The Lisbon Lions
The Real Inside Story of Celtic’s European Cup Triumph

By Billy McNeill, Tommy Gemmell, Jim Craig, John Clark, Willie Wallace, Steve Chalmers, Bertie Auld and Bobby Lennox with Alex Gordon

Category: Sport
Pub Date: 3 May 2007
ISBN: 1 84502 161 4
Price: £16.99
Format: Royal Hardback, 234 x 156 mm
Plate/Illustrations: 16-page b/w photo section



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 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 on manager supreme Jock Stein, goalkeeper extraordinaire Ronnie Simpson, midfield master Bobby Murdoch and the incomparable Jimmy Johnstone. Candid, frank and funny, Lisbon Lions: The Real Inside Story of Celtic’s European Cup Triumph reveals the secrets of Lisbon 1967 in the words of the players themselves.