RIP April

i think it's less that nobody cares and more because the mainstream media don't bother with some stuff.

 

too busy talking about squatters in Central London...

 

Lisbon Lions Captain Billy McNeill aged 79

 

I'm fairly certain that Billy McNeill will be mourned by both Celtic and Rangers supporters today....such was the respect for a fine footballer who was in my opinion,an ambassador for Scottish football and life in general.

I recall taking my eldest daughter,a young kid at the time(now 34 ),to the emergency dental hospital in Sauchiehall St Glasgow.In my rush to get her there I'd forgotten to take change for the parking meter!! As I rumbled through my pockets and discovered I only had notes,a familiar figure proceeded to pull out a handful of coins and feed the meter he then refused to accept notes in exchange....RIP Billy McNeill a true gent.

 

Great story.

 

RIP Billy McNeill.
Leader of a group of local guys who won the European cup for Celtic.
That will never happen again.

 

Thanks Ric and what a great account. He sounds like he was the perfect gent and role model.

 

I’ve just watched Charlie Nicholson talking about billy McNeil, I won’t lie, I had a tear in my eye as he cried for him when telling a story of how billy had rang Charlie’s mum about playing full time. Managers like billy McNeil are unfortunately a thing of the past and I for one miss them.....RIP Mr McNeil...

 

It seems Sala, who had signed for Cardiff and died in that plane crash, his father has died. RIP Mr Sala and your son.

 

Aye, heart attack at 58, very sad. RIP.

If there's a Mrs Sala I can't imagine what she must be going through now.

 

johnny hutchinson, drummer and singer with merseybeat band the big three, occasional stand in with the beatles, 79.

 

Saw the Big Three back in the day. Very good band. Apparently Brian Epstein wanted Johnny Hutch to replace Pete Best but he turned it down as he thought they were pretentious prats.
Wonder if he ever thought maybe I was a bit hasty?

 

i'm too young to have seen them, but i have bought some of their stuff. they came over as loud on recordings, especially for that era, and reports say they were louder and more aggressive on stage.

 

I remember Johnny Hutch saying that Lennon liked to give the impression he was a tough guy running amok around Liverpool. He said he would have knocked Lennon's block off if he had ever been daft enough to upset him.

This was the first Big Three recording and the line up of the band I saw, which included Johnny Gustaffson who later joined the Merseybeats and who was a great bassist and singer.

 

I saw them on stage and the three of them were indeed louder than most larger bands. Amazing considering the puny amps and pathetic speakers they had back then.

 

i bought an album in the early 80s on the edsel label, which was related to f-beat. more recently i got a 2-disc cd album, in which the second disc contained recordings from an early-70s reunion.