My Pal Tam

A personal obituary for Celtic legend, Tommy Gemmell, by the man who teed up his equaliser on May 25, 1967, his Lisbon Lion team-mate and fellow full-back, Jim Craig

- Jim Craig

I FIRST met Tommy Gemmell in the early months of 1965. Although part-time because of my studies in dentistry, I occasionally managed time off to train with the first-team in the mornings.

It was quite an experience meeting all these guys I had only read about or watched from the terracings. I had always assumed that all footballers must be very confident men but, much to my surprise, I quickly found out that this was not the case.

Some were so nervous before matches, for instance, that they took advantage of the little bottle of brandy strategically placed on the window-ledge of the bathroom to steady the nerves.

Tommy Gemmell was not one of these - in fact, the term ‘confidence personified’ described him perfectly.

Unlike many others of a similar ilk, though, Tam had the attributes to match the confidence. He had good control, a wicked shot and was a competitor with bags of stamina in the locker.

The latter two qualities are often under-estimated. There might have been better foot balling sides than the Celtic team of the late 1960s and early 1970s but few have ever surpassed our combination of fine play, fitness, drive, determination and sheer desire to win.

And in our side, Tommy was the most ostentatious symbol of these qualities.

He had the blonde hair, the shiny suits, the outrageous ties, the flash car, the Colonel Bogey horn, liked a drink and went shooting and fishing.

Tam just loved the limelight and he was a reporter’s dream. In Lisbon, when most of the team was happy to get back to the dressing-room with their strip still in place, Tam roamed round the pitch among the fans, savouring their acclaim.

Before that match, I had roomed with him as usual, always an experience. As he had no regard for time, we were always in trouble for turning up late. Or more accurately, I got a row for not getting him there on time!