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Personal
Fullname: Ian Young
Born: 21 May 1943
Died: 11 Dec 2019
Birthplace:Neilston
Signed: 28 June 1961
Left: 1 May 1968
Position: Defender, Right-back
Debut: Celtic 1-1 Third Lanark, Glasgow Cup, 5 May 1962
Internationals: none
Biog
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#There’s Fallon, Young and Gemmell who proudly wear the green,
There’s Clark, McNeill and Kennedy the best there’s ever been, Jimmy Johnstone, Murdoch, Chalmers, John Divers and John Hughes, And sixty thousand Celtic fans who proudly shout the news. ##Celtic, Celtic that’s the team for me, Celtic, Celtic on to victory#
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Defender Ian Young came to Parkhead in June 1961 from Neilston Waverley and made his debut at Hampden in the final of the Glasgow Cup on 5th May 1962 when the Celts drew 1-1 with Third Lanark.
It could have been so different. Having played for some successful school sides, he won a training spot as a youth player with Rangers, the team he grew up supporting. However, they treated him poorly in rebutting his requests to help pay any expenses to him which he incurred even just for travel. This was unfair & wrong, and Ian Young admitted that in later years when playing against them, it was an impetus to get one over them for that bitter treatment.
Originally a centre-half Ian Young switched to full-back and by the autumn of 1963 he had succeeded Dunky MacKay as the Hoops right-back. However, those early days were to see Celtic at a low ebb and this was being reflected by an increasingly vocal support against the board, team and manager. Celtic hadn’t won a trophy since 1957, and were very much in the shadow of more teams than even just Rangers.
However, all was to change with the arrival of Jock Stein, and this allowed Ian Young a good opportunity to shine as well.
A member of the famous Celtic side that won the Scottish Cup in 1965, he helped play his part in the first steps on the road to glory for Celtic. After many years in the doldrums it was pure heaven for the support, and Ian Young was a good player in this turnaround.
Ian Young is perhaps most famous for his performance in the League Cup Final of 23rd October 1965 against Rangers when in the first few seconds of the game he put in a “crunching” tackle on Willie Johnston the Rangers winger. It set the tone of the match in that there was no way this time that Celtic were going to lie down and be second best to Rangers’ brute strength.
Celtic went on to win 2-1 although Ian Young put through an own goal in the dying minutes which – thankfully – did not matter. He had cleared a certain goal off the line at one point in the game, and as for the own-goal, in his own words:
“My own goal glanced off my head and was going in any way – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”
Many supporters to this day believe that this was the game where Celtic finally laid down the marker of dominance to overcome Rangers which resulted in nine successive league titles in a row – ‘The Nine in a Row‘. In some ways, Ian Young can be said to be the one who left an impression on the opposition being one of the hardest full-backs in the business and uncompromising in his challenges. In another way, it shows Ian Young as having made his own impression on Celtic’s history, and remains a lesser known hero amongst the many the club has had.
He retained his place right up to the early days of the now legendary 1966-67 season when Willie O’Neill and then Jim Craig took over the right-back berth.
Ian Young was unlucky that Jock Stein eventually settled on Jim Craig as he was possibly a better defender than Jim Craig but certainly not as good at going forward. As Jock Stein used ‘Cairney‘ as an overlapping full-back he got the nod ahead of Ian Young. If Ian Young had kept his place he would more than likely been part of the Lisbon Lions. In truth, football was changing and evolving, and Jock Stein was at its forefront. Ian Young was self-admittedly a pure defender and most comfortable in that role but full-backs were being increasingly utilised in pushing forward and the leap for him was possibly too great with the other competition around him.
An athletic and tough tackling player, Ian Young was a fine full-back and after a few years of hurt, he finally won a Scottish Cup winners medal in 1965 and then a double of League Cup & League Championship medals in season 1965-66. So he managed to complete the collection of domestic silverware. It was well deserved.
After 164 appearances and three goals he left Celtic in May 1968 and went on to play for St Mirren. By late 1970 he had dropped down to the Juniors and was playing for Beith Juniors. Sadly though knee injuries curtailed his playing career, and he had to end his time on the field at just 27.
Post-Playing Career
In later years, Ian Young became involved heavily in church activities and found solace and peace in its teachings, which we can respect. A good pious man, there is much to respect about him.
Some of you may not necessarily have thought that you had ever heard of Ian Young, however you will be partly mistaken as he is mentioned in the famous Celtic Song “Celtic, Celtic, That’s the Team for Me“. In that way, he is forever immortalised in Celtic supporters’ culture.
In 2013, he wrote and released an autobiography on his time & life at Celtic, and conducted a podcast interview with the LostBhoys (links below) which we’d very much recommend.
A wonderful person whom we can be very proud to be able to number as one of our own.
He passed away in 2019 after a long innings in life. It was just a few days after Celtic had coincidentally defeated TheRangers in a league cup final (the first ever cup final between the clubs), similar to way back in 1965 when Ian Young had helped Celtic defeat Rangers that laid a marker for the golden years to come.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1961-68 | 101 | 13 | 31 | 19 | 164 |
| Goals | 2 | – | 1 | – | 3 |
Honours with Celtic
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From Ian Young’s Biog
Former Celt, Ian Young passes away
http://www.celticfc.net/news/17242
By: Newsroom Staff on 11 Dec, 2019 14:31
EVERYONE at Celtic Park was saddened to hear that former Celt, Ian Young who played for the club from 1961 until 1968, passed away suddenly after illness at the age of 76.
Had it not been for an untimely injury, Ian Young may well have been part of the Lisbon Lions side that swept Inter Milan aside in May, 1967, and he could have enjoyed a more prolonged career with Celtic.
As it was, his misfortune allowed the likes of Willie O’Neill and then Jim Craig a chance to shine at right-back, and it was the latter who would establish himself in the position and take to the field in the Estadio Nacional
Seeking first-team football, the defender eventually departed Paradise for Love Street in 1968, where cruciate ligament damage would cruelly cut short his professional career at just 27.
Nonetheless, Young, could quite rightly reflect on his Celtic career with great pride. He was a regular in the side when Jock Stein arrived at the club and helped Celtic end an era of underachievement to become the dominant force in Scottish football.
Young starred in the important 1965 Scottish Cup triumph – the club’s first trophy in eight long years – and he was also in the team which overcame Rangers in the League Cup final of the same year. This was another significant turning point.
And while he wasn’t at Fir Park to join in the celebrations as the Hoops won the first of nine successive titles in 1966, he certainly played a vital role in that success.
Joining from Neilston Waverley in June, 1961, Young was also farmed out to Neilston Juniors, and he scored three goals in 133 Celtic games before his move to St Mirren.
The thought and prayers of everyone at Celtic Football Club are with the family and friends of Ian Young at this sad time.
Obituary: Ian Young, footballer with Celtic and St Mirren
https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18114324.obituary-ian-young-footballer-celtic-st-mirren/
https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18114324.obituary-ian-young-footballer-celtic-st-mirren/
Born: May 21, 1943
Died: December 11, 2019
IAN Young, who has died aged 76, was a professional footballer who played for both Celtic and St Mirren.
Born during the Second World War in May 1943, the young Ian, son of Renfrewshire cobbler Thomas, was educated at Barrhead High School and Camphill High School.
He quickly showed promise on the football field, representing Paisley & District Schools. He also played youth football for Neilston Waverley, a club founded by his father, who for many years was match secretary of Neilston Juniors, and in later years Saltcoats Victoria, serving on the committee of the West of Scotland Junior FA.
Waverley were a dominant force in Renfrewshire youth football with Ian playing alongside his brother Bobby (who in later years played senior football with Motherwell). They reached the semi-finals of the Lord Weir Cup (the equivalent of the Scottish Youth Cup) in three consecutive years, losing on one occasion to a late winner from a certain John Greig.
International recognition followed as Ian won Scotland Under-18 & Juvenile International Honours.
He had grown up a Rangers fan – and for a time trained with the Ibrox club under then-manager Scot Symon – but it was ironically Sean Fallon of Celtic who signed him in May 1961 at the age of 18 with chairman Bob Kelly also in attendance.
He was farmed out to Neilston Juniors for Season 1961-62 before making his Celtic debut in the Glasgow Cup Final at Hampden against Third Lanark on 4th May 1962 , a 1-1 draw, retaining his place in the team for the Celtic Park Replay seven days later, won 3-2.
Originally a centre-half, Young had now moved to full-back. His league debut arrived later that year – a goalless draw at Dens Park, Dundee before 14,000 spectators.
Ian Young established himself as a first-team regular in the 1963-64 season, taking over at right-back from regular Duncan Mackay. He would make 45 appearances during that campaign, including seven in the European Cup Winners Cup as Celtic reached the semi-finals before crashing out in spectacular fashion to MTK Budapest in Hungary where they surrendered a 3-0 first-leg lead, going down 0-4.
He played in his first major final for Celtic, the League Cup, in October 1964, suffering a 1-2 defeat to Old Firm rivals Rangers before 91,423 spectators, but the arrival of Jock Stein at Parkhead five months later would transform the club, with Ian playing in the 1965 Scottish Cup Final 3-2 victory over Dunfermline Athletic, Celtic’s first major trophy in eight years.
That same year the full-back represented Scotland against England at Under-23 international level – the outcome a goalless draw at Pittodrie before a crowd of 25,000.
An athletic, strong and tough-tackling full-back, Young added a League Cup Winners’ Medal the following season with a 2-1 win over Rangers before a record attendance of 107,609. His contribution was significant – a crunching tackle on his direct opponent, winger Willie Johnston, in the opening minutes of the game that in his own words was “a mile late”. Johnston was effectively nullified for the remainder of the game – and to this day there are Celtic historians who acknowledge that the booking administered by referee Hugh Phillips for the foul could easily have been an ordering-off. He also found the net in that final – an own goal, heading the ball into his own net.
An ankle injury suffered by the full-back a few weeks later cost him his place in the Celtic line-up, allowing Jim Craig to seize his opportunity. Ian did play against Liverpool in both legs of the 1965-66 European Cup Winners Cup Semi-Final, lost 1-2 on aggregate, and in the goalless draw of yet another Old Firm Scottish Cup Final, only to drop out for the replay, ironically won 1-0 by Rangers with a spectacular goal from Ibrox right-back Kai Johansen.
By the start of Season 1966-67 Jim Craig had established himself in the right-back position, but if injury had initially cost Ian Young his place in Jock Stein’s team, the player himself in later years would acknowledge that the manager’s preference would always have been for an attacking full-back, and he was primarily a defender.
Ian Young’s final game for Celtic was on 15th October 1966 – a 3-0 home league win over Airdrieonians. In total he had played 145 games for the club, netting three goals – each one a penalty.
He was released by Celtic on 1st May 1968, signing for his local club St Mirren for whom he would make 74 appearances in two years before injuries again took their toll.
In 1970 he returned to the junior ranks with Beith before a cruciate ligament injury forced him to retire from the game at 27, coaching junior clubs for a spell.
In later years Ian Young found peace as he dedicated his life to God, becoming heavily involved in Church activities which led to spiritual fulfilment.
His autobiography, Life with The Lions, was published in 2013; he dedicated it to his grandchildren Micah, Joel and Carlin.
ROBERT MCELROY