George Connelly

Born in Fife, Connelly was a technically accomplished footballer, who could play with distinction anywhere in midfield or defence. He signed for Celtic from Tulliallan Juniors in March 1966 and as a teenager was noted for his fine ball control. This was first publicly displayed when he was sent out to entertain the crowd at Celtic Park before a European tie later that year against Dynamo Kiev. He was considered by many to have the potential to be a world class player – as influential in British football as Beckenbauer was in the German game. The group of young players who emerged at Celtic at the same time as Connelly were known as the Quality Street Gang, and included Kenny Dalglish, Davie Hay, Lou Macari, Danny McGrain and Jimmy Quinn. Connelly broke into the first team in 1968, He is remembered particularly for two goals. Just before half time in the 1969 Scottish Cup final against Rangers, he coolly dispossessed John Greig on the edge of the box, evaded the Rangers' skipper's recovery attempt, rounded the goalkeeper before slipping the ball into the empty net. This goal made it 3–0 to Celtic and ended any hopes of a Rangers revival. In 1970, in a European Cup tie against the English champions Leeds United dubbed the football "Battle of Britain" by the media, Connelly scored for Celtic in the first minute of the first leg at Elland Road. Celtic won that match 1–0 and 2–1 in the return leg at Hampden Park to progress to their second European Cup final, which they lost 2–1…