Lisbon Lions – The Celtic Wiki

European Cup Final 1967 Match | Lisbon Lions Pics | 1966–1967

Background

“We did it by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football”. Jock Stein

“We did it by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football”.
Jock Stein

Lisbon Lions - Pictures During the 1966/67 season Celtic won every competition they entered. They won the Glasgow Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League and were the first non-Latin team to win the European Cup.

They lost only two league games in the entire season and completed double victories over 11 of the 17 teams involved. They lifted the Scottish Cup by beating Aberdeen 2-0 in the final, scored 20 goals and conceded none in all those matches. In the League Cup, 35 goals were scored by the lions including an incredible 8-2 victory over St Mirren.

The League Flag (the second of the original nine-in-a-row) was captured at Ibrox in front of 76,000 fans by two goals from Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone. Wee Jinky scored one goal in each half to secure a draw and the point needed to lift the flag by 3 points from second place Rangers.

Celtic’s European Cup victory that season could be considered the greatest feat ever by a British team in Europe and paved the way for other British victories. No big money buys were involved, every player was Scottish and every one born within a 30 miles radius of Celtic Park. Only one player was signed: Willie Wallace from Hearts to replace the injured Joe McBride. Stevie Chalmers finished top scorer with 23 goals including the very first in the league campaign and the very last in the European Cup final. John Clark and Tommy Gemmell played in all the matches, and Billy McNeill and Ronnie Simpson missed only one each.

Apart from the starting 11 in the final, other players played their part as well. John Hughes made 5 appearances in the European Cup that season. He was also awarded a European Cup winner’s medal despite not making the final. Joe McBride made 2 appearances and scored 2 goals but missed the final due to injury. Willie O’Neill played 4 games in Europe (1 more than Willie Wallace) and another 28 in other competitions. Charlie Gallacher made 2 appearances in Europe and 16 in the others.

On their way to Lisbon, Celtic beat FC Zurich of Switzerland in the 1st round, 2-0 in Glasgow and 3-0 in Zurich. In the 2nd round, FC Nantes-Atlantique of France were swept aside easily by a 3-1 victory away followed by the same score in the return leg. Vojvodina Nova Sad of Yugoslavia were overcome by a 2-0 2nd leg win in Glasgow, reversing a 1-0 defeat in the away leg. In the semi-final, opponents Dukla Prague were trounced 3-1 in the first leg in Glasgow and held to a 0-0 draw in Prague.

The European Cup final was played on the 25th of May at the Estadio Nacional, in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. Celtic beat the ultra-defensive and hot favourites Inter Milan 2-1 after trailing 1-0 to a very soft penalty. Tommy Gemmell scored the equaliser with a rocket shot from outside the penalty area and from close in Stevie Chalmers expertly guided a Bobby Murdoch shot into the net to score the winner and rewrite the history books.

Celtic did not wear numbers on their shirts at this time. The numbers shown were actually sewn onto their shorts. A second goalkeeper was the only substitute allowed at the time.

It was a glorious time, and never bettered by any other side before or since.