Davie’s ‘elbow’ earned the Bully Wee £112-a-man
CeltiC are hoping to win their first domestic treble since 2001 this season.
Winning the Scottish Cup is the main challenge in front of them.
Fifty years ago the Hoops won every competition they entered, including the European Cup.
In the Scottish Cup semi-final on April 1, 1967, they met a Clyde team having one of the greatest campaigns in their history.
The Parkhead men were held to a 0-0 draw and made it to the final by winning the replay 2-0. A huge talking point from the first game was the referee’s refusal to award them a late penalty.
Jimmy Johnstone had a clear sight of goal and fired towards an empty net. However, his shot was deflected wide by a Clyde defender and it looked like the ball had come off his elbow.
The man who stopped the ball crossing the line was left-back, Davie Souter. Like everyone who was at the game, he’s still not entirely sure what happened, but he admits it was a very valuable block.
“I remember Celtic manager Jock Stein and trainer Neil Mochan being on the pitch as they protested furiously about not getting a penalty,” Davie recalled.
“The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye, and they were adamant the ball had hit my arm. It possibly didn’t matter because the linesman had his flag up and we were given a free-kick for offside.
“I was a bit puzzled by that at the time because I was standing on the goal-line!
“The main thing I have to point out is that we thoroughly deserved a draw. And we might well have nicked a win because Joe Gilroy had a chance that he put just past the post when nine times out of 10 he would have scored.
“Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough recovery time for the midweek replay. We were all part-time and playing against that great Celtic team twice in four days was a tough ask.”
There was a little financial compensation for the disappointment of not reaching the cup final.
Davie went on: “I think the money we got for taking Celtic to a replay was the best we ever got. The wages were normally £20-a-week, but I recall us getting £112 for getting that draw.
“If it hit my elbow, then it was certainly worth it!”
Clyde finished third in the league behind Celtic and Rangers, but were cruelly denied European football.
It was ruled that only one team from each city could enter the Fairs Cup and the place for Glasgow was given to Rangers. Sixthplaced Dundee entered instead of Clyde and reached the semi-final of the competition.
Davie went on: “We weren’t too pleased about that, but the club took us on a month-long tour of Rhodesia and that was quite an adventure.
“We had such a great team spirit at Clyde. There were never any fall outs.”
Davie’s senior career started with a trial game for Dundee United but he opted to sign for Arbroath.
He played with Berwick Rangers, East Fife and had a second spell with the Red Lichties before joining Clyde and spending six years at Shawfield.
John Prentice, who’d signed Davie for Clyde, then took him to Dundee for a season.
Now 77, he’s retired after spending 20 years as the janitor at an Arbroath primary school.