1967-08-05: Celtic 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur, Friendly

Trivia

• This game was played at Hampden in honour of and to commemorate the centenary of Queens Park football club.
• Both Jock Stein and Bill Nicholson the Tottenham manager had agreed to allow three substitutions during the game, and on the day they changed that to four. In the event, the game was going so well that neither side made a substitution.
• Celtic’s first game in Scotland as European Champions.
• Before the game the two captains, Billy McNeill and Dave Mackay, exchanged rugs instead of the customary pennants. Both men then paraded the respective rugs to the spectators.
• Jimmy Greaves scored twice, and to time of writing remains the highest scoring player in top tier English football history. A legend of the game who sadly for himself didn’t make the team for the 1966 World Cup winning final. Very well remembered for his ITV lunchtime show in the 1980s with Motherwell & Liverpool great Ian St John called ‘Saint & Greavsie’. Died 2021, RIP.

Review

European champions Celtic took on FA Cup winners Spurs in a high-scoring pre-season friendly which delighted the 91,000 plus crowd.

This is a game that was fondly remembered for years to come and was often shown at functions by the Celtic film club.

Despite it being a friendly this was a showpiece game by two top sides. The amount of talent on show was amazing, Johnstone, Murdoch and Auld against Mackay, Greaves and Gilzean.

Within a minute Tottenham were ahead with a sweeping move that Jimmy Greaves finished. Celtic fought back strongly and Bertie Auld scored one of his finest goals after playing two 1-2’s and beating Pat Jennings.

Late on Celtic went for broke with Chalmers hitting the post and Johnstone striking the bar with a lobbed shot.

At the end of the game the huge Hampden crowd gave both signs a rousing reception on a warm sunny day.

Teams

Celtic:
Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld, Lennox. Subs: Fallon O’Neill Hughes Gallacher
Scorers: Auld 2 (7, 25), Chalmers (60)