Lisbon Lions
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Lisbon Lions is the
nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
given to the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
team that won the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
at the
Estádio Nacional The Estádio Nacional ', also known as Jamor National Sports Centre (), is a football stadium. It is located in the civil parish of Algés, Linda-a-Velha e Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, in the municipality of Oeiras, in the southwestern part of Lisb ...
in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
on 25 May
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, 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 Association football, football List of football ...
2–1.


Name

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.


Event

All but two members of the 15 man squad were born within 10 miles of Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland ( Bobby Lennox, who was born 30 miles away in
Saltcoats Saltcoats (; Scots: ''Saulcuts'') is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages ...
, 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 – defensive style of Inter. Jimmy Johnstone 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 association football, footballer, who played as a forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Inter Milan, Internazionale and the Ita ...
opened the scoring for Inter with a 7th-minute penalty after Jim Craig had brought down Renato Cappellini. The Italians then retreated into their famous 11-man defence. Inter did not win a single corner and forced Celtic goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson 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, 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
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 ...
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 as a midfielder for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland. Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 19 ...
, whose long-range shot was deflected by
Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is cons ...
past Sarti into the net. Celtic were the first British club to win the European Cup, and still the only Scottish club to have reached the final. Having already triumphed in the Scottish top flight,
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
, the Lisbon Lions became the first winners of the European Treble and remain the only winners of the fabled Quadruple. Celtic are also one of just three European clubs to have won five trophies in a single season, thanks to their
Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...
triumph over
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
. They reached the European Cup final again in
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
but were beaten 2–1 by
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
after
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
in the
San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...
Stadium in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
.


Celtic's results in the 1966–67 European Cup


Celtic team in the final

# Ronnie Simpson # Jim Craig #
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 ...
#
Bobby Murdoch Robert White Murdoch (17 August 1944 – 15 May 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as a midfielder for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland. Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 19 ...
#
Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...
(captain) # John Clark # Jimmy Johnstone # Willie Wallace #
Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is cons ...
# Bertie Auld # Bobby Lennox # John Fallon (substitute goalkeeper, not used) *
Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...
(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 John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...
, Joe McBride and Willie O'Neill.


Awards

* BBC Sports Team of the Year: :: 1967 * SPFA Special Merit Award: :: 1992 (awarded to ''Lisbon Lions'') *
Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden P ...
: :: 2017 (''Lisbon Lions'' inducted) * The Loving Cup (Lord Provost's Awards): :: 2017 (the 50th anniversary)


References


External links


Local Heroes: The story of the Lisbon Lions
by
Chris Hunt Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author. Hunt has worked in journalism for over thirty years, most often writing about football or rock music. He was editor of ''Match'' from 1993 to 2001, a period that saw the weekl ...
, published in
FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...
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