 Stein wanted Dalglish to spend a second season on loan at Cumbernauld, but the youngster wanted to turn professional.Dalglish got his wish, and became a regular member of the highly rated Celtic reserve team that became known as the Quality Street Gang, due to it having a large number of future Scottish internationals, including Danny McGrain, George Connelly, Lou Macari, and David Hay.Dalglish made his first-team competitive debut for Celtic in a Scottish League Cup quarter-final tie against Hamilton Academical on 25 September 1968, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 4–2 win.