TOMMY GEMMELL was one of the most colourful and charismatic characters in Celtic history.
In ANOTHER CQN EXCLUSIVE series, author Alex Gordon, a long-time friend of the Lisbon Lion, opens his book files to reveal some tales of the flamboyant full-back.
Alex says: “When I was interviewing Tommy for his autobiography, ‘All The Best’, which was published by CQN in 2014, he often talked about his friendship with former Manchester United idol George Best.
“Here in the third extract from Tommy speaking about the mercurial Northern Irishman.
“Please enjoy.”
GEORGE BEST and I met up with each other a few times during our careers.
I remember one occasion when I was manager of Dundee and Bestie was with Hibs back in 1979. Absolutely no disrespect to the Edinburgh side, but you would have thought anyone was bonkers who had predicted that the Irishman, even in his early thirties, would one day be a Hibs player.
A suitable case for treatment, indeed. However, that’s the way his career panned out and I don’t suppose Bestie was grumbling when he picked up his £5,000-per-week cheque from chairman Tom Hart. That would have made him one of the highest-paid players in Scotland back then.
After the game at Dens Park, I invited Bestie into the manager’s room where we had a snifter or two. Or it could have been three. Or four. Actually, I could have bitten my tongue when I asked him: “What’s your tipple these days, Bestie?”
I had completely forgotten he had anti-alcohol implants in his stomach to help him curb his drinking urges. These tablets, known as Antabuse, are supposed to make an individual violently sick if they come in contact with alcohol.
Bestie didn’t hesitate, though: “A vodka and tonic, please, Tommy.”
Maybe Bestie had found a way round combating these pills because he was perfectly okay and we didn’t say another word about it. Anyway, I then introduced him to the Dundee board and they were all like wee boys in a sweetie shop.
They were excited at meeting Bestie and that’s the sort of celebrity appeal he had to everyone. He never changed. There was no big-time stuff from one of the most gifted players the world has ever seen.
He used to tell this story against himself. “When I was first travelling to North America to sign for Los Angeles Aztecs, I saw a big sign which proclaimed DRINK CANADA DRY.
“Well, I gave it my best shot!”
Bestie told me a tale that Jim Baxter had passed onto him. The great Ranger was fond of a drop or two, as the world knew, and he said to the Irishman: “I wakened up one Monday morning with terrible pains in my spine and all down my back.
“I had been out all weekend on the lash. I decided it would be a better idea to go to my own GP rather than the Rangers club doctor. Now I had been drinking about seven or eight pints of lager every day after training. Then I would go on the Bacardi’s at the weekend.
“My GP asked me what was my daily average intake. I lied and told him about two or three pints.
“The doc gasped: ‘If you carry on like that, Jim, you’ll be an alcoholic!'”
Remember that time Bestie appeared on the Terry Wogan TV show back in 1990? If you saw it, you’re never likely to forget it. Bestie was told to appear at the BBC three hours before shooting was due to begin.
Someone at the programme was determined to prevent my wee buddy from performing a disappearing act. They stuck him in what is known in the TV studios as the Green Room, a place where the celebrities can prepare before going out to appear on a live show.
They might as well have put Bestie in an empty well-stocked bar and told him to help himself. There is always booze around these hospitality rooms and, with three full hours to spare, Bestie poured himself a drink. Then another. And another.
He was drinking with Hollywood actor Omar Sharif, but as the bevvy disappeared at an alarming rate, he began calling him Sacha as he was convinced he was now talking to French singer Sacha Distel!
By the time he was due to go on as Wogan’s guest he was virtually comatose.
A clearly agitated Wogan, grinning inanely into the cameras, managed to fast forward through the interview, cut it short and Bestie, thankfully, was removed from our screens.
I was down in London on business and met up with Bestie shortly afterwards. He told me he remembered little of the interview and was mortified when someone showed him the tape.
He also informed me he received a message a few days after the show that said, ‘George, dear boy, I didn’t think you were too bad at all. You looked perfectly normal to me.’
It was from Oliver Reed, the well-known Hollywood hell-raiser!
*TOMORROW: Don’t miss the further adventures of a Celtic legend.
