Michael Lawlor recently managed to catch up with Billy McNeill while doing a feature article.Billy gave him some revealing insights into his thoughts on the Champions league
It was a scorching hot night. It was the National Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. It was clear blue skies. It was Glasgow Celtic against Internationale de Milano (Inter Milan to you and me). Jimmy Johnstone said before the Final to reporters, "they look prettier, smell nicer, and they even have teeth!" They were the team of the moment. The Stadium was full to capacity, bolstered by the attendance of the 15,000 or so Celtic fans that had made the long trek across the continent. This was the 1967 European Cup final (the second biggest cup competition in the world). This was a special night for the men from Glasgow.
This year's final, which was played in Paris on the 17th May, was between Arsenal and Barcelona. The final held few similarities. "Barca" were the form team in Europe, Arsenal were struggling in the premiership, but were doing the ‘biz' in Europe. One ironic pointer is that the north Londoners that night struggled to have an English man in their side for the final, whereas Celtic in '67 had all their players coming from a thirty mile radius of Glasgow. They were also managed by a Scots man, Jock Stein.
In that final all those years ago Celtic took a while to adjust to the searing heat of the night and went in one down at half time. But second half goals from Tommy Gemmell and Bobby Murdoch's deflected shot off Stevie Chalmers won the Cup for Celtic amid ecstatic scenes of joy from the travelling party. Celtic had booked their place in the history books by becoming the first "British" club to win the European Cup. Since that great night three of the team (now known as the Lisbon Lions) have passed away. Bobby Murdoch, in 2001, goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson, in 2004. More recently, (on March 13th this year) "the greatest ever Celtic player" Jimmy ‘Jinky' Johnstone. Jinky was awarded the honour by a poll among the Celtic fans worldwide in 2004.
The captain of that great team was Billy McNeill. Billy was nicknamed ‘Caesar' by the Celtic fans for his leadership qualities. To this day he is held in the highest regard by Celtic supporters, worldwide. He was part of the Celtic team that won nine Scottish titles in a row from 1964-72 also 7 Scottish Cup winners medals and 6 League cups. He was later given an MBE in the Queen's honours list. Billy was born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire on 2nd March 1940 of Irish/Lithuanian decent. After finishing his playing career in 1975, he later managed Celtic on two occasions (1978-83 and 1987-91, winning 4 League titles 3 Scottish Cups and a League cup).
"That night in Lisbon was the greatest ever of my career. It was a scorching hot day and they (Inter Milan) were strong favourites. But we stuck by our game plan and we came through in the end with a little to spare. After the final whistle my shirt disappeared never to be seen again as I tried to get through the hordes of travelling fans that had made the massive journey to Portugal. Many had made it over land by car and bus and anything else that was available. I suppose my shirt will probably end up in one of the many Celtic bars in Portugal or Spain. It will probably re-appear when my time is up. Next year, plans are already in place for a massive reunion. It will be a wee bit sad with the three boys missing. We have been getting together every now and again to catch up on each others well being. Jinky was very ill with MND (Motor Neurone Disease) for some time but kept on a brave face. He was a great character a lovely wee fella," said Billy.
Recently Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds, joined "Jinky" in releasing a CD in aid of Jimmy Johnstone Motor Neurone Disease tribute fund, which helps sufferers of the disease. It was a massive hit in Scotland. It reached number 28 in the UK charts. The CD covers the Ewan McCall classic" Dirty Old Town" as well as a two other commemorational tracks in his honour, after the news of his passing away.
When asked about the current European Cup format, which is now named, the Champions League. He said, "It still is a great competition and although each country has a champion, sometimes the second, third and fourth placed teams join them, it just increases the edge. It's all about money and in the near future I can see a European league starting up for the bigger clubs. It's great to see, in the current structure, smaller clubs gate-crashing the so called "big clubs" party. Teams like Villarreal, whom nobody heard of three years ago were the surprise package of this years competition. We were a bit like that when we won it all those years ago.
"Good players come and go, but great players like Jinky, Di Stefano, Jim Baxter and Kenny Dagleish were legends. They had it all, and it was an honour to be on the same field of play as them. We played against Di Stefano in his testimonial shortly after the victory in Lisbon. That was a great night with Jinky stealing the show against the might of Real Madrid in their famous Bernabeau Stadium," said Billy.
When put to Billy about the international scene, he said, "That Scotland was way behind as they are not producing quality players anymore. It is sad to see, unlike Ireland who seems to unearth players from nowhere. I think we should have an indepth look at this ‘granny rule' which Ireland puts to great use".
Billy McNeill is currently working for Celtic TV where he is one of the top analysts. He is also in very big demand for after-dinner speaking. He still resides in the Glasgow area with his wife Liz and family. Together with all of this, he travels around with the "Lisbon Lions". They (the lions) promoted the Jimmy Johnstone CD at their most recent function. That function was The Roy Keane Testimonial at Old Trafford, Manchester in May, which was a massive night and a sell-out. Like Billy, many Celtic fans will be hoping for a repeat of their assault on Europe in 2007, on the 40th Anniversary of their most famous triumph.
Michael Lawlor