Tam Callaghan knew Deans for most of his life and tells us all about the Celtic hero after his sad passing
One love. And one story about John ‘Dixie’ Deans meeting Bob Marley is Tam Callaghan’s fitting obituary for the passing of a Celtic great.
The son of former Hoops hero Tommy senior recalls a striker like no other with a sense of humour summed up in a chance meeting with the music icon and Celtic fan.
Callaghan’s sadness at the loss of a close family friend begins with an unlikely tale from Dixie’s time in Australia.
He said: “Dixie was a brilliant man, I loved him. He was my dad’s best pal along with George McCluskey. I saw loads of him through my life and I’m just off the phone to my son Thomas who lives in Adelaide. Dixie played in Adelaide for a year and Thomas would meet Dixie for a coffee.
“He was a funny, funny man and his patter was brilliant.
“Dixie used to tell a story about when he was in Adelaide and Bob Marley was in the city at the same time. Dixie kept a picture of the two of them together in his wallet for the rest of his life. But, in true Dixie style, he always claimed it was Bob who wanted a picture with him, not the other way round!”
The loss of Deans – who also starred for Motherwell – at the age of 79 is another sore blow for a generation of Celtic fans who have seen so many of their heroes from the 1960s and 1970s pass away. And Callaghan’s poignant tribute underlines how much of a character Deans was as a player and person.
He said: “There’s a lot of doom and gloom about that generation of Celtic players we are now losing. But there is also so much humour and joy to celebrate.
“When my dad Tommy senior was diagnosed with dementia, Dixie was very supportive, he would come all the time to the house and visit. Before that my dad would pick him and George up on their way to work in the hospitality at Celtic together.
“They were some threesome. Dixie’s patter might have been brilliant but his legacy will always be as a brilliant goal scorer.
“My dad spoke about him being a great man to have inside the Celtic dressing room.
“He may have been only five foot eight inches but you wouldn’t want to fight him as he was tough as nails.
“He will go down in history as one of the all-time Celtic greats. Some players are handed the title of Celtic greats and some of them in my opinion don’t deserve it. But Dixie is a true legend of the club.”
As one of Scottish football’s generational goalscoring talents – he scored 207 times in 360 senior appearances – Deans will be remembered a true great.
Callaghan is adamant he was one of the best and the proof is the personal accounts of team-mates who know all about scoring goals.
He said: “Dixie’s right up there with the best strikers to wear the Hoops. I’m a nobody but if you to speak to the likes of Kenny Dalglish, he would tell you the same thing. Kenny would say he was part of a great double-act with Celtic when they led the attack for a spell in the mid-70s.
“I’m sure Kenny would also say Dixie was a great team-mate and a brilliant player.
“My dad would say he was so much more than just a goal poacher, he was also a very good player and he talked about the 1972 Scottish Cup Final when Dixie scored a hat-trick and Celtic beat Hibs 6-1.
“He was so good on that afternoon that my dad said he could have played for any club in the world. He was untouchable.
“My dad ended up getting the man of the match award that day but it’s remembered for Dixie’s hat-trick.
“That Celtic group from 1967 right through to 1976 were very tight.
“Dixie was a huge part of that and he was a very funny guy, he always claimed the Deans shortbread company was named after him – it was rubbish of course but he claimed it was true.”
As Celtic prepare to say goodbye to another legend, Callaghan’s memories of Deans will centre on his humility and class.
He said: “Dixie was a lovely man and great friend of our family, I used to get taken to the sky box at Celtic and Dixie and my dad came into the box to entertain the punters. The place was in an uproar with his one-liners.
“He also had a gift of shutting people down who were disrespectful. He could cut you down instantly if anyone tried to be smart, he would destroy them.
“Patter was great, great team-mate and a right toughie as well, that was Dixie, you didn’t want to cross him.
“He was also a brilliant singer which not many people knew about him.
“My said always said that if he had to pick a best XI from the guys he played with then Dixie would be one of the first names down on the sheet.
“He wasn’t a high-profile guy, he didn’t seek the limelight and if you asked him question then he’d answer it but he didn’t seek the headlines or live off his memories. He allowed others to speak about him and I’ve never hear anyone say a bad work about him as a footballer or a man.”