The tie that forced Celts to adopt Aitken
ALAN (Barrhead) asks: With Celtic playing RB Leipzig soon, I recall an incident in the seventies when Celtic were playing a European tie in the old East Germany and the club had to adopt a young Roy Aitken to allow him to enter the country?
A: This is indeed true! In 1975/76 Celtic travelled to East Germany to play Sachsenring Zwickau in a European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final second leg match. Roy Aitken was 17 years old at the time and was too young to enter the country legally. To get around this, Celtic had to “adopt” Aitken in order to satisfy the strict authorities. Sachsenring Zwickau won the match 1-0, and progressed to the semi-final.
Celtic’s squad had been hit with a flu virus which left them without a number of first-team players and despite bossing the second leg of the tie, they were eliminated.
Gareth (Langside) asks: I know that RB Leipzig are a fairly new team in Germany, and with them playing against Celtic in the Europa League I was wondering if GET the lowdown on Scottish football’s fascinating history with a visit to the National Stadium. There’s fun among all the exhibits for every family member. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. Adults £6, U16/concs £3, U5 free. Tel: 0141 616 6139 or visit www. scottishfootball museum.org.uk they were founded from the old Lokomotive Leipzig team. My grandfather is a Kilmarnock fan and told me about them coming to Rugby Park – is this true?
A: Firstly, RB Leipzig is not the same club as Lokomotive. RasenBallsport Leipzig was founded in 2009 when Red Bull bought the playing rights to a small club called SSV Markranstadt. Lokomotive Leipzig is still in existence today as VfB Leipzig and has a very rich history, becoming the first ever German champions in 1903. They have played against Scottish opposition three times, playing Kilmarnock in the Fairs Cup in 1967 (losing 2-1 on agg) and Hibernian the following year in the same tournament (losing 4-1 on agg). In 1976 they played Hearts in the Cup Winners Cup, winning 2-0 at home before travelling to Tynecastle and being beaten 5-1.
Jackie (Dumbreck) asks: Aberdeen and Rangers have met in many League Cup finals including three in a row in the late 80s, but how many times have they played each other in the semi finals?
A: Aberdeen and Rangers have met five times in League Cup semi finals. The first was in 1955/56 Aberdeen won 2-1, 1966/67 Aberdeen 2-2 Rangers, Rangers won the replay 2-0, 1976/77 Aberdeen won 5-1, 1990/91 a Trevor Steven goal gave Rangers a 1-0 win and the last time was 1995/96 a Billy Dodds double was enough for Aberdeen to get to the final in a 2-1 win.