Memories of...Joe Craig

Saint Anthony reminisces about the striker of the late 70s

In 1976, Joe Craig was a highly rated Scotland under 23 international who was a part time player with newly promoted Partick Thistle. One September afternoon he was working as a car mechanic when he received a cryptic call at work from Thistle manager Bertie Auld, to travel to Firhill as ‘a team from Glasgow want to sign you.’ As Joe drove to Firhill he quickly ascertained that it was Celtic. The Celts were in real need of a decent striker after Dixie Deans recent departure to Luton, and Rangers already had two excellent strikers in Derek Johnstone and Derek Parlane, so were hardly in need of a third.

Jock Stein was already inside Firhill to greet Joe. He became Celtic’s new £60,000 signing, and was an immediate hit with the fans. Joe was the ideal target man – strong, mobile, good in the air, and able to hold the ball up. He was an ideal foil for Kenny Dalglish and Ronnie Glavin who benefited greatly from Joe’s powerful running and layoffs.

In November 1976 he played in his first Glasgow Derby at Ibrox and scored a goal which he will forever be remembered for. Taking a pass with has back from goal, he swivelled and hit a beauty of a shot high past Rangers goalkeeper, Stewart Kennedy at the Celtic end of the ground. This goal gave Celtic their first win at Ibrox since 1973 and set them on their way towards a league title. Happily, that goal was recorded for posterity and can be viewed on YouTube.

Joe continued to score regularly during the season and could be relied upon in big games. In the 1977 Scottish Cup semi-final, Dundee ran Celtic close, inspired by a young Gordon Strachan, until Joe’s two late goals took Celtic to the final. On 16 April he created a wee piece of Celtic history when he scored the winner at Easter Road which gave Celtic their first league win of the new Premier League era, a shot on the turn from an Alfie Conn cross.

Joe’s season was complete when he was part of the Celtic team who won the Scottish Cup on 7 May against Rangers. Celtic’s win appears slender at 1-0 but Joe sadly missed two great chances late in the game to make the score line more realistic, one when he miskicked in the six yard box and another when he slid the ball narrowly past when running clear on goal. Willie Ormond gave Joe his first Scotland cap against Sweden and Joe went into the history books as being the only Scotland player to score with his first touch, a header from a Sandy Jardine cross, after he had come on as a substitute. There was some disappointment when Ally MacLeod replaced Ormond as Scotland manager and didn’t pick Joe for the home international tournament and tour of South America. Seems Ally never fancied Joe despite his fine scoring form for Celtic.

At the start of the 1977-78 season much was expected of this new Celtic team. The forward line of Doyle, Glavin, Craig, Dalglish and Conn was the best Celtic could boast for many years. In 1976-77, Joe, Dalglish and Glavin had scored a tremendous total of 73 goals between them. However, the wheels fell off the Celtic wagon when Dalglish departed for Liverpool on the eve of the new season. Joe still took up good positions and Ronnie Glavin still made those great runs from midfield, but with Dalglish gone, the supply chain had stopped and Celtic struggled badly. Joe still scored a respectable 16 goals in a season when he, like many other Celtic players, had suffered from an injury curse which seemed to beset the club for the entire campaign. His best game had been against Innsbruck in the European Cup when he scored in a 2-1 win at Parkhead but Celtic were to rue the loss of a slack away goal in the second leg when they tamely went down by 3-0.

Billy McNeill returned as Celtic manager in the summer of 1978. Sadly for Joe, he missed the start of the season with illness and Tom McAdam and George McCluskey took advantage to become Billy’s first choice strike pairing. Joe’s last appearance for Celtic, on 9 September, was to be remembered. He came on as a substitute with Celtic leading 2-1 against Rangers at Parkhead, but under tremendous pressure late in the game. Joe led a Celtic break away and Rangers’ defender Tom Forsyth tried an unorthodox rugby tackle to stop him. However, he managed to wriggle clear to set McAdam up for the third goal and the game was won. At that time, Billy McNeill was looking to raise funds to buy new players. The old guard of the likes of Paul Wilson, Ronnie Glavin, and Joe, were now seen as surplus to requirements and Joe was sold to Blackburn Rovers for £40,000, with McNeill using the money to purchase Murdo MacLeod from Dumbarton. He did not want to leave Celtic but clubs held the power in those days so he was required to move on.

A few years ago I interviewed Joe at his home and he told me two stories which stick in the mind. The first one concerned Celtic’s visit to Tynecastle on 20 November 1976. In the first half Celtic were 3-1 down due to a Willie Gibson hat trick. Things looked bleak but as the Celts came out for the second half, the Celtic fans began to loudly sing ‘We are sailing’, the popular chart song which Rod Stewart made famous at that time. There was no segregation inside Tynecastle and Celtic fans all around the ground held their scarves up and sang loudly to inspire their team, in the style of ‘You’ll never walk alone’. It worked a treat as Celtic staged a fine come back to win 4-3, a result which laid a strong foundation for the rest of the season. Joe said he will never forget the sight and sound of the Celtic fans that day.

The second story came outside Celtic Park on Boxing Day 1976, after Celtic had drawn 2-2 with Aberdeen in a very entertaining game in front of 46,000 spectators. Joe was feeling happy with himself after scoring both of Celtic goals, and as he stood signing autographs for young admirers outside the ground he was aware of a rather dodgy looking character with a huge Celtic flag draped around his shoulders.

‘That big centre hauf gied you a hard time the day Joe.’

‘Aye he did mate…’

‘He fouled you aw gemme Joe’.

(Joe continuing to sign autographs) ‘Aye well, you need to give a bit and take a bit.’

The guy then pulled out a huge blade and declared, ‘If you want him sorted Joe, just you say the word.’ No wonder football fans had a bad reputation in the 1970’s !

Joe Craig is fondly remembered.