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Fullname: Robert Carroll
aka: Bobby Carroll
Born: 13 May 1938
Birthplace: ?
Signed: 22 Sep 1957
Left: 1 Feb 1963 (St Mirren)
Position: Outside-right
Debut: Celtic 1-2 Partick Thistle, League Cup, 12 Aug 1959
Internationals: n/a

Biog

Railwayman Bobby Carroll was a Scottish Junior Cup winner when he signed for the Bhoys from Irvine Meadow in September 1957.

A prolific scorer at junior level Carroll made his first team Celtic debut on August 12th 1959 in a 2-1 League Cup defeat at home to Partick Thistle. A whole hearted player Carroll made Celtic history when he scored the Hoops first ever goal in European competition when he netted at Valencia in the Fairs Cities Cup on September 26th 1962.

Problem was for Bobby that as good as was, the rest of the club (team management and board management) were appalling. The club had begun a barren spell of which he was one of the few bright spots. He learnt to hone his skills not with the first team but the reserve side with Jock Stein in charge.

In a match on 1 October 1960 - he went to take a corner kick and

"I stepped back to get my run-up and this thing, this black thing, came flying over out of the crowd behind me and landed in the penalty box. I took the corner and Johnny Divers headed over the bar. So while the ball is out of play, I go to have a look. I recognise the horseshoe shape, it's a black puddin' lying there and I'm still looking when the referee comes up. "What is it?" he says. "It's a black puddin'" I say. And right at that moment, the voice from the crowd, "Aye, Carroll, and that makes effin' 12 o' ye!" It was definitely 12 and it was in the penalty box, not at the corner flag." ( Talking With Celtic, 2001)

He arrived scored 27 goals in 78 appearances before moving to St Mirren in 1963, then Dundee United, Coleraine and Queen of the South.

At time of writing, he is retired after working as a rep selling hydraulic hoses.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

None

Pictures

• Pictures

History Bhoy reflects on his golden Euro goal

Official site, Celticfc.net By: Mark Henderson on 26 Sep, 2012 12:31

BOBBY Carroll may not be a household name among Celtic supporters but he will forever hold a special place in the club´s history.

It was on this day 50 years ago that the winger scored the Hoops´ first-ever goal in European competition. This was the opening gambit in the club´s incredible continental caper, a spellbinding story comprising instances of both sheer joy and despair.

It was back on September 26, 1962, just before the onset of the Cuban Missile Crisis, that Celtic travelled to Valencia for the first-leg of a Fairs Cities´ Cup (which became the UEFA Cup and is now the Europa League) tie against the Spanish side.

The Hoops couldn’t have asked for a more formidable opponent for their first foray into European football. Valencia were holders of the cup and would go on to retain the trophy that season.

Still, Jimmy McGrory´s side were certainly not disgraced over in Spain, putting in a spirited display before going down to a 4-2 defeat.

Both of the visitors´ goals came from Carroll as he etched his name in Celtic history.

At the time, the more pedantic Spanish press declared his opening strike as an own goal, simply because it touched a Valencia player on the way in. That was their practice in those days.

However, by any measure, and certainly by modern standards, it was Carroll´s goal. And it remains vivid in his memory.

Like so many of his contemporaries who donned the Hoops, the 74-year-old is a self-effacing character, but as he spoke to official website for the 50th anniversary his golden goal, he did admit to feeling proud of his achievement.

"It makes me feel good that I´ve got a wee bit of history," saidCarroll."It does mean a lot. They are claiming the first one was an own goal but it wasn´t, as it beat the goalkeeper.

"He was out of his six-yard box and I was just in front of him. Mike Jackson cut it back to me and I put it in past him. The defender came running in and tried to stop it but he couldn’t.

"The Spanish press said it was anown goalbut I would only say it was an own goal if it was going past the post and he had deflected it in. But he couldn’t stop it.

"If it had been the goalkeeper on the line and he had put his hand on it and it had went in, it would have been a goal for me so that´s the way how I look at it.

"The other goal I scored was quite similar. Mike Jackson cut it back from the byline and I hit it past the goalkeeper."

Only three years earlier, Carroll had been helping Irvine Meadow lift the Scottish Junior Cup, the team he would join Celtic from. Now he was starring on the big stage within the imposing surroundings of the Mestalla Stadium.

Armed with straw hats to block out the sun and a newclub blazer, itwas all anexciting adventure for the players- although it was a more dampening experience for the Celtic directors...

"It was an amazing stadium," recalled Caroll"From what I can remember, it was similar to Celtic Park now. The crowd were away up high and towering over you. It was the first ground I had played in which was like that. It was a bit intimidating.

"We arrived at the park and we couldn’t believe it, the terracing as the stands were away above us.

"They were a good team as well. It is the same as the Spaniards do now, they played a good passing game.

"It was an exciting experience. It was the first time we had played in Europe. We were all given hats to wear if we went out into the sun. I don´t know where that is now but I still have my blazer that I wore.

"When we arrived , there was thunder and lightning and it was like a river running past the hotel the next morning.

"Bob Kelly and the rest of the directors were in a wee kind of annex down near the beach and when they got up in the morning they stepped into a foot of water!"

After making 78 appearances for the Hoops, scoring 27 goals, he had spells with St Mirren and Dundee United before eventually ending his playing days back at Irvine Meadow.

Despite his brace in the first-leg, Carroll wasn´t picked for the return game in Glasgow – another example of the erratic selection policy at the time – which ended in a 2-2 draw, giving the Spaniards a 6-4 aggregate victory.

Celtic were out, but Carroll, who now resides in Calderwood, near East Kilbride, had lain the first step on the road which would lead to European Cup glory in Lisbon five years later.

"It doesn't feel like 50 years have passed," he added. "I couldn’t believe when I was told. I didn't realise it was that long.

"I suppose I was lucky that it was me that put it away! But at least I managed to do it.

"I never gave it a thought at the time until someone told me a couple of years later that it was the first one. But it makes me feel good now – it keeps me a bit in limelight!

"It´s been in the papers quite a few times. I play bowls out here and people do come up to me in the bowling club. And it also a question at a quiz that I was at a few years ago."

Carroll´s pivotal part in the Celtic story will never be forgotten.