NICK MURPHY
Daniel Fergus Mcgrain lived and breathed football and dreamed of joining the club of Eric Caldow, Bobby Shearer and John Greig.
And he had a chance. Powerful, quick, good in the air, brilliant in the tackle – the young talent was already making waves in youth circles.
A Scotland schoolboy, Mcgrain played for Queen’s Park Strollers and was rumoured to be scouted by clubs from all over the country – including Rangers.
But there was a problem. Before Graeme Souness blew it apart with the signing of Maurice Johnston (right) in 1989, the Ibrox club had adopted an unofficial policy of not signing Catholics.
John Spencer joined as a schoolboy in 1982 but he was an exception rather than the rule.
And although Mcgrain was actually a Protestant brought up in the Rangers tradition, his name dissuaded the Ibrox club from making him an offer.
Celtic, although primarily drawing support from Glasgow’s Irish Catholic diaspora, took no such stance. Jock Stein – another Protestant from a Rangers supporting background – took over the stewardship of the team in 1965 and led them to a European Cup triumph within two years.
And it would be Stein who would nip in to steal Mcgrain from under Rangers’ noses, commenting: “If I was offered a Catholic player and a Protestant player I’d sign the Protestant – because I knew Rangers would never sign the Catholic.”
And so it came to pass that Mcgrain would sign for Celtic in 1970, joining up with the ‘Quality Street Kids’ – the reserve team to the Lisbon Lions with an embarrassment of riches.
By 1972, he would make himself Celtic’s first choice right back and would come to be regarded as one of the best full-backs in Europe.
Mcgrain stayed for 17 years and spent a decade as captain. He won seven league titles, five Scottish Cups and two League Cups in a roll of honour that saw him named in Celtic’s greatest ever team.
Rangers’ loss had become Celtic’s immeasurable gain but if that was a bitter pill for the Ibrox club to swallow, there was an even bigger fly in the ointment.
Alongside George Connolly, Lou Macari, Paul Wilson and David Hay – Mcgrain had another counterpart in the Quality Street gang who would turn out to be the greatest Scottish player of all time – Kenny Dalglish. Put simply, the man was a genius. Dalglish was born in Glasgow’s East End but by the age of 15 was living in the shadow of Ibrox. And, like Mcgrain, he was Rangers daft.
He was the most talented schoolboy Scotland had ever produced and a call from the giants on his own doorstep appeared inevitable – but, for reasons which remain cloaked in mystery, never materialised.
In 1967, when Celtic were sending shockwaves around football for their exploits in the European Cup, the
Hoops would deal what turned out to be a hammer blow to their bitter rivals by stealing Dalglish from under their noses.
The architect of the coup was an ex-gaelic footballer – Sligo man Sean Fallon.
A fomer Celtic defender and by then Stein’s No.2, Fallon made a plea to Dalglish’s parents at their Govan home to allow him to sign for the Hoops – while the youngster frantically tore Rangers posters off his bedroom wall in case his allegiances were discovered. He needn’t have worried – Celtic were desperate to sign the player and within days he had signed on the dotted line.
Dalglish established himself in Celtic’s first team in 1972 and already, envious glances were being turned north by richer clubs in England.
In 1973/74, Dalglish helped the Hoops to nine and a row and would finish his career in Glasgow with four league championships, four Scottish Cups and a League Cup. By the time Liverpool were persuaded to pay a
British record fee of £440,000 for 27-year-old Dalgish in 1977, he had established himself as one of Celtic’s greatest ever players and a darling of the Parkhead faithful.
At Anfield, he became known simply as ‘King Kenny’, one of the most loved and decorated players in the club’s history – adding 102 Scotland caps and a place in the hall of Fame.
For Rangers, Mcgrain and Dalglish will always be the Bluenose boys they let slip through their fingers.