Whensundayfootball camein, youweren’tallowed tosmileuntilthemonday!
There are no senior games in Scotland this afternoon.
That’s a collector’s item for the modern fan, accustomed to rising at the crack of dawn for noon kick-offs hundreds of miles away.
Many older fans yearn for the time when football – and just about everything else – was banned on a Sunday.
But this week 48 years ago, we saw the first game which was allowed to be played in this country on the traditional day of rest.
Objections from church leaders – and even football officials – were put to one side as a the miner’s strike, the three-day week and electricity rationing combined to break the sport’s biggest taboo.
Consequently, on January 27, 1974, Celtic beat Clydebank 6-1 in the Third Round of the Scottish Cup at Parkhead to begin a trend which is now established.
Peter Donald, who would later become the chief executive of the Scottish League, remembers the time well.
“I was working for the SFA at the time and our secretary, Willie Allan, was against playing on the Sabbath,” he recalled.
“The Reverend Blair Gillan of Ibrox Parish Church was another opponent, who questioned football’s role in society.
“We couldn’t use floodlights due to the power restrictions, so that meant midweek games were out of the question. Therefore, Sunday football became a necessity.
“That’s the way it was then, though. Shops and off-licences weren’t allowed to open on a Sunday – and I don’t think you were allowed to smile until Mondays!
“As I remember, players weren’t even contractually obliged to play on Sundays.
“Some had clauses in their contracts to that effect, although I don’t remember anyone refusing to play.”
Celtic midfielder Tommy Callaghan featured in that first Sunday match, which was watched by just 28,000 fans.
The relatively small crowd was put down to it clashing with church services, and the problems of reaching the stadium in time for the 12.30pm kick-off.
“I certainly didn’t have a Sunday get-out clause in my contract,” said Tommy.
“And it wouldn’t have mattered if I had because Jock Stein would have had us out there anyway!
“Everything was shut on Sundays back then, and a lot of our fans – who would travel to Glasgow from England and Ireland – couldn’t get to Parkhead for the early start.
“So, in the circumstances, 28,000 wasn’t a bad attendance.
“I remember Dixie Deans scoring a hat-trick, and also hitting the woodwork four times that day.
“We went on to win the Cup by beating Dundee United 3-0 – on a Saturday!”