So just who were the Class of ‘55? Matt McVittie’s Celtic Story | OneFootball

Last Wednesday’s article in The Celtic Star featuring photos provided by Peter Goldie, Celtic’s oldest-living player, provoked a lot of interest and discussion.

One photo in particular generated quite a few queries. It was a photoshoot taken at the annual pre-season trial match played at Celtic Park on Tuesday, 9 August 1955. Some of the players, of course, are instantly recognisable as Celtic legends, whilst most of the others are familiar to those who know their history but a few of the faces presented some challenges in terms of identification.

Thankfully, Twitter did its job, and within minutes of The Celtic Star publishing the article, @CelticCurio had produced a list of all the surnames in the photograph. This was a huge help as we set about linking names to faces.

Not all of the players in the photo featured in the match, as some were nursing or recovering from injuries. And an obvious absentee from the photoshoot was Bertie Peacock, who was in Belfast representing a Great Britain XI against The Rest of Europe in a match to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the six-county Irish Football Association. There was a report on the match in the following day’s Evening Times which listed the teams as follows:

• Goalkeepers McCreadie and Beattie switched sides. • Docherty and White switched sides. • Goldie replaced Ryan for the Shamrocks. • Duffy replaced Conroy for the Shamrocks. • Rowan replaced Craig for the Shamrocks. • Smith replaced Sharkey for the Shamrocks.

Here at The Celtic Star, we like to acknowledge every Celt who lived the dream and could proudly tell their family and friends “I played for Celtic,” so we thought we’d make sure we had a full cast list to publish. That’s when the fun and the serious research started.

In the first part of this article, we looked at a couple of less familiar names who turned out for the mainly first-team ‘Green and Whites,’ goalkeeper Benny McCreadie (middle row, second from right) and Jimmy ‘Peam’ Docherty (middle row, sixth from left). In Part 2 we mentioned two of those wearing the shamrock kits, David Duffy (back row, fourth from left) and Frank Whyte (middle row, second from left) and in the third article we discussed Jimmy McIlroy (middle row, extreme right). Today, we will cover the next Celt whose name initially had escaped me.

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The player on the extreme left of the front row is Matt McVittie, who signed provisional forms for Celtic whilst with Wishaw Juniors in the aftermath of the Coronation Cup triumph in the summer of 1953, having been recommended to the club as a 13-year-old standout at that age level a few years earlier. Matt spent a short spell on loan with Albion Rovers from September 1953 before arriving at Parkhead in December, not long after his 16th birthday.

McVittie would bide his time before making his senior debut in a Glasgow Cup first-round tie played at Celtic Park on Tuesday, 23 August 1955, replacing the injured Charlie Tully against Scottish Cup-holders Clyde, who had beaten the Hoops at Hampden a few months earlier. The following team took to the field seeking some measure of early revenge on the Bully Wee.

Future Celtic Hampden hero Billy McPhail was making his comeback from long-term injury for Clyde, but it was Jimmy Walsh who suffered a problem in the opening minute which forced him to play the rest of the game on the left wing. That would allow Neil Mochan to move into the centre and he duly accepted the challenge with a hat-trick, the first a rocket from outside the box in six minutes following good work by new Bhoy McVittie and Bobby Collins. McVittie was also involved in Celtic’s fourth goal, brought down for a penalty kick in the final minute which Mike Haughney converted. The Glasgow Herald commented on his performance and his misfortune in not having a debut goal to celebrate.

He could consider himself unlucky to be replaced by Eric Smith for the 4-1 League Cup victory at Ibrox four days later, but an injury to Willie Fernie saw the youngster play in the return fixture at Celtic Park in midweek in front of 61,000 spectators, still one month short of his 18th birthday. Sadly, it would be a night when most things went wrong for Celtic, injuries to Jock Stein and Sean Fallon perhaps factors in the collapse which allowed Rangers to win 4-0 and seize the advantage going into the final section matches that weekend.

Matt’s next first-team outing was the Glasgow Cup semi-final against holders Partick Thistle, played at Celtic Park on Friday, 9 September 1955. Frank Whyte and Jimmy ‘Peam’ Docherty – another two of the Celts featured in these articles – and teenage keeper Dick Beattie were also in the line-up as injuries to established stars stretched Jimmy McGrory’s resources to the limit. Goals either side of the break by Charlie Tully and Neil Mochan set up a final clash with Rangers for later that month.

McVittie celebrated his 18th birthday on 30 September 1955 and marked the occasion with his first goal for Celtic 24 hours later. He took advantage of a clever dummy by debutant Jim Sharkey – another wearing the iconic shamrock kit in the photo – to give Celtic an early lead over top of the table Raith Rovers at Parkhead. Sharkey then scored his first goal for the club with three minutes remaining to seal an excellent 2-0 win, enabling the Hoops to overtake the Fifers and slip into second place behind new leaders Queen of the South.

Matt would make it two goals in two games when he returned to the side a fortnight later for the home clash with Motherwell. The sides were tied at 1-1 midway through the second half when Well keeper Weir touched a Charlie Tully header on to the crossbar, McVittie following up to give Celtic the lead. That looked like being the winner until Aitken equalised for Motherwell in the final minute.

After a few weeks out, McVittie returned to the team for the visit of East Fife on Saturday, 5 November 1955, replacing John Higgins. Despite the genius of Willie Fernie, it would be a frustrating day in front of goal with neither side able to break the deadlock, Celts missing a glorious opportunity to close the gap on leaders Queen of the South.

Matt McVittie

Matt’s seventh and final appearance that season came in perhaps the most vital match of the campaign, Rangers heading to Parkhead on Monday, 2 January 1956 still smarting from their 5-3 defeat in the Glasgow Cup final at the same venue on Boxing Day. In a game dominated by Celtic, the only goal would go to the visitors just before the half-hour, South African striker Don Kichenbrand inflicting a damaging blow to the title dreams of the Celtic faithful.

The army of all things would then disrupt McVittie’s football career, his two-year National Service stint commencing the following month. By a curious co-incidence, his return to the side would be in the corresponding derby fixture of January 1958, presumably whilst on leave. By mid-December 1957, Celtic were the only unbeaten League side north or south of the border and had won the League Cup by beating their fierce rivals Rangers 7-1 in what remains to this day the record winning margin for a major cup final on these shores. Three successive home defeats halted that progress, the last of those coming three days earlier to runaway League leaders Hearts, themselves en route to creating their own scoring landmarks in a title-winning campaign.

One of the reasons for Celtic’s recent problems had been the absence of several key players, and they would once again be without Willie Fernie, Billy McPhail, Charlie Tully and Bobby Collins for the visit of Rangers. In came John Colrain for his debut with Matt McVittie partnering him on the right flank. McVittie would be involved in one of the defining moments in the match, midway through the second half with Rangers leading by an early Alex Scott goal, as reported by Cyril Horne in The Glasgow Herald the following day.

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Matt was back in action 24 hours later as an unchanged Celtic team travelled to Hampden to face bottom dogs Queen’s Park. Jimmy McGrory’s men had the strangest League record that season, having won all seven of their away games but just one of eight home matches, three of those drawn. They extended that sequence on the road to eight with a comfortable 3-0 victory over the struggling amateurs. Sammy Wilson struck twice in the first half with McVittie adding his third goal for the club with 13 minutes remaining.

Following his demob from the army, Matt would enjoy his best run in the first team to date, commencing Wednesday, 19 March 1958 with a home match against Hibernian, which kicked off at 5pm. A Sammy Wilson hat-trick and a goal from Billy McPhail secured a 4-0 win. He would then gain his first winner’s medal as a Celt 48 hours later, as the Hoops secured the Scottish Second XI Cup with a 5-1 victory over Rangers at Ibrox. Jim Conway was the star of the show with a hat-trick, with John Divers and John Colrain also on target. That completed a comprehensive 8-2 aggregate win for Jock Stein’s youngsters following the 3-1 first-leg victory at Celtic Park six days earlier. The team at Ibrox makes interesting reading and was as follows.

Matt was the only one of that winning team included in the side which hosted Airdrieonians at Celtic Park the following afternoon, Saturday, 22 March 1958. The Hoops were already 4-1 up on the hour mark when future Rangers defender and Sunday Post columnist Doug Baillie chopped McVittie down, earning a booking for his trouble. Another future Ibrox stalwart Jock Wallace was in the visiting goal in what would turn out to be the great Sean Fallon’s final match for Celtic after eight years of incredible service. March ended on a low note with a 5-3 defeat at Dens Park, albeit Matt scored his fourth goal for the club to square things off at 2-2 in the first half.

April opened with the saddest of news as Willie Maley passed away just a few weeks short of his 90th birthday. Celts would honour their legendary manager with a 1-0 victory at Pittodrie on the first Saturday, thanks to a late goal from Alec Byrne, then a 5-1 home win over bottom club Queen’s Park 48 hours later, with McVittie scoring Celtic’s third on the hour mark. Matt was then on target again as Celtic beat Scottish Cup finalists Clyde 6-2 on the Wednesday evening at Parkhead, to record their third victory in just five days. A perfect start to the month was rounded off with a single-goal victory at Firhill on Saturday, 12 April 1958, Bobby Collins netting the winner 20 minutes from time.

Four days later, a Celtic side minus the international duo of Bobby Evans and Bertie Peacock lost to Queen of the South by the odd goal in seven at Palmerston. There was mixed news for two youngsters who would join Celtic later that year, Charlie Gallagher losing his place in the Scotland Youth team to meet Wales at Swansea the following week whilst centre-forward Ian Lochhead was included in a side managed by Celtic’s 1930s trainer Jack Qusklay, now working at Queen’s College in his native Dundee. And holders Real Madrid qualified for their third successive European Cup final despite a 2-0 defeat by Vasas in Budapest.

They would now meet either AC Milan or Manchester United in the final, the English champions cruelly robbed of so many of their young stars after the tragedy at Munich Airport two months earlier on their return from a quarter-final tie in Belgrade. One of the survivors of that crash, Bobby Charlton, made his England debut three days later at Hampden and was on target in a 4-0 win which upset Scotland’s preparations for that summer’s World Cup finals in Sweden.

Matt McVittie lost out to John Colrain for the 2-2 home draw with Motherwell on Monday, 21 April 1958 but he was restored to the team for the final League match of the season, the visit of Third Lanark on the last day of the month. With Colrain and Dick Beattie on duty with Scotland’s Under 23’s in Amsterdam, Matt played on the left wing of a reshuffled attack and there was a debut for teenage keeper Frank Haffey. Celts ended the campaign with a 4-1 win to secure third place in the table behind Rangers and runaway winners Hearts and ahead of Scottish Cup-winners Clyde. The Shawfield club would now wait to hear if proposals to hold a competition for national cup-winners across the continent would come to fruition.

Matt was on the list of 29 players retained by Celtic issued the following day, the big news being the release of Coronation Cup hero John Bonnar. The three other Celts freed were Peter Goldie, Frank Whyte and Mike Haughney, although the latter had already emigrated to the USA having retired the previous summer. Amongst the youngsters called up from the juniors were Billy McNeill and Pat Crerand, as the glorious future at Celtic Park began to take shape.

There was still first-team action for Matt before he could relax over the summer, beginning with a Glasgow Charity Cup semi-final with Rangers at Ibrox on Thursday, 8 May 1958. Bertie Peacock’s second-half equaliser saw the match end 1-1, Celts losing out on a final place on the toss of a coin. Six days later, Matt played for Celtic against a Bohemians Select in Dublin, the first mention of Billy McNeill in the senior side with Bobby Evans, Bobby Collins and Willie Fernie all missing the short tour due to Scotland commitments.

Get your copy here.

Mike Jackson and Bertie Auld were on target as the sides shared four goals, Rangers striker Don Kichenbrand also on the scoresheet as a guest for the Irishmen. Dick Beattie suffered a tendon injury which would require an operation and the season also ended in pain for Matt McVittie, who broke his left arm in the final game, a 7-0 win over Derry City at the Brandywell on Saturday, 17 May 1958.

That would keep Matt out of first-team action until November but would not prevent him doubling his appearances to 22 in that 1958/59 campaign. Celtic had experienced a difficult start to the season, losing their two-year grip on the League Cup and stars Billy McPhail to injury and Bobby Collins to Everton. On the flip side, young players were continuing to come through, Dunky Mackay, Billy McNeill and Pat Crerand all making competitive debuts whilst Ian Lochhead, Charlie Gallagher and John Clark were all called up from the juniors. McVittie started November in the reserves but returned to the first team in place of Sammy Wilson on the eighth of that month as the Hoops lost 1-0 to promoted Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park. Despite suffering a knock to his arm in that comeback game. he would remain a fixture in the team until the end of the calendar year.

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November saw a winless sequence of results for Celtic against teams in the lower half of the table, a 3-3 home draw with St Mirren followed by defeats at Firhill and Easter Road, where England striker Joe Baker scored a hat-trick. Further bad news arrived at the end of the month as Willie Fernie put in a transfer request and was soon on his way to Middlesbrough, amidst speculation that that the sale of players was tied to costs associated with the covering of the Celtic End the previous autumn and plans to do likewise at the opposite side of the ground, replace the Jungle with a new stand and install floodlighting. As a very topical aside, The Celtic Wiki noted that the Scottish Schools FA had complained to the SFA that week regarding Celtic’s use of a 15-year-old player in one of their junior teams. The youngster’s name was John Hughes of Coatbridge, who sadly passed away earlier this week. Rest in peace, Yogi.

Celtic’s fortunes didn’t see an immediate improvement in December, their home match with Motherwell abandoned with just eight minutes remaining with the Hoops 2-0 up due to fog. Things did get better beyond that, a 1-1 draw with reigning champions Hearts at Tynecastle sandwiched between a 7-3 mauling of promoted Stirling Albion and a 3-1 defeat of Scottish Cup-holders Clyde, both games played at Celtic Park and featuring Matt McVittie goals as the Hoops finished the calendar year in sixth spot in the table.

The opening day of 1959 saw Rangers and Celtic battle for supremacy in the quagmire of Ibrox. The match outcome hinged on two penalty kicks, Eric Caldow giving the hosts a 2-1 lead on the hour before Bertie Auld’s effort crashed to safety off the crossbar with five minutes remaining, the Celt having struggled to locate the spot given the condition of the pitch. The referee had considered abandoning the game a few minutes earlier but chose to continue, no consolation to Matt who was found to be suffering from exposure at the final whistle.

Matt would not return to the first team until the postponed Scottish Cup second-round tie against holders Clyde at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 18 February 1959. The Bully Wee had knocked Celtic out at the same venue 12 months earlier but McVittie gave the Hoops the lead early in the second half, a lead they held until 15 minutes from time when Celtic-daft Tommy Ring earned a replay with another cup goal against his boyhood favourites. That game would mark the only senior appearance at Celtic for 16-year-old inside-forward Roy Paton.

Matt McVittie would feature prominently in Celtic’s three remaining matches that month, commencing with the trip to Third Lanark on Saturday, 21 February 1959. Future Celt Bobby Craig gave the hosts an early lead at Cathkin but Matt’s equaliser with 10 minutes to play salvaged a point for the Hoops. He was on target again 48 hours later as Celtic knocked holders Clyde out of the Scottish Cup by the odd goal in seven after extra-time in their Shawfield replay, despite three times trailing to the hosts. Ian Lochhead made his Celtic debut that evening. That win set up a third-round tie with Rangers at Celtic Park five days later, a 42,000-limit imposed in an attempt to improve crowd behaviour and control. Matt had an excellent game and scored what proved to be the winner two minutes into the second half, after John Divers had given the Hoops the lead on the stroke of half-time. Max Murray’s injury time consolation was too little too late to prevent defeat for the cup favourites, their first such loss to Celtic at Parkhead since 1901.

McVittie’s bad luck with injuries continued as he missed the home clash with Dundee the next week due to a cyst on his neck, but he was back in place on Tuesday, 10 March 1959 for the trip to Broomfield to face Airdrieonians. That saw the beginning of another wonderful career, as Stevie Chalmers – a recent signing from Ashfield – made his debut in a different colour of Hoops. Jim Sharkey played well for the Diamonds against his old teammates in their 2-1 win.

Next up for Celtic was a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Stirling Albion on Saturday, 14 March 1959. There were almost 29,000 spectators packed into Annfield on an horrendous, wet afternoon which might have suited the hosts – whose right-back delighted in the name of John Hailstones – more than their visitors. Albion captain Jack McKechnie would perhaps rue his decision to play against the wind after winning the toss as the Celtic attack built up a three-goal lead by half-time, John Divers, Sammy Wilson and a first goal in the Hoops from Ian Lochhead effectively killing the tie before a late consolation strike from Kilgannon.

Celtic’s reward for the victory in Stirling was a semi-final against St Mirren and co-incidentally the sides met in a rescheduled League match in midweek at Love Street. The omens for the big game were not great after Saints deservedly won 1-0 in a game they dominated. McVittie was forced out of the weekend win over Partick Thistle with a further neck cyst issue but did return for the match with fellow cup semi-finalists Aberdeen at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 25 March 1959.

Future Lisbon Lions Billy McNeill and Bertie Auld also came back into the side, Cesar featuring in a half-back line of legendary club captains with Bobby Evans and Bertie Peacock. Ian Lochhead gave Celts an interval lead with Neil Mochan and John Colrain extending that to 3-0 before Matt scored Celtic’s final goal just after the hour.

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Celts made it three home wins in a week with a 3-0 victory over Hibernian three days later, Sammy Wilson with a double and Ian Lochhead all on target in a devastating 10-minute spell early in the second half. That teed things up nicely for the biggest game of the season to date, 80,000 spectators inside Hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final with St Mirren on Saturday, 4 April 1959.

On an afternoon when nothing went right for Celtic, John Divers had an early goal incorrectly ruled out by our old friend R H Davidson of Airdrie before an Ally Miller double put Saints in control. When Davidson then allowed Gerry Baker to make it 3-0 before half-time when clearly two yards offside the rotund lady was gargling, Tommy Bryceland sealing Celtic’s fate with a fourth goal in the final minute. The Buddies would now await the winner of the Aberdeen v Third Lanark replay in the final.

The selection eccentricities which plagued Celtic during this era were highlighted again 48 hours later, as John Colrain and Bertie Auld – first picks in the eyes of many, were re-instated to the team which faced Raith Rovers at Starks Park. In fairness, they would not change much as Celts lost 3-1 which included former Hearts legend Alfie Conn, who scored the opening goal, and a young Jim Baxter.

The malaise continued on the Wednesday, with a 2-0 defeat at Fir Park, Motherwell featuring another future Scotland star in Ian St John. John Kurila made his debut at full-back in place of Dunky MacKay, who was on Scotland duty ahead of the England v Scotland clash at Wembley that weekend, as was Bobby Evans, his place taken by Billy McNeill. As the Scots were going down to a single-goal defeat to England, Celts were beating relegation-threatened Stirling Albion by the same score at Annfield, Matt netting his 13th and final goal for the club just before the break from Malky Slater’s free-kick. This was the fourth of Highlander Slater’s five games for Celtic.

Saturday, 18 April 1959 will go down as one of the more bizarre days in Celtic’s history, as they effectively won the League…for Rangers! The Hoops entertained defending champions Hearts, whilst Rangers hosted Aberdeen, the Ibrox side two points clear of the Gorgie men and with an identical goal average. Defeat for Rangers and a win for Hearts would see the flag remain at Tynecastle, and Aberdeen duly did their bit with a 2-1 victory in Govan, which removed the possibility of the cup-finalists being relegated.

Meanwhile, at Celtic Park, a Hearts side featuring Gordon Marshall senior in goals led 1-0 at the interval, just 45 minutes from the title, before goals early in the second half from Bertie Auld and Eric Smith won the match, directly handing the 1958/59 Scottish League Championship to bitter rivals Rangers!

Celtic’s list of released players at the end of April included John Higgins, John Jack and Frank Meechan, with Hampden in the Sun goalscorer Sammy Wilson perhaps the biggest surprise. Young winger Andy Murphy and defender Willie Gribben would also leave the club without making a first-team appearance.

The remaining task for those retained was the Charity Cup, Celts again drawn against Rangers at Ibrox just as they had been 12 months earlier. On that occasion, Rangers had progressed to the final on the toss of a coin following a 1-1 draw and in identical circumstances this time, Alec Byrne having equalised a Ralph Brand header, Bertie Peacock would call correctly. That set up a final with holders Clyde, who had added the Charity Cup to the Scottish Cup the previous summer with a 4-0 hammering of Rangers. On Saturday, 9 May 1959, Celtic would go one better with a 5-0 thrashing of Clyde at Hampden, a red-letter day for Matt McVittie as he won his only senior silverware at the club. Alec Byrne grabbed a hat-trick and by all accounts could have set a new Celtic scoring record on the day, whilst left-back Neil Mochan blasted two free-kicks past Tommy McCulloch in the Clyde goal, as the Hoops finally secured some tangible reward for their season’s efforts.

The team which won the Charity Cup at Hampden was as follows.

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The transition continued through the summer with Charlie Tully heading back to Ireland on the expiry of his contract in July and fellow League Cup-winner Dick Beattie agreeing a move to Portsmouth. Nevertheless, Celts would commence the new season in optimistic mood with a very winnable-looking League Cup section which included Raith Rovers, Partick Thistle and Airdrieonians.

Of course, Celtic being Celtic that wouldn’t go quite with script, the Hoops proceeding to lose their first three matches. The opening game at Starks Park, Kirkcaldy on Saturday, 8 August 1959 featured a debut for former Johnstone Burgh winger Tommy Mackle – in for John Divers, whilst regular left-winger Bertie Auld remained in the naughty corner following his ordering off playing for Scotland in Amsterdam three months earlier. That situation prompted a transfer request from the player. The only other change to the Charity Cup-winning team was Billy McNeill for John Donnelly at right-back, that line-up captured for posterity in a team photograph before kick-off. That would be the highlight of a day where Raith were two goals clear by half-time before debutant Mackle pulled one back on the hour.

Tommy Mackle scoring for Celtic in the League Cup( the report misspelt his name)

Matt McVittie lost his place for the midweek visit of Partick Thistle to another debutant winger, Bobby Carroll. A Neil Mochan spot kick early in the second half set Celtic up for a win before Thistle replied with two of their own to snatch the points. Tommy Mackle dropped out as McVittie returned at Broomfield three days later, things looking promising after Bobby Carroll’s first goal for the club and a gift from Airdrieonians defender Doug Baillie had the Hoops 2-0 up within 13 minutes. But that would prove unlucky as former Celt Jim Sharkey and fellow Diamonds striker Jim Storrie – a schoolboy friend of future Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace – terrorised the Celtic defence, Storrie netting a hat-trick as the hosts won 4-2 to effectively end Parkhead interest in the League Cup for another year.

Matt again dropped to the sidelines as Celtic played two home games that week with mixed results, a 2-1 defeat to Rangers in the Glasgow Cup followed by a 2-0 win over a Kilmarnock side featuring Joe McBride 48 hours later. He returned on the Saturday in place of the injured Bobby Carroll for the fourth League Cup tie, Raith Rovers the third visitors that week to Parkhead. Dan O’Hara had made his Hoops debut against Kilmarnock and he was joined by another new Bhoy in Charlie Gallagher and the prodigal son Bertie Auld, his transfer request now withdrawn, and Jim Conway in an exciting young Celtic attack.

How the game ended in a 1-0 win for the Hoops will forever remain a mystery as shot after shot rained down on Raith keeper Charlie Drummond. Ironically, the only effort which did beat him was from his own left-back Willie MacFarlane 10 minutes before the break. In the other match in the section that day, Partick Thistle manager Davie Meiklejohn, the former Rangers captain, collapsed and died in the directors’ box at Broomfield as his side went down 4-0 to Airdrieonians.

Celtic arrived at Firhill four days later, the players of both sides wearing black armbands as a show of respect for Thistle’s late manager. Matt’s shot was deflected into the net by Mike Jackson in the 10th minute, the same player completing his double in the final seconds as Celts moved past the Maryhill club into third spot. Raith Rovers won the group that night with a 3-0 win over Airdrieonians, the fixtures duly completed at the weekend as Celtic shared four goals with the Diamonds at Parkhead, John Divers on target twice for the Hoops.

The opening Saturday of September saw Celtic head across the city to face Rangers at Ibrox in the second League match of the season. The Govan club had featured prominently in Matt McVittie’s Celtic career and they would do so again, as this game marked his final competitive appearance for the club. The Celtic team lined up as follows in front of 65,000 spectators.

Rangers were leading through an early Davie Wilson header when Matt twice came close to helping Celtic onto level terms, his first-time volley beating George Niven but finding the side net then his corner kick heading to the top corner via Bertie Auld’s head only for the Ibrox keeper to make a miraculous save. But with 20 minutes remaining, Alex Scott nodded the hosts into a 2-0 lead, Mike Jackson – having survived a cut head and a dreadful challenge from Harold Davis – shooting home from 20 yards to give Celts hope two minutes later.

Sadly, the final goal would come at the other end almost immediately, Jimmy Millar getting the better of Bobby Evans to end the scoring at 3-1. Matt would then find himself in the reserves as Tommy Mackle returned to the side for the trip to Tynecastle seven days later.

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There would be one last hurrah for Matt in the first team, and perhaps fittingly it would be an historic Celtic occasion. On Monday, 12 October 1959, English champions Wolverhampton Wanderers played against the Hoops to inaugurate the new Celtic Park floodlights, more than 45,000 in the ground to witness the next phase of stadium improvements.

Wolves featured several fringe players due to England’s match in Cardiff five days later whilst Celtic lined up as follows.

England striker Peter Broadbent had been overlooked by the international selectors and he made a point to them by opening the scoring on 20 minutes. In a match dominated by Wolves, Jimmy Murray sealed their 2-0 victory midway through the second half following a mistake by Dunky MacKay. The Midlands club would also feature in the news as Matt McVittie left Celtic Park to join Bobby Brown’s promotion-chasing St Johnstone on Tuesday, 25 November 1959, Wolves winning the race to sign Kilmarnock’s prolific centre-forward Joe McBride the same day to boost their squad ahead of the forthcoming European Cup tie with Barcelona.

Matt would face his old teammates exactly 12 months later as Celts travelled to Perth to face promoted St Johnstone at Muirton on Saturday, 26 November 1960. Indeed, he would lay on the winning goal for Gardiner with 10 minutes remaining as Saints recovered from the loss of an early Steve Chalmers goal to win 2-1 and move ahead of Celtic in the League table. He would not feature in the return match against the new Scottish Cup-finalists at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 5 April 1961 as a second-half Willie Fernie equaliser saw the sides draw 1-1.

Matt finished the season as the club’s top League goalscorer with eight as Saints finished six points clear of the relegation slots to retain their First Division status for 1961/62. They were then drawn with Celtic, Hibernian and Partick Thistle in a tough League Cup section. Celts would edge a five-goal thriller at Firhill to open their campaign with a win before McVittie came back to haunt his old club again with an outstanding display in Saints 1-0 win at Parkhead four nights later, Wednesday, 16 August 1961. The Glasgow Herald was fulsome in its praise of his contribution.

Matt would miss the return game at Muirton Park a fortnight later, having injured his arm in a collision with the post during the weekend match at Easter Road. On a desperate night for Celtic, two first-half goals for the hosts allowed them to complete a double over the Hoops to put themselves on the brink of qualification. Saints would duly win the section then defeat highly rated Motherwell in the two-legged quarter-final. They were actually 2-0 up at half-time and just 45 minutes away from their first major final before losing to Rangers by the odd goal in five after extra-time in the semi-final at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 11 October 1961.

Seven days later, Matt was in the St Johnstone team finally beaten at the fifth attempt since their promotion by Celtic, 3-0 in a League game at Muirton, but he was missing from the side who lost 3-1 in the return game in Glasgow on Saturday, 3 February 1962. Saints final League match of the season will go down in history, albeit for all the wrong reasons from a Perth perspective.

On Saturday, 28 April 1962, they hosted champions-elect Dundee with 27,000 spectators packed into Muirton. A single point would see the Dark Blues win their first-ever Scottish title whilst that outcome would also be enough to secure Saints survival in the top-flight, but with Matt McVittie playing through the middle with strike partner Alex Ferguson both teams went for the win, Dundee duly taking the title with a 3-0 victory.

That would still be enough for St Johnstone assuming St Mirren did not beat Dunfermline Athletic, and the Buddies were trailing at Love Street. But then a Willie Fernie-inspired second-half comeback saw St Mirren win 4-1 to consign St Johnstone to the Second Division on goal average. Matt scored 11 League goals in 65 appearances for Saints from November 1959 before heading south to sign for Cambridge United on Friday, 17 August 1962.

Having featured in countless Glasgow derbies during his spell at Celtic, Matt played for both senior clubs in Cambridge, and on 29 September 1962 he scored for United against City in a Southern League Premier Division local derby in front of 7,000 spectators.  The last photo we have of Matt (see below) as a senior footballer is taken before Cambridge United’s home game with Kettering Town on Boxing Day 1962, by which time he was 35 years old.

Matt is second from left swearing the diamond jersey of Cambridge United and scoring against rivals City.

He would head north across the River Cam the following year to sign for City, the current Southern League champions.

Cambridge United on Boxing Day 1962, when they lost 3-1 at home to Kettering Town in the Southern League Premier Division. Front: second from left Matt McVittie

Peter Goldie on Matt McVittie

Follow Matt on Twitter @Boola_vogue

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