[Player Pics]

Murdo MacLeod was signed for Celtic in the autumn of 1978 to bring some much needed drive to the Bhoys’ midfield.

He was brought to Parkhead by newly appointed boss Billy McNeill who paid Dumbarton £100,000 to secure the services of the hard working midfielder. It was to prove money very well spent and the dynamic MacLeod would prove to be the engine of the Celtic team for the next nine years.

The Celtic support instantly took to the midfielder whose committed tackles and driving runs quickly made him a stand out performer. MacLeod provided much more than blood and thunder though. He was a complete midfielder with the ability to deliver inch perfect passes. He also possessed a rocket like shooting power. By the end of his very first season with the club MacLeod had sealed his place in Celtic folk-lore.

On May 21st 1979 Celtic faced Rangers at Parkhead in what was practically a decider for the League title. For the Bhoys it was their last game and a win would give them the Championship. But a draw or defeat would all but present the title to a Rangers side who had games in hand.

With 55 minutes gone the score was level at 1-1 when Johnny Doyle was sent off for the Hoops. Rangers took the lead against the 10 men but remarkably Celtic fought back against the odds to lead 3-2 with just five minutes to go. With just seconds remaining MacLeod drove purposefully up the middle of the park and from 30-yards out unleashed an unstoppable drive high into the Rangers net. Celtic Park erupted and the partying began.

MacLeod was to be one of Celtic’s most consistent performers for the best part of a decade and his departure to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 1987 was met with regret but no malice from a support who appreciated the player’s wonderful efforts for the club.

In his time at Celtic MacLeod had played 395 games and scored 82 goals on his way to winning 4 league titles, 2 Scottish Cups and a League Cup.

He was to return to the club in the summer of 1997 as assistant coach to Wim Jansen and he helped guide the team to their first title in a decade, memorably stopping Rangers from achieving a record 10-in-a-row. Internal politics however meant that this stay was to be rather brief and MacLeod left with Jansen after just a year.




Murdo on Murdo


Early Career

"I trained with Rangers as a kid as well and could have signed for them, but I chose Dumbarton. I also had trials at Arsenal, Wolves and Crystal Palace.

"I was asked to sign for Rangers, but I picked Dumbarton as I felt that I had a much better chance of getting into the first team at Boghead than I did at Ibrox.

"As a kid, I didn't support any club, something which did me no harm later in my career as I was always able to give 100% support to the team I was playing for at the time."

"Alec Wright was the Dumbarton manager when I signed professional forms and we had several top-class players at Boghead at that time.

"There was centre forward Ian Wallace. He later went on to become a GBP1million player and was capped three times for Scotland while playing with Coventry City.

"In addition, the brothers Tom and Colin McAdam, who played for Celtic and Rangers respectively later in their careers, and former Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace also played for the club during my time.

"We had a mixture of nine or 10 full-time players, while the rest were part-time by choice.

"I joined the groundstaff as a full-timer and one of my main duties was to sweep the water off the playing surface after heavy rain, something no one had ever managed to do over the previous 100 years - yes it was well named, Boghead.

"I also had to sweep the terraces and clean the players' boots, all of which gave me a wonderful start in the game. The apprenticeship was very special to me. I'm sure it helped to make me a better professional as it made me realise I had to work hard to succeed."



Joining Celtic

"I received a phone call, when I was with the Scottish League squad preparing for a match against the Irish League at Motherwell's Fir Park, asking me to go along to Parkhead to have a chat with Billy McNeill.

"I was terrified as Celtic Park was just a wee bit bigger than Boghead and, of course, McNeill was a legendary figure in the Scottish game.

"However, I knew several of the Celtic players at the time as I had been playing for the Scottish under-21 side along with the likes of Roy Aitken, George McCluskey and Tommy Burns, all of whom had been breaking into the first team at that time.

"Other players like captain Andy Lynch and Davie Provan, who had just signed before me from Kilmarnock, were also at Celtic Park along with the legendary Danny McGrain and Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox." MacLEOD made his Hoops debut in November 1978 against Motherwell, who won 2-1.

He said: "I signed on the Thursday, went in on the Friday for my first training session and played against Motherwell 24 hours later.

"My second game for Celtic was an Old Firm derby against Rangers. It was played at Hampden as Ibrox was in the process of being redeveloped. We drew 1-1 and I supplied the pass for Andy Lynch's goal.



Memorable Games

"I had many highlights during my nine seasons at Celtic Park, even the first campaign was memorable as we won the championship in the last game to stop Rangers doing the treble.

"Rangers needed only a point to take the title, but we beat them 4-2 and I scored with the last kick of the game. I was really honoured last year when the goal was voted the best ever in an Old Firm derby.

"Although Aberdeen were very strong at the time, playing against the other half of the Old Firm was the highlight of the season for me.

"It was always a massive game and, unlike other matches, there was never a let-up on the noise in the stadium throughout the whole 90 minutes." The tough-tackling midfielder also experienced many memorable European nights at Celtic Park.

He said: "One of the best was the night we beat Real Madrid 2-0 at Parkhead in the European Cup, although we went out at the Bernabeu Stadium when we threw it away and they defeated us 3-0 in the second leg.


Leaving Celtic

"I can honestly say it [playing in Germany] was one of the most enjoyable periods of my whole career in football.

"It was a great environment and a wonderful stadium in which to play my football. The fans also took me to their hearts, which, obviously, made it even easier for me.

"Playing my football in Germany meant it was always a great honour to come back home and play for Scotland, as I gained the majority of my 20 caps during my spell with Dortmund.

"Dortmund hadn't won anything for more than 20 years, but I was fortunate enough to be in the team which beat Werder Bremen 4-1 in the final of the German Cup."



Returning as Coach


He said: "I got the chance to join Celtic as a coach in 1997 and took the first team for pre-season training until the new manager was appointed.

"Within a couple of days of Wim Jansen taking over, he asked me to become his assistant.

"Wim was a magnificent coach with a great knowledge of the game. He could analyse games, and also players, very quickly, while, from day one, we enjoyed a great working relationship which later developed into an even greater friendship.

"We worked hard together from the outset, with the prime objective of stopping Rangers winning 10 league titles in a row, and we did it.

"Myself and Wim had to build a completely new team by bringing in guys like Jonathon Gould, Stephane Mahe, Regi Blinker, Craig Burley, Harald Brattbakk, Darren Jackson, Paul Lambert, and, of course, Henrik Larsson.

"I would imagine Larsson was one our better signings, he's just a wee bit special.

"Wim had known him all his days. When he and I sat down to discuss who we wanted to come to the club, Henrik's name came up.

"That season, we stopped Rangers winning 10 in a row and also won the League Cup, but, at the end of that season, chairman Fergus McCann and Jock Brown got rid of us.

"We couldn't really have done more, so we just had to take it on the chin and get on with our lives. It helped to know that the Celtic fans realised just what we had achieved for the club."