Jinky’s mistaken identity cost Kenny a tooth
The players of St Johnstone and Celtic will know one another exceptionally well by next Sunday.
It’s a league match between the clubs at Mcdiarmid Park today, coming just four days after they met at Parkhead.
There’s also a Scottish Cup tie at Celtic Park in seven days’ time. Hopefully there won’t be any little feuds developing between players during this trio of tussles. Sometimes bad blood can develop quickly – and it’s not always the right man on the receiving end of an opponent’s anger.
That happened to Saints’ winger Kenny Aird when he went back to the place where his professional career had started.
He’d been a part-time youth player with Celtic before leaving to become a first-teamer with St Mirren in 1965.
Two years later, he moved to Perth and was involved in a famous clash with Celtic’s Jimmy Johnstone.
Both were highly-talented wee wingers with red hair, but it was another man, of similar appearance, who lit the fuse for an explosive incident.
Kenny recalled: “I shouldn’t really have been over on the lefthand side of the pitch.
“I played on the right wing, but I switched positions with Alex Macdonald.
“We’d played 36 minutes when I slid in, and took the ball from Jinky.
“It wasn’t a foul, I tackled him cleanly. Maybe I was the only man in our team who was quick enough to catch him!
“But he got up, punched me, and knocked one of my teeth out. “Alex Macdonald had been kicking Jinky from the start of the game, and he thought it was him who’d made the challenge.
“I think he probably just caught a glimpse of red hair out the corner of his eye.
“He was immediately sent-off and apologised to me as he walked away.
“He pointed to Alex and said: ‘Sorry, that was meant for him’.” Kenny played on minus a tooth and set up the opening goal for his red-headed team-mate, Macdonald.
However, Saints had to settle for a draw when the 10-men equalised through Bobby Murdoch.
“I’d only been there as a kid, and then there was a big clear-out when Jock Stein took over as manager,” said Kenny
“I was never anywhere near the first-team. I went to St Mirren at the same time as Archie Gemmill. “I’d played with him and John O’hare at Drumchapel Amateurs.” It was at St Johnstone where Kenny really flourished.
They reached the League Cup Final in 1969, losing 1-0 to Celtic, and took part in a number of European adventures.
Only in recent times has a Perth side emerged to rival the achievements of that time, with the 2014 Scottish Cup win being the greatest moment in the club’s history.
Kenny added: “I was Willie Ormond’s first signing for St Johnstone when he became manager. He told me he was creating a new team.
“We had a great bunch of boys and I still enjoy attending reunions of the side from that era.
“Money didn’t seem to matter to us like it does for players now. We played for the love of the game.”
Without that attitude, it could have been a frustrating time. Kenny continued: “Willie Ormond always said I’d be at St Johnstone while he was there. Then he left to become Scotland manager!
“He used to tell me managers would come to watch John Connolly and Henry Hall, then go away wanting me.
“His replacement, Jackie Stewart, wasn’t easy to get on with, so I moved to Hearts.
“Bob Seith signed me and told me he’d tried to get me for Preston a couple of times.
“I also discovered that Brian Clough attempted to buy me for Derby County. There were no agents then, so you didn’t hear about those offers at the time.” Now 71, Kenny lives in Bournemouth where he used to work for a bus company.