‘Gobsmacking to think they’ve not won since’

Celtic goalkeeper

I had been playing for Orlando Lions and our season had finished. Billy Mcneill phoned me to ask if I would consider coming back or was I staying for another season. I could have stayed another year but I decided to come back.

I played seven games in total – although people keep saying it was five, six or seven so even I am not sure. Dundee was a league game, Hibs was a league game, Dundee United, I played against Ayr United (in the Skol Cup) and there was a 7-1 v St Mirren and one against Motherwell. My last game was the Honved (European Cup) game.

I had gone to America with the thought of staying there for a few years. It was a good set-up in Orlando. They had a waiver thing going on and we had four or five foreign players so whoever made up their mind would just come in and say we are not renewing your waiver.

There was always that in the back of your mind. I was 36 and we had a young keeper coming through at Orlando so in theory I might not have got another year. So when Billy Mcneill phoned me up I jumped at it right away and came home. You always want to play with one of the big clubs.

I knew when Pat Bonner came back he would be No 1. And they obviously paid a lot of money for Ian Andrews – it never worked out for Ian. At the end of the day I knew I would be third choice but if I got a year out of it I knew it would be a year I would remember for the rest of my life. Ask any player who plays for the likes of Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts or whatever and then you go to Rangers or Celtic, it is just a different mindset all together.

I kept a yellow CR Smith top. I had intended to keep my Celtic tracksuit but when I came out of the front door at Parkhead one day there was a disabled boy in a wheelchair who asked me for a pair of boots – I said I have to keep my boots, I have a game on Saturday! But I gave him my tracksuit.

Although I only played seven games, every time I go to Parkhead it is like I was there for years. If you played for Celtic once, that’s good enough – you’re one of them forever!

Keith Wright Dundee striker

I loved my time at Dundee and that was one of our best results. The main memory I have is that the winning goal involved probably the best bit of skill of my whole career!

I don’t know how I did it, I half-turned and let the ball go through my legs and outpaced Lex Baillie and fired the ball across. That was not really my style – I was more direct usually.

I think that bit of skill is what officially got me my nickname of ‘Ted Mcminn’. It was unusual for me to try anything like that. When I came to Dundee, I played wide left quite a lot. There were a few performances where I ran down the line and ran the ball out of the park and I was likened to Ted Mcminn, the Rangers winger! It’s stuck ever since. All my football pals still call me Ted.

Like always with Tommy (Coyne), just get the ball to him in the box and he will score. It wasn’t a great finish – I think it hit off his thigh and went in. He was always in the right place at the right time. It’s one of the ones I still look out for – when are Celtic coming to Dens? Can some new history be made?

Andy Walker Celtic striker

I remember the top three pitches at the time were: Dundee’s Dens Park, Pittodrie (Aberdeen) and Kilmarnock. They were always the best. This was before you had the advent of undersoil heating and a lot of clubs spending money. Motherwell is a great example. It was a horrible surface for too long and now they’ve spent a lot of money on it and it’s arguably one of the best. Dundee have neglected things. It was a bit embarrassing that they could not get a game on recently. I used to love playing there.

I went there with Motherwell, where it was always a hard game. I did a bit better there with Celtic, but there you are, throwing a defeat in my face! But it was definitely one of the better surfaces, you always enjoyed playing there, although not that time.

Tommy (Coyne) became a teammate of mine at Celtic. I totally changed my mind about Tommy when I played with him because I was a bit surprised when I heard we were signing him. I did not know if he would fit in. I was completely wrong. When I saw him training, his routine was great, his workrate was great and he was a clever player. He was a lot better than I thought he was. I totally got that one wrong. I really enjoyed playing with him. So often in those days it was a partnership you worked with – I played with Mcavennie, Mark Mcghee and at Motherwell I played with Andy Harrow. Tommy Coyne was quality. Maybe a bit under appreciated by the Celtic support.

Billy Kirkwood Dundee skipper

When you looked at the standard of player Dundee had at that particular time – and I don’t include myself by the way – that was a good, good team. I mean, you had Tommy Coyne and Keith Wright up front – they would be multi-million pound players now.

I remember the goal. Young Stevie Campbell was involved – at that time Dundee’s reserve team was a very good team as well. Keith Wright did what Keith Wright does, he dummied the Celtic player and crossed a great ball in and then Tommy Coyne… I still remember thinking, ‘did he just knee that in?!’ he actually ‘thighed’ it in. You would not get strikers doing that these days. It’s simply gobsmacking to think no Dundee team has beaten Celtic since.