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Collins recalls the 7-1 thrashing:
“It was a dream of a game for us, but it must have been a nightmare for Johnny Valentine. Rangers had signed the big centre-half from Queens Park at the start of the season but he simply hadn’t clicked. On this day at Hampden, I don’t know if Valentine had no faith in George Niven or Niven had no faith in Valentine, but ultimately they had no faith in themselves, something you can sense very quickly on a football field, and inevitably the game became a rout.
“Valentine was covering Billy McPhail and McColl and Davis were covering Valentine, which left three of our men with the freedom of Hampden. Rangers’ defenders were standing on their heels when Sammy Wilson slammed home goal number one in 22 minutes. They were standing on their heads when Neilly Mochan rammed in number two just before half time. They say Rangers’ mistakes in the first half were because of too
much sun in their eyes, but the truth is there had been too much Celtic in their eyes!
“By the time we came out for the second half we had sensed that ‘something’ was on.
We could scarcely put a foot wrong. The ball sped from toe to toe. Donnelly to Fernie, Fernie to Tully, Tully to me, over to Mochan and so on. Just to vary things, the ball often stopped at Willie Fernie. Willie kept the entertainment going. And every now and then we slotted in another goal. “Billy McPhail took a joint gift from Niven and Valentine to make it three. A good flying header by Billy Simpson reduced our lead, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. We just carried on, playing our football and we scored another four.
“Twice I hit the bar with 30-yard free kicks. McPhail nodded in to make it 4-1. Neilly Mochan duffed a kick, yet still saw his shot enter the net. Billy McPhail stepped in to complete his hat trick, then with the last kick of the game, Willie Fernie got his own souvenir of the occasion. Shearer fouled McPhail … penalty! Fernie took the kick. The ball landed low in the net. The time up whistle blew.
“It was the biggest ever victory to be chalked up in a competitive Old Firm game and as a special favour, the Celtic players were allowed to keep their jerseys as a souvenir of the great day.”