IT was a typical blood-and-thunder game, that Old Firm Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Celtic Park in February, 1970.
Trouble flared both on and off the pitch as the home side ran out winners by three goals to one. One player was ordered off, three others were booked, and both sides were criticised for their lack of self-control.
Forty-two fans were arrested after incidents, and five people were taken to hospital by ambulance. One man collapsed during play after being stabbed some hours earlier. City Fathers expressed their disapproval. An Evening Times sportswriter accused Celtic and Rangers of indulging themselves “in nastiness right from the word go”.
On any other day, the presence of Sean Connery would have turned heads, but there was so much going on that he didn’t warrant too much attention (though the Evening Times’s match reporter did observe that “some of the tackling would have done credit to Sean ‘James Bond’ Connery”).
Big Tam was pictured (main image) alongside his then wife, Diane Cilento, and his friend and golf partner, the Scottish industrialist, Sir Iain Stewart.
“A study in expressions - or Guess the Rangers Supporter - provided at Parkhead on Saturday...” began the front-page caption in this paper.
In 2008, as he launched his book, Being A Scot, Sir Sean spoke of transferring his football allegiance from Celtic to Rangers.
“Football was a great passion of mine while I was growing up”, he said. “My father introduced me to Celtic and we played football in what we called the back green which was, in fact, made of concrete.
“I have maintained my love of football. I went away from it when I was really busy on films and then I really got back into it when I was involved in Celtic and I remember helping with the Jock Stein benefit game”.
He added: “I changed my allegiance with David Murray. I met him when I got the freedom of the city [Edinburgh] and immediately we had chemistry”.
Sir Sean was often photographed in the company of Sir David, including the Monaco-Rangers Champions League match in September 2000 (above, photographed by the Herald’s Jim Galloway).
In an interview a year ago, the former Rangers player Ronald de Boer recalled one of his first games for the club, at Dens Park, Dundee, and seeing a certain celebrity in the away dressing-room.
“We arrived at the stadium and the dressing room was tiny”, De Boer said.
“It was so small and difficult to fit everyone into it. I remember going in there and seeing someone stand in the corner. And then I realised it was 007.
“At the time, I didn’t know why Sean Connery would be there but obviously he was a good friend of David Murray.”
Read more: Herald Diary
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