SENTINELCELTS

As our Greatest Ever team passes away only in body one by one it will be with a sense of certainty that they know their deed , that deed , is recognised far and wide.
Once again I find myself , probably the youngest on the blog , writing of men and a team that is only legend to me having never witnessed these giants among men in their prime , and that must have been such a thing indeed.
As such I feel inadequate to be the one to be tasked to take pen and form an obituary of sorts to a man who , lets face it , wasnt exactly the most headline grabbing of his famous squad.
Infact when mentally preparing this article I realised just how little at all I knew of this man and that also tells us of his character , unassuming and honest.

HIs numbers with our club of choice are frightening .
12 seasons
6 League Winners
4 League Cups
3 Scottish Cups
1 BIG CUP !!!

Such a talent was clealry going to be recognised by the international scouts and the great man went on to acheive and incredible , yes it really is I assure you , FIVE caps for his country.
The Garngad man seemingly was not for everyone , but at least the best coach ever seen past prejudice and thus we lead us to ultimate glory.

“ When I grow up Im going to score the winning goal for Celtic in the European Cup Final ! “
We all dreamed ,or still do , at one stage or other of this amazing feat but for the great man that just left us he made that dream come true , once again its beyond scripting ,, way too perfect for Hollywood.

So realising I was the wrong man for the job at hand I started googling for some research and attempted to find out some more about the man himself .
You wont be surprised at this story showing his quality .
“ A RANGERS fan has told how former Lisbon Lion Stevie Chalmers befriended his ‘Celtic daft’ uncle while he was battling a terminal illness as a child.
Donald McCrorie said his uncle Brian would write to the footballer every week and rather than replying, the player would visit him at his home and in hospital, when he was going through tests.
He revealed how the Celtic ace gifted him his European cup winning shirt and shorts from the 1967 final against Inter Milan and tweeted a picture of the youngster wearing the prized items “
This is maybe based in the fact Stevie himself survived TB as a young boy which was considered a miracle by his doctor at the time.

Sadie Chalmers,,,”Our first home was a tenement in Dennistoun . . . We had one room that served as a bedroom, kitchen and living room, and the toilet was outside on the landing. “It wasn’t just the players who were close to each other, but also the families . John Clark, Billy McNeill and Jimmy Johnstone used to get a lift every day into training from Jock Stein, who would meet them in his car at the bus stop. Stevie always used to room with Bobby Murdoch when they went away. You could have the team in a room with 500 people at a club function and, within minutes, they would be sitting together as a group, sharing stories. It is like a family more than a football club.”

Stevie himself would say in his autobiobraphy
“ Big Jock would get myself, Joe McBride, Willie Wallace, Bobby Lennox and John Hughes to line up around the six-yard line and he would get Big Tommy, Bobby Murdoch, Bertie Auld, Jim Craig and Charlie Gallagher to hammer over crosses from the left and, after that, the right. Then he would vary the routine with Big Tommy playing the ball back from the line to, say, Bobby to hit the ball diagionally across the face of the goal.
He would then do the same on the right with Cairney laying the ball back for someone to hit a similar effort into the penalty box. This would go on for hours until you knew off by heart where you were expected to be in the penalty box whenever a move was developing. It was no fluke, believe me, that I was standing where I was when Big Tommy pulled the ball back to Bobby to thump in his shot from the edge of the box.”
“ Lisbon was made all the sweeter because I had been at Celtic eight years before then, signing from Junior club Ashfield, and life was fairly tough until Jock Stein walked back through those doors. He turned the whole place upside down and pointed us in the right direction. He went into everything in minute detail. He seemed to enjoy training sessions and he worked us hard, anyone caught slacking would find himself doing an extra few laps.
There was absolutely no way I could have ever believed Celtic would one day conquer Europe when I signed for the club on February 6, 1959. I made my debut just a month later, an instantly forgettable 2-1 defeat from Airdrie at Celtic Park. Imagine that. One month I was turning out for Ashield in a Junior game and the next I was playing for the famous Glasgow Celtic! Couldn’t happen today, could it?”

Well Stevie , you worked your arse of on the field for the Big Man , yourself , and the fans .
Rest In Peace now our fallen friend and know that your deeds will never be forgotten .
You scored our most important goal and they will never take that from you.
RIP STEVIE CHALMERS from all the Sentinel Celts