1966-09-28: Celtic 2-0 Zurich, European Cup

Match Pictures \| Matches: 1966 – 1967 \| 1966-67 Pictures

Match Pictures | Matches: 1966 – 1967 | 1966-67 Pictures

Trivia

Zurich had put together an expensive side including two Germans, one Italian and seven Swiss internationalists.They were managed by Hungarian Laszlo Kubala – the famous forward who played for three countries in his time as a player. They would play Celtic in this leg blind having done no scouting of Celtic’s previous game.
McBride had a goal disallowed on full time when the referee blew for time up.
The physical Swiss side accuse Celtic of being over physical !
On the Tuesday night ex-Celt John Colrain’s Glentoran had held Rangers to a 1-1 draw in Ireland in nthe Cup Winners Cup, and on this night Dunfermiline beat Frigg (Norway) 3-1.

Review

Jock Stein delayed naming his side until he saw if the conditions were wet or dry. In the event Hughes was preferred to Lennox on the left wing.

From the start the Swiss players were very physical with Jimmy Johnstone bearing the brunt of the punishment. In the second half Jinky took revenge on the worst offender, Stierli, and this caused a storm of pushing and jostling as the referee sought to keep control.

There were times when every Swiss player was camped in their own area as Celtic attacked relentlessly and the crowd groaned when McBride missed two chances.

In the second half Celtic made the breakthrough when Gemmell scored with a powerful shot which went in off the crossbar after a good run by Hughes.
In 69 minutes Celtic went two up when McBride’s shot from outside the area was deflected into the net off a Zurich defender.

There was controversy in the last seconds when McBride scored with a header but the referee had blown for full time. This occurred after the referee had continually warned the Swiss against time wasting which they practised all through the game.

The Danish referee, Mr Hansen, declared that this was the most difficult game he had ever taken charge of. He lost control of the game entirely when stamping his authority on the Swiss at the outset would have helped. He finally resorted to the yellow card after the big stramash with Johnstone, Gemmell and Stierli. Stierli, Meyer and Bobby Murdoch found themselves in the book.

The photographs of the game show a leter incident between goalkeeper Itern and Joe McBride that was also ready to boil over and saw Neil Mochan making a hasty entry onto the field when the incompetent referee appeared to have no idea what was going on.