On January 31 1965, Jock Stein was named as Celtic’s new manager. It was a moment that would change the club's history forever. Stein would go on to be regarded as the club’s greatest ever boss, guiding them to become Britain's first ever winners of the European Cup just two years later; but remarkably, it was an appointment that very nearly didn’t happen at all.
Stein’s playing career was fairly nondescript. Starting as a centre-half with Blantyre Victoria before moving to Albion Rovers in 1942 and later Welsh club Llanelli, he then signed for Celtic in December 1951 for just over £1000 and helped them to a League and Cup double in 1954 before an ankle injury forced him to retire just two years later; taking on the role of reserve team coach.
Despite his obvious coaching ability his ambitions to eventually become manager were astonishingly brought to an abrupt end after a discussion with then chairman Robert Kelly. “I was a non-Catholic. So Robert Kelly thought I had gone as far as I would expect to go at a club like Celtic,” Stein later revealed.
“The chairman had told him he couldn’t go any further at the club because of his religion,” revealed Jimmy Conway, a former Celtic reserve player. “He really was upset and there were tears. He was very, very upset because he loved the club.”
Stein immediately left Celtic and joined struggling Dunfermline Athletic instead where he turned around the side’s fortunes, not only keeping them up, but winning the Scottish League Cup with the Pars after a victory over Celtic of all teams in the final.
Following a brief stint as manager of Hibernian Stein received the call that he thought would never come from his former employers, Celtic, who were now prepared to offer him the position of manager that he’d wanted so dearly and things would never be the same again.
In his first season in charge he took Celtic to Scottish Cup glory, beating his old club Dunfermline in the final and delivering the club’s first silverware since the days when he was a player in 1954.
The following campaign, Stein’s first full season with the club, Celtic would win the league title for the first time in 12 years, not to mention defeating Rangers in the League Cup final and reaching the semi-final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup where they were beaten by Liverpool.
But surely Stein’s greatest achievement came on May 25, 1967 in Lisbon when a group of men lifted the most coveted prize in club football as Celtic defeated Inter Milan to win the European Cup; an unthinkable achievement now but even more so back then due to the fact that nearly all of the 11 players used that night grew up within a bus ride of Parkhead and would forever be known as “the Lisbon Lions.”
The triumph in Portugal completed a clean sweep for Celtic as they won every tournament they entered that season; the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, and, of course, the European Cup.
In Stein’s 13 years at Celtic they would win 10 League titles, eight Scottish Cups, six Scottish League Cups and would go on to reach the final of the European Cup again in 1970 where they lost to Feyenoord.
He eventually stepped down as manager of Celtic in 1978, personally selecting former “Lisbon Lion’s” skipper Billy McNeill as his successor before, after a short stint at Leeds United, he took over as the Scotland national team manager following the World Cup of 1978.
He would lead Scotland to the World Cup finals of 1982 in Spain after a sparkling qualification campaign saw them topping their group and only losing one game; but tragically it would be the only time he took a side to a major international tournament.
During a qualification showdown with Wales at Ninian Park on September 10, 1985, in which his Scotland side only needed a point to progress to the finals in Mexico, Stein suffered a massive heart attack and despite the efforts of medical staff died in the dressing room 30 minutes after the game; which Scotland drew to ensure qualification.
Jock Stein amassed an incredible 25 major trophies during his 13 years as manager of Celtic, confirming his place of one of the game’s greatest ever managers, while also paving the way for managers such as Matt Busby, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough, Joe Fagan and Alex Ferguson to achieve European glory with British sides in years to come.
In March 2011, a statue of Stein was unveiled outside of his beloved Parkhead alongside fellow Hoops greats such as Jimmy Johnstone and club founder Brother Walfrid as the man who had made Celtic the greatest club in Europe finally received the recognition that he so richly deserved 46 years on from an appointment that so nearly never happened.
