In the November of 1963, three Scottish coaches and a journalist, (who later became leader of the Scottish parliament) set off for Italy to visit one of the foremost coaches of the game in his natural habitat. The aim was to learn from the continentals the secrets that were missing and take them back to Scotland. Quite what Helenio Herrera would have made of it had you told him then that the energetic, enthusiastic student of the game, he had christened as ‘the Big Ant’, the manager of Dunfermline Athletic, would within four years be the coach that denied him his third European Cup, is anyone’s guess. If you told him, he did it in his first go at the competition with a team of boys from within a 30-mile radius of Glasgow, then despite his fluency in numerous languages and his loquacious tendencies, it’s doubtful even he could come up with the words.

Instead, it is best perhaps left to Bill Shankly, who summed up Jock Stein and Celtic’s achievement in the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon with these four: ‘John, you’re immortal now.’

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The field for the 1966/67 tournament featured one notable addition. Since its establishment, the European Cup had illustrated the ability of football to cross barriers. Despite a period of divergent political regimes across the continent, the ‘66 final had seen a team from Fascist Spain play Socialist Yugoslavia in bureaucratic Belgium. Still, there was a Big Bear, lurking in the East behind the curtain, the final frontier of European football. In the previous season, Dynamo Kyiv had played in the Cup Winner’s Cup, a tournament they would win twice in future decades. 66/67 saw the Soviet Union league champions enter the European Cup for the first time; Torpedo Moscow would face Inter Milan.

Soviet football had been de rigueur across the continent in the 1940s with the famous tour of Dynamo Moscow in Britain, yet time had passed and as the English had shown, making up for lost ground was difficult. Still, Torpedo gave Inter a good game with only a 1-0 win in Milan separating the sides across the two legs. The matches were attritional affairs and Inter did little to win new friends beyond the Iron Curtain.

Inter stayed in the East for the next round as they drew Vasas. The Hungarians had won their league with a 100% record (26-0) and carried that into Europe, destroying Sporting Lisbon 7-0 over two games in the first round. Vasas had been semi-finalists in 1958 and they pushed Inter close at the San Siro. It took a trademark free-kick from Corso, five minutes from time, to give Inter a slender lead going into the away leg. On their way to Hungary, Inter’s journey had been disrupted due to a bomb threat, but when they got to Budapest they were explosive. A double from Sandro Mazzola, gave them a two nil win and sent them into the quarter-finals.

Atletico Madrid had wrestled the title back from Real Madrid, the only time in the decade the white half of the city would not win La Liga and were back in the competition for the first time since 1959. After knocking out Malmo, they set up another Yugoslav-Spanish clash as they drew unlikely champions, Vojvodina. Hailing from the city of Novi Sad in, funnily enough, Vojvodina, an Autonomous Province within Serbia, within the wider Yugoslavia. Vojvodina’s title win was the first time a club outside of the big four had won the Yugoslav First League.

Unlike their counterparts in ‘Serbia proper’ Vojvodina were able to overcome a team from the Spanish capital but it did take 400 minutes for them to do so. In the first leg, two late goals had secured a 3-1 win for the Serbs but in Madrid, Atletico levelled the tie up by winning 2-0. The deciding third game was held a week later at the same venue, the Estadio del Manzanares (later to be renamed the Vicente Calderon) and Atletico pressed home their advantage, leading 2-0 after six minutes. Tie over? Well, at least the visitors got a week in Spain for their troubles, but perhaps a seven days in the sun had restored their energy. A goal before half-time got them back in it, and on 65 minutes they equalized to make it 2-2 on the night and 5-5 on aggregate. With no more goals in the 90, Takac, who had scored Vojvodina’s earlier goal, completed his brace to seal the comeback. Atletico were out and their city neighbours would continue to look down on them with contempt.

Illustrating this difference in mentality between the two clubs, Real found themselves on the flip side of Atletico’s predicament, 2-0 behind in the deciding game. They had lost to the German Champions,1860 Munich 1-0 at the Grünwalder Stadion, and then conceded first at the Bernabéu. But with the confidence that comes from having won the competition six times, and being the holders, Real turned things around and after 54 minutes they were 3-1 up (3-2 on aggregate). They did what was required of them and no more. Their reward for this recovery was a rematch with Inter. The third bout in an epic trilogy that began in with the 1964 final.

The second quarter-final was a fantastic match up between Northern Irish Champions Linfield and the Bulgarian Army side CSKA Sofia, who in typical Iron Curtain fashion, had a different name for a period – CSKA Red Flag. They would play under this moniker between 1962 and 1968, whereby they would change to CSKA September’s Flag. By the quirk of the draw, Linfield, themselves part-timers, had faced Aris (9-4 aggregate winners) and then the Norwegian’s Vålerenga. Linfield were outstanding in Oslo, ending the tie as a contest with a 4-1 win, finishing the job with a 1-1 draw at home. CSKA survived a scare against fellow Eastern bloc outfit Gornik Zabreze. With an emphatic 4-0 win in Bulgaria, they looked to be home and hosed but three goals in the first half in Silesia, saw the Poles in touching distance of a famous comeback but they failed to add to their tally in the second period.

The first leg ended 2-2 in Belfast. Linfield’s star man was the 20-year old Bryan Hamilton who would have a successful career in England with Ipswich and Everton before spells in management with Wigan, Leicester and Northern Ireland. Hamilton had cancelled out Vasil Romanov’s opener five minutes before the interval and three minutes later Thomas Shields put the Ulsterman ahead. It was Romanov, who levelled the tie in the second-half and set up a winner takes all match in Sofia in which CSKA came out on top courtesy of a goal by Dimitar Yakimov.

Celtic had been impressive in their run to the quarter-finals. In their first tie, they knocked out FC Zurich, semi-finalists in 1964. Player-coach for the Swiss side was László Kubala and for the return leg, he decided to give himself a run out, at the age of 41. He could not reproduce the magic of his younger self as Celtic ran out comfortable winners. It would be his final European Cup appearance and a sad end for a man considered by many in the 50s to be the equal to Di Stéfano, in a competition, which, with a few breaks here or there, could have cemented his legacy across the continent.

After his visit to Italy, Stein had said he did not take too much from Herrera in a tactical sense, but in Tommy Gemmell he had an attacking left-back to rank with Facchetti. Gemmell, who possessed a hammer of a right foot, was adept at set-pieces and he scored three goals across the two ties as the Hoops won 2-0 at home and 3-0 in Switzerland. In the next round they played the French Champions Nantes. After going a goal behind at the Stade Marcel Saupin, prolific striker Joe McBride equalized and goals from Bobby Lennox and Steve Chalmers returned an impressive 3-1 win. At Celtic Park, it was nearly a carbon copy. Lennox and Chalmers both scored, alongside the irrepressible Jimmy Johnston, Celtic’s answer to George Best (both on and off the field). Nantes got on the scoresheet, as the Hoops won 3-1 again.

Celtic were drawn with Vojvodina in the Quarter-Finals. Almost to a man, Celtic’s triumphant players, collectively known as the Lisbon Lions, have declared Vojvodina as their strongest opponents in their run to the trophy. For full-back Jim Craig: ‘Vojvodina were a fabulous team, though. They played in a typical controlled Eastern European fashion and were superb at keeping possession.’^ They were also, according to Billy McNeil, ‘fairly adept in what you might call the not-so-finer points in the game.’^

Vujadin Boškov, who also acted as the club’s technical director, was the coach of Vojovidina. Boškov would achieve lasting fame as the manager of Real Madrid and Sampdoria both of whom he guided to the European Cup Final in 1981 and 1992, respectively. Boškov clearly had a sense that he was meant for great things and he let the local press know he expected to win by two goals. In the end he only got one, Stanic latching on to a misplaced back pass by Gemmell. It was one of only three games Celtic would lose in the 66/67 season. The other two would be home and away defeats in the league to Dundee United but that was nothing to be ashamed about as the Terrors, did the same to Barcelona in the Fairs-Cup.

Following the game, Boskov doubled down on his mind-games, telling reporters that Celtic were not very impressive and it was their expectation to win in Glasgow. If his intention was to get Stein upset, it worked. Yet, when Stein got angry, it spurred him on and so he was desperate to win the home match and the tie overall, if possible. When they arrived in Glasgow, Stein got his own back and let the visitors know they could not train on Celtic Park the night before the game due to the recent rainy conditions. Instead they would have to use the Barrowfield training ground. Boškov was not amused.

In goal for the Slavs was Ilija Pantelić, who had scored against Atletico Madrid in the round previously, via the Penalty Spot but it was at the other end of the pitch that he had caused Celtic more problems. Despite a typically raucous crowd behind them, the Bhoys endured a frustrating hour as Pantelíc answered all the questions that were posed to him. In the end something had to give, and the keeper, who would go on to play for Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain, let Celtic back in it when he dropped Gemmell’s cross at the feet of Stevie Chalmers, who was left with the simplest of finishes.

With the tie heading for a deciding third game to be held in Rotterdam, McNeil rose highest to meet Charlie Gallagher’s corner in the 90th minute. Parkhead exploded, and two seconds after the restart, Hans Carlsson, the Swedish referee blew for full-time. Celtic were into the last four of the tournament.

They would face Dukla Prague, the Czech Army club and though hopes were high in Scotland, those south of the border did not share the same enthusiasm. Ken Jones of the Daily Mirror writing following the Quarter-Final win: ‘I do not regard Celtic as good enough to achieve what has proved beyond others in Britain.’^

Yet Celtic had already achieved more than their counterparts down south who did not make it past the second round, in one of the iconic ties in European Cup history as Ajax knocked out Liverpool. The home leg is the most well known but arguably more important was the return leg at Anfield.

In Amsterdam, Shankly quipped that he’d never heard of Ajax, and though there was most likely some mind games on his behalf, he had a point. Ajax had reached the quarter-finals in 1958, but in their second appearance in 60/61 they were knocked out by Fredrikstad (Norway) in the preliminary round. Dutch teams were getting progressively stronger and Feyenoord had reached the semis in 63/64 and PSV the quarters the following season. Introducing professionalism in 1954 combined with the establishment of the Eredivisie for the ‘56/57 season was now bearing fruit. Consolidation was also happening within the league winners. Prior to the Eredivisie the national championship had been spread out among a number of clubs and even in its early years DOS, Sparta Rotterdam and DWS claimed titles. But, beginning with Feyenoord’s win in 1965 and running to the 2008 season, only once (1981 – AZ) did the title not go to one of PSV, Ajax or Feyenoord. Even with this, most of the players, remained part-time and even those who were considered full-professionals needed additional income. Johan Cruyff notably running a sport shop with his brother.

Rinus Michels had taken over Ajax in 1964 from the Englishman Vic Buckingham who had probably made a bigger impact in his first spell between 1959 and 1961. Buckingham was a devotee of the push and run game, a product of the Arthur Rowe school of football and so he emphasised the need for possession football and found in the Dutch players a good foundation to implement his ideas:

‘(T)hey played proper football. They didn’t get this from me; it was there waiting to be stirred up…it was just a case of telling them to keep more possession.’^

Buckingham’s second spell did not go too well and after six months both parties mutually agreed to part ways. In his place came former player Michels who had been coaching JOS, an amateur side in Amsterdam. As a player Michels was a fairly prolific striker, scoring 122 goals in 264 appearances for Ajax. He doubled-down on possession football, spending more time with the ball and adjusted the team tactically to a 4-2-4 formation from the W-M that Buckingham and the other English coaches had preferred. According to Johann Cruyff, speaking to Donald McRae in 2014, Buckingham, Rowley and Spurgeon (two previous English coaches of Ajax) ‘gave us some professionalism because they were much further down the road. But the tactical thinking came later with Michels. It started then.’^

It was the front four that dominated the Ajax side with Sjaak Sjaak Swaart, Piet Keizer, Cruyff and Klaas Nuninga all great ball carriers capable of beating a man, delivering a cross and finishing clinically.

They had overcome Besiktas in the first round 4-1 across the two legs and eagerly awaited the test against the English champions. Numerous Ajax players have referenced England’s win in the World Cup when recalling the match and with Liverpool being the English Champions, they were the club football embodiment of that World Class football culture.

Thick fog engulfed Amsterdam prior to the game closing the nearby Schipol airport. Leo Horne, the famous Dutch referee was the UEFA official overseeing the game and according to him in Dutch football you needed only to see to the halfway line (which you could) and not the opposing goal (which you couldn’t). He overruled Shankly and the Italian referee Antonio Sbardella and the game went ahead. The game was a farce as any viewing of the highlights will attest.

However, conditions were the same for both sides and Ajax’s dominant performance should not be underplayed. Wearing all-white for the first time, they looked like Real Madrid and played like them too. Ajax went ahead after three minutes with a back post header courtesy of Cees de Wolf a debutant , filling in for Piet Keizer. Cruyff added a second before a brace by Klaus Nuninga made it 4-0 at half-time.

To illustrate the confusion, the conditions created, the last goal had been set up by Swaart who had been ushered back onto the field after assuming the referee’s whistle was for half-time and not actually for a foul. Shankly also took advantage of this by walking onto the field unnoticed and delivering some instructions, though how effective that was, is up for debate. Liverpool were the better side in the second half however their only reward was an 89th minute goal from Chris Lawler. By that point, they were 5-0 down. Henk Groot, extending the Dutch advantage earlier in the half.

Shankly claimed that Ajax had only five chances, played defensive football and that Liverpool would smash seven goals past them at Anfield. There’s certainly an element of Shankly bombast but it is clear in his autobiography (written many years after Ajax had firmly established themselves as a major power) that he really believed Liverpool could overturn the advantage. It was not just Shankly who gave Liverpool a fighting chance. Former Ajax coaches, Buckingham and Rowley too backed Liverpool, despite having extensive knowledge of the Ajax side. Rowley thought the Anfield crowd would ‘scare the pants of them.’^ Even within the Ajax camp there were severe concerns, centre-back Barry Hulshoff telling David Winner ‘we were afraid — because of the crowd, because we had never had a good result like that against English teams before.’^

In the end, Ajax proved to Shankly, the rest of Europe and, most importantly, to themselves that they could compete with the continent’s elite. The game finished 2-2 and Liverpool certainly had chances with Thompson hitting the bar early on and an unmarked Geoff Strong hitting the post with a header from six yards out. Cruyff scored twice for Ajax, putting them in the lead each time before Hunt levelled. On each occasion, he finds himself in acres of space, as the ball is rapidly switched from right to left at the final juncture. It’s possible that Liverpool’s desperation left them short at the back, but it’s also an indication of them being unable to cope with the positioning and pace of passing Ajax possessed. Indeed in the second goal we can also see the signs emerging of a new type of football. From a corner kick Milne tries to dribble across the midfield and but he is hunted down by a swarm of Ajax players, who recover the ball and launch the counter-attack on a Liverpool defence that’s been posted missing. Three passes and ten seconds later, Cruyff hits the back of the net, sliding to meet the cut back and put it into the empty goal.

The 5-1 got the headlines but for Michels, quoted in Brilliant Orange, the 2-2 was just as important, if not more, in the development of his future European Cup Winners:

‘Not only the first game, because that could have been an accident – with the weather conditions etc., etc. No, the performance we achieved in Liverpool under bad circumstances — I’ve never seen such a hectic situation. We drew that game 2-2 and never really had problems. For me, it was the proof that we were at the international level.’^ 

For Cruyff, writing in his autobiography ‘we had confirmation that we were technically superior, and that everything Michels was putting in place was working.’^

Off the field game was marred by another crush, which saw 200 people injured and 31 taken to hospital after flares being released prior to kick off led to a stampede. Liverpool would not be back in the European Cup until the 1973/74 season in what would be Shankly’s last season with the club. By that point, he had assembled his second great team and though there were no snap decisions taken after this game, it certainly provided him, and his coaching staff of an awareness of his team’s failings at the European level. The club would certainly heed some lessons they learned from Ajax and a few more, along the way.

After dispatching one of the favourites for the tournament, Ajax were no longer considered plucky outsiders and legitimate contenders for the competition. The quarter-finals were held in the new year and Ajax had hoped to add their new signing, Partizan’s Velibor Vasovic but he was not eligible due to a rule that stated new signings must wait three-months before they could play in the tournament.

Their opponents Dukla Prague had had a comfortable first round victory over the Danes Esbjerg but had scored two impressive victories in the next two rounds. In the second round they beat perennial participants Anderlecht 6-2 on aggregate and now faced their neighbours in the low countries.

In Amsterdam, Ajax dominated but did not make their advantage count and Dukla came away with a 1-1 draw. A late Ajax goal was deemed offside by Tofiq Bahramov, better known for giving contentious goals, he being the infamous Russian linesman of the 1966 World Cup Final.

In a tense return leg in the Czech capital, Ajax took the lead through Swart again, and looked to be heading into the semis. Disaster struck in the final 20 minutes, however. First Stanislav Štrunc tucked home a penalty after Pronk took down Nedorost to level the tie. Then, three minutes from time, captain Frits Soetekouw tried to clear the ball and ended up hooking it into his own net. Footage of the game filmed behind the goal shows the slow agony of the Ajax players as the ball drops into their own goal and they drop out of the European Cup. Michels showed his ruthless streak after the exit. Soetekouw would never play for Ajax again.

It is an obvious statement, but the simple act of playing at a higher level raised the standards of football across the continent. In a world without the European Cup, Ajax may well have been content being the Champions of Holland, weaknesses would not be exposed at a higher level, tactics would not need to be adapted to meet foreign playing styles. Michels was a student of the game and spent considerable time across Europe studying coaching styles and methods. Thus Ajax, like many others, took their medicine, learned their lessons, and came back stronger for it.

Celtic’s star forward Joe McBride had got injured and required a cartilage operation and so Celtic signed Hearts forward, Willie Wallace (not that one) as a replacement. Due to a clerical error he wasn’t registered in time for the Vojvodina game but he was fit and ready for the semi-final. His presence would prove decisive. In the first leg at Celtic Park, Dukla went toe-to-toe with Celtic for the first hour and traded strikes. Johnstone for Celtic, and Štrunc for the Czechoslovakians but now was the day, and now was the hour for Wallace. He paid his transfer fee back in the second half, scoring twice, the second from a cheeky free-kick engineered by Auld, to give Celtic a 3-1 cushion.

In the away leg Stein abandoned his attacking principles, a move which he wrangled with before and after, later vowing never to do so again. He felt it necessary to justify his views in the in-house magazine, ‘The Celtic View’ following the match. Geoffrey Green in The Times would note that ‘it must surely have been one of the poorest, most guile- less matches yet played in the semi- final of this European Cup where the cream of Continental football meets’^. The pragmatism Stein employed ensured Celtic became the first British team to reach the final, at the first attempt too. Liverpool after all, had led Inter by the same margin, a year previous. Dukla could not break through the Celtic rearguard and after Simpson made an early save, Celtic could whether any potential storm to see themselves through.

Their opponents in the final would be the mighty Inter. Following defeat in the semi-finals the previous season, Angelo Morrati set out to refresh the team. After being spurned like so many before them in pursuit of Pele, they set their sights on Eusébio. They also made moves to bring an up and coming German by the name of Franz Beckenbauer to the San Siro. Sporting Director, Italo Allodi, a man who would have his fingerprints all over a number of transfers and scandals in future years, negotiated contracts with both players. And then it all fell apart on a Tuesday night in Middlesbrough. Pak Doo-ik’s famous goal that gave North Korea a 1-0 win in the 1966 World Cup and sent the Azzurri home to be pelted by tomatoes and endure national humiliation. The Italian federation’s response was to ban all foreign imports, a ban that lasted until 1980. Beckenbauer and Eusébio would never call the San Siro home. Instead Inter signed Luis Vicino, a Brazillian-Italian, who had been top scorer in Serie-A in the previous season with Vicenza. Vicino was 34 and the transfer proved a disaster, with him making only 8 appearances and scoring a solitary goal.

A better move involved youth product Renato Cappellini who returned to the club after having spent a couple of years out on loan at Genoa as part of the deal to bring Peiro to Inter. The Spainiard had now left for Roma and Cappellini was now ready to take his chance and he enjoyed a breakthrough season in 66/67. The highlight would be the Quarter-Final against Real Madrid.

In a tight affair in the first leg at the San Siro, he scored the only goal of the game on 54 minutes. Jair was awarded a soft free-kick, took it quickly and found Mazzola on the edge of the box. He curled a teasing out-swinging cross into the box, and Cappellini met it, heading back across goal and wrong footing Betancort. At the Bernabéu, Inter scored a famous win, with Cappellini again grabbing the decisive goal as Herrera’s vow from the year before came true. A shot from Domenghini travelled through a crowded box and Araquistáin, back in goal, could not hold on to it. Cappellini got to it first, sliding in at the back box and the tie was effectively over. Suarez, back on home soil, had a vintage performance and after a mazy run, his cross was turned into his own net by Zoco as he stretched to cut it out. Both goals were rather fortunate, but these are the fine margins that decide games between European heavyweights. ‘Real might have survived if they had used similar tactics to the first leg, waiting and hoping for a break’ said Herrera. ‘But what coach could tell his team not to attack at home. If he failed, he wouldn’t last a day.’^ What coach indeed, Helenio?

The Royals had abdicated their throne. With a young team, and a decade of dominance behind them, it would have been crazy to think that it would be 1998 before Real could call themselves Champions of Europe again. Their wait, of course, would be short, compared to Inter.

Facchetti the man for the big occasion, gave Inter the lead in both semi-final legs against CSKA but the Bulgarians cared not for reputation, whether it was Linfield or Inter. They equalized on both occasions forcing a play off in Graz, Austria. Inter offered them ¾ of the gate receipts should they switch it to Italy and so the tie was held in Bologna at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, opened by a mounted Benito Mussollini, 40 years earlier. Cappellini got his third of the tournament, as Inter stumbled on to the final.

Yet things were starting to crumble in Milan. Herrera had been in the job for seven years, and his relentless intensity placed a significant toll on his charges. In Serie A they let Juventus back into the title race after having a commanding lead earlier in the spring and the players were becoming frustrated at the lack of time they could spend with their families. Suarez had a fiancee in Spain, Mazzola a man who knew too well how important a father’s presence was, had a young child at home. There were suggestions that Herrera too, was being courted by Real Madrid, 40 years before they pulled off a similar trick with Jose Mourinho. Their season came down to two games, which required two wins to complete a Serie A/European Cup double. Mantova away in the league and, firstly, Celtic in Lisbon, in the European Cup final.

An example of the wider games that were in play during European football were the mutual scouting visits Celtic and Inter paid each other ahead of the final. Herrera flew in on a private jet to Glasgow to see Celtic play Rangers in their penultimate game of the league campaign. Celtic required a draw to win the title so there no room for Stein to try to throw the Inter boss off the scent. The game finished 2-2 and Jimmy Johnstone was outstanding which would have a major effect on the impact he was allowed to have in Lisbon a couple of weeks later.

Stein had been invited to fly back with Herrera where he would see Inter face Juventus the next day, but as he looked to board he was told there was no longer room on the plane. Luckily Stein had kept the original airline reservation he had made prior to the invite but found when he landed in Italy, despite Herrera’s prior assurance, there was no transport and no ticket waiting for him. In the end, he relied on a local reporter to get him into the Stadio Comunale, where he witnessed Juventus defeat Inter 1-0.

Inter were dealt a major blow prior to the final, with Luis Suarez injured and unavailable as well as the brilliant Brazilian Jair. The Italians set up their camp, 30 minutes from Lisbon with players secluded from all outside influences to ensure 100% focus on the game. It was too much for the squad to deal with. Tarcisio Burgnich would tell Jonathan Wilson in Inverting the Pyramid:

‘We felt the weight of the world on our shoulders and there was no outlet. None of us could sleep. I was lucky if I got three hours a night. All we did was obsess over the match and the Celtic players.’^

In contrast, the Celtic camp was a relaxed affair at the Palácio Hotel in Estoril. Stein’s primary concern was ensuring the fair-skinned, Celtic lads were not overly exposed to the baking Portuguese heat, the 5pm kick-off on the Thursday being the exception. The day before the game, both teams trained in the Estádio Nacional, with Inter staying behind to watch the Scots. Stein, as a result, told his players to play in unorthodox positions. Given Stein had named the team the night before and Herrera’s scouting mission to Glasgow, it is less likely that it was a ploy to try to confuse Inter, rather an opportunity to illustrate that Celtic were perfectly relaxed and not the least bit intimidated. Stein had made this clear in his Press Conference, when he announced: ‘I am now going to tell him [Herrara] how Celtic will be the first team to bring the European Cup back to Britain but it will not help him in any manner, shape or form: we are going to attack as we have never attacked before.’^

The game began with the teams trading opportunities. Mazzola had a glancing header saved well by Simpson before Johnston and Sarti bettered both with their header and save, respectively.

Mazzola would not be denied long, however. With the Celtic back four pushing up, Jim Craig the right back got left behind and played Cappellini onside. In his desperation to recover, he brought the forward down in the box. German referee Kurt Waldemar Tschenscher, pointed to the spot. Tschenscher would issue the first ever Yellow card, in the 1970 World Cup, and had he had access to it in this final, Craig may well have gone in the book.

It was a poignant kick for Mazzola as father’s last game had been in the Nacional. His calmness betrayed any emotions as he put Simpson the wrong way.

Craig was adamant, it was not a penalty. Writing in The Lisbon Lions he replayed the incident:

‘I had been assured that Cappellini was, in fact, all left foot so, when he ran in on goal, I assumed that at some point he would want to put the ball to his stronger foot. I decided that I would block any attempt to do so but, when the challenge came, he went down rather like an ageing actor.’^

The rest of his teammates agreed, as did Stein and it was used at half-time to galvanise the group. After the game, views were slightly different, with most agreeing it was a legitimate penalty. Craig would not be swayed.

Inter had their lead and now could sit back and challenge Celtic to break them down. Suarez was clearly a miss in midfield with his ability to retain the ball and create goal scoring opportunities and an in-form Jair would have added thrust in the final third. As they were, they were toothless. Sarti, playing in his fourth final, was equal to anything Celtic threw at him but minute by minute and yard by yard Inter’s line of confrontation dropped drop deeper until they pitched in at the 18 yard box. Every clearance they made was won back by Auld and Murdoch in midfield. On the rare occasions a player in blue and black gained possession in midfield, there were precious few options available ahead of him. Facchetti, so often the man for the big occasion was a non-entity, pushed back by Craig’s forward runs. On the opposite side, Gemmell enjoyed just as much space.

Eventually the dam broke, and it was the two full-backs who combined for the long-awaited equaliser. Murdoch spread the play wide to Craig who calmly assessed the packed box and elected instead to cut it back for Gemmell, a right footer playing on the left. Inter almost got close enough to cut the pass out but Gemmell arrived late and sent an unstoppable shot past Sarti.

With their resistance now broken, Inter had nothing to give. They held on as long as they could before another long-range shot, this time from Murdoch, was diverted past Sarti via the slightest of touches by Chalmers. There were six minutes left on the clock, but the whistle may well have been blown then and there. The stats told the story as much as well as any match report. Celtic had 42 shots to Inter’s 3. 10 Corners to their 0.

There was an evangelical zeal to Stein’s intentions to win the game in the right manner. Before the game, he had made this clear to Hugh McIvaney in the Observer:

‘Inter will play it defensively. That’s their way and it’s their business. But we feel we have a duty to play the game our way, and our way is to attack. Win or lose, we want to make the game worth remembering. Just to be involved in an occasion like this is a tremendous honour and we think it puts an obligation on us. We can be as hard and professional as anybody, but I mean it when I say that we don’t just want to win this cup. We want to win it playing good football, to make neutrals glad we’ve done it, glad to remember how we did it.’^

Inter had become the bogeyman of European football. Dortmund, Liverpool, Benfica, all had infamous run-ins with Herrera’s side and accordingly the defeat of Inter by a Northern European, British and Scottish team had added resonance and consequence. Real had beaten them the year previous, but it was over two legs and it was between two sides from the Latin countries. The victory was surely coming, English teams had been getting closer, the quality in Germany and Holland was ever improving and Eastern European teams were becoming more and more professionalised, but the nature of the victory, the contrast in the look of the teams (pasty Scots v tanned Italians) planted a huge marker in the ground.

Real Madrid had imported Di Stéfano, Santamaría, Rial, Kopa and Puskás, Benfica had Coluna, Águas and Eusébio, Milan had Altafini, Benitez and Dino Sani. Inter had Suarez and Jair. Celtic had Bobby Lennox. The winger had grown up in Saltcoats in Ayrshire, 30 miles from Glasgow. The rest of the squad were all born within 10 miles of the city centre. Real of course the year previous had won with an all-Spanish team but they were Real Madrid, and the players had been brought in from all-corners of Spain. 9 of the 11 Celtic starters had come through their youth system, with only Simpson and Wallace being bought in.

Lisbon would also see another first. The travelling horde of British football fans, almost uniformly male, looking to enjoy sun, cheap beer and a sing-song among pals. The 12,000 Celtic fans would go down in lore for their adventures. They arrived there by a host of different transportation methods, but when the whistle blew, they moved in a heaving mass, mobbing their heroes, grabbing any souvenirs they could; shorts, socks, turf and dancing highland jigs. It was all carried out in the same good spirits that they had all consumed, but it did mean that McNeil had to be escorted out of the stadium for the trophy presentation while his teammates sat in the dressing room. The man they called Cesar (unfortunately nicknamed after the American actor Cesar Romano and not the Roman Emperor) stepped up to the balcony and held aloft the trophy. He may well have roared to the crowd – ‘Are you not entertained?’ The fans in the late evening sunshine of Lisbon, could have answered for the entire continent with a resounding yes.