Deedle’s cage got rattled by Big Billy
BILLY McNEILL had a wicked sense of humour and he demonstrated it one afternoon at Ibrox.
It was September 1981 and we’d just beaten Rangers 2–0 in a league game. Tom McAdam had given us an early lead with a trademark header and I netted the second with a low shot following a freekick with four minutes to go.
We should have won by more and as we celebrated in the dressing room, Big Billy said to me, ‘Right, Murdo, hurry up and get changed. Let’s go upstairs and see Deedle Dawdle – the nickname for Rangers director Willie Waddell – and tell him he’s got a lovely new stand.”
Rangers had just spent £4million, a lot of money back then, on refurbishing the stadium and a lot of the credit went to Waddell.
The Rangers hierarchy had deliberately held back the unveiling of the stadium for the visit of their greatest foes. They wanted a gala occasion in front of a sell-out Old Firm crowd.
The sun was shining in Govan that day, the new stadium gleamed, the fans turned up in their thousands and all they needed was the right result. But Celtic were in no mood to be bit-part players. Billy made sure of that. So the Celtic manager was in fine fettle afterwards but couldn’t help himself when it came to rattling Deedle’s cage.
Maybe there was history between the pair, I don’t know. What I was aware of was the Rangers man was an acquired taste for many of his contemporaries.
He would have been fizzing having just watched his team be outplayed and beaten by Celtic.
Billy just had to rub it in.