Sammy Wilson

Born: December 16, 1931; Died: November 8, 2014.

Samuel "Sammy" Wilson, who has died aged 82, was the last of the legendary Celtic team who, on "Hampden in the Sun", produced the memorable scoreline Celtic 7 Rangers 1 in the final of the 1957-58 Scottish League Cup.

The two decades between the end of the Second World War and the return of Jock Stein as manager in 1965 were mainly dark ones around Celtic Park. Rangers were the dominant force in Scottish football and Celtic's fortunes so depressed that Hibs, Hearts and latterly Kilmarnock were the most frequent challengers to the Ibrox hegemony.

There were the occasional shafts of light, including the St Mungo and Coronation Cup victories, the league and cup double in 1954, but generally these were hard times for the Celtic family.

The 1957-58 season began well. Celtic cruised through the League Cup group stage; they demolished Third Lanark 9-1 in the quarter-final, then thrashed Clyde 4-2 in the semi-final to set up the first Old Firm League Cup final at Hampden Park on 19 October, 1957.

On form going into the match, Celtic were perhaps marginal favourites; they had won the opening Old Firm game of the season 3-2 with Wilson, who had only made his Celtic debut at East Fife in the League Cup in August, scoring the winner from a Billy McPhail nod-down.

Wilson had joined the club in the close season on a free transfer from St Mirren, for whom he had played 52 games after signing as a teenager from Renfrew Juniors. He made his debut at right-half against East Fife in the League Cup in August 1957. However, the decision to push him up front to play off McPhail was to prove an inspired one. The pair dovetailed brilliantly from the start.

They first played together as a strike partnership against East Fife at Celtic Park on 28 August. Each bagged a brace, the start of a run which saw Wilson score seven goals in six games and McPhail eight in the same six matches.

In the League Cup final, Wilson volleyed home a McPhail knock-down on 22 minutes to start the goals rush, and if McPhail's hat-trick and Willie Fernie's all-round excellence grabbed the headlines, Wilson undoubtedly played his part in this iconic Celtic victory.

Between the East Fife game and McPhail's serious injury against Partick Thistle on 21 December, McPhail and Wilson started up-front for Celtic in 16 games. In that time there were only three games in which neither scored; Wilson scored 14 goals in these 16 games, McPhail 16.

After that, things gradually went downhill. He finished that season with a more than respectable 32 goals in 44 starts, but when McPhail was forced to retire at the end of the season, Wilson's career stalled as he could never again recreate the understanding he had had with Teasy Weazy, as the moustached and dapper McPhail was known to the fans.

It did not help that Celtic were in a state of flux. Jock Stein had been forced to retire, Bobby Collins would soon be sold, Charlie Tully and Neil Mochan were growing old and chairman Bob Kelly was increasingly encouraging manager Jimmy McGrory to blood The Kelly Kids.

Wilson pulled on the hoops for the last time in the disastrous 4-0 Scottish Cup defeat to St Mirren in April 1959 and at the end of that season he was given a free transfer.

His 46 goals in 70 appearances, 0.66 goals per game, is a strike rate some more exalted Celtic strikers cannot match.

McPhail's strike rate is exactly the same - yet as a pairing, they are rarely mentioned among the great Celtic strike partnerships.

From Celtic, Wilson went south to Millwall, then to Northampton Town and Mansfield Town.

He did not uproot any trees in England before returning to Scotland with Ross County, then in the Highland League, finishing his playing career with Brora Rangers.

Wilson and his wife, who pre-deceased him, settled in Invergordon. The player, as had been his want during his time with St Mirren and Celtic, worked as a car mechanic during the week with football relegated to evening coaching and Saturday afternoons at games.

At least in the Highlands he did not have to reach the agreement he had with his day job employers during his time at St Mirren and Celtic - whereby he worked one Sunday in four to make up for the time he had off to play football.

Eventually he returned to his native Uddingston, where he lived quietly. He was always a Celtic fan, but one who played his part in one of the club's greatest wins.

More crucially perhaps, he spotted a small, ginger-headed boy demonstrating amazing ball control in the streets of Viewpark, Uddingston, and let Celtic know of this unpolished diamond.

More so perhaps than the opening goal in that Old Firm final, recommending Jimmy Johnstone to the club was the act for which the Celtic family will forever be in Sammy Wilson's debt.