On 25 May 1967, Celtic beat Inter Milan 2–1 to become the first British team to win the European Cup. Fifty years on, The Lions of Lisbon relives the jubilation from the fans' point of view.
On May 25, 1967 Celtic Football Club made history by becoming the first British team to win the European Cup. Eleven players, all born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park, beat the Italian aristocrats of Inter Milan and took their place forever in the annals of fame. This is the story, four decades after that memorable triumph in the Portuguese capital, of each of the eight surviving Lisbon Lions, their own official take on exactly what happened before, during and after that never-to-be-forgotten encounter that shook the football world.Remarkably, the Lions have never sat down in the intervening 40 years and put their exclusive thoughts together in one book - this is that unique book. Billy McNeill, Jim Craig, Tommy Gemmell, John Clark, Willie Wallace, Stevie Chalmers, Bertie Auld and Bobby Lennox give their forthright views on the march towards Lisbon and a place in football history.Who was the Lisbon Lion who thought the European Cup Final was the easiest game of the season? Who now admits he made life difficult for Jock Stein? Who was the player who was conned by the Celtic manager? Which Lion had a running battle with his team-mates throughout the European Cup Final?And who thought Celtic had won the trophy before the kick-off? All is revealed!"The Lions" also give fascinating and thought-provoking insights to manager supreme Jock Stein, goalkeeper extraordinary Ronnie Simpson, midfield master Bobby Murdoch and the incomparable Jimmy Johnstone.Candid, frank and funny, "The Lisbon Lions: The Real Inside Story" reveals the secrets of Lisbon 1967, unlocked by the men who knew the inside track - the players themselves.
Lisbon had a pivotal role in the history of World War II, though not a gun was fired there. The only European city in which both the Allies and the Axis power operated openly, it was temporary home to much of Europe's exiled royalty, over one million refugees seeking passage to the U.S., and a host of spies, secret police, captains of industry, bankers, prominent Jews, writers and artists, escaped POWs, and black marketeers. An operations officer writing in 1944 described the daily scene at Lisbon's airport as being like the movie "Casablanca," times twenty. In this riveting narrative, renowned historian Neill Lochery draws on his relationships with high-level Portuguese contacts, access to records recently uncovered from Portuguese secret police and banking archives, and other unpublished documents to offer a revelatory portrait of the War's back stage. And he tells the story of how Portugal, a relatively poor European country trying frantically to remain neutral amidst extraordinary pressures, survived the war not only physically intact but significantly wealthier. The country's emergence as a prosperous European Union nation would be financed in part, it turns out, by a cache of Nazi gold.
Ian Young played several seasons at Celtic Football Club in the '60s after signing from Neilston Waverley in 1961. During his time at the Club, the athletic, strong and tough-tackling full-back enjoyed league and cup success, and has often been credited in helping to turn the Club around by ending rivals Rangers' physical domination. Ian's name is warmly chanted in the famous Celtic song, Celtic, Celtic, That's the Team for Me' ('There's Fallon, Young and Gemmel...') He was also capped at Under-23 level for Scotland. Supporters and media reporters of that time say Ian's tackle on Rangers winger Willie Johnston in the League Cup final would spark the beginning of a Celtic team's ambition to match and defeat their greatest rivals with strength. It's perhaps no coincidence that Celtic would go onto make history soon after with the legendary Nine-in-a-Row era. Ian's autobiography follows the path from the humble beginnings in the junior ranks to European Cup nights and playing in front of 107,000 fans against Rangers. Just some of the highlights of a remarkable journey. The book also charts Ian's life, work and faith journey after he left Celtic. Ian Young is also listed in the few Celtic players who may well have turned out for Rangers, but for fate and circumstances. Ian ended his career quietly and without a fuss. This autobiography gives the reader a chance to get to know a player who served Celtic Football Club during its most significant years.
Derek Niven sets out to tell the history of the Lisbon Lions from a completely new slant. This book is not just about an immortalised game of football, it seeks to tell the story of the unsung men and women who made the 16 players that are the Lisbon Lions through the extraordinary tales of their family histories.
40 years ago a group of eleven young men stood in the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon and faced a crowd of 77,000 and the mighty Inter Milan. They were the first British team ever to reach the final of the European Cup. Indeed it was the first time their club had even played in the European Cup. And yet they faced one of the richest teams, with a fearsome reputation and an unbeaten defensive strategy. But these men would go on to make football history... Told by a life-long fan, The Lisbon Lions follows the fortunes of eleven men born within 20 miles of Glasgow who had come to play for a football team struggling in the League. Reinventing the team with his positive playing strategies, manager Jock Stein guided Celtic to victory in the Scottish championships and eventually to the European Cup itself. Andy Dougan takes us on the thrilling journey with Celtic as, round by round, the team's passion, inventiveness, and above all style brings them to the biggest game in their club's history. The story remains as romantic, inspiring and stirring as ever.
Sean Fallon is one of British football's great untold stories. For the first time, the Celtic legend speaks candidly about his time as right-hand man to Jock Stein and how together they ruled Scottish football and conquered Europe with the Lisbon Lions. We learn how the Irishman shaped Celtic's glory era of the 1960s and 70s by signing not only the majority of the Lions, but also players such as Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, Lou Macari, George Connelly, Davie Hay, Pat Bonner and Paul McStay. Fallon also reflects on his stellar playing career including the 7–1 League Cup final win over Rangers in 1957, the lean years of the early 1960s and the uneasy final stages of his and Stein's tenure at Celtic. His own, oft-underestimated role is illuminated by revealing interviews with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish, current Celtic boss Neil Lennon, chief executive Peter Lawwell, Stein's son, George, Sean's family and former colleagues.
John Fallon remains one of Celtic's great characters and is a lifelong supporter of the club. Now, for the first time, this Celtic legend tells the fascinating inside story of his career in football and his years with the club. Fallon joined Celtic in the late 1950s when the club was struggling, saw a fair amount of the desperate days of 1963 and 1964 but was there at the start of the glory years when Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1965. He shared in good and bad times with the club, was the substitute goalkeeper at the European Cup Final in Lisbon in 1967, and was suddenly called into action in South America when Ronnie Simpson was felled by a missile - and performed brilliantly. He hit a low point in 1968 after one bad game against Rangers at the New Year, but fought back gloriously to play his part in the incredible month of April 1969 when Celtic won all three Scottish domestic trophies in one calendar month. It is a career he is rightly proud of and now John Fallon reveals the inside story and some brand new insights into his relationship with Jock Stein and other members of the Lisbon Lions, which were not always straightforward.There are accounts of his dealings with opponents, the clashes with Rangers and with European opposition in what was a fantastic era for the game in Scotland.He also shares his opinions on the art of goalkeeping, the state of Celtic at the moment and the future of the game in Scotland.
The incredible truth behind the legend of George Connelly Hailed as the greatest Scottish talent of his generation, George Connelly made 254 appearances for Celtic and played in the Scotland team that qualified for the 1974 World Cup Finals. But at the age of 26 he walked away from football and the promise of a glittering career. So, what went wrong? George Connelly had a rare talent. He could pass long or short with unerring accuracy, could entertain crowds with his keepie-uppie skills and seemed to have the world at his feet. But with a troubled private life and the pressures of stardom weighing on his shoulders, the man behind the laidback exterior was falling apart. In Celtic's Lost Legend, George Connelly tells the remarkable story of why he walked away from his dreams and from the team he loved. Here, at last, he answers the question that has intrigued football fans for more than forty years. Whatever became of George Connelly?
International bestseller! James Bond has nothing on Dusko Popov. A double agent for the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI during World War II, Popov seduced numerous women, spoke five languages, and was a crack shot, all while maintaining his cover as a Yugoslavian diplomat… On a cool August evening in 1941, a Serbian playboy created a stir at Casino Estoril in Portugal by throwing down an outrageously large baccarat bet to humiliate his opponent. The Serbian was a British double agent, and the money―which he had just stolen from the Germans―belonged to the British. From the sideline, watching with intent interest, was none other than Ian Fleming… The Serbian was Dusko Popov. As a youngster, he was expelled from his London prep school. Years later, he would be arrested and banished from Germany for making derogatory statements about the Third Reich. When World War II ensued, the playboy became a spy, eventually serving three dangerous masters: the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI. On August 10, 1941, the Germans sent Popov to the United States to construct a spy network and gather information on Pearl Harbor. He successfully made contact with the FBI in an attempt to warn the country, but J. Edgar Hoover blew his cover. Later, MI5 desperately needed Popov to deceive the Abwehr about the D-Day invasion, but they assured him that a return to the German Secret Service Headquarters in Lisbon would result in torture and execution. He went anyway... Into the Lion’s Mouth is a globe-trotting account of a man’s entanglement with espionage, murder, assassins, and lovers―including enemy spies and a Hollywood starlet. It is a story of subterfuge, seduction, patriotism, and cold-blooded courage. It is the story of Dusko Popov―the inspiration for James Bond.