It was a wonderful time to be a Celtic supporter. The league cup was already in the bag, thanks to a 1-0 win over Rangers, when the Scottish cup was won at Hampden on the 29th April with a 2-0 win over a good Aberdeen side. The domestic treble was completed on May the 6th at a rain soaked Ibrox when two goals from Jinky Johnstone earned Celtic the point they needed to clinch their second title in a row. It just could not get any better…or could it?
Jock McAulay, now 71 years young and a life - long Celtic fan, remembers with fondness the greatest period in Celtic's history.
“ At that time I was working in Lairds box factory over behind Dalmarnock road in Bridgeton. The wages were about twelve quid a week and with a family of three to feed the money didn't go very far. I always found enough though to go to watch the Celtic. After all the rubbish we had put up with in the fifties it was like being in heaven and I kept expecting the bubble to burst, but we just kept getting better and better. I thought we had peaked when we got that draw at Ibrox to win the league. For me that was the day we really became the dominant club in Glasgow. I worked beside a lot of Rangers supporters and they just couldn't handle it. Their thunder had been stolen and it was making them sick. I remember I was working overtime the day after the league was won at Ibrox and you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. In fact there was a bit of a rammy on the shop floor as one from each side lost the nut.”
Just before the league decider at Ibrox Celtic had clinched their place in the European cup final with a win over Dukla Prague in the semi – final. This, of course, had been preceded by fine wins over Zurich, Nantes and Vojvodina in the earlier rounds.
Charles McKewan, now resident in Canada, and 20 years old at the time, can still recall the excitement that started to build after that semi – final win.
“There was a real feeling of euphoria that we had cleared that final hurdle. Even though we had lost out narrowly to Liverpool the season before in the Cup - winners cup I just had this feeling that we were going to go all the way this time. I recall that we didn't really start planning on going to the final until we won that semi. The Liverpool experience had left us all a bit wary and it was just a case of wait and see.
“One of my friend's father had an old car, I can't even remember what make it was, and we decided this would be our mode of transport to Lisbon. None of the four of us had ever been abroad before. We all clubbed together and we got a mechanic to check over the car, and to be honest he wasn't too sure it would get us there and back but we were going and that was it! “
Every Celtic fan worth his salt wanted to be in Lisbon for the big game and the stories of how some raised the cash to get there are legend. So too are the tales of the various methods of travel actually used to get to the game. For most, though, it involved travelling by air for the first time and every available seat on chartered and scheduled flights was snapped up as soon as they became available.
The team had a good break before the final and a chance to rest weary limbs after a long, hard, season. This was ideal preparation ahead of the biggest challenge of them all. For once most of the Scottish media were really behind Celtic in their quest for the most glittering prize of all.
It was hard to resist, even for the most hard – bitten of sports journalists, the allure of the breathtaking football being displayed by Stein's team.The European cup had held an almost magical feeling about it for the people of Glasgow ever since Real Madrid had come to town in 1960 and put on a display that is recalled by many today as the greatest game ever played on British soil. So, it was incredibly tantalising to realise that here was a club from a relatively small country on the verge of emulating those great Spaniards who had dominated European football for five years.
Nevertheless, and despite all their fine performances throughout the season, Celtic would go to Lisbon as underdogs. For Charles McKewan and his friends the actual journey to Lisbon may have been long and arduous but when they finally arrived at their destination they certainly did not feel like they were there to make up the numbers.
“Wisely we had set out early in order to ensure that we could make up any lost time if we hit problems. We got to Lisbon the day before the game after traveling down through France and Spain and it was a relief to get there. Our old car had held out well and we didn't really meet too many problems on the way. We were knackered though by the time we got there after spending so much time cooped up in the car. Lisbon itself was a magical place and even though there was a lot of evident poverty it was a city full of warmth and charm. We set out to find the stadium and when we did it came as something of a shock. It was a queer horseshoe shape with trees growing along the open end. Compared to Celtic Park though it looked really good in the warm sunshine. There were Celtic fans about everywhere and a really good atmosphere building. I can hardly recall seeing any Inter fans in the build up to the game although they were evident when the game started. We were behind the goal were all the goals were scored into and had a great view of the game. Of course, our hearts sank when Inter scored but we were playing well and I always felt it was only a matter of time until we scored. Even though, given our great performance, we expected to win, the equaliser and winner still came as a mixed bag of elation and relief. My memory of the final whistle is just a blur as we all hugged and stared at each other in disbelief. Then we were off and on to the park in a vain attempt to get a hold of one of the team.”
The impossible had happened, of course, and Celtic had overcome their illustrious Italian opponents to take the new trophy back to Glasgow. Never mind San Francisco and the summer of love. Kerrydale street in the east – end of Glasgow was the best place to chill – out on the evening of Friday 26th of May 1967.The heroes were home and they had brought their prize with them. Jock McAulay was there to witness the victory parade.
“Celtic Park was packed to the rafters. We had walked the relatively short distance from our house at the lower end of Springfield rd up to the park. I had taken my son and daughter along as I knew this was a once – in - a - lifetime opportunity to witness a unique occasion. We had left in what I had thought had been plenty of time but as soon as we got near the park I knew we might have left it too late. We walked up the stairs and slope at the back of the old Celtic end and found every passage - way blocked. Somehow we managed to find our way in and I lifted my son onto my shoulders. A kindly fellow Celt lifted my three year old daughter on to his shoulders and then suddenly the crowd erupted as the team emerged from the tunnel and climbed aboard the lorry which would take them on their lap of honour. For me, it was the most satisfying moment in a life spent following Celtic in earnest since the late 1930's and a moment I will never forget.”
Celtic had taken Europe by storm in season 1966/67 and their achievement in bringing the European cup to Britain for the first time can never be underestimated.In the lean years of the 1990's there have been mutterings from within and outwith the club that the win in Lisbon has become a millstone around the neck of Celtic and that every Celtic team is unfairly compared to the Lions. Whilst it can be unproductive to be constantly harking back to what you have achieved in the past it is also important to remember that the history of the club is what makes it great. Without the history there would be nothing to follow and nothing worth supporting. The team that won in Lisbon is the greatest part of that history and we should rejoice in that fact.
Your author made the pilgrimage to the Estadio Nacional Lisbon in the summer of 1999 when I was on holiday in the Algarve. Much to my surprise it was the day of the Portuguese cup final and I managed to get a ticket for the game. Astonishingly the stadium seems to have changed very little from the 1960's. The recent addition of seats has not taken away any of the antiquated charm of the place and in essence it remains the same. I sat and watched, half interested, as two Portuguese sides slogged it out in the searing heat. In my mind though I was back in 1967 cheering on the Celts to their finest Achievement. I could almost imagine the weaving runs of Johnstone and Big Billy holding the most famous trophy in football above his sweat soaked head as the adoring throng looked on.
If you ever get the chance to go, then do it. For a Celtic fan it is the thrill of a lifetime to have stood were the Lisbon heroes strutted their stuff.
Charles McKewan and his band of happy travellers finally arrived back in Glasgow on the Sunday after the game.
“We hated missing the victory parade but that was more than made up for by the fact that we had been there. In the years to follow we dined out many times on the tale of our journey to Lisbon. Our old car went on for another few years and it was a sad day when it was finally carted off to the scrap - yard. For me, the greatest thing about Lisbon was the fact that ordinary guys had taken on the best and beat them. When I look back now I don't really think we realised just how great an achievement it was. Celtic should make sure those players are never forgotten.”