European Cup, 1966-1967

Celtic's manager Jock Stein brought the club unequalled successes. They won nine
league championships in a row, still a Celtic record, and reached the Scottish Cup
final nine years out of ten during that period. They were so dominant in the Scottish
league that they even dominated Rangers, who were themselves a force in Europe at
the same time.

There were dismissive remarks South of the border that the Scottish league was not a
real test of a team's quality, but these sort of snide comments were silenced on this
evening when Celtic became the first team in Britain to win the European Cup.

In the final they met the architects of classical defensive minded football - Inter Milan
who won the European Cup in 1964 and 1965 because of their sterile catenaccio
(Italian for a chain bolt) system, which rendered most European attacks useless.
They built up a fortress around their goal, defended, and relied on three very quick
forwards to catch teams out on the counter attack.

Celtic's style was nearly the exact opposite, geared for flair and adventure.
Goalkeeper was Ronnie Simpson, who had won two FA Cups with Newcastle in the
1950's but was still at the peak of his career at the age of 36. Jim Craig, captain Billy
McNeill, John Clarke and Tommy Gemmell made up a back four who were
encouraged to come forward whenever possible. The two midfielders responsible for
supplying the attackers were Bertie Auld and Bobbie Murdoch. The four man attack
was a goal machine made up of Jimmy Johnsone on the right wing who could destroy
defences with his skill and speed. Bobby Lennox was on the left wing, supplying
passes to the two strikers Willie Wallace and Steve Chalmers.

The match was set to be a meeting between a backward and sterile defensive
system, against a attacking, do-or-die flair system.

Celtic: Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Wallace,
Chalmers, Auld, Lennox.
Inter Milan: Sarti, Burgnich, Fachetti, Bedin, Guarneri, Picchi, Domenghini, Bicicli,
Mazzola, Cappellini, Corso.

The Inter tactics was a tried and tested formula: to get a quick goal and then sit back
and survuve a bombardment of their goal for the remaining eighty minutes of the
match. They attacked the Celtic goal in a cavalier attitude early on, culminating in a
seventh minute attack which gave Inter the lead. Mazzola put Corso clear on the left,>br> who released the ball to Cappellini. He was about to shoot when a crunching tackle
from Jim Craig came in, shich conceded a penalty. The penalty was put away by
Mazzola.

As expected Inter withdrew to the 18-yard line to defend their goal, leaving only two
people forward. This gave Celtic the opportunity to attack. They moved full backs
Craig and Gemmell forward as wingers as Celtic bagan to put the Inter goal under
pressure. Goalkeeper Sarti made a string of excellent saves, and when shots beat
him the woodwork came to his rescue as Auld and then Gemmell hit shots against
the bar. Many teams would have given up with so many chances going amiss but
McNeill kept urging his players on with a clenched fist.

After an hour of sustained attack, Celtic were finally rewarded with a goal set up by
the man who conceded the penalty: Jim Craig. He brought the ball forward along the
right hand side of the pitch, and spotted Gemmell running through on the other side of
the pitch. They had marked everyone in a Celtic shirt, but had failed to pick up
Gemmell as he had come from deep. Gemmell picked up the ball and sent a shot
flying past Sarti into the net from 20 yards.

Inter tried to attack again, but had defended for the previous sixty minutes and were
not able to change the pattern of their play. Celtic were now the team holding all of
the cards, and it was them who got the winning goal after a further attack on the Inter
goal six minutes from time.

Gemmell came sprinting along the left touchline, and the Italians were caught in two
minds over whether to mark his teammates or stop Gemmell's path to goal in case he
took another pot shot. Unsure of which to do, they gave too much room to Bobby
Murdoch, who recieved a pass from Gemmell and unleashed a shot. The diving Sarti
looked to have the ball covered, but before the ball got there Steve Chalmers deflected
the ball out of his reach for a winning goal that won them the biggest prize in
European club football.

Winning Goal

After the final whistle thousands of Celtic fans came pouring onto the pitch to
embrace their heroes. Jock Stein waited worried in the dressing room to count all his
players in. Liverpool manager Bill Shankly came in to congratulate Stein and all the
players on the win.

Jock Stein: "There is not a prouder man on God's Earth than me at this moment.
Winning was important, aye, but it was the way that we have 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. Inter played right into our hands; it's so sad
to see such gifted players shackled by a system that restricts their freedom to think
and to act. Our fans would never accept that sort of sterile approach. Our objective is
always to try to win with style."

Helenio Herrera: (Inter manager) "I take my hat off to Celtic. They deserved to win.
Their performance was one of courage and daring. The European Cup is in good
hands."

Tommy Gemmell: "What you saw today was a victory for the game of football. We
don't hold with namby-pamby tactics. Our objective is to get the ball into the back of
the net. The game is about scoring goals rather than stopping them."

Bobby Murdoch: Jock Stein got us in the mood for the match by showing us film of
the 1960 European Cup final in which Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3. The
difference between that game and this one is that two teams wanted to play open,
attacking football. Inter did not want to play after their early goal. They just wanted to
spoil and to try to cling onto their lead. With that sort of attitude they didn't deserve to
win."

Ronnie Simpson: "I can't remember when I had a quieter match. The way Inter
opened up I thought we were going to have our hands full. They've got some smashing
footballers but they are not encouraged to express themselves. They are in reverse
gear all the time. This is the thrill of a lifetime for me. If you had told me when I was
playing in Newcastle back in the fifties that more than ten years later I would be in the
first British team to win the European Cup, I would have thought you were off your
rocker."

Bill Shankly: "This is one of the proudest nights in the history of British football.
They should knight Jock Stein here and now. No, a Knighthood is not enough, it's got
to be Lord Stein of Parkhead. It would have been a bloody disgrace if Inter Milan had
won that match. Aye, a disgrace. There was only one team playing to win and that
team got its just reward. Did you see Billy McNeill with the trophy? It was as if it had
been made for the big feller. I think he'll be taking it to bed with him tonight, he's that
proud of it."

Billy McNeill: "There was no greater or prouder moment in my life than when I
became the first British skipper to lift the European Cup. We knew exactly what we
had to do to beat the Italians and we went out and did it. Lesser teams would have
been demoralised by Milan's early goal, but it just made us more determined. There
was no way we were going to go home to Glasgow without that Cup. Our supporters
were just unbelievable. To hear them you would have thought you were back home
playing in Glasgow. They made all the difference. There was no way we were going to
let them down."

Mr John Johnston: (Lord Provost of Glasgow) "Like the rest of the city I am
delighted. Celtic, the first British and non-Latin team to win the European Cup, have
put Glasgow on the world map."

Sir Alf Ramsey: (England coach) "I got the impression that Celtic completely
outclassed Inter. Celtic had more determination, speed, stamina, and enthusiasm.
The England players were delighted. So was I"

Scot Symon: (Rangers manager) "This was a tremendous performance from Celtic. A
wonderful achievement and a great climax to a tremendous season. The victory
speaks very highly of the whole Celtic club, from the directors and Jock Stein to the
players. Words just cannot express this achievement after such a wonderful season.
This win is a fitting climax."

Sir Stanley Rous: (President of FIFA) "I am sure Scotsmen all over the world are
very happy that Celtic won and won so cleverly. My congratulations to them all".

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