EVAN WILLIAMS: In Appreciation

St Anthony on the passing of his 'first' Celtic goalkeeper

On a personal level, I was very sad to read of Evan Williams’ passing earlier this week. One dark November afternoon in November 1972, my Dad took me to Celtic Park for the first time to see a Celtic first team game. What always struck me that day was the vivid colour of the bright green pitch under the brilliant light provided by those massive old Parkhead floodlights, after watching much football on black and white television. I was football mad at that time and collected the old bubble gum football cards, where Evan was usually the Celtic goalkeeper in each year’s collection. He was Celtic goalkeeper for my first Celtic game on that winter’s day against Hearts. From that point onwards, Evan would always have a special place in my heart and I also liked the distinctive name. You never came across many footballers named Evan.

Evan Williams joined Celtic in November 1969 when Jock Stein’s Celtic were at their peak. Following Ronnie Simpson’s injury which would lead to his retirement, Stein opted for Evan, who at that point was in Wolves reserve side and had been on loan at Aston Villa. There’s an interesting story when Evan signed for Celtic. He was friendly with a priest in Dumbarton who had been very supportive of him during the early days of his football career. After signing for Celtic, Evan knew that it would be in the morning newspapers, so he made a point of travelling late that evening to the Chapel House, where the priest was located. The good Father was probably alarmed at a visitor at such a late time of night and likely thought it was someone who required Last Rites. But it was Evan Williams, who wanted to tell him in person that he had signed for Celtic, and not just for him to read it in the papers. A marvellous gesture.

Evan is probably most famous for his man of the match performance in the European Cup final against Feyenoord in Milan in May 1970. Celtic were strong favourites to win the trophy for the second time but Evan was the only Celtic player who played to actual form on that fateful night, with a string of great saves to keep Feyenoord at bay. With just a couple of minutes remaining he couldn’t prevent a winner for the Dutchmen and that defeat still leaves a scar in the Celtic psyche to this day.

In the 1970 Quarter Final second leg tie against Fiorentina in the Stadio Artemo Franchi, La Viola had pounded Celtic in the second half, trying to retrieve the 3-0 loss they had suffered in the first leg in Glasgow. Fiorentina were given an indirect free kick just outside the Celtic penalty area. An Italian player cracked a shot at goal and Evan stood aside to let the ball in, in the knowledge that the free kick was indirect, and the referee then correctly gave a free kick to Celtic. At the final whistle, the referee waited for Evan at the tunnel to congratulate him on his knowledge of the laws of the game after he had signalled for an indirect free kick. Feeling rather chuffed with himself, Evan then entered the Celtic dressing room to be lambasted by Jock Stein and told in no uncertain terms, that he was there to keep the ball out and never let a goal in no matter what were the circumstances.

Evan seemed to do well on the European stage and in the 1972 European Cup semi finals, he kept a clean sheet against Inter Milan for two legs over 210 minutes, which included a period of extra time. After both legs finished goalless, the tie was decided on penalties. Sadly, Evan couldn’t stop the Italians from wining 5-4 with Dixie Deans being the Celtic culprit who missed in the shootout. Evan was thus denied another European Cup final appearance, this time it would have been Ajax in Rotterdam.

Evan had a great record against Rangers in what used to be referred to, euphemistically, as old ‘Old Firm’ games. He had a good temperament in these contests when spirits tended to run high. By my calculations he played against Rangers on 13 occasions, winning 8, drawing 3 and losing just 2. He was Celtic’s goalkeeper in the legendary 3 Ibrox wins within just 28 days in August/September 1971, when Celtic forfeited home advantage in their League Cup home tie due to ground reconstruction, games which Celtic fans from that period still fondly remember.

Jock Stein was notoriously uncertain of goalkeepers and in January 1973 he bought the highly rated Ally Hunter from Kilmarnock and Evan now dropped to reserve football, vying with Denis Connaghan for a place in the second team. In February 1974 he was thrust into the European stage once again when selected for the European Cup first leg tie against Basle in Switzerland, after injuries to Hunter and Connaghan. Evan looked rusty on the night from lack of first team football and made two errors during the game which cost Celtic a 3-2 defeat, a deficit which they were to happily overcome in the second leg at Parkhead. Sadly, that marked the end of the line for Evan at Celtic and he moved to Clyde in the summer of 1974.

Evan was said to be in the process of writing his biography but it now seems unlikely that it will be printed. There are two stories which he would have been keen to tell which are not football related. Firstly, he was in a very bad fire when a young boy in Dumbarton and spent almost a year in hospital to recover. Secondly, his Mother was a champion swimmer and had once dived into the River Leven to save a child’s life. And it’s an astonishing fact that she was Esther Williams’ (a hugely famous American actress and swimmer) body double in some of her films. It’s a great sadness that Evan couldn’t have saw his book printed while he was alive.

Evan was a popular visitor to Celtic Park in his later years in the hospitality areas in the ground. As well as being a Celtic player he would remind people that he was always a Celtic supporter before anything else. Evan Williams will always be my Celtic goalkeeper from happy childhood days and my condolences go to his family at this time.

May eternal light shine upon him.