From great games to the game's greats. If you have a query concerning Scottish football, this is the place to send it to. We'll answer as many as we can but regret that we cannot respond individually to requests. So bookmark this site and look in regularly as questions and answers are frequently updated.

Q Peter Chalmers wants to know "What year did Jock Stein first play for Albion Rovers?"

A It was during the Second World War. Stein joined Rovers shortly after the start of the 1942-43 season. As a coal miner he was in a 'reserved' occupation and exempt from conscription into the forces.

Jock stayed at Cliftonhill for eight seasons playing 236 games for the Coatbridge side and was part of the team which won the 'B' Division title in 1948. He left Lanarkshire for Welsh club Llanelli in 1950, returning to Scotland, and Celtic, in December 1951. The rest is, as they say, history.

Q 'Splashpenn' wants to know "In which year was Derek Johnstone born?"

A He was born on November 4th 1953

Q Robert Houston asks: "Can you verify please ? Were Celtic knocked out of the European Cup in the preliminary round in season 67/68 whilst defending the trophy?"

A Yes AND No! Celtic were the first European Cup holders not to receive a bye when defending their title. They were knocked out at the first time of asking by Dynamo Kiev, losing 2-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away. But the naming/numbering of rounds by UEFA is confusing.

It wasn’t a preliminary round in the sense of an extra round to eliminate teams in order to even up the numbers but it was described as a preliminary round at the time in the press. The ‘News of the World Annual’ covering that season has Celtic playing Kiev in the FIRST round and Man Utd against Hibernians of Malta in the PRELIMINARY round even though it was the SAME stage of the competition!

'Rothmans Football Yearbook' is just as unclear. What is the preliminary round in the results page becomes the first round in team line-ups.

Perhaps the last word should be given to UEFA. On their website they say Celtic were beaten in 1967-68 in the FIRST round.

For old SFAQs click here

Q The Midlands quiz-goers are back, seeking the answer to this query: "Who was the first international to play for both Rangers and Celtic?"

A Tom Dunbar was the first to turn out for both and Allan Martin also played for the pair but the first to be capped while with both Celtic and Rangers was a remarkable character called George Livingstone who not only played for both the Old Firm but also for Man City and Man Utd and was also on the books of both Everton and Liverpool!

Dumbarton-born Livingstone started out with local sides Sinclair Swifts and Artizan Thistle before joining Parkhead FC. He then moved on to Dumbarton and Hearts before travelling south to Everton. He didn't feature in the first team there but was a regular at Sunderland for a season before joining Celtic in 1901.

He played in the losing Scottish Cup Final side of 1902 before being transferred to Liverpool. After a season there it was on to Manchester City where he played in the side that won the FA Cup in 1904. He was with City for over three seasons - a long time by George's standards - before signing for Rangers in January 1907. After two years at Ibrox it was on to Manchester United in 1909 where he spent the remainder of his playing career, retiring in 1914 shortly before his 38th birthday.

George was a well-travelled and adaptable player, at home as an inside-forward on either side of the field and also at right-half. He was unfortunate, given the teams he played for, not to have accumulated more medals. Hearts won the title in 1896-97 and Man Utd won the League in 1910-11 but he didn't play enough games to qualify for a medal in either campaign. Oddly enough the Old Firm teams won nothing during George's time with them. His FA Cup medal seems scant reward for a player who served with the giants of Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester as well as Hearts and Sunderland.

George made his Scotland debut in the ill-fated game against England in 1902. This was the first Ibrox disaster when 26 spectators lost their lives when the terracing collapsed.

Subsequently, this match was deemed unofficial and caps awarded do not show in official records.

He was also unfortunate to receive just two official caps for Scotland - v England in 1906 and Wales the following year. After retiring from playing, George set up a plumbing and gas-fitting business but he didn't sever his connections with the game. Following a brief spell as Dumbarton manager at the end of World War One he took up the Trainer's role with Rangers from 1920-27 then performed a similar task at Bradford City 1928-35.

George Livingstone died in January 1950, aged 73.



Q Darren Gray asks about the "1976 Scottish League Cup final. Can you list all the Aberdeen and Celtic players?"

A Teams for the match at Hampden on Nov 6th 1976 were:

Aberdeen: Clark, Kennedy, Williamson, Smith, Garner, Miller, Sullivan, Scott, Harper, Jarvie (Robb), Graham

Celtic: Latchford, McGrain, Lynch, Edvaldsson, McDonald, Aitken, Doyle, Glavin, Dalglish, Burns (Lennox), Wilson

Aberdeen won 2-1 after extra time with goals from Jarvie and Robb. Dalglish scored for Celtic. Score at 90 mins 1-1. Crowd: 69,707

Q Colin Dailly wants us to "Settle a argument for me, Did John Rollo ever play for Rangers? "

A I’ve read elsewhere that Johnny Rollo was a Rangers player but he never played for Rangers first team in any recognised competition. Prior to going to the USA he was with St Johnstone. Once in America Rollo became a prominent member of the Bethlehem Steel team which was one of the biggest clubs in the States in the 1920s.

Q Why SFAQs? What does that mean?

A FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) can be found on many websites, mostly relating to technical matters and SFA stands for (amongst other things) Scottish Football Association. So a neat amalgamation of acronyms gives us SFAQs which means Scottish Football Answers (to) Questions.