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Celtic

1966–67 season
Manager	Jock Stein
Scottish Division One	1st
Scottish Cup	Winners
Scottish League Cup	Winners
Glasgow Cup	Winners
European Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Stevie Chalmers (21) All: Joe McBride (35)
Average home league attendance	31,082
Home colours Away colours
← 1965–661967–68 →

Celtic competed for five trophies in the 1966–67 season and the club won all of them: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, and the European Cup, and completed the only ever European Quintuple. However, their European Cup victory from this season qualified them for the World Championship the following season, which they went on to lose in a playoff to Racing. Over the course of this season, Celtic scored a world record 196 goals in the major competitions they took part in.

The team from this season are commonly known as the Lisbon Lions, because the European Cup final was held in Lisbon.

Season overview

Season 1966–67 is considered Celtic's annus mirabilis. The club won every competition they entered: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, and the European Cup; scoring a world record total of 196 goals in the process.

The League Cup was the first trophy to be won that season, courtesy of a 1–0 win on 29 October 1966 over Rangers in the final. The Glasgow Cup was secured a week later when Celtic beat Partick Thistle 4–0; Stevie Chalmers opening the scoring, and Bobby Lennox scoring a hat-trick. Celtic's progression to the Scottish Cup was relatively straightforward aside from being taken to replay in the semi-final by Clyde. On 6 April 1967 Celtic met Aberdeen in the final, and two Willie Wallace goals eased Celtic to a 2–0 win. The league campaign proved to be a more tightly contested affair as, despite Celtic only losing twice, with two games remaining Rangers were still in contention. Celtic's penultimate league fixture was against Rangers at Ibrox, with a draw required to clinch the title. A brace by Jimmy Johnstone gave Celtic a 2–2 draw and the championship.

Celtic's European Cup campaign in 1966–67 was their first ever participation in Europe's premier club tournament. FC Zürich and Nantes were comfortably disposed of in the first two rounds (5–0 and 6–2 on aggregate respectively). The quarter final in March 1967 pitched Celtic against the Yugoslav champions, Vojvodina. The Yugoslav side won the first leg in Novi Sad 1–0. The return match in Glasgow proved to be a fraught affair. The Yugoslavs defended resolutely and threatened on the counter-attack, but Celtic levelled the tie on aggregate in the second half with a goal by Stevie Chalmers. Celtic pressed for a winner, but Vojvodina defended well and the tie looked like a play-off in neutral Rotterdam would be required. However, in the final minute Billy McNeill headed in a Charlie Gallacher cross to see Celtic progress to the semi-final. Celtic now faced Czechoslovakian side, Dukla Prague. This time the first leg of the tie took place in Glasgow, with Celtic winning 3–1 courtesy of goals from Jimmy Johnstone and a Willie Wallace brace. In respect of his opponents' quality, manager Jock Stein set up Celtic to be ultra-defensive for the second leg and forsake - temporarily - their philosophy of attacking football. The tactics worked as Celtic secured a 0–0 draw to put them in the final. However, Stein was almost apologetic about the manner of Celtic's success in that game and he felt uncomfortable in later years discussing the matter.

The final saw Celtic play Inter Milan, with the match taking place at the Estádio Nacional on the outskirts of Lisbon on 25 May 1967. Celtic fell a goal behind after only seven minutes, Jim Craig adjudged to have fouled Renato Cappellini in the penalty box and Sandro Mazzola converting the resultant penalty. Celtic swept into constant attack after that but found Inter goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti in outstanding form. With 63 minutes played, after incessant pressure, Celtic finally equalised when Tommy Gemmell scored with a powerful 25-yard shot. The balance of play remained the same with Inter defending deeply against sustained Celtic attacking. With about five minutes remaining, a long-range shot from Bobby Murdoch was diverted by Stevie Chalmers past a wrong-footed Sarti. It proved to be the winning goal and thus Celtic became the first British team, and the first from outside Spain, Portugal or Italy to win the competition.

Jock Stein commented after the match,

Winning was important, but it was the way that we won that has filled me with satisfaction. We did it by playing football; pure, beautiful, inventive football. There was not a negative thought in our heads.

Celtic are one of only two clubs to have won the trophy with a team composed entirely of players from the club's home country; all of the players in the side were born within 30 miles of Celtic Park in Glasgow, and they subsequently became known as the 'Lisbon Lions'. The entire east stand at Celtic Park is dedicated to The Lisbon Lions, and the west stand to Jock Stein. The sight of captain Billy McNeill holding aloft the European Cup in the Estádio Nacional has become one of the iconic images of Scottish football, immortalized in a bronze statue of McNeill outside Parkhead stadium in 2015, created by John McKenna (sculptor).

Two weeks later, on 7 June 1967, Celtic played Real Madrid in a testimonial match for the now retired Alfredo Di Stefano. In front of over 100,000 fans at the Bernabéu Stadium, the sides engaged in a keenly fought contest which saw Bertie Auld and Real Madrid's Amancio sent off. Di Stefano played for the first 15 minutes, but it was Jimmy Johnstone who stole the show with an exhilarating performance that had even the Spanish supporters chanting "Olé!" throughout the game in appreciation of his skill. Johnstone capped an outstanding performance by playing the pass to Bobby Lennox for the only goal in a 1–0 win for Celtic.

Competition overview

Source: Competitions

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

6 August 1966 Friendly	Celtic	4–1	Manchester United	Celtic Park
	Lennox 7' Murdoch 10' McBride 15' Foulkes o.g. 61'	"Hurricane Celts' glorious start"	Sadler 12'	Attendance: 60,000 Referee: W. Anderson

7 February 1967 Friendly	Celtic	0–1	GNK Dinamo Zagreb	Celtic Park
		"The Glasgow Herald" 8 February 1967	Zambata 87'	Attendance: 46,000 Referee: W. J. Mullan

Scottish Division One

Scottish League Cup

Scottish Cup

Glasgow Cup

European Cup

28 September 1966 1st round 1st leg	Celtic	2–0	FC Zürich	Glasgow
19:00 GMT	Gemmell McBride			Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 47,604

5 October 1966 1st round 2nd leg	FC Zürich	0–3 (0–5 agg.)	Celtic	Zürich
19:15 GMT			Gemmell (2, 1 pen.) Chalmers	Stadium: Letzigrund Attendance: 20,236

30 November 1966 2nd round 1st leg	FC Nantes	1–3	Celtic	Nantes
20:00 GMT			McBride, Lennox, Chalmers	Stadium: Stade Marcel Saupin Attendance: 15,464

7 December 1966 2nd round 2nd leg	Celtic	3–1 (6–2 agg.)	FC Nantes	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Johnstone, Chalmers, Lennox			Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 39,120

1 March 1967 Quarter-final 1st leg	FK Vojvodina	1–0	Celtic	Novi Sad
18:30 GMT				Stadium: Styadium of Vojvodina Attendance: 24,000

8 March 1967 Quarter-final 2nd leg	Celtic	2–0 (2–1 agg.)	FK Vojvodina	Glasgow
20:00 GMT	Chalmers, McNeill			Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 63,374

12 April 1967 Semi-final 1st leg	Celtic	3–1	Dukla Prague	Glasgow
19:30 GMT	Johnstone 27' Wallace 59', 65'		Štrunc 44'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 74,406

25 April 1967 Semi-final 2nd leg	Dukla Prague	0–0 (1–3 agg.)	Celtic	Prague
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Stadion Juliska Attendance: 19,157

25 May 1967 Final	Internazionale	1–2	Celtic	Lisbon
17:30 GMT	Mazzola 7' (pen.)		Gemmell 63' Chalmers 84'	Stadium: Estádio Nacional Attendance: 48,500

Squad and statistics

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO Ronnie Simpson — GK  SCO John Fallon — GK  NIR Jack Kennedy — GK  DEN Bent Martin — DF  SCO Jim Craig — DF  SCO Billy McNeill — DF  SCO John Clark — DF  SCO Tommy Gemmell — DF  SCO Jim Brogan — DF  SCO Willie O'Neill — DF  SCO Ian Young — DF  SCO John Cushley

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  SCO Frank McCarron — DF  SCO Davie Cattanach — MF  SCO Bobby Murdoch — MF  SCO Bertie Auld — MF  IRL Charlie Gallacher — MF  SCO Sammy Henderson — FW  SCO Jimmy Johnstone — FW  SCO Bobby Lennox — FW  SCO Willie Wallace — FW  SCO Stevie Chalmers — FW  SCO Joe McBride — FW  SCO John Hughes

Starting XI

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SCO Ronnie Simpson 2 DF  SCO Jim Craig 3 DF  SCO Tommy Gemmell 4 MF  SCO Bobby Murdoch 5 DF  SCO Billy McNeill (Captain) 6 DF  SCO John Clark 7 FW  SCO Jimmy Johnstone 8 FW  SCO Willie Wallace 9 FW  SCO Stevie Chalmers 10 MF  SCO Bertie Auld 11 FW  SCO Bobby Lennox

Simpson McNeill Clark Gemmell Craig Johnstone Auld Murdoch Wallace Chalmers Lennox Celtic's lineup in Lisbon

League table

See also

• List of Celtic F.C. seasons
• Nine in a row

References

1. "Missing out on being Lisbon Lion saved my life, says Celtic legend Joe McBride". Daily Record. 23 May 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
2. "Scotland - List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. "Average Attendance - Season-by-Season". The Celtic wiki. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
4. "Celtic:Brief History". Celtic FC. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
5. ^ "World Record and Statistics". World Football Historic Center. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
6. "Celtic fight in final". The Times. 31 October 1966. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
7. Edwards, Glyn (8 November 1966). "Thistle no match for Celtic in Glasgow Cup Final". The Glasgow Herald. p. 6. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
8. ^ Wilson 1988, p. 134
9. "Season 1966-67". European Cup History. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
10. Campbell & Woods 1987, p. 235
11. Wilson 1988, p. 136
12. Wilson 1988, pp. 136–137
13. Wilson 1988, p. 137
14. Campbell & Woods 1987, p. 236
15. ^ Barham, Albert (26 May 1967). "Relentless attack captures European Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
16. Forsyth, Roddy (15 May 2001). "Murdoch the true Lionheart". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
17. "25 May - 1967: Celtic win European Cup". BBC On This Day. 25 May 1967. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
18. Doug Lennox (2009). Now You Know Soccer. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-55488-416-2. now you know soccer who were the lisbon lions. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
19. Reynolds, Jim (28 January 2000). "Fans will now roar from the Lisbon Lions Stand". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
20. Buckland, Simon (9 August 1998). "Leonhardsen too smart for Celtic". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
21. "The 50 Greatest Scottish Footballers - Billy McNeill". Herald Online. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
22. Burns, Scott (14 November 2013). "Time to build a statue for Hoops legend McNeill". Scottish Express. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
23. "The Lisbon Lions 50 years later: still the greatest story ever told in Scottish sport". The Guardian. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
24. McMillan, Anna (16 November 2005). "The Alfredo Di Stefano Trophy". The Celtic View.
25. "The Full Story: 1967, Alfredo Di Stéfano's Testimonial". STV The Football Years. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
26. "967-06-07: Real Madrid 0-1 Celtic, Testimonial - Alfredo Di Stefano". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
27. "Celtic Team Line-Up 1966-67". The Celtic wiki. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
28. "1966-67 Division One". Scottish Football Archive. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2011.

Sources

• Campbell, Tom; Woods, Pat (1987). The Glory & The Dream. Grafton Books. ISBN 0-586-20005-3.
• Wilson, Brian (1988). Celtic - A Century With Honour. Willow Books. ISBN 0-00-218230-0.

• Celtic F.C. seasons
• Scottish football clubs 1966–67 season
• UEFA Champions League–winning seasons
• Scottish football championship-winning seasons
• Continental trebles in association football