STEVIE Chalmers, the scorer of the most famous goal in Scottish football history, led the list of this year's inductees into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. Chalmers, now 80, scored the goal in Lisbon which took the European Cup to Celtic fifty seasons ago and was in attendance with his family at Hampden Park last night as he took his place amongst the 100-plus legends who have been honoured for their contribution to the sport in the last decade.
Also inducted last night were John Wark, a Uefa Cup winner with Ipswich who twice won the league during his time at Liverpool, another Uefa Cup winner in Gary McAllister MBE, former Rangers manager Jock Wallace and Alex Smith, who won major honours as a manager for both St Mirren and Aberdeen. Walter Smith, who managed Rangers to seven of their nine Scottish Premier League titles in a row, was the recipient of a special tribute during the dinner.
Chalmers, the fourth highest scorer in the history of Celtic, won just five caps for Scotland. "It’s a great honour," he said. " It’s a nice time for them to be doing this, in the 50th anniversary season of Lisbon. It feels like a nice time for it."
"We are delighted with the recognition for my dad," said the Celtic legend's son, Stephen. "We’ve seen that famous goal so often that I think we could all tell you every move. We’ve seen it in black-and-white and colour, so many times. Wherever we’ve been on holiday, wherever we’ve gone in the world, there are always people coming up because they recognise my dad.
"They all want to shake his hand, they all know the story of the goal and how important it was. So it’s great that he’s being inducted, a real honour for him. All the family are thrilled."
Wark won 29 caps for Scotland, scoring six times, and being part of the 1982 World Cup squad. Famously part of the cast for war film 'Escape to Victory', he won the Uefa Cup with Ipswich in 1981, setting a competition record by scoring 14 goals in the process, including two - one in each leg - in the final. That was enough to win England's Players' Player of the Year award, while he lifted the FA Cup with the club in 1978, and outscored team-mate Ian Rush with 27 goals from 62 appearances for the Anfield side in 1984-85.
Gary McAllister was capped 59 times for Scotland in a playing career whish spanned 19 years. A league winner with Leeds, he enjoyed some late success in his career with Liverpol, winning the treble of League Cup, FA Cup and Uefa Cup during the 2000-01 season.
Jock Wallace, a foremr goalkeeper during his playing days, brought Celtic's nine-in-a-row era to an end, winning a total of three league titles, three Scottish Cups and four league cups during his time at Ibrox. His haul included two trebles, 75-76 and 77-78, while he also led Leicester City to the Second Division title in 1980.
Alex Smith, the current technnical director of Falkirk is one of the most respected figures in Scottish football. He guided Stirling Albion to the Division two title in 1977 then led St Mirren to a famous Scottish Cup win 1987. With Aberdeen he won a League Cup and Scottish Cup double in 1990 and pushed Rangers to a last-day league title decider at Ibrox.
Walter Smith succeeded Graeme Souness as Rangers manager in 1991 and went on to win 13 major trophies in seven years. After spells with Everton, the Scotland national team and as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, eight more major titles followed upon his return to Rangers, in addition to a run to the 2008 Uefa Cup final.
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