Lisbon Lions
The Lisbon Lions (Scottish Gaelic: Leòmhainn Lisbon)[3][4] is the nickname given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the Estádio Nacional near Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967,[5] defeating Inter Milan 2–1.[6] All but two members of the 15 man squad were born within 10 miles of Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland (Bobby Lennox, who was born 30 miles away in Saltcoats, and Tommy Gemmell, who was born in Motherwell 11 miles away).[1] Celtic's style was the antithesis of the cynical, but highly effective, defensive style of Inter. Jimmy Johnstone described the team's style as "like the Dutch speeded-up".[7]
Jock Stein on Celtic's triumph in Lisbon [1][2]
Alessandro Mazzola opened the scoring for Inter with a 7th-minute penalty after Jim Craig had brought down Renato Cappellini. The Italians then retreated into their famous 11-man defence. Inter did not win a single corner and forced Celtic goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson to make only two saves. Celtic had two shots off the crossbar, and 39 other attempts on goal, 13 of which were saved by Italian goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, seven were blocked or deflected, and 19 were off-target. Craig made amends for his penalty mistake on 63 minutes, when he laid off the ball for Tommy Gemmell to fire home for the Celtic equaliser. With 83 minutes on the clock, Gemmell was allowed space, and he played the ball to Bobby Murdoch, whose long-range shot was deflected by Stevie Chalmers past Sarti into the net.
Celtic were the first British club to win the European Cup, and still the only Scottish club to have reached the final. Celtic are one of only three clubs to have won five trophies in a single season. They reached the final again in 1970 but were beaten 2–1 by Feyenoord after extra time in the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
Celtic's results in the 1966–67 European Cup
1966–67 European Cup | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Round | Celtic scorers | |
28 September 1966 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Fußball-Club Zürich | 2–0 | First round, 1st leg | Gemmell, McBride | |
5 October 1966 | Letzigrund, Zurich (A) | Fußball-Club Zürich | 3–0 | First round, 2nd leg | Gemmell (2, 1 pen.), Chalmers | |
30 November 1966 | Stade Marcel Saupin, Nantes (A) | FC Nantes | 3–1 | Second round, 1st leg | McBride, Lennox, Chalmers | |
7 December 1966 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | FC Nantes | 3–1 | Second round, 2nd leg | Johnstone, Chalmers, Lennox | |
1 March 1967 | Karađorđe Stadium, Novi Sad (A) | FK Vojvodina | 0–1 | Quarter-final, 1st leg | n/a | |
8 March 1967 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | FK Vojvodina | 2–0 | Quarter-final, 2nd leg | Chalmers, McNeill | |
12 April 1967 | Celtic Park, Glasgow (H) | Dukla Prague | 3–1 | Semi-final, 1st leg | Johnstone, Wallace (2) | |
25 April 1967 | Stadion Juliska, Prague (A) | Dukla Prague | 0–0 | Semi-final, 2nd leg | n/a | |
25 May 1967 | Estádio Nacional, Lisbon (N) | Inter Milan | 2–1 | Final | Gemmell, Chalmers |
Celtic team in the final
- Ronnie Simpson
- Jim Craig
- Tommy Gemmell
- Bobby Murdoch
- Billy McNeill, captain)
- John Clark
- Jimmy Johnstone
- Willie Wallace
- Stevie Chalmers
- Bertie Auld
- Bobby Lennox
- John Fallon (substitute goalkeeper, not used)
- Jock Stein (Manager)
- Sean Fallon (Assistant Manager)
- Neil Mochan (Trainer)
Notes: Celtic did not wear numbers on their shirts at this time. The numbers shown were sewn onto their shorts.
A second goalkeeper was the only substitute allowed at the time. The other members of the squad who played in Europe during that season were Charlie Gallagher, John Hughes, Joe McBride and Willie O'Neill.
See also
References
- "BBC 'On this Day 1950-2005' May 25 - 1967: Celtic win European Cup". Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2006.
- "Celtic win European Cup 1967". Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- "BBC Radio nan Gàidheal - Spòrs na Seachdain, Còmhla ri Iain Moireasdan - Sùil air Spòrs 140215". BBC.
- http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/gd/fullrecord/25160/10;jsessionid=DB8A8330199ED602FBA27E4F39A4D793?
- Hunt, Chris (19 February 2015). "In their own words: How Celtic's Lisbon Lions shocked 'unbeatable' Inter in 1967". Four Four Two. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- The Day Lisbon Belonged to Celtic, Stuart Spencer, Scottish Football Museum, 25 May 2017
- Memories of the day 'Wee Jinky' got his teeth into the European Cup, by Robert Philip Archived 15 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Local Heroes: The story of the Lisbon Lions, by Chris Hunt, published in FourFourTwo magazine, June 2007
- Year of Triumph a scanned-in commemorative magazine from 1967.
- Lisbon Lions site in Norwegian.
- Match report from the Guardian, 1967.
- Celtic 67 more recent picture of two of the Lisbon Lions.
- Football's Greatest Teams - Celtic