It was 60 years ago that Celtic embarked on what would become the most successful season in the club’s history, and throughout this current season we’re taking a trip back to 1966/67 to follow the journey that Jock Stein’s Celtic side took.
It began with a League Cup sectional tie away to Hearts, when the Hoops won 2-0 at Tynecastle, and culminated with a historic 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in Lisbon’s Estadio Nacional to lift the European Cup.
In between, Stein’s side won the League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, the Scottish Cup, the league championship as well as, of course, that European Cup win on May 25, 1967.
This unique quintuple remains as impressive now as it was 60 years ago, perhaps even more so given that it has never been repeated and the magnitude of it is really appreciated.
At the time, while Celtic fans were savouring the success, they were in the midst of this golden era, when Celtic were Kings of Europe and the men who wore the green and white Hoops were amongst the best in world football.
So, 60 years on, we are celebrating this momentous campaign and re-telling a story that only gets better each time it is read or heard.
In this instalment of the story, Celtic’s unbeaten start to the league campaign continues, while Jock Stein’s side book their place in two finals – the League Cup and Glasgow Cup.
LEAGUE
After kicking off their league campaign with a 3-0 win away to Clyde, Celtic followed that up with another derby win, this time a 2-0 victory at home against Rangers. Jock Stein’s side started the match on fire, scoring both goals inside the opening five minutes through Bertie Auld and Bobby Murdoch, and it was a dominant performance by the Hoops. A narrow 2-1 win against Dundee at Dens Park followed before the Hoops thumped St Johnstone 3-1 at home, with Jimmy Johnstone, Bobby Lennox and Joe McBride all scoring doubles. An eight-goal thriller at Easter Road followed, with Celtic coming out on top 5-3 and Joe McBride providing a goalscoring masterclass with FOUR of Celtic’s five goals. And on October 15, the Hoops beat Airdrie 3-0 at Celtic Park, with the goals coming from Joe McBride and a double from Bobby Lennox.
LEAGUE CUP
Celtic faced Airdrie for the second time in 48 hours, this time at Hampden on a Monday night in the semi-final of the League Cup. It had taken three second-half goals on the Saturday to beat Airdrie in the league, and it was two second-half goals which saw off the opposition to book a place in the League Cup final. Bobby Murdoch made the breakthrough just after the hour mark when he fired home a powerful shot after Bobby Lennox’s initial free-kick had been blocked. And with 15 minutes remaining, Joe McBride made it 2-0 when he headed home a Bertie Auld cross. It set up a final against Rangers on October 29.
GLASGOW CUP
Celtic’s second Glasgow Cup tie, following on from their 4-0 first round thrashing of Rangers in August, saw the Hoops replicate that scoreline, this time against Queen’s Park in the semi-final at home on October 10. Danish goalkeeper, Bent Martin, was between the sticks for his only appearance of the 1966/67 season, and it was a fairly untroubled game for him as Jock Stein’s side dominated the match. A crowd of around 17,000 was at Celtic Park for this Monday night match, and saw Celtic score twice in either half. Joe McBride started and finished the scoring, netting in the sixth and 88th minute, while Bobby Lennox scored on the half-hour mark and Charlie Gallagher was on target just after half-time. The win set up a Glasgow Cup final against Partick Thistle, scheduled for early November.
EUROPEAN CUP
Having comfortably beaten FC Zurich 5-0 on aggregate in the first round of the European Cup, Celtic were drawn against French side, Nantes in the second round, with the first leg of the tie scheduled for November 30 in France.
MATCH PROGRAMMES
This season, all 19 of Celtic's home Premiership matches will have a special collectible programme celebrating the club's historic 1966/67 campaign.
The front cover of each programme will feature an iconic figure from that season, and as each one is published – 19 in total – they will form a stunning montage of the players and management that is a must for any Celtic fan to collect (see image below).
So far, Billy McNeill, Jimmy Johnstone, Bertie Auld, Joe McBride and Jim Craig have all featured, while the cover star for the next home game against Dundee United will be John Hughes.
If you've missed any copies, you can order them online HERE
