Scottish football mourns the death of Willie Fernie, 82, a Celtic legend

WILLIE FERNIE, who died at the age of 82 yesterday, was one of the most talented and highly-respected players produced by Scotland in the country's footballing boom period after the Second World War.

A forward of tremendous pace, innate ball control and outstanding tactical awareness, Fernie was one of Celtic's greatest players, winning every major domestic honour with the Parkhead club during the 1950s. Capped 12 times by Scotland, Fernie played at the World Cup finals of 1954 and 1958.

He is also fondly remembered at Middlesbrough, where he spent almost two years as an effective foil for a precocious young striker by the name of Brian Clough, and at St Mirren, who he helped reach the 1962 Scottish Cup final in the latter stages of his playing career.

Fernie later moved into coaching as part of Jock Stein's backroom staff before becoming a manager in his own right at Kilmarnock, guiding the Rugby Park club to two promotions before his sacking in 1977 which brought a sour end to his time in professional football.

A native of Kinglassie in Fife, Fernie had unsuccessful trials with Raith Rovers and Aberdeen before being spotted playing for local club Leslie Hearts by Celtic scout Pat Duffy in 1948. He signed for Celtic in October that year but had to wait until March 1950, at the age of 21, to make his first-team debut in a 1-0 league win against St Mirren at Love Street.

It was not until the 1952-53 season that Fernie established himself as a first-team regular, his performances earning the approval of the Celtic support, none more so than in the Coronation Cup Final against Hibs at Hampden when he set up both goals in a famous 2-0 win.

That success was the springboard for the league and Scottish Cup double triumph the following season, with Fernie contributing 13 goals. Although inside forward was seen as his optimum position, Fernie was equally effective as an out-and-out winger, where some of his more spectacular displays saw the press pack hailing him as "Scotland's Stanley Matthews".

He made his senior international debut in a 2-1 win over Finland in Helsinki just before the 1954 World Cup finals in Switzerland, where he played in both of Scotland's games, including the infamous 7-0 loss to Uruguay in Basle.

Fernie remained part of the Scotland set-up, however, scoring his only goal in dark blue colours in the 2-2 draw against Wales at Ninian Park in October 1956.At Celtic, his influence was especially potent in one of the club's most celebrated triumphs, the 7-1 drubbing of Rangers in the 1957-58 League Cup final.

Deployed in the more withdrawn role of right-half, Fernie was acclaimed by many observers as the man of the match as Celtic tore their Old Firm rivals to shreds at Hampden. He scored the seventh goal in the final minute, according to some reports deliberately striking the ball against Rangers goalkeeper George Niven's bunnet which had been placed inside the right-hand post at the Mount Florida end.

Fernie made his final appearance for Scotland at the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, appearing in the 3-2 defeat against Paraguay in Norrkoping and, in December that year, Celtic sold him to Middlesbrough for 18,000 in a deal which helped fund the installation of new floodlights at Parkhead.

He made 68 appearances for the Teesside club, where his skill and vision was much appreciated by captain and prolific centre forward Clough, before returning to Celtic in a 12,000 move in October 1960. His second spell at Parkhead was short-lived, however, and after a total of 317 appearances and 74 goals for the club, Fernie moved to St Mirren for 3000 in November 1961.

He scored on his debut in a 3-0 win against St Johnstone and four months later netted the opener in a 3-1 Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Celtic at Ibrox. Fernie played in the final, which St Mirren lost 2-0 to Rangers.

He was given a free transfer by the Paisley club in 1963 and wound down his playing career with brief spells at Alloa, Fraserburgh, Coleraine and Bangor before hanging up his boots at the age of 36 in 1965.

Fernie was recruited to the Celtic coaching staff in June 1967 and spent six years in charge of a reserve side which developed talents such as Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain and David Hay.

In October 1973, he was appointed manager of Kilmarnock and immediately oversaw an unbeaten 16-match run. Fernie's Killie lost the Second Division title by two points to Airdrie but nonetheless earned promotion to the top flight at his first attempt. Just two points short of a top-ten finish in 1974-75, Kilmarnock missed out on Premier Division football under league reconstruction, but Fernie led them to another promotion in 1976. Immediate relegation followed 12 months later, however, and, in October 1977, Fernie was controversially dismissed.

A disillusioned Fernie became a taxi driver and never returned to senior football. In recent years, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died peacefully at Glasgow's Victoria Infirmary yesterday. Predeceased by his wife Audrey last year, Fernie is survived by four sons.

Former Celtic captain and manager Billy McNeill, who regarded Fernie with great reverence as a young player, led the tributes to him. "In the early 1950s, we were all fans of Willie Fernie," said McNeill. "So to eventually get to play in the same team as him as a youngster and then go on to be coached by him was terrific.""His play in taking on men and making space for the strikers in the middle was fantastic and he was a true hero of the supporters in the 1950s.

"He was a very fit man and put everything into training and, when he eventually went into coaching, that helped us further as he was quite a hard trainer. His training regime instilled in us all a will to do our best on the training ground as well as on the pitch on a matchday. This is very sad news but I know that Willie had been ill for quite some time."