Memories of...Roddy McDonald

Saint Anthony with a review of the Celtic centre half from the late 70s

Roddy MacDonald was a mere lad of 19 when he made his Celtic league debut against Hearts in Edinburgh, in October 1973. With Billy McNeill out of the team, Roddy made a fine first appearance for Celtic in a 3-1 win, playing alongside the magnificent George Connelly in central defence. Connelly scored a cracking goal with Kenny Dalglish scoring the two others in a 3-1 Celtic win in front of a crowd of 33,000 the likes of which Tynecastle will never see again.

When McNeill retired in May 1975, Roddy was seen as the ready-made replacement for Celtic’s legendary captain. This was a period of great transition for Celtic. Lou Macari and Davie Hay were sold for large fees. McNeill moved on, with Jimmy Johnstone and Jim Brogan surprisingly being given free transfers. Illness and injury had also robbed the Celts of the wonderful talents of Steve Murray, Brian McLaughlin, and George Connelly. If that wasn’t bad enough, Jock Stein missed the full 1975-76 through from the effects of a severe car crash which almost cost him his life.

The 1975-76 was a difficult one and none more so for young Roddy. The pressure of being McNeill’s replacement weighed heavily on his shoulders and there were times when he looked very raw and struggled against the pace and movement of the likes of Willie Pettigrew and Joe Harper. When Stein returned to the helm in the summer of 1976 he made it his mission to repair a leaky Celtic defence. Celtic scored plenty of goals but were still known to have a soft underbelly in defence.

Stein’s masterstroke was to persuade Eddie Turnbull to allow Pat Stanton to leave Hibs in a swap deal, with Celtic’s Jackie McNamara moving to Easter Road in exchange. Roddy’s strength was in the air, where he was well nigh unbeatable with his 6’ 2’’ frame, but Stanton, with his reading of a game and mobility as a sweeper, was to bring the absolute best out in the young Celtic centre half.

With Stanton pulling the strings from the back and organising the defence, Celtic enjoyed a wonderful season. They won a league and Scottish Cup double, and were only denied the treble due to Stanton and Joe Craig being cup tied and missing the League Cup final defeat to Aberdeen in 1976. Roddy enjoyed a wonderful season and was hugely impressive. He was able to deal with high balls in the Celtic defence and was also a terrific threat in attack. In January 1977, Celtic took a huge step towards the title by winning the belated new year derby against Rangers. It was Roddy’s powerful header which was diverted into his own net by Colin Jackson which gave Celtic the winner on the night. In the Scottish Cup final against Rangers in May, it was Roddy’s header which Derek Johnstone was adjudged to have handled on the line to give Celtic the penalty from which Andy Lynch scored the winning goal.

Much was expected of Celtic for the 1977-78 season but the campaign was cursed from day one when Kenny Dalglish left for Liverpool and severe injuries struck such vital players as Pat Stanton, Danny McGrain and Alfie Conn. Roddy and Peter Latchford were Celtic’s only ever presents and were probably the best performers throughout a season was described as an endurance test. Stein had blundered by letting Pat McCluskey leave just weeks before Stanton’s injury, and the experienced Pat would have been in ideal replacement for the injured Stanton. Many players were tried in defence alongside Roddy to find the ideal combination – Jim Casey, Shuggie Edvaldsson, Roy Aitken, Ian McWilliams, and Frank Munro was bought from Wolves to fill the void, but he too was to fail. Despite Celtic’s failings, Roddy had performed well enough to merit inclusion in Ally MacLeod’s original 40 man Scotland squad for the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina, before it was whittled down to 22.

Billy McNeill returned as manager in the summer of 1978 and was able to win the league at his first attempt. It was a tragedy for Roddy that he played in the first 33 league games but missed the run in and the unforgettable 4-2 win against Rangers which clinched the title for the Celts. Roddy suffered more bad luck when he missed the 1980 Scottish Cup final, again through injury.

In the summer of 1980, freedom of contract was introduced to Scottish football for the first time. The first two Celtic players to be out of contact under the new system were Roddy and Tommy Burns. Billy McNeill took a hard line against both players and refused to play them until new terms were agreed. By this time Roddy had lost his place as centre half to Tom McAdam as Celtic pushed towards another league success. Roddy eventually agreed terms and was in the side which all but clinched the title at Ibrox in April 1981. McNeill pulled a tactical master stroke by playing Roddy and McAdam as twin centre halves to combat the aerial threat of Rangers’ Derek Johnstone and Colin McAdam, with Roy Aitken employed as a sweeper behind them. It worked a treat with Celtic, memorably, winning 1-0 on a cracking sunny Spring afternoon.

At the end of the season, Roddy had won a third league medal. However, in a surprise move, he was sold that summer to Hearts for £50,000 with Celtic using the money to buy Willie Garner from Aberdeen for a similar fee. Garner never recovered from a disastrous Celtic debut yet Roddy was to give great service to Hearts for a number of seasons, and was in the Hearts side which lost at Dens Park on the fateful last day of the season in May 1986 on the day when Hearts blew the chance to win their first league title since 1960. The irony being that Hearts’ loss was Celtic’s gain that day at Love Street. With hindsight, allowing Roddy to leave was bad business. Central defence was an area Celtic were to struggle in for many seasons afterwards and his ability and experience would have been of great benefit.

Perhaps the best memory Celtic fans have of big Roddy was the Old Firm fixture at Parkhead on 27 October 1979. With the game even at 0-0 late on, Celtic brought on Shuggie Edvaldsson as a substitute, who immediately caused consternation in the Rangers defence to gain a corner kick. With Rangers defenders all fussing around Edvaldsson, Davie Provan’s brilliant hanging corner found Roddy left unmarked and his powerful header flew into the top corner of the net, to give Celtic a 1-0 win for which he is well remembered.

Roddy MacDonald was a fine player for Celtic. It’s a great regret he didn’t say for longer.