FAVOURITE SIGNINGS
TOMMY GEMMELL
Tommy Gemmell signed for Glasgow Celtic in 1961 from Coltness Utd and went on to play over 400 games at left-back over a glorious 10 year spell at the club. This was the most successful period in the history of Celtic football club. He was a member of the great Lisbon Lions side that won the European Cup in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2-1, with Tommy scoring the equalising goal. He also scored a goal in the 1970 European Cup final which Celtic narrowly lost 2-1 to Feyenoord after extra-time.
I was fortunate to meet Tommy in a restaurant in Glasgow in 2006. He signed two retro Celtic European Cup winners shirts and some Celtic photos for me and was kind enough to pose for this photo. The guy is a gentleman and a true football legend. He will surely go down in history as one of the all-time greats of Scottish football. It was an honour and a pleasure to meet him.
JOHAN CRUYFF
In my opinion Johan Cruyff is one of the top 4 greatest ever players alongside Pele, Diego Maradona and George Best. He is synonymous with the "total football" style of play developed at Ajax by Rinus Michels, whereby players have no fixed position on the field of play. Cruyff was named European Footballer of the Year 3 times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He has won numerous other honours in the game.
I've been lucky enough to meet Cruyff several times, usually at pro-celebrity golf tournaments. He signed some retro Holland 1974 shirts for me, some photos and some football boots, as can be seen from the photo alongside. I've always found him to be friendly and approachable. A true legend of the game.
