THE month of March, 1965 could be described as the making of the modern-day Celtic. It was on March 5 that Jock Stein officially took over as Celtic manager, with the legendary Jimmy McGrory stepping aside to pave the way for the most successful period in the club’s history after years of mediocrity.

However, success wasn’t guaranteed and for a club that had only ever had three previous managers in its nigh on 90-year history, this was, despite Stein’s burgeoning reputation as a manager who was going places, still a massive step in the dark considering there were half-a-dozen clubs or more who could rightfully expect to finish above Celtic in the title race in the early part of the decade.

The early 1960s, at least, certainly weren’t swinging for Celtic supporters and at least the swathes of barren years in the 1950s were interspersed with odd smattering of trophies.

However, elements of the fleeting successes of the previous decade could be attributed to the on-field man-management of team captain Jock Stein, and when he switched to reserve coaching in that latter part of the ‘50s, there was a renewed sense of belief among the youngsters he was signing and tutoring.

That conviction had started to wane, though, as with Stein off on his managerial travels to work his magic with, first Dunfermline Athletic and then Hibernian, any self-assuredness in the young players breaking through was all-but knocked out of them by the situation at the club, with a domineering chairman in Bob Kelly whose slapdash interference in team selection had certainly cost Celtic games and, reportedly, trophies.

So much so that the blossoming youngsters who were being choked under the weight of the board’s inane playing policy, such as Billy McNeill and one or two of his team-mates, were casting their vision further afield and were tempted by the interest of prying eyes from down south.

But, not only did the arrival of Stein arrest this distinct possibility, if we are to believe the rumours, it actually reversed it as it has been suggested that Bertie Auld, who had left for Birmingham City in May of 1961 for £15,000, had been tipped a wink about the managerial change and, on hearing the news, the midfielder was literally ready to cartwheel back to Celtic Park to sign on January 14 for £12,000.

Officially, it was announced on January 31 that Stein would be returning as manager with Jimmy McGrory taking up the post of Public Relations Officer, with Sean Fallon, who would have been a top candidate for the manager’s job himself, changing his role as chief coach to assistant manager.

However, it wasn’t an immediate move as Hibernian, still knocking at the door of the championship and yet deep in the throes of Scottish Cup involvement, were keen to hold on to Stein as manager for as long as possible.

If the Celtic players were boosted by the imminent arrival of Stein (just 24 hours before the official announcement they crushed Aberdeen 8-0, with John Hughes scoring FIVE of the goals wearing Billy McNeill’s sannies on the rock-hard icy surface), they were ironically afforded a probable greater boon by the fact that Stein wasn’t leaving Easter Road right away.

In the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, while Celtic were beating Kilmarnock 3-2 to move on to the semis, Jock Stein’s last act as Hibernian manager was to knock Rangers out of the tournament with a 2-1 win in the capital.

It would be an understatement to suggest that this result made any possible path to their first Scottish Cup glory in over a decade slightly more attractive – in the mind’s eye and on paper at least.

A few days after watching his charges in green and white oust the cup-holders at Easter Road, Stein ran the rule over a different set of players in the same colours as his new Celtic side took on Airdrie at Broomfield.

It was John Hughes who had the honour of scoring the first Celtic goal under Jock Stein exactly 55 years ago today (Tuesday) on March 10, 1965 when he netted in the 25th minute, but it was the Prodigal Son in the shape of Bertie Auld who grabbed all the limelight by scoring the other FIVE in the 6-0 win.

The Celts, especially with the current joie de vivre around Paradise that was instantly transplanted with the return of Stein, still had an outside sniff of the title but following that 6-0 trouncing of Airdrie, in the eight remaining league games, the new manager chose to field six different line-ups as he searched for his favoured XI.

Seemingly, results were not the preferred be-all and end-all as the nearest Stein came to repeating that win was a 4-0 win over old charges Hibernian. The only other points garnered were in a 1-0 win over Third Lanark, thanks to an own-goal by former Celt, Dunky McKay in what would be the last time the clubs ever met, and a 3-3 draw with Dundee.

The other four games didn’t make for good reading at all, with a 2-1 loss to Partick Thistle being the best result from those as the others, a 4-2 home defeat to Hibs, a 6-2 loss to Falkirk at Brockville and a 5-1 slap by Stein’s other old club, Dunfermline at East End Park in the final game of the campaign didn’t bode well at all for the future.

However, that reverse in Fife could, if any apologists were so inclined, be laid firmly at the door of a hangover from a game that was played four days earlier.

Stein may have kicked over a significant hurdle for Celtic when his Hibs side knocked Rangers out of the cup but, clearly, there was still a lot of work to be done if any success was to be gleaned from the Hoops’ current cup campaign.

In the semi-finals, as Celtic drew 2-2 with Motherwell in front of 52,000 at Hampden on March, 27, two of Stein’s old sides faced up to each other at Tynecastle and a 33,305 crowd saw Dunfermline beat HIbernian 2-0.

Four days later, 59,959 turned up for the replay, and this time the Celts recorded a 3-0 win over Motherwell – the only side from the four in the semi-finals that hadn’t been managed by Stein in the previous 12 months.

That paved the way for a repeat of the 1961 final when Stein’s Dunfermline bested Celtic after a replay to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.

However, move forward four years and it was around 4.35 or so on April 24, 1965 that Celtic’s history changed irrevocably.

A crowd of 108,800 saw Dunfermline take the lead and lose it to a Bertie Auld equaliser before the Fife side took the lead once more to go in 2-1 ahead at the break.

Auld equalised again seven minutes after the turnaround and the sides were on stalemate until Celtic earned a corner nine minutes from the end.

Charlie Gallagher swung over the dead-ball from the left wing at the Mount Florida End and then came the defining moment as Billy McNeill rose like a salmon to head home one of the most important goals in the club’s history.

Exactly 11 years to the day when Celtic had last won the Scottish Cup and captain Jock Stein strode up the Hampden stairs to raise the trophy aloft, the same man now stood as manager and watched Billy McNeill make the same short journey.

However, this was the start of a journey that was to stretch out further and to more destinations than any Celtic supporter could ever envisage.

To read more about Jock Stein’s arrival as Hoops manager, see this week’s Celtic View, out Wednesday, March 11.

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Jock Stein’s first game as manager of Celtic – 55 years ago today