We did it by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football.
The Lisbon Lions is thenickname given to theCeltic team that won theEuropean Cup at theEstádio Nacional inLisbon,Portugal on 25 May1967,[3] defeatingInter Milan 2–1.
The name is likely due to the fact that the Lisbon-basedSporting football club's mascot is a lion, and the club wear green and white striped jerseys like Celtic.[4]
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 inSaltcoats, andTommy 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 "likethe Dutch speeded-up".[5]
In the stadium where his fatherValentino played his last match,[6]Sandro Mazzola opened the scoring for Inter with a 7th-minute penalty afterJim Craig had brought downRenato Cappellini. The Italians then retreated into their famous 11-man defence. Inter did not win a single corner and forced Celtic goalkeeperRonnie 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 goalkeeperGiuliano 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 forTommy Gemmell to fire home for the Celtic equaliser. With 83 minutes on the clock, Gemmell was allowed space, and he played the ball toBobby Murdoch, whose long-range shot was deflected byStevie 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. Having already triumphed in theScottish top flight,Scottish Cup, andScottish League Cup, the Lisbon Lions became the first winners of the EuropeanTreble and remain the only winners of the fabled Quadruple.[7][8] Celtic are also one of just three European clubs to have wonfive trophies in a single season, thanks to theirGlasgow Cup triumph overPartick Thistle. They reached the European Cup final again in1970 but were beaten 2–1 byFeyenoord afterextra time in theSan Siro Stadium inMilan.
| 1966–67 European Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Round | Celtic scorers | |
| 28 September 1966 | Celtic Park,Glasgow (H) | FC Zürich | 2–0 | First round, 1st leg | Gemmell,McBride | |
| 5 October 1966 | Letzigrund,Zürich (A) | FC Zürich | 3–0 | First round, 2nd leg | Gemmell (2, 1pen.),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 | |
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 wereCharlie Gallagher,John Hughes,Joe McBride andWillie O'Neill.