May 25, 1967: For the 1st time, a soccer team from Great Britain wins the highest trophy in Europe, the European Cup, the trophy given for the tournament of the same name from 1956 to 1992, and since then named the UEFA Champions League. But it's not a team in England.
The Celtic Football Club was founded on the East Side of Glasgow, Scotland in 1887 (though it says 1888 on their badge), to represent poor Irish Catholics in that city. Their rivalry with the West Side team Rangers F.C., a militantly Protestant team, is one of the most bitter in sports on planet Earth.
Rangers have won the top division of Scottish soccer, under its various names, more than any other team, a few times more than have Celtic. For winning more than 50 titles, they wear 5 stars above their crest. But Celtic have won the European Cup, and wear one star before their crest. Their fans say, "One star means more."
And in the 1966-67 season, they won more than just the Double, the League title and the Scottish Cup. They won more than just the Treble, those 2 and the Scottish League Cup. They won Europe's only Quadruple: Their country's national league, it's national cup, its league cup, and the European Cup.
Under the rules of the time, only a defending champion of a European national league, and the team that won the European Cup the season before (if they hadn't repeated as League Champions), qualified for the European Cup. Celtic qualified as 1965-66 Scottish league Champions.
In the 1st Round, consisting of 32 teams, they beat Swiss Champions FC Zurich, 2-0 at home, 2-0 and 3-0 away. In the 2nd Round, they beat French Champions FC Nantes, 3-1 away and then 3-1 at home. In the Quarterfinals, they played away to Yugoslav Champions FK Vojvodina, and lost 1-0; but came back to Celtic Park and beat them 2-0, to win 2-1 on aggregate. In the Semifinal, they faced Czech Champions Dukla Prague, beating them 3-1 at home, and gaining a 0-0 draw away.
For the Final, they would travel to the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal, and face Internazionale Milano, the Italian Champions, winners of the European Cup in 1964 and 1965. Manager Helenio Herrera could call upon such talents as right back Tarcisio Burgnich, left back Giacinto Facchetti, and the great central midfielder Sandro Mazzola.
Vying with Gianni Rivera of intracity (even intrastadium) A.C. Milan for the honor of the best Italian player of his generation, Mazzola was the son of Valentino Mazzola, a star for Torino F.C. of Turin in the 1940s, killed when most of the Torino team was wiped out in the Superga Air Disaster of 1949. That team was known as La Grande Torino. Now, Sandro was playing for the first team with the "Great" nickname since then: La Grande Inter.
But Celtic manager John "Jock" Stein -- and that's pronounced like the Scandinavian "Steen," even though it's spelled like the German/Jewish "Stine" -- knew he had the better team, and convinced them they were ready. It was truly a local team, with all of them having grown up within 30 miles of Glasgow:
* 1 Goalkeeper, Ronnie Simpson.
* 2 Right Back, Jim Craig.
* 3 Left Back, Tommy Gemmell.
* 4 Central Midfield, Bobby Murdoch.
* 5 Centreback and Captain, Billy McNeill.
* 6 Centreback, John Clark.
* 7 Right Wing, Jimmy "Jinky" Johnstone.
* 8 Centre Forward, Willie Wallace.
* 9 Centre Forward, Steve Chalmers.
* 10 Central Midfield, Bertie Auld.
* 11 Left Wing, Bobby Lennox.
Celtic were known as the "Hoops" because of their shirts, green and white horizontal stripes. Inter were known as the "Nerazzurri" because of their shirts, black and blue vertical stripes. Each team wore its usual uniform. A full house of 45,000 filled the National Stadium, and referee Kurt Tschenscher blew his whistle to start play at 5:30 PM local time -- which is also what it was in Glasgow, and in the rest of the British Isles. It was 6:30 in Milan, the rest of Italy, and most of Europe. It was 12:30 PM on the U.S. East Coast.
Inter were sharp at the opening. Mazzola nearly scored off a cross from Renato Cappellini in the 1st minute, then converted a penalty in the 7th minute after Craig fouled Cappellini in the box. Inter then switched to defensive mode, a mode known as catenaccio (meaning "padlock"), which had served them so well in the last few years.
Auld hit the crossbar with a shot, and goalkeeper Giuliani Sarti tipped a header from Johnstone over it. Sarti subsequently saved a free kick from Gemmell, who then hit the crossbar on the next shot. Although Celtic were in control for most of the 1st half, Inter were ahead, and it looked like Sarti would be Man of the Match and a legend.
In the 63rd minute, Gemmell fired from 25 yards out, and Sarti couldn't stop it. The game was tied, and the Hoops could feel the winning goal coming. Inter kept the catenaccio going, perhaps hoping for a lucky break. Instead, in the 84th minute, Murdoch took a shot. Sarti was ready for it. But it was deflected by Chalmers. Captain McNeill insisted that this play had been practiced. Sarti was not prepared for it, and Celtic were up, 2-1. Their defense held for the next 10 minutes, and they were Champions of Europe.
Celtic fans invaded the pitch, making it impossible to present the trophy there. A section of the stadium's stand was set aside for the presentation of the trophy. For the 1st 11 tournaments, the trophy presented was similar to that for the European Championship for national teams. This was the 1st time for the trophy that has become known as "Ol' Big Ears," and McNeill lifted it. A statue of him doing so now stands outside Celtic Park.
Football fans around the world admired La Grande Inter, but didn't like them, because catenaccio was considered boring. Celtic's win, based on attacking football, was considered a victory for fans. The Portuguese newspaper Mundo Desportivo (Sports World) wrote, "It was inevitable. Sooner or later the Inter of Herrera, the Inter of catenaccio, of negative football, of marginal victories, had to pay for their refusal to play entertaining football." Even Herrera agreed: "We can have no complaints. Celtic deserved their victory. We were beaten by Celtic's force. Although we lost, the match was a victory for sport."
Because of the location of the match and their refusal to give up, the '67 Celtic team quickly became known as the Lisbon Lions. Bill Shankly, manager of Liverpool and a fellow Scot, told Stein, "John, you're immortal now." Shankly was wrong: In 1985, managing the Scotland national team in a "Home Nations" tournament game against Wales, Stein suffered a heart attack and died. But Shankly was also right: Stein is the most admired manager in the history of Scottish football.
The question of who is the greatest soccer team in English history is hotly debated. Is it Manchester United's 1956 "Busby Babes," their 1968 team that was the 1st from England to win the European Cup, their 1999 team that remains the only English team to win a European Treble? Is it Liverpool's 1977 European Cup winners, their 1986 Double team, the 2005 Champions League winners? Is it Arsenal's 2004 team that went through the entire Premier League season unbeaten, the "Invincibles"? Is it Chelsea's 2005 team that won the League with the fewest goals allowed in history? Is it Manchester City's 2019 team that became the 1st team to win a domestic Treble?
The greatest soccer team in Scottish history is unquestionable. It is the 1967 Quadruple winners, the Lisbon Lions of Celtic.
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May 25, 1967 was a Thursday. Also on this day, the film A Guide for the Married Man premiered. Despite its appalling premise -- a man who would like to cheat on his wife gets advice from one who has -- my grandmother called this the funniest movie she'd ever seen. I didn't think it was all that funny.
Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. There were 5 games played in Major League Baseball:
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-0 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) Lou Brock and Curt Flood hit home runs. Hank Aaron did not: He went 1-for-4.
* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4. Pete Rose went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.
* And the Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Rod Carew hit a home run off Catfish Hunter. Harmon Killebrew did not, but did go 1-for-4.
