CELTIC IN EUROPE PART 1

48 days had elapsed since we defeated Hearts on that memorable day in May as we started all over again in the SPFL but before we unfurled the champions flag we awaited the draw for the Champions League qualifier.  The Austrian’s ‘Lask’ then stood between us and 8 late autumn/early winter games in the only show in town. After a positive 3-0 win at home Celtic blew it away from home. On 27 August we had the draw for the Champions League proper and Celtic were once again not in the draw.

My first games at Celtic Park were in the European Cup; Benfica in November ’1969,3-0, 75,000; Fiorentina, March ’1970, 3-0, 78,000; and Leeds at Hampden Park in April ’1970, 2-1; 136,505; they created a love for European football that has never waned.

The European Cup began in 1956 after two French journalists Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran came up with the brainwave. They had studied the Latin American version and UEFA accepted their idea. As we know

Real Madrid won the first five tournaments and older Scots recall the famous final in1960 at Hampden when a Puskas  /De Stephano inspired Madrid defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in front of almost128,000; coincidentally Frankfurt defeated our Glasgow rivals in the semi 12-4 on aggregate.

Interestingly the English FA refused to let champions Chelsea enter the ’1956 European Cup and unfortunately for them it was 50 years before they won the league again to get the chance to enter the new Champions League.

In Scotland Aberdeen were champions but the Hibs chairman who was also chair of the SFA put forward his club who had finished 5th and they became the first Scottish and British club to enter the European Cup and indeed reached the semi final; and we think Infantino is crooked!

Benfica won the next two tournaments in ‘1961 and 1962, then AC Milan in ’1963 followed by their local rivals Inter in ’1964 and ’1965 before Real Madrid won a sixth title in ’1966. Celtic’s first appearance in Europe was in ’1962 in the Fairs Cup losing to Valencia; in ’1964 they reached the semi final of the European Cup Winners Cup losing to MTK Budapest; in ’1965 our long running relationship with Barcelona began with a 1-3defeat then in ’1966 we reached another European Cup Winners Cup semi final v Liverpool.

It was controversial defeat with a late goal disallowed. These games were in the lesser European tournaments but Jock Stein’s return brought a title after 12 long years and of course the greatest day in Celtic history in Lisbon in ’1967 as we defeated Inter Milan on that famous day to become the first Scottish and North European team to lift the trophy. It was a day that made me and probably many other Irish people become Celtic supporters.

Après match thousands of us marched down the Falls Road waving tricolours passing close to the old Belfast Celtic stadium who had left football just 19 years earlier after a riot with Linfield fans. The Lisbon Lions created history and we should have won more European Cups but it wasn’t to be. A year later Man United followed Celtic an lifting the trophy at Wembley inspired by the great Georgie Best and Denis Law.

In ’1969 we faced AC Milan again and after a 0-0 draw in the snow in the San Siro we were favourites to go through but an unusual defensive error by Billy McNeill let Milan score the only goal of the game and they went through to a semi final with Man United and eventually winners again.

In ’1970 Celtic were back in the final again after the magnificent semi final victory over Leeds United, a game I was present at and would never experience anything like it again. Sadly while we were odds on favourites in the final against the unknown Dutch it wasn’t to be and Feyenoord lifted the trophy after a poor performance by Celtic, we would never make a final again.

The Dutch domination of football continued with Ajax winning 3 in a row led by Johan Cruyff and the national team featuring in two World Cup finals in the 1970’s.

Celtic made the semi final again in ’1972 but lost in a penalty shootout against Inter Milan. Bayern Munich continued the pattern from ’1974-’1976 winning 3 in a row led by Franz Beckanbaur. Celtic reached the semi final once again in ’1974 but lost to Atletico Madrid after a rough game at Celtic Park with 3 Atletico players sent off and following a 0-2 defeat in Madrid alas was the end of our great European days as the 1970’s. After that we witnessed early defeats to Olympiacos, Krakow, Zwickau, Innsbruck, they were hardly teams known for their European pedigree. The seven years between ’1977 &’1983 witnessed the domination of English clubs in the European Cup. Liverpool in ’1977 & ’1978 with a certain Kenny Dalglish featuring; in ’1979 & ’1980 Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough and featuring Martin O’Neill lifted the big cup, a magnificent achievement for a provincial club.

1980 was the last time Celtic reached the business end of the European Cups, (apart from Seville); two great games with Real Madrid in the quarter final produced a 2-0 victory at Celtic Park but a 0-3 defeat at the Bernabeu and sadly for the next 20 years we were European also rans. Liverpool returned in ’1981 defeating Real Madrid in the final and then Aston Villa made it 7 in a row for English teams beating Bayern Munich. I might be slightly biased but I think that period was a low standard for European football.

Hamburg broke the English dominance in ’1983 but Liverpool were back the following year to lift European Cup Number 4 and along with Real Madrid became one of the most successful teams in European history, alas it could have been Celtic possibly if we had kept hold of Dalglish, Macari and Hay. Just a little anecdote, my youngest son Kevin who went on to play for Donegal in the GAA, ‘Wappa’ as he’s known went over for a trial with Aston Villa in the early 1990’s after Gary Shaw had spotted him in Derry and Peter With was Head of Youth Development, both played in the ’1982 team that won the European Cup!1985 was a defining year for European football with the Heysel disaster after Juventus defeated Liverpool and 39 football fans died and along with Hillsborough it brought all seater stadiums and greater crowd control, it also ended English monopoly on the European Cup for the guts of 20 years and eventually would lead to a new tournament for a new millennium.

The next few years would see a miss mash of teams lifting the cup, Steaua Bucharest, Porto, PSV before the great AC Milan team won two with Paulo Maldini and the late Franco Barresi. The 1980’s were a disaster for Celtic in European competition despite great individual results against Juventus, Ajax and Sporting Lisbon we were more or less first round exit material against teams like Timisoara, Real Sociedad, Nottingham Forest, Rapid Vienna, Atletico Madrid, Dynamo Kyiv, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and Partizan Belgrade.

It was a disappointing time and honestly I couldn’t figure out why we kept losing early not realising that Scottish football was on a downward spiral.

In ’1991 Red Star defeated Marseille and Rangers almost made the final and then relatively late in the day Barcelona won their first in ’1992 which was the last in the old format. Marseille were the first to win the newly revamped Champions League, AC Milan won their third in a few years in ’1994; Ajax ’1995, Juventus ’1996, and Borussia Dortmund with a certain Paul Lambert were victorious in ’1997.

Paddy McMenamin was born in Belfast with Donegal and Tyrone parents. He spent the 1970’s in Long Kesh. He has been going to Paradise since the Benfica game in Nov. 1969. He lived in Donegal for 30 years but now lives in Galway. He returned to University at 50 and became a secondary school teacher of history and English.