Tribute to Bobby Murdoch

A Great Loss

The death of Bobby Murdoch on Tuesday 15th May 2001 was certainly a shock to everyone. Our thoughts are with Bobby's family and friends. It is with great sadness that such a Legend associated with Celtic FC has now passed away. The famous No 4 of Celtic during the 1960's and early 1970's will always be remembered for his attacking style, in which helped Celtic win many games and made him one most of the Famous football Players in Britain. Bobby remarkably, played an amazing 478 games and scored 102 goals during his career as a first team player at Celtic FC.

"Chopper" as he was better known to his Celtic team mates, was born on the 17th August 1944 in Bothwell, Lanarkshire. Bobby made his first team debut against Hearts (11/8/62) in which, he played 'Inside Right' and scored one of the goals that led to a 3-1 victory. Although it was not until the arrival of Jock Stein as Manager of Celtic that Bobby Murdoch was to fulfil his potential.

In an interview for the 'Weekly News' Special Celtic Souvenir "Into Europe as Champions" in 1966, Bobby spoke of his eagerness to sign for Celtic as a 15 year old schoolboy in 1959. He quoted, "I was playing for the Boy's Guild in the afternoon and training with Motherwell in the evening. My hero at Celtic at that particular moment was Billy McNeill". He continues explaining his current role as "John Clark and I work to a plan drawn up Mr Stein. John concentrates on defence, I must be ready to go up in attack. I am all for that".

In essence this was the Bobby Murdoch known to all fans and players alike. His professional approach was second to none. On and off the field of play, Bobby was a true gentleman who grew with the traditional Celtic culture and had a full understanding of what it was like to play in the famous green and white hoops.

The first few years during his Apprenticeship at Parkhead, were not the best of times for him. This was due to the fact that he was being played out of position and that the team in general were not playing well. The arrival of Jock Stein in 1965 was the turning point in the career of Bobby Murdoch as a Celtic player. His new position of "Right-Half" was to be the most important decision to be undertaken by Jock Stein. Amazingly 46 days after Stein's appointment, Celtic won the Scottish Cup. Bobby proved to be a success. He then became a key member of the League Championship winning side in 1965/66.

Although the greatest season of all time (1966/67) enabled Bobby to become Vice Captain and his experience proved worthy in all the games he played. History speaks for itself in which, winning all domestic honours and playing out of his skin in the European Cup Final in Lisbon. His pass set up the winning goal that earned him to become a 'Lisbon Lion', a title that he will always be remembered by. Bobby went onto great things and in 1969, he was voted the Scotland's 'Player of the Year'. More famously, he scored the winning goal in the European Cup Semi-Final in 1970 (Hampden Park) against a very strong Leeds United team. He also played against Inter Milan in the European Cup competition for the second time in 3 years and collected many medals during his proud career with Celtic.

Below are the details of the winners medals that Bobby won as a first team player during his reign at Celtic. They include Domestic and European Competition.

In 1974 Bobby left Celtic on a free transfer and joined Middlesborough. He continued to weave his midfield magic until he became the Youth Coach and then First Team Coach. After only ten months in the job, he then returned to Glasgow.

Being a 'Lisbon Lion' was probably the highest accolade for Bobby Murdoch. This enabled him to to join his fellow 'Lions' and attend many Lisbon Lions Commemorative Dinners and Functions over the years. In particular, 1992 when the 1967 team re-united for a year of celebrations during the 25th Anniversary of winning the European Cup. In 1997 he again joined the 'Lions' for a memorable trip to Las Vegas (30th Anniversary) in which, each player was sponsored by one of the North American Celtic Supporters Federation. Bobby was sponsored by 'San Francisco' Celtic Suppoters Club. Recently, he attended the openings of the 'Jock Stein' and 'Lisbon Lions' Stands at Celtic Park.

Sadly, Bobby is the first of a special group of people to have passed away. The link in the chain has broken, however, he will alaways be remembered as a 'Lisbon Lion'. As Jim Craig paid homage to Bobby, his words of "He was a local Rutherglen lad who knew the Celtic tradition. He was in my opinion the best player at Celtic during his reign", could not have paid any more compliments to the heroics of Bobby Murdoch. To conclude this tribute, I would like to quote the famous words of Jock Stein who once said this of Bobby: "His greatest quality is consistency. He turns in one great performance after another and he never fails to give one hundred percent". Bobby thanks for the memories and may God watch over your family during these sad times. Rest in Peace.

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