Quality Street Gang (Celtic F.C.)

The Quality Street Gang was a term used by the Scottish media to describe the Celtic reserve team of the late 1960s. Several of the group eventually replaced members of the Lisbon Lions team that had won the European Cup in 1967. George Connelly, Kenny Dalglish, Davie Hay, Danny McGrain, Lou Macari and Paul Wilson all went on to win major honours at Celtic and were capped by Scotland.[1]

In August 1968, Celtic Reserves needed to defeat Partick Thistle Reserves by at least seven goals to win their Reserve League Cup section over Rangers Reserves. Celtic won 12–0, with Macari scoring four goals.[1] Later that same year Scotland manager Bobby Brown asked Celtic manager Jock Stein to supply players to provide opposition for a warm-up practice match. Stein sent his young reserve side,[2] and they went on to defeat a full strength Scotland international team (including Colin Stein and Billy Bremner) 5–2.[1] In August 1970, Celtic fielded several of their so-called Quality Street Gang youths in the Glasgow Cup Final against a full strength Rangers side, winning 3–1.[1][3]

List of The Quality Street gang

• Davie Cattenach[4]
• George Connelly[5]
• Kenny Dalglish[6]
• Vic Davidson[4]
• John Gorman[7]
• Davie Hay[8]
• Lou Macari[5]
• Pat McCluskey
• Danny McGrain[6]
• Brian McLaughlin[5]
• Pat McMahon
• Billy Murdoch
• Jimmy Quinn[4]
• Paul Wilson[9]

Player		League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Danny McGrain		439	4	60	1	106	3	54	0	659	8
Kenny Dalglish		204	112	30	11	60	35	28	9	322	167
George Connelly		136	5	25	2	63	4	30	3	254	14
David Hay		130	6	30	1	45	5	25	0	230	12
Paul Wilson		129	30	15	4	48	15	20	6	212	55
Pat McCluskey		115	10	14	1	40	1	20	0	189	12
Lou Macari		58	26	8	8	24	14	12	8	102	56
Vic Davidson		39	17	5	2	10	2	1	0	55	21
Jimmy Quinn		27	1	3	0	10	0	1	0	41	1
Brian McLaughlin		7	1	0	0	11	0	1	1	19	2
Davie Cattenach		13	1	3	0	2	0	1	0	19	1
Pat McMahon		3	2	0	0	3	3	0	0	6	5
John Gorman		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0

Book and documentary

In 2013 a book The Quality Street Gang, by Paul John Dykes was published and plans announced for a documentary with filming due to commence in June 2014.[6][10]

References

1. Dykes, Paul John (24 March 2014). "The Quality Street Gang: The Greatest Team That Never Was". In Bed with Maradonna. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
2. "Young Celtic players face World Cup men". The Glasgow Herald. 8 October 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
3. Parkinson, Jim (11 August 1970). "Youthful Celtic win back Glasgow Cup from Rangers". The Glasgow Herald. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
4. Gordon, Alex (14 March 2013). Celtic: The Awakening: From East End Misfits to European Masters. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 201–. ISBN 978-1-78057-709-8.
5. "Quality Street legends to score in new Celtic-related film". Irish Post. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
6. Stuart, Bathgate (24 March 2014). "Celtic Quality Street Gang to be in documentary". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
7. Grant, Michael; Robertson, Rob (1 September 2011). The Management: Scotland's Great Football Bosses. Birlinn Limited. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-85790-084-5.
8. Puttullo, Alan (10 October 2013). "Celtic legends lift lid on Quality Street Gang". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
9. Smith, Andrew (20 October 2011). "Interview: Paul Wilson on Stein, Celtic and racial abuse in the 1970s". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
10. "Quality tale of a Quality gang". www.celticfc.net. Retrieved 6 April 2015.