happy Birthday Bertie, I know you're watching the hoops with a big smile and an apt one liner about the state of the new club across the river.

 

Rest in peace, Bertie. Never forgotten. YNWA.