AMERICA proved to the the perfect launch pad for Celtic’s spectacular 1966/67 season when Jock Stein’s all-conquering heroes achieved unparalled success.
Billy McNeill and Co were unstoppable as they blitzed the opposition home and abroad to win EVERY tournament in which they competed.
The domestic treble was won in swashbuckling style before Big Jock’s juggernaut brought down the curtain on a glorious crusade with the historic European Cup triumph in Lisbon on May 25 1967.
The Hoops even threw in the Glasgow Cup for good measure!
In another CQN EXCLUSIVE, author Alex Gordon rolls back the years with an extract from his best-selling tribute book, ‘That Season in Paradise‘, which was published by CQN in 2016.
Please enjoy Part Five of your walk down memory lane!
CELTIC returned to San Francisco on June 8 to take on Bayern Munich only four days after a side consisting of legendary players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Sepp Maier had won the German Cup.
It ended in a 2-2 stalemate, but the game was held up for seven minutes after another astonishing incident.Tommy Gemmell recalled: “They had a full-back by the name of Adolph Kuntswald and he must have had some sort of death wish.
“He had been kicking Stevie Chalmers for most of the game and I could see our boy was getting a little fed up with the treatment. Just for good measure, the Bayern player delivered a punch straight to Stevie’s jaw.
“Someone had just lit the touch paper; Stevie, a fairly mild-mannered bloke, just lost the plot.
“It was like something out of the Keystone Kops as our player chased the German around the pitch. Herr Kuntswald looked horrified when he realised he had overstepped the mark just a bit.
SMILES BETTER…Stevie Chalmers wasn’t so happy in San Francisco.
“Before he could take to his heels, Stevie smacked him one in the eye, but obviously wasn’t quite content with that.
“He sought more retribution and the 12,000 fans were given some extra entertainment for their four dollars. That was amusing enough, but at one stage a fan raced onto the pitch to try to pull Stevie off the Bayern player so he could get a couple of punches in himself!
“Thankfully, peace was restored and the game came to a conclusion without any more fisticuffs.”
Celtic, in fact, had to come back from two goals down to salvage a draw at the Kezar Stadium. Rainer Olhauser scored the opener with a blistering shot behind John Fallon in the 22nd and he added a second in the 67th minute.
Back came Celtic, though, with their never-say-die spirit and Bobby Lennox netted in the 75th minute and Joe McBride levelled eight minutes from time.
*TOMORROW: Don’t miss the sixth and concluding EXCLUSIVE instalment of The Great American Dream 66 – only in your champion CQN.
