The Lisbon Lions is the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the

Estádio Nacional The Estádio Nacional (English: National Stadium), also known as National Stadium Sports Complex ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Estádio Nacional) and as ''Jamor Sports Complex'' ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Jamor), is a national football stadium ...

in Lisbon,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 25 May

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, defeating

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

2–1. The name is likely due to the fact that the Lisbon-based Sporting football club's mascot is a lion, and the club wear green and white striped jerseys like Celtic. All but two members of the 15 man squad were born within 10 miles of Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland (

Bobby Lennox Robert Lennox, MBE (born 30 August 1943, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for Celtic and was a member of their 1967 European Cup-winning team, known as the Lisbon Lions. He earned ten internation ...

, who was born 30 miles away in Saltcoats, and

Tommy Gemmell Thomas Gemmell (16 October 1943 – 2 March 2017) was a Scottish football player and manager. Although right-footed, he excelled as a left-sided fullback and had powerful shooting ability. Gemmell is best known as one of the Celtic side who w ...

, who was born in Motherwell 11 miles away). Celtic's style was the antithesis of the cynical, but highly effective, against the defensive style of Inter.

Jimmy Johnstone James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years, and was part of the 'Lisbon ...

described the team's style as "like the Dutch speeded-up". In the stadium where his father Valentino played his last match,

Sandro Mazzola Alessandro "Sandro" Mazzola (; born 8 November 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a forward or attacking midfielder for Internazionale and the Italy national team. He currently works as a football analyst and co ...

opened the scoring for Inter with a 7th-minute penalty after Jim Craig had brought down

Renato Cappellini Renato Cappellini (; born 9 October 1943) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. Honours ;Internazionale * Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professiona ...

. The Italians then retreated into their famous 11-man defence. Inter did not win a single corner and forced Celtic goalkeeper

Ronnie Simpson Ronald Campbell Simpson (11 October 1930 – 19 April 2004) was a Scottish football player and coach. He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, where he was the goalkeeper in the ''Lisbon Lions'' team that won the European Cup in 1967. ...

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 goalkeeper

Giuliano Sarti Giuliano Sarti (; 2 October 1933 – 5 June 2017) was an Italian professional football player, who played in the position of goalkeeper. Throughout his successful career, he played for several Italian clubs, although he is mostly remembered for h ...

, 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 for

to fire home for the Celtic equaliser. With 83 minutes on the clock, Gemmell was allowed space, and he played the ball to

Bobby Murdoch Robert White Murdoch (17 August 1944 – 15 May 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland. Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 1967. He later ...

, whose long-range shot was deflected by Stevie Chalmers past Sarti into the net. Celtic - trophys

Celtic were the first British club to win the European Cup, and still the only Scottish club to have reached the final. Celtic are one of only three clubs to have won five trophies in a single season. They reached the final again in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

but were beaten 2–1 by

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

after extra time in the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

Stadium in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Celtic's results in the 1966–67 European Cup

Celtic team in the final

# Jim Craig #

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...

(captain) # John Clark #

Willie Wallace William Semple Brown Wallace (born 23 June 1940) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He won the European Cup with Celtic in 1967 along with several domestic honours. His other clubs included Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers, Heart ...

# Stevie Chalmers #

Bertie Auld Robert Auld (23 March 1938 – 14 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was a member of Celtic's Lisbon Lions, who won the 1967 European Cup Final. As a player, he made more than 200 appearances in the Scottish League f ...

# John Fallon (substitute goalkeeper, not used) *

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

(Manager) * Sean Fallon (Assistant Manager) * Neil Mochan (Trainer) 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 were Charlie Gallagher, John Hughes, Joe McBride and Willie O'Neill.

References

External links

Local Heroes: The story of the Lisbon Lions
by Chris Hunt, published in FourFourTwo magazine, June 2007
Year of Triumph
a scanned-in commemorative magazine from 1967.

in Norwegian.

from the Guardian, 1967.
Celtic 67
more recent picture of two of the Lisbon Lions.
Football's Greatest Teams - Celtic
{{Scottish Football Hall of Fame Celtic F.C. Nicknamed groups of association football players 1966–67 in Scottish football Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees 1966–67 European Cup

Celtic's results in the 1966–67 European Cup

Celtic team in the final

See also

References

External links