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Famous Scots - Jock Stein







John 'Jock' SteinCBE (5 October 192210 September 1985) was a Scottish associated football player and manager. He became the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup with Celtic in 1967.  Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish League championships between 1966 and 1974.

Stein managed the Scottish National side from 1978 until his death in 1985. Stein was voted the greatest Scottish football manager in a 2003 poll by the Sunday Herald newspaper.

Playing career
Born in Burnbank, South Lanarkshire. Stein saw football as his escape from the Lanarkshire coal mines. In 1937 he left Greenfieldschool in Hamiltonand after a short time working in a carpet factory went down the pits to become a miner. The next year he joined BlantyreVictoriajunior football club. He started out as a professional player with Albion Rovers in 1942 and continued to work as a miner during the week, while playing as centre-half on Saturday. He made a name for himself as a no nonsense centre-half and went on to make over 200 appearances for the Coatbridgeclub, which also included a brief loan spell to DundeeUnited in 1943. Rovers won promotion to the First Division in 1948.

In 1950 Stein signed for non-league Welsh club Llanelli. For the first time in his career, he became a full-time professional footballer on the sum of £12 per week. Llanelli played in the Southern League but he had ambitions to secure election to the football league which led them to sign several professionals. He was soon desperate to return to Scotlandas he had left his wife and young daughter behind and his house had been broken into twice in his absence. In 1951, on the recommendation of Celtic reserve team trainer Jimmy Gribben, Celtic bought him for £1,200.

He was signed as a reserve but injuries incurred by first team players resulted in him being elevated to the first team. In 1952 he was appointed vice-captain and when captain Sean Fallon broke his arm the full captaincy was passed to Stein. He was club captain until his Celtic playing career ended due to injury in 1956.

In 1953 he captained Celtic to Cornation Cup success when they unexpectedly beat Arsenal 1–0, Manchester United 2–1 and Hibernian 2–0 to become unofficial champions of Britain and in 1954, he captained Celtic to their first League championship since 1938 and first League and Scottish Cup double since 1914. As a reward for their achievement the club paid for the players to go Switzerlandto watch the World Cup. During Scotland's performances in the 1954 Finals, Stein learned from the shambles of Scotland’s preparations and also about the continentals' tactics, being particularly impressed by the Hungarians.

Stein was forced to retire from football in 1956 after suffering persistent ankle injuries. After playing in a friendly in Coleraine he landed awkwardly and had an operation on his ankle, which became infected, causing him to walk with a permanent limp. He had played 148 league games for Celtic and scored two goals. He was given the job of coaching the reserve and youth players and was responsible for persuading the board to purchase Barrowfield as a training ground. In 1958, he led the reserves to the second XI Cup with an 8–2 aggregate triumph over Rangers. This was Stein’s first success as a manager. His squad included a number of young players who would later play under him in the first team.

Managerial career

Dunfermline

On 14 March 1960he accepted the job of manager at Dunfermline. After only six weeks in charge, Stein led them clear of relegation. He built Dunfermlineinto a powerful force and guided them to their first Scottish Cup in 1961 via a 2–0 replay victory over Celtic. In 1962 they defeated Everton in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and only lost to Valenciain a third game play-off after retrieving a four goal first leg deficit.

Hibernian

Stein was appointed manager of Hibernian in 1964, and within months of becoming manager he led them to victory in the Summer Cup. The testimony of his contemporaries was that he was already “miles” ahead of everyone else in his understanding of the game, and in studying how the investment of energy could be tailored to maximum effect. Stein was immersing himself in the structure of the game while the rest simply went out and played. He invited Real Madrid for a friendly game in Edinburgh, which Hibernian won 2-0 in front of a crowd of 32,000, further boosting his prestige.

During his time at Easter Road, he was able to get excellent performances out of Willie Hamilton which helped take Hibernian to the top of the league. His success with the club led to an approach from Wolves, who wanted him to replace Stan Cullis as manager. Stein approached Celtic chairman Bob Kelly, obstensibly to ask his advice about the Wolves job, but in the hope that he would be offered the Celtic manager's post.

Statistically Stein is to date the best ever manager of Hibs, with a win rate of 62%.

Celtic

Kelly was prepared initially to offer Stein the position of assistant manager to Sean Fallon and then offered him a position as joint manager. Stein rejected both suggestions, insisting on full control, and stating he would take the Wolves job instead if he was not offered it. Eventually Kelly agreed to make Stein manager with full powers over team selection. Billy McNeill has observed that the reluctance to make him sole manager was due his being a Protestant.

He returned to Celtic in March 1965, becoming the club's first Protestant manager and the fourth manager in club history. Following a barren period of eight years without a trophy for Celtic, he revitalised the team. Just six weeks after becoming manager, he led Celtic to Scottish Cup success in a 3–2 victory over his old club Dunfermline. The next year Celtic were crowned Scottish champions for the first time since 1954. They also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, only to be knocked out on the away goals rule by Liverpool.

In the following season, Stein managed Celtic to a domestic treble for the first time in the club's history. His greatest triumph, however, was in guiding Celtic to victory in the 1967 European Cup Final against previous champions, Italian giants.

 

Headstone Photograph


Further Information

Firstname: JOCK

LastName: STEIN

Date of Death: 10th Sep 1985

Age at Death: 62

Cemetery: Linn Crematorium

  Lainshaw Drive

Town: Glasgow

PostCode: G45 9SP

Region: Glasgow and Clyde Valley

Country: Scotland

 

Please Note, the marker on this map indicates the Cemetery location, not the location of a particular grave.


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