Saturday, December 13, 2008

Jimmy

They should have cast his statue in gold.

Kenny Dalglish on Jimmy Johnstone:

"The first time he came to prominence in England was against Leeds [in 1970] when he tore Terry Cooper apart in both games. Celtic won both games and qualified for the [European Cup] final. He had superb ball control, could take people on and because he was so quick no one could get near him. As brilliant as he was as a player, he was equally as good as a person. He was just a fantastic wee fella who is a sad loss to everyone. He is one of those type of people, even if they are not here you still think he is here, although he will be sadly missed. He'll never be forgotten.”"

Jimmy Johnstone in his own words:

""I was always aware I was an entertainer. The crowd provided the expectation, the hair on the back of my neck would go up and I loved the applause. The pitch was my stage. The whistle meant it was showtime. That is why I admired Matthews. The way he took people on and beat them, that was entertainment to me and that is all I wanted to do.

"Without the fans, you are nothing and what I am most thankful of is that I got a chance to realise my talent at Celtic, because it is a special club, supported by special people."

Both quotes lifted from here.

2 comments:

Kevin Williamson said...

In 1969/70 Jinky came up to the Thurso Celtic Supporters Club with Jock Stein and they brought the Scottish Cup with them. They had a great night in the Park Hotel and in the morning they staggered into Big Jock or Jinky's Mini and drove off. The next day a cleaner found the Scottish Cup under a table in the bar. JS and JJ were at Brora before they thought "aw fuck where did we put the Scottish Cup?" Quality!

Great wee player.

Reidski said...

Lovely quotes.