| vorrei continuare raccogliendo testimonianze relative a johnny doyle, una sorte di roll of honour. tutti i commenti che trovate sul web, notizie, imagini, foto, includeteli qui. sarà il nostro modo di ricordare per sempre johnny doyle of celtic !
In a gathering at Ipswich Town Hall before a friendly match, then Manager Billy McNeill paid homage with the following memorial tribute:
"Johnny Doyle was the epitome of the phrase 'a true Celt'."
On a fiercely cold March morning in 1976, an excited young man got out of bed at around 6am and went in search of a public telephone box. A week earlier, that same young man had come rushing down the steps of the SFA offices in Park Gardens, Glasgow, in no real mood to talk to anyone. He had been suspended over a sending off, but what had hurt him deeply was that it had come against his beloved Celtic on December 27th 1975..
A persistent sports writer following him to his home in Uddingston and, as the player cooled down, they sat in his comfortable living-room and he poured out his heart. "I'm fed up being kicked about for £30 a week," he told the reporter. And in the same breath added, " I want to go to the Celtic." The journalist wrote the story ans the player promised him that if anything came of it he would contact him immediately. Now, a week later at dawn, the reporter's telephone rang. "I'm signing for Celtic at Glasgow Airport in a couple of hours," was the message. Despite the elements, the player had showed what a loyal person he was by giving the writer of the article plenty notice.
Thus, Johnny Doyle signed for Celtic on 15th March 1976 for a club record fee of £90,000 from Ayr Utd, just before the squad flew out to East Germany for a European tie against Sachsenring Zwickau. He was a dribbler with a thunderous temperament, but, must be remembered as a true Celt.
Johnny Doyle arrived at Celtic Park as a 24-year-old, in March 1976 from Ayr United. He hailed from Viewpark, in Uddingston - the very same area of Lanarkshire where Jimmy Johnstone first pulled on a pair of football boots. He wasn't the greatest player of his generation, but you'd need to search far and wide to find a more committed one. Nor was he adverse to the odd run-in with officialdom, and he wasn't unfamiliar with the odd red card or early bath. He was already a Scotland international having played against Romania in December 1975 whilst still at Somerset Park.
He made his debut on March 20th 1976 at Dens Park but was injured and played no part in the closing months of the season. Stein returned as manager after illness in the Summer of 1976 and Johnny was first choice right winger and ultimately the replacement for Jimmy Johnstone who had moved on 12 months previously. He had a fine game against the Uruguayans of Penarol in August 1976 and this set him up for the new 76/77 season and he was in the side which clinched the title at Easter Road in April 1977. Although Johnny was a regular in a fine forward line (Doyle/Glavin/Craig/Dalglish/Conn) he was surprisingly dropped for the Scottish Cup final win over Rangers for Paul Wilson and had to make do with a place on the bench.
In the 1977/78 season Johnny was plagued by injuries and he had no luck at all on August 20th 1977 when he was sent off by referee Bob Cuthill for striking the ref with the ball by accident and was later exonerated by the SFA. When Davie Provan arrived from Kilmarnock for a huge fee in September 1978 it looked as if Doyle's Celtic days were over. However, Johnny buckled down and played in a more central role in the forward line, using his speed with great success. On April 28th 1979 he scored a vital winner against Dundee United at Parkhead to keep Celtic in the League race. He is perhaps best remembered for being sent off in May 1979 when Celtic were 0-1 down to Rangers in the league deciding game. The Celts roared back to win 4-2 (that in itself deserves an article on it’s own), and Tommy Burns used to tell a great story of after the game while the players celebrated wildly, Doylie was sitting inconsolable crying, ‘Ah let yeez doon, ah let yeez doon’.
The 1979/80 was his most productive at Celtic and he scored a memorable headed goal against Real Madrid in the European Cup 2-0 victory on March 5th, although Celtic eventually lost on aggregate.
If John Doyle owed his team mates a debt for his ordering off against Rangers the previous May then he repaid it in full on February 20th 1980 when he had the game of his life for Celtic. In the Scottish Cup replay at Love Street against St.Mirren an astonishing crowd of 27,000 turned out to create an electric atmosphere. They were not disappointed as first St.Mirren took the lead (before a lot of the crowd had gained entry) then Tom McAdam was controversially sent off after an incident with Frank McDougall before Danny McGrain took retribution on McDougall which saw him carried off from the field. That’s when Doyle took control. He equalised before half time and after Saints had gone in front again it was Doyle who gained the penalty from which Lennox equalised after he was scythed in the area. With the game late in extra time and the Celts looking desperately tired Johnny summoned the energy to run from the halfway line, round goalkeeper Billy Thomson and smash the ball home from a tight angle. Celtic, who had played for 100 minutes with 10 men, had prevailed again.
John also scored in the 5-0 semi final win over Hibs on April 12th 1980 which set Celtic up for a showdown with Rangers. John, unusually, wore the number eight shorts that day and was seen to be furious at being subbed for Bobby Lennox in extra time but he was eventually happy after George McCluskey's winning goal gave Celtic the cup and inadvertently caused an ensuing riot.
With the arrival of Frank McGarvey from Liverpool and the appearance of a young Charlie Nicholas, John's appearances were limited in 1980/81 although he was on the bench when the League was won at Tannadice on April 22nd 1981. The next season Johnny had to be satisfied with playing mainly in the reserves and although unhappy at not featuring in the Celtic first team he refused moves to both Motherwell and Hearts preferring to stay with his beloved Celtic.
On 19th October 1981 he was involved in a tragic accident. Whilst rewiring the loft of his home in Kilmarnock he was electrocuted and tragically died at just 30 years old. He is buried in Grassard Road cemetery in Kilmarnock.
As happens, when a player dies in his prime, his memory lasts longer than others, but in Johnny's case, we'd have remembered him as fondly even if the tragedy had not have happened.
A sombre Doyle-related chant eminated after the league win of 1981/82, when The Faithful remembered their departed hero, with the sombre but celebratory chant of "We won the league for Doyle" after beating St.Mirren 3-0 at a packed Parkhead on May 15th 1982.
He died a Hoop, and he has never left our memories and for those of us who saw him in the green he will always be in our hearts. May he rest in peace.
(Thecelticwiki)
LA MIGLIOR PARTITA (per me che l'ho vista in TV) di JOHNNY DOYLE
The record books show that Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1980 but they don’t tell how close they came to being eliminated on two occasions, in the 4th round, by St Mirren in February of 1980.
In the first game at Celtic Park the Saints were clinging on to a deserved lead with 90 seconds left when Murdo MacLeod leaped to head home a dramatic equaliser much to the relief of the majority of the watching 32,000 fans.
St Mirren had quite a team in those days with Billy Thomson, Iain Munro, Jimmy Bone and Peter Weir all Scottish internationalists, they had good players like Billy Stark, Jackie Copeland and Doug Somner to back them up and it’s a sign of the times back then to acknowledge that they held the record Scottish transfer fee at that time through signing Frank McDougall from Clydebank for £140,000. So all things considered, they were quite considerable opposition to face.
The replay on the following Wednesday clearly caught the public imagination and 27,000 fans crammed into the old Love Street ground to witness the proceedings. This created massive queues and crushing both inside and outside the stadium. The authorities were criticised afterwards for not making the game an all ticket affair and there were stories of fans not getting in until half time. From my own experience, we were surprised to get in and discover that Celtic were already one goal down as none of us could hear the roar of the crowd inside the ground with all the bedlam going on outside.
There may well have been in excess of 27,000 as kids were commonly ‘lifted in’ in those days and there were other ruses like ‘double shuffles’ or the time old tradition of skipping in by vaulting the turnstiles. Press reports after the match also indicated that an exit door had been charged down with many fans entering in this way.
This game was to mark Johnny Doyle’s finest moment in a Celtic jersey. Much loved by the fans, Johnny had the heart of a lion and was the ideal man to have up front in a game when Celtic were required to play for an energy sapping 102 minutes with only 10 men. Perhaps he was keen to make amends for his sending off 9 months previously in the league decider against Rangers when Celtic’s 10 men had also emerged triumphant on another memorable evening. Doyle certainly ran his heart out that night and gave a perfect example of what ‘playing for the jersey’ should really mean.
The atmosphere in the ground was simply fantastic and if the players were shattered at the finish then it was a similarly draining experience on the terraces. It was a long time before the supporters spilled slowly out of the ground with the victory anthems from the Celtic fans being heard loudly in the night air. Many of us rushed home and happily watched the highlights on the BBC.
God bless you John and you’re still greatly missed till this day.
DOYLE TAKES 10 MAN CELTS THROUGH IN EXTRA TIME
LOVE STREET FLARE UP: MCADAM SENT OFF FOUR BOOKED
Not for the first time, Celtic demonstrated that committed footballers can emerge triumphant from the most daunting of trials. Reduced to ten men after only eighteen minutes of this Scottish Cup replay at Love Street, Tom McAdam having already been sent off, and already down to a Jimmy Bone goal, the Parkhead side refused to surrender.
They equalised through a cheeky John Doyle goal, went behind again through a Somner penalty but cancelled that out with a Lennox penalty of their own, by that time the excitement in the overflowing Paisley ground was almost intolerable but Celtic still had the bottom line of this drama to write. That came in the first minute of extra time with the score 2-2 when Doyle scored an even more audacious goal, effectively ending one of the most memorable cup ties of this or any other season.
Besides McAdam’s exit there were four bookings and a catalogue of pulsating incidents which would take a Voltaire volume to encapsulate.
There were no bad players in this Celtic only a few supermen and a bionic star or two. Saints, who left the field with the look of men who had climbed Everest, only to find it had grown overnight, did everything possible to stem the outrageous energy of this Parkhead machine.
It was not enough in the end but they did give it one heck of a try.
It was bound to be an unusual night at Paisley. When last did fans clamber on to the bottom of pylons in order to get a better view of Saints in action ? When last did they have to hold up the start for 15 minutes in order to let the enthusiasts in ?
If the atmosphere was thrilling enough before the off there was an air of constant bedlam throughout the 120 minutes. Saints began in exactly the same style they had shown against the league champions on Saturday, studied, clever football always with a penetrating punch line to follow.
Within two minutes they had doused the Celtic supporters’ flame with as incisive and neat a move as we saw all night. Peter Weir accepted a fine pass from Richardson, slipped passed two Celtic defenders and rapped an excellent left foot shot towards the net. Only the legs of Peter Latchford defied the Scots winger, the ball bouncing from them for a corner.
A minute later a perfectly flighted Weir cross was cleared only as far as Stark whose rasping shot was not far away. Saints were off and running and in 10 minutes they were also a goal ahead.
Richardson chipped forward a free kick, Bone met it with his head, and although Latchford seemed to have it covered, the ball the ball slid beneath his hands and into the net.
Celtic tried to hit back immediately but despite a couple of fine runs by McCluskey, who more than justified his selection, Saints still looked the more likely team.
Then in 18 minutes came the turning point. McAdam and Frank McDougall, the St Mirren striker, were involved in an off the ball clash which was missed by most observers including referee Ian Foote.
Unlike the rest of us, however, he was able to consult the far side linesman and having done so, booked McDougall and sent off McAdam. That sensational decision brought a hail of cans and bottles from the Celtic end of the enclosure and a crescendo of less violent abuse from around the ground.
Once things cooled down in a couple of minutes it became clear that Mr Foote, inadvertently, may have done Celts a favour. The apparently inexhaustible reserves of energy packed in the Parkhead hamper were let loose at the one time and Saints were never again to hold the dominance of the early minutes.
After half an hour they were level. McCluskey pushed the ball through to Doyle who with the Saints defence frantically claiming offside, carried on to do a double shuffle before putting the ball past Thomson.
Three minutes before the interval McDougall had to be carried off, suffering from a leg injury, Brian Docherty taking his place.
The relentless pace carried on after the interval and Saints did manage to get some of their togetherness again. Richardson exemplifying it with a fearsome drive.
Provan was booked for an innocuous foul on Weir but not much time could be wasted on such niceties, McDonald was soon heading over the bar and shortly after he was unlucky with an even better header which Thomson grasped carefully.
At the other end Latchford was lively enough to push a Docherty drive for a corner. Just as the collective energy of Celtic’s 10 men seemed likely to overwhelm Saints the Paisley team were awarded a penalty, Weir seeming to stumble as he was tackled by Provan and MacLeod, but Mr Foote deemed it a foul. Somner’s spot kick was blocked well by Latchford but the striker made no mistake from the rebound.
Copland was the next man to have the yellow card raised above his head before McCluskey nearly equalised with a shot which went tantalisingly past a post. Doyle became booking number 4 but in 72 minutes the former Ayr man was downed by Weir inside the box and Mister Foote again pointed to the spot. Bobby Lennox did his job well and this magnificent struggle went into extra time.
It was not properly warmed up when Celtic hit what proved to be the winner. Doyle again broke clear and again Saints claimed offside but the little winger cutely put the ball past one man, collected it again, and with a coolness that defied belief dragged the ball back from the bye line to smack it into the net. There simply was no answer to that.
Now Celtic will meet Morton at Parkhead in the quarter final. It would be in the Greenock club’s interest to make a special plea to the referee not to send a Celtic player off. It really is not worth it.
St Mirren – Thomson Young Munro Richardson Fulton Copland Bone Stark Somner McDougall Weir. Subs Beckett Docherty.
Celtic – Latchford Sneddon McGrain Aitken MacDonald McAdam Provan McCluskey Lennox MacLeod Doyle - Subs – Sullivan Casey.
A few years ago, I went to put some flowers on his grave. There was a young woman and man already there and I felt a wee bit awkward, thinking they may have been family. I asked the woman if she minded me putting the flowers down and she said to go ahead. I put them down and said a wee prayer then made to leave the grave side.
The girl asked me if I had seen her Dad play. I waxed lyrical for about 10 minutes, telling her about the Madrid game, the 4-2 game and how much of a hero he was to the whole Celtic support. She said she was immensely proud even though she couldn't really remember him as she was very young when he died. (Dave_Grohl - DA KERRYDALESTREET FORUM)
In his last season just before he passed on he knocked back moves to Motherwell and Hearts.
Alex MacDonald had just moved to Hearts and Johnny told a mate of mine ' can you imagine me running down the wing with wee MacDonald alongside me ?'
Actually Alex MacDonald was distraught when Johnny died, although there they fought tooth and nail on the park they respected each other off it. (st.anthony - dal forum kerrydalestreet)
In Tommy Burn's biography, he tells the story of Doyle picking up a couple of celtic fans who were hitchhiking back to ayshire after a game, taking them to his house and getting his wife to cook them a meal (Corky Buczek dal forum kerrydalestreet)
Johnny never lived to see the Prima Donnas of the Champions League but he could teach them all. This was a true mistake by the referee and Johnny did nothing but display complete dignity and restraint. This is Johnny. This is the Celtic ethic, value an attitude. Wearing the Hoops is a privilege that has been abused over the years. Johhny died content in the knowledge he had and we were blessed that he ever did and count count him as one of our own. Just ask Sabino or Camacho... (from you tube finhq018)
I was at that game sitting in the main stand. It was a terrible decision from the referee and that's speaking as an Ayr supporter. If memory serves correctly Ayr won the game 3 - 1 . Johnny was trying to get the ball in quickly as time was running out. There was no deliberate intent to hit the ref. It was one of John's first games back at Somerset after his transfer to Celtic from Ayr United. He was a great player who is remembered fondly by supporters of both clubs. (rivernith - youtube)
comento di un tifoso dei rangers....
My parents sold their house at Jasmine Place, Kilmarnock to Johnny Doyle. I still remember when he came to look at the house and he asked me to show him where I played footie with my pals. I was only 5/6 and had no idea who he was but my pals were beside themselves at meeting a Celtic player. I can remember what a very nice man he was and felt proud. I'm a Rangers man and feel sad at the negative bigotted comments here. I love my team but hate the bigotts. I was v sad to hear he died. RIP Johnny
(rabbitranter youtube)
John was my big cousin, and we went to his housr in Jasmine Place every other weekend. He was a true celt and lived for the club.
His daughter was only 2 when he died and his boy was 9. It was a life took too soon!!!
But then so was his dad, my uncle wullie! (doylee01 )
A true Celt. My hero when I was a wee bhoy and I swear my son will know about John Doyle. And not only when he rose between Sabino and Camacho... RIP Jonny.
(finhq018 ) - io ho fatto così: ho raccontato ai miei figli la storia di johnny doyle e quando in auto sentiamo la canzone di johnny doyle, loro mi ricordano chi hanno imparato sia stato doyle.(boretim)
volevo aggiungere, ma troverete la notizia da qualche parte nel web che alla richiesta di un testimonial, che nacque naturale fra i tifosi del celtic, il presidente di allora desmond white diede una risposta negativa adducendo futili motivi economici, e al contempo dando prova che in fatto di avarizia il board di allora non era secondo a nessuno. chiuse il discorso dicendo che essendo ormai prossima la stgione invernale i tifosi del celtic sarebbero stati a disagio e non sarebbero accorsi a celebrare doyle. qualche tifoso pochi anni più tardi, rinfacciò al board questa affermazione, mostrando la passione dei celts quando accorserò in una fredda serata invernale per pagare il loro tributo a davie provan. e non dimenticando che doyle aveva lasciato una moglie e due figli ancora piccoli.
hail hail
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