Vic scored before the ref sparked walk-off by Bari
Fans and players in Scotland are desperate for any sort of football action.
No training can happen until June 10 at the earliest and pre-season camps abroad won’t be happening this year.
Around this time of year, it used to be common for clubs to head off on end-of-season tours.
Celtic travelled to North America and Bermuda to play seven matches in 20 days in 1970.
The party flew out just five days after they’d lost the European Cup Final to Feyenoord.
Giving players like Billy Mcneill a rest – he had played 55 competitive club games that season – wasn’t given a moment’s thought.
Their fixture against Italian side Bari on May 17 ended in the most extraordinary way.
There was nothing friendly about the fixture in Toronto, but Jock Stein missed the strangest part of the evening.
Former Hoops player Vic Davidson recalls a series of events that still bewilders him.
He said: “We played Manchester United and then had two games against Bari.
“After a 1- 1 draw in New York, we headed back to Toronto to face them again.
“Kenny Dalglish and I were the young ones on the trip, and roomed together.
“The game was due to be played on Saturday, but got put back because of rain.
“I came off the bench to replace Willie Wallace and scored to make it 2-2.
“Bari then had two players sent off.
“The referee awarded us a penalty with five minutes to go but the Italians weren’t having it. “They walked off the pitch.
“As I recall, Bobby Lennox rolled the ball into an empty net.
“The referee left the field and we followed. It was the strangest end to a game that I’ve seen.
“Jock Stein had missed the last 20 minutes because he’d gone to catch a flight home.
“He left the team so he could deal with Jimmy Johnstone’s contract dispute.
“Sean Fallon took over, and one of the first things he did was send home Tommy Gemmell and Bertie Auld after they’d had a night out.”
So it wasn’t the happiest tour for some, but Vic loved it.
He went on: “I was only 20 years old and it was my first trip to the United States.
“I still have a picture in my house of Kenny Dalglish and me holding a Stars & Stripes flag.
“I scored a hat-trick in the next game against a team from New England and another three when we beat the Bermuda national side 7-1.
“I can’t claim they were the strongest team I’ve ever played against.
“They had Clyde Best, the West Ham striker, but I only recognised one other player.
“I said to him during the game that I knew his face from somewhere.
“He told me that I probably did – he was the waiter at our hotel!
“I made sure I tipped him well.”
Vic was one of the Quality Street Gang, the group of young players coming through Celtic’s reserves to challenge the Lisbon Lions.
He said: “I nearly scored a hat-trick for Celtic on my first-team debut.
“I already had two against Clyde in the Glasgow Cup semi-final when Bobby Murdoch told me to take a penalty – but I missed it.
“I scored in my first league game against St Mirren, 10 days before we were all taken to watch the European Cup Final in Milan.” Vic had two spells at Celtic.
He was part of a successful Motherwell side between 1975 and 1978, before joining Blackpool.
Billy Mcneill took him back to Parkhead, where he helped Celtic win the league with a dramatic 4- 2 win over Rangers in their last game of the season.
He said: “I came to the States to play indoor soccer in 1980, and I’m still here.
“I’ve not been back to Scotland for 35 years. “I still coach kids at Phoenix Rising, but I’m 70 this year and this will be my last season.”