Nine Summers Of Celebration

The story behind Celtic’s first nine-in-a-row

The last thing Jock Stein did as manager of Hibernian before becoming Celtic boss in March 1965 was knock favourites, Rangers out of the Scottish Cup at the quarter-final stage.

Stein’s return to his spiritual home meant that three out of the four successful quarter-finalists – Dunfermline, Hibs and Celtic – had been managed by him in the preceding 12 months and would all fight for a place in the final.

The new manager had, of course, led Dunfermline to victory in the 1961 final over Celtic, and the last time the Hoops had tasted Scottish Cup success was more than a decade earlier, when Stein captained the Celts to victory over Aberdeen in the 1954 final.

The Hoops also lifted the league title that season for an unexpected double, and although there had been flirtations with cup finals and silverware in the intervening years, two League Cup wins including the 7-1 victory over Rangers, one beaten final and four more unsuccessful Scottish Cup finals, the league showings produced a sorrier state.

Finishing positions of fifth and sixth were not uncommon and, indeed, the glorious decade of the 1960s started with Celtic finishing an inglorious ninth in the 1959/60 table. And even as Celtic fans celebrated lifting the 1965 Scottish Cup in a season in which the team also reached the League Cup final, there was still an ominous eighth-place league finish.

Stein had delivered hope by steering the team to a win over Motherwell in the Scottish Cup semi-final and, famously, over former charges Dunfermline in the final – but the league was the main thing and the yardstick by which to be measured.