On 25 May 1967 Inter were the most formidable team in history

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Inter were an incredible side.  They were top of the Italian league and aiming for their fourth title win in five seasons.  The one time they lost was after a play-off.  The European Cup had become as much their domain as the Italian title.  Having won it in 1964 and 1965, they lost the previous season’s semi-final in controversial manner to Real Madrid after some debatable refereeing.  Reigning champions, Real, would suffer retribution, losing home and away to Inter in the ’67 quarter final. No team in European history had been so dominant.  Real won five European Cups in a row but could not combine that with the kind of domestic domination this Inter team enjoyed.

On the morning on 25 May 1967 they were truly the most formidable team in history.

The game has to be seen to be believed.   We won the European Cup, you know that, but HOW we won it is the most startling thing.  I was a teenager when the first ‘video recorded’ arrived in the house.  Soon thereafter a copy of The Celtic Story was purchased.  I knew the legend but nothing prepared me for the onslaught, I’d never seen a football team destroy opponents in this way.

A CQN’er kindly prepared the stats for us:

Total shots – Celtic 45, Inter 3
Shots on target – Celtic 16, Inter 3
Shots off target – Celtic 29 (3 against the woodwork), Inter 0
Possession – Celtic 64%, Inter 36%
Crosses into opponents box – Celtic 40, Inter 4
Corners – Celtic 10, Inter 0
Successful passes – Celtic 310, Inter 224
Misplaced passes – Celtic 49, Inter 79
Passbacks to goalkeeper – Celtic 7, Inter 20
Fouls Committed – Celtic 19, Inter 21
Offsides – Celtic 5, Inter 1

No prizes for guessing the top two passers, Bobby Murdoch (60) and Bertie Auld (51) but it surprised me that John Clark and Jim Craig came joint third with 43 each, considerably higher than Tommy Gemmell (27), next on the list.

Someone suggested to me that the European Champions tournament had been devalued by a team winning by ‘parking the bus’ in front of their own goal.  I disagree.  This is football, spoiling has always been part of the game and the Champions Final is not always pretty, which makes the special times all the more special.

Someone lifts that cup every year, but few have done so with such devastating style as the Lisbon Lions.

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  1. BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 25 May, 2012 at

     

     

    His bitterness has consumed him and he by his own actions has condemned himself to a very sad and lonely future, imagine walking up every morning knowing you have sold your soul..

     

     

    Say a prayer for him it’s the greatest gift you could give him..

  2. I know that on a day like today we shouldn’t make reference to the hun but on the way to work I heard that Hinge and Bracket have said that creditors will receive news of their CVA proposal either this afternoon or Monday at the latest.

     

     

    Should we be concerned about this?

  3. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    And now I can her the grass grow by The Move in chart position No. 13 ..unlucky for some .. will it be for Celtic FC tonight ?

     

     

    See the people all in line, what’s making them look at me?

     

    I can’t imagine that their minds are thinking the same like me

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

     

     

    My head’s attracted to a magnetic wave of sound

     

    With a stream of coloured circles making their way around

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

     

     

    Can’t seem to puzzle out the signs

     

    My senses form a micro-line

     

    So get a hold of yourself, now baby

     

    You see I need you to help, now baby

     

    Get a hold of yourself, now baby

     

     

    Put your head down to the ground and listen to your mind

     

    If you can’t spell what you find I’ll know that you’re not my kind

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

     

     

    Can’t seem to puzzle out the signs

     

    My senses form a micro-line

     

    So get a hold of yourself, now baby

     

    You see I need you to help, now baby

     

    Get a hold of yourself, now baby

     

     

    See the people all in line, what’s making them look at me?

     

    I can’t imagine that their minds are thinking the same like me

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

     

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

     

    I can hear the grass grow, I can hear the grass grow

     

    I see rainbows in the evening

  4. Personification poetry…

     

     

    ……and as the players emerged from the tunnel, the grass waved like thousands of Celtic supporters on a terrace in Lisbon……

     

     

    No’ bad for an 11 year old!!

  5. I remember the video that came out and 92 and the guy who at Lisbon Airport after the game met Herrera and asked him to sign his programme, which he did and got the Inter team to do the same. Back home he got all the Lions to do the same.

     

     

    How much must that be worth now????

  6. Tamlaghtduff Bhoy on

    Who knows the words to the GB’s ‘champions of 67’ song? Dont know the words and im in the mood to sing it aloud, so I can impress myself.

     

    And what do we think of the new paddy mccourt tune? Think its a quality wee tune meself!

  7. SmashingMilkBottles on

    21.05.1979 Ten men won The League (tra-la-la-la-la)

     

    25.05.1967 European Champions and domestic sweep

     

     

    Can’t wait for the start of next season and then to see us win in May 2013

     

     

    Forca Barca tonight. Pep’s last game

  8. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    STARRY PLOUGH 1133

     

     

    You are clearly a better man than I.

     

     

    The only gift I could offer him which he might find useful is one of those trick fairground mirrors.

     

     

    It-like many proper mirrors-might work in two ways.

     

     

    1-It will make him look younger and thinner.

     

     

    2-It might remind him of who he once was.

  9. “In the heat of Lisbon, the fans came in their thousands.

     

    To see the Bhoys become Champions, 67”

  10. thomthethim CQN (genuine) Badge Wearer on

    RobertTressell on 25 May, 2012 at 11:23 said:

     

    wonkyradar on 25 May, 2012 at 11:15 said:

     

    Marrakesh Express on 25 May, 2012 at 09:46 said:

     

     

    I went to every home game and it wasnt untill we saw off Vojvodina (who were very good) that we felt that something big could be happening…

     

     

    =======================

     

    Went to see the play ‘The Road to Lison’ a few years back. In it the characters agreed that the best team we played on the way to the final were Vojvodina. They said if we hadn’t beaten them that there was every chance Vojvodina would have gone on to the final.

     

     

    Is that a true reflection of how the support felt at the time?

     

     

    share on F’book or Twitter

     

     

     

    **************

     

     

    Vojvodina certainly were the best team we had met and I was dreading the thought of a play off.

     

     

    They were very good tactically and skill wise .

     

     

    We made heavy weather of the first half and my brother, who came up from London for the game, bemoaned, at half time, his wasted journey.

     

     

    At full time, he announced that he was going to Lisbon.

     

     

    There was a feeling that after Billy’s winner, the team had moved up a level and the semi held no fear for us.

     

     

    Vojvodina were a very good team and we had to dig deeper than we had ever had to dig before.

  11. eric_olthwaite on

    Amazing stats from an era when people never did stats,Paul.

     

     

    It really was 2 – 1 going on 5 – 1.Jinky was my favourite player as a child but only a an adult I did appreciate the guile and finesse of Bobby Murdoch and Bertie Auld.

     

     

    Jim Craig and Tommy Gemmell were the original maurauding full backs with Big Tam having the piledriver shot as an extra option against packed defences.

     

     

    Although Real Madrid were the Artistes of this era,Inter’s cynical anti-football had prevailed in recent years.Not a lot different to the present Champions League winners compared to modern day Barca.

     

     

    The sight of Chelsea’s over paid substitutes not moving aside to let the captain,Frank Lampard,raise the cup for all to see,says it all for me.The only good thing about this was that we couldn’t see Mr.Terry,who stripped into his kit faster than Clark Kent,lifting the cup with him.Yuk!

     

     

    Compare this with the iconic scene of Billy McNeil lofting the European Cup,straight armed in triumph like a Roman Emperor himself.There’s the captain,there’s the cup,there’s the sunshine.Hail Ceasar!

     

     

    Happy anniversary to the Lions of Lisbon.

  12. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    and after all that psychedelic mind blowing music back to earth with the NEW VAUDEVILLE BAND and Finchley Central … which must surely go down as one of the greatest tunes of this century …. it just makes you happy to be alive

     

     

     

    Finchley Central is two and sixpence

     

    From Golders Green on the Northern Line

     

    And on the platform, by the kiosk

     

    That’s where you said you’d be mine

     

     

    There we made a date

     

    For hours I waited

     

    But I’m blowed, you never showed

     

     

    At Finchley Central, ten long stations

     

    From Golders Green, change at Camden Town

     

    I thought I’d made you, but I’m afraid you

     

    Really let me down

     

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvMYHbN5baw

  13. hamiltontim 11:33

     

     

    They have to give the creditors 2 weeks notice which would make the first possible meeting 08th of June. That is Eight full days of players wages they cannot pay.

     

     

    They are dead and buried, merely going through the motions…

  14. Don’t forget the 28 day cooling off period… More money straight down the dunny!

  15. Marrakesh Express on

    awe naw.

     

     

    Mammas and papas

     

     

    Dont know if anyone ever saw a documentary about Argentinian football, about 20 years ago. It was made by Argentine TV and was subtitle translated. There was a fascinating part in it where they cover the Racing Club v Celtic World Club Championship in 67. The subtitle went something close to this…’Glasgow Celtic came to Buenes Aries with a one goal lead. Now we had the chance to get revenge over the British bulldog after alf Ramsay shamed our nation in 66 by calling us animals. Antonio Rattin may have crushed the Union jack but in Montevideo we finally rammed it down their throats’

     

    …..eh? Heavy stuff from the Argies but the show’s producer obviously dogged he history classes. Now we know why they kicked us off the park! There was no way Celtic could have won the tie. We’d never have got out of South America alive. Even the equalising header from Artime in the second leg was 4 yards offside. The treatment of Jinky had to be seen to be believed. Robert Kelly called it correct in my opinion, when he wanted to take the team home after that game. Simpson being felled by a missile pre-match should have told them what was to come. My greatest all-time hero is Jock Stein but I’m afraid the big man called it wrong by talking Kelly into playing the third match. Man Utd, Feyenoord, Ajax and AC Milan all suffered the same treatment but none as bad as us.

     

     

    hh

  16. BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 25 May, 2012 at 11:41 said:

     

     

    In such situations I just think what would Jesus Johnstone do!!

     

     

    Hail Hail..

  17. How funny would it be if HMRC or Ticketus agreed to the CVA then changed their mind on the 28th day?

  18. I note that D&P are considering appealing the transfer embargo through the courts rather than via the court of arbitration of sport.

     

     

    This is a very risky manouevre as far as I’m concerned. Not because of the UEFA/FIFA stance on football bringing the courts into, although that is important.

     

     

    It’s risky because the panel already said it gave serious consideration to expelling Rangers altogether. If D&P appeal and the appeal is successful on the basis that the sanction was not listed in the array of punishments available, then it leaves the panel with little choice but to expel them. The basis being that while it’s severe, it’s the most appropriate punishment available from the listed sanctions.

     

     

    It’s for that reason that I think D&P won’t bother.

  19. Tamlaghtduff Bhoy on

    Cheers hamiltontim. Cant believe I didnt know that tune. I thought there were verses and chorus to it. A great wee tune tho!

     

    All hail the lions

  20. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    And from The Move to the sensational Warm Moves with Birds and the Bees … What could they be singing about I wonder ….

     

     

    There you are in the corner

     

    No it’s no use, you hiding from me

     

    Cause I know that you want me

     

    It’s easily plain to see

     

     

    What’s the difference

     

    You’re sitting on the cold hard floor

     

    So I wish you’d decide to come here by my side

     

    For a kiss and a cuddle with me

     

     

    Don’t be affraid, come with me please

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

     

    Don’t be affraid, come with me please

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

     

     

    Sorry dear, I can see you

     

    By the twinkle that shines in your eyes

     

    No I don’t think it’s starlight

     

    It’s your passion for me that I spy

     

     

    Please remember

     

    My words are not the same old lies

     

    When I asked you to late in the heat and the haze

     

    By my side on this beautiful day

     

     

    Look at the sky, look at the trees

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

     

    Look at the sky, look at the trees

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

     

     

    Please remember

     

    My words are not the same old lies

     

    When I asked you to laze in the heat and the haze

     

    By my side on this beautiful day

     

     

    Look at the sky, look at the trees

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

     

    Look at the sky, look at the trees

     

    That’s all there is to the birds and the bees

  21. Tamlaghtduff Bhoy

     

     

    In the heat of Lisbon…The fans came in their thousands…To see the bhoys become. CHAMPIOOOONNNS 67!!

  22. 'crushed nuts?' 'Naw, Layringitis!' on

    A woman says to her husband ‘we’ve never discussed whether you want to be buried or cremated when you die’

     

    the man replies ‘Surprise me!’

  23. There was a playful arrogance, a swagger, a bold confidence to the Lions- particularly that day- but you just had a sense they were never going to lose that game. Like Paul said in his article, placing the game in the context of European football history, Celtic’s victory is so very famous because it is epoch defining. Stein had found the formula for demolishing the seemingly impregnable Catenaccio style of Herrera: it was the immortal moment when romantics everywhere felt a sense of triumph. It wasn’t only that they had beaten such a great side but the manner in which they did it, upholding the highest ideals of Big Jock’s vision of the game: swashbuckling, cavalier, an audacious expressiveness, a flamboyance & a swaggering style of free football conquered the rigid, limiting, suffocating ultra-defensiveness of Inter’s “bolt-door” style- effectively destroying the awed mythology of Inter’s perceived invincibility. It was a celebration of light over darkness: Inter had held football hostage to its restricting tactics & now Celtic had liberated it from captivity.

     

     

    “…I’ve never seen a team on the attack as much as this Celtic team…”

  24. 25th MAY

     

    Zurich fell in Switzerland,

     

    They fell in Glasgow too,

     

    Then the French went down three one each

     

    time,

     

    And bid the Cup adieu.

     

    The ‘slavs won at home but went down two

     

    one,

     

    And the Czech’s were sent their way,

     

    And the Celts were bound for Lisbon town,

     

    On the 25th of May.

     

    Twelve Thousand loyal Celtic fans,

     

    In bus and train and car,

     

    Traveled Eighteen Hundred miles to see,

     

    The greatest team by far.

     

    They came to cheer on the boys in green,

     

    And help them win the day,

     

    And beat Inter Milan in Lisbon Town,

     

    On the 25th of May.

     

    The game was only eight minutes gone,

     

    When Inter Milan they scored,

     

    If they tried from then to hard my bhoys,

     

    They couldn’t have scored one more.

     

    And when half time came with the score the

     

    same,

     

    The Celts did not dismay,

     

    They would win the top in Lisbon Town,

     

    On the 25th of May.

     

    A goal must come and come it did,

     

    And Gemmell was our man,

     

    Then Chalmers scored and the Celtic roar,

     

    Was heard by gay Milan.

     

    There’s been battles won by our Celtic

     

    Son’s,

     

    But they showed the world the way,

     

    When they beat Milan in Lisbon Town,

     

    On the 25th of May.

     

    So here’s to Simpson, Clark and Craig,

     

    To Johnstone and McNeill,

     

    To Chalmers, Wallace and Lennox, Auld,

     

    For they refused to yield.

     

    And here’s to Murdoch and Gemmell too,

     

    To Stein who showed the way,

     

    To the greatest team who showed the

     

    world,

     

    On the 25th of May.

     

    On the 25th of May.

  25. Honest Mistake @ 11.07 — yep, still in SW4 & working in W8 (if you can call this “work”). Students all in exams this morning so free to indulge in CQN for a wee change! I’d love to meet up altho’ I’m away next week in Rome avoiding the Royal nonsense and, at the end of June, in East Africa where I hope, thanks to P67, to meet the Kibera Celts. So, maybe June 8th or soon thereafter? HH.

  26. !!Bada Bing!! on

    If you had to pick a Man of the Match from Lisbon,it would probably be Sarti the Inter GK.Could have been 7 or 8.

  27. Mountain_Bhoy is Neil Lennon on

    when are all those European teams going to kick up a stramash about all those illegible orc players for the last 11 years?