Jock Stein

John 'Jock' Stein CBE (October 5 1922 - September 10 1985) was one of the most notable managers in British football history. He is considered one of the great triumvirate of Scottish football managers, along with Bill Shankly and Sir Matt Busby and has been voted the greatest Scottish football manager. During his career as a manager he won six Scottish League Cups, ten Scottish League Championships, nine Scottish Cups and the European Cup.

Born in Burnbank, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Stein saw football as his escape from the Lanarkshire coal mines. In 1937 he left Greenfield school in Hamilton and after a short time working in a carpet factory went down the pits to become a miner. The next year he joined Blantyre Victoria junior football club. He started out as a 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 Coatbridge club, which also included a brief loan spell to Dundee United in 1943. Rovers won promotion to the First Division in 1948.

In 1950 Stein signed for non-league Welsh club Llanelli Town. For the first time in his career he became a full-time professional footballer on the sum of £12 per week. But he was desperate to come home to Scotland as he had left his wife and young daughter behind and his house had been broken into twice in his absence. His wish was granted in 1951, when 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 would be club captain until his Celtic playing career ended due to injury in 1956.

In 1953 he captained Celtic to Coronation Cup success when they unexpectedly beat Arsenal 1-0, Manchester United 2-1 and Hibernian 1-0 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. During Scotland's performances in the 1954 World Cup Finals, Jock Stein watched and learned. Firstly, about the shambles of Scotland’s preparations and secondly about the continentals tactics, particularly the Hungarians who were revolutionising the game.

In 1956, Stein was forced to retire from football after persistent ankle injuries that would result in him having a permanent limp. In total he played 148 games for Celtic and scored 2 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.

On March 14 1960 he accepted the job of manager at Dunfermline Athletic. After only 6 weeks in charge, Stein led the Pars clear of relegation. He built Dunfermline into a powerful force and guided them to their first Scottish Cup in 1961, ironically via a 2-0 replay victory over Celtic. In 1962 he defeated Everton in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and only lost to Valencia in a third game play-off after retrieving a four goal first leg deficit.

On April 1 1964, he was appointed manager of Hibernian and within months of becoming manager he led Hibs to Summer Cup success. 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.

On March 9 1965, Stein returned to Celtic as manager. Stein was also the clubs first non-Catholic manager. He revitalised the team and, just six weeks after becoming manager, Stein led Celtic to Scottish Cup success after a 3-2 victory over Dunfermline. This was Celtic’s first silverware in over 7 years. The next year Celtic were crowned Scottish champions for the first time since 1954. They also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup-Winners-Cup only to be knocked out on away goals by Liverpool in controversial circumstances. What took Stein into the company of legends were arguably three achievements recorded in the next season in 1967.

He managed Celtic to the domestic treble for the first time in the club's history, winning the Scottish League Cup, the League Championship and the Scottish Cup. He guided Celtic to victory in the final of the 1967 European Cup against previous champions and Italian giants Inter Milan. Despite initially falling behind to an Italian penalty his team triumphed 2-1, winning admiration for the attacking quality of their football.

In winning club football's most prestigious trophy, Stein became the first man not only to guide a Scottish club to champions of Europe, but also the first to achieve this honour with a British club. (Celtic were actually the first side from outside the Iberian Peninsula or from Milan to become champions of Europe). He also became the first manager of the first club in history to win all competitions entered. The most remarkable feat, still unmatched today, was that it was a team comprised entirely of players from one country (Scotsmen), all born within 30 miles of a single city (Glasgow). No other side has ever won the European Cup with a completely native team. In a conversation with Bill Shankly shortly afterwards, Shankly famously told him "Jock, you're an immortal now".

The following season, Celtic won the League for the third time in a row and the League Cup for the third time in a row and in 1969 won the domestic treble for the second time in three years.

In 1970, Stein led Celtic to both the League and League Cup and they finished runners-up in the Scottish Cup. He also guided them to the European Cup final a second time in 1970, but they lost to Dutch side Feyenoord Rotterdam.

The 1970s brought continued success on the domestic front and during this time Stein and Celtic won a record nine consecutive Scottish Championships, (a feat only matched during the 90s by rivals Rangers). Stein was injured in a serious car crash in 1975 and Celtic began to decline during the latter part of the decade. In 1978 he left Celtic, he had been refused a role on the Celtic board as Stein was a protestant. He became manager of Leeds United, but after 45 days in charge at Elland Road, Stein resigned and accepted the position of Scotland manager.

Stein had been part-time national manager in 1965, but was now able to focus on the job full-time. He led Scotland to the World Cup Finals in 1982 where they went out on goal difference to the Soviet Union.

On September 10 1985 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, Jock Stein died from a heart attack during a game against Wales as Scotland equalised to gain the point needed to make qualification virtually certain to the 1986 World Cup Finals.