Jock Stein
John Stein was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish League championships between 1966 and 1974.
Stein worked as a coal-miner while playing football by part-time for Blantyre Victoria and then Albion Rovers. He became a full-time professional football player with Welsh club Llanelli Town, but returned to Scotland with Celtic in 1951. He enjoyed some success with Celtic, winning the Coronation Cup in 1953 and a Scottish league and Scottish Cup double in 1954. Ankle injuries forced Stein to retire from playing football in 1957.
Celtic appointed Stein to coach their reserve team after he retired as a player. Stein started his managerial career in 1960 with Dunfermline, where he won the Scottish Cup in 1961 and achieved some notable results in European football. After a brief but successful spell at Hibernian, Stein returned to Celtic as manager in March 1965. In thirteen years at Celtic, Stein won the European Cup, ten Scottish league championships, eight Scottish Cups and six Scottish League Cups. After a brief stint with Leeds United, Stein managed Scotland from 1978 until his death in 1985.
Early life and playing career
John Stein was born on 5 October 1922 at 339 Glasgow Road in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, the only son of four children to George Stein, a coal miner, and Jane Armstrong. Stein saw football as his escape from the Lanarkshire coal mines. In 1937, he left Greenfield school in Hamilton and after a short time working in a carpet factory went down the pits to become a miner. In 1940, Stein agreed to sign for Burnbank Athletic, but his father vehemently objected. Soon afterward, he instead joined Blantyre Victoria, another local junior club.Stein first played for senior club Albion Rovers as a trialist in a 4–4 draw against Celtic on 14 November 1942. On 3 December 1942, manager Webber Lees signed Stein for the Coatbridge club. He continued to work as a miner during the week, which was a reserved occupation during the Second World War. This allowed Stein to play regularly, as many of their other players were serving in the Armed Forces. He had a brief loan spell with Dundee United in 1943. Rovers won promotion to the First Division in 1947–48, for only the fourth time in the club's history.
During the 1948–49 season, Rovers conceded 105 goals, won only three league games out of 30 and were relegated back to the Second Division.
According to Rovers' historian Robin Marwick, Stein played 236 matches for Rovers, who were his longest serving senior club as a player. He scored nine goals, six of which were penalties. His last Rovers appearance was against Alloa in a B Division match on 14 January 1950.
In 1950, having been approached by former Albion Rovers teammate Dougie Wallace, Stein signed for non-league Welsh club Llanelli. For the first time in his career, he became a full-time professional footballer, earning £12 per week. Llanelli had gained promotion to the Southern League in 1950 and signed several Scottish professionals. In 1951, the club's application to join the Football League was rejected and there were rumours of financial problems. All but two of the Scottish professionals left.
Stein initially left his wife, Jean, and young daughter, Ray, in Scotland when he moved to Llanelli. His family moved down soon afterwards, but his council house in Hamilton was burgled about eight weeks after they moved. Jean wanted to return to Scotland, and Stein accepted her desire in light of his own disillusionment with the problems at the club. When asked what he would do by the Llanelli manager, Stein said he would probably quit football and become a miner again.
In December 1951, on the recommendation of reserve team trainer Jimmy Gribben, Celtic bought him for £1,200. He was signed as a reserve but injuries incurred by first team players resulted in him being elevated to the first team. In 1952, he was appointed vice-captain; when captain Sean Fallon suffered a broken arm, the captaincy was passed to Stein.
Celtic finished eighth in the Scottish League during 1952–53 and were only invited to the pan-British Coronation Cup tournament due to their large support base. Celtic beat Arsenal, Manchester United and Hibernian to win the trophy. This success was built upon in 1953–54, as Stein captained the side that won a League and Scottish Cup double. It was their first League championship since 1938 and first League and Scottish Cup double since 1914. As a reward for their achievement, the club paid for all of the players to attend the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland. Celtic had also sent their players to watch the England v Hungary match in 1953. Stein was influenced by Scotland's poor preparation and the impressive performance of Hungary.
Stein received his only international recognition in 1954, when he was selected for the Scottish Football League XI. It was not a happy experience for Stein, as his direct opponent, Bedford Jezzard, scored two goals as The Football League XI won 4–0 at Stamford Bridge.
In 1954–55, Celtic finished second in the league and lost the 1955 Scottish Cup final to Clyde. Stein was forced to retire from football after suffering persistent ankle injuries during the 1955–56 season. While playing in a friendly in Coleraine in May 1956, he landed awkwardly and rolled over on the ankle. Two weeks later he had an operation to remove a bone nodule, after which he was ordered to rest until fully recuperated. While on a holiday in Blackpool, the ankle irritated Stein, who found that it had become septic. He was no longer able to flex the joint and had to stop playing, officially retiring on 29 January 1957.
Managerial career
Celtic reserves
In July 1957, Stein was given the job of coaching the Celtic reserve team. His squad included a number of young players who would later play under him in the first team, including Billy McNeill, Bobby Murdoch and John Clark. In his first season as a coach, Stein won the Reserve Cup with an 8–2 aggregate triumph over Rangers.Despite this success, according to football journalist Archie MacPherson, Stein was told by club chairman Robert Kelly he would not progress further at Celtic due to his Protestant faith; Celtic had only previously appointed Catholics as managers, though one of these, Willie Maley had spent 50 years at the club and Stein was only the fourth person to be appointed Celtic manager, after Maley, Jimmy McStay and Jimmy McGrory, who was manager for 20 years. It was later suggested that Stein was allowed to leave Celtic temporarily with the intention of later appointing him manager, but MacPherson found no evidence for this.
Dunfermline
On 14 March 1960, Stein was appointed manager of Dunfermline. When Stein was appointed, the team were only two points above last place and mired in a battle against relegation. The team had not won in four months, but then won their first six matches managed by Stein. To build upon this initial success, Stein signed Willie Cunningham and Tommy McDonald from Leicester City. Dunfermline became a powerful force and Stein guided them to their first Scottish Cup victory in 1961, winning 2–0 in a replayed final against Celtic. This success prompted job offers from Newcastle United and Hibernian, both of which were rejected by Stein.In the 1961–62 season, Dunfermline progressed to the quarter-final of the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup and finished in fourth place in the league. Their league position earned a place in the Fairs Cup after a Greek club withdrew. Dunfermline defeated Everton in the 1962–63 Fairs Cup and retrieved a four-goal deficit against Valencia, but then lost in a play-off game. Towards the end of the 1963–64 season, it became apparent that Hibs wanted to replace their manager, Walter Galbraith. It was reported in the media on 27 February that Stein would leave Dunfermline at the end of the season. A fortnight later, amid speculation that Stein would move to Hibernian, Galbraith left the Edinburgh club. On 28 March, Dunfermline lost in a Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers. It was announced two days later that Stein would leave Dunfermline with immediate effect, allowing him to take charge at Hibernian.
Hibernian
Stein was appointed manager of Hibernian in March 1964. Although Hibs had a bigger support base than Dunfermline and had enjoyed success in the 1950s, the club was struggling. Hibs had narrowly avoided relegation in 1963 and were sitting in 12th place when Stein was appointed. The players noticed an immediate difference from previous managers as Stein took an active part in practice sessions. Stein built his defence around John McNamee, who had been discarded by Celtic, and Pat Stanton. In midfield he had Pat Quinn and Willie Hamilton, who were talented players but had under-achieved. Hamilton had problems with drinking and gambling, but he produced his best performances under Stein's guidance. Stein led Hibs to victory in the Summer Cup, their first trophy in ten years. Neil Martin scored regularly and was capped for Scotland under Stein.The 1964–65 league season started with an Edinburgh derby defeat by Hearts, but Hibs managed to recover from this setback. Stein invited Real Madrid for a friendly game in Edinburgh, which Hibernian won 2–0 in front of a crowd of 32,000, further boosting his prestige. Wolves asked Stein if he wanted to replace Stan Cullis as their manager. Stein then approached Celtic chairman Bob Kelly, ostensibly to ask his advice about the offer from Wolves, but in the hope that he would be offered the Celtic job instead. Kelly first offered Stein the position of assistant manager, which Stein rejected. Kelly then offered Stein the chance to be joint manager with Fallon, but this was also rejected by Stein, who suggested he would rather go to Wolves if Celtic would not offer full control. Billy McNeill believed that Kelly's initial reluctance was due to Stein's religion. Kelly eventually agreed to offer Stein full powers over team selection. Hibs tried to convince Stein to stay, even attempting to persuade his wife Jean, but becoming Celtic manager had been his long-held ambition. While Stein was still Hibs manager, he arranged for Celtic to sign Bertie Auld from Birmingham City and allowed Hibs goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson to join Celtic. Some people claimed with hindsight that he had deliberately allowed Simpson to join Celtic before moving himself, but in fact it was due to a wage dispute.
It was announced on 31 January that Stein would leave Hibs for Celtic at the end of the 1964–65 season. Stein left Hibs in early March, after he had arranged for Dundee manager Bob Shankly to take the Hibs job. When Stein left, Hibs were near the top of the league and had reached the semi-finals of the 1964–65 Scottish Cup. Hibs had defeated Rangers in the quarter-final, in his last game as Hibs manager. They failed to win either competition, however, and Stein later admitted that "leaving Hibs at that time was probably my most embarrassing experience in football". Stein was statistically the best ever manager of Hibs, with a win rate of 62%.