Nowadays, it would hardly be unfair to suggest that Celtic are considered to be ‘also-rans’ when it comes to Europe’s most elite competitions. The Scottish giants may win the title north of the border virtually every year, but when they end up going head-to-head with some of the biggest names on the continent, they come up short more often than not.
There is one glaring exception to that particular story, however, which came in 1967. Having won the Scottish championship, the club entered the European Cup and went on to become the first British team to win it. What, though, is the story behind that?
The Background
The European Champion Clubs’ Cup was launched in 1955, having been conceived by a man named Gabriel Hanot, who was the editor of L’Équipe. The plan was to give the winners of the various national football leagues in Europe a competition to play in, soon becoming the most prestigious such tournament on the continent. Of the 16 sides invited to take part in it in its inaugural season, Hibernian were the first from the United Kingdom. Rangers soon followed, but it took until 1962 before Celtic took part in any kind of major European competition in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
That happened because they had finished third in the Scottish top-flight at the end of the 1961-1962 campaign, making it to the semi-final of their first foray into Europe. They had defeated teams such as Dinamo Zagreb and Basel on the way, which gave them some solid experience in learning how to play European football. In fact, John Hughes wrote himself into the history books when he became the first player from Scotland to score a hat-trick in a European away leg with the club defeated Basel. In 1964-1965, they were back in the same competition before being knocked out by Barcelona.
Jock Stein Becomes Manager
Born in Lanarkshire in 1922, Jock Stein worked in a coal mine before becoming a footballer, playing for Celtic between 1951 and 1957. At that point, he was given the role of being the coach of the Celtic reserves team, then three years later he turned his hand to management proper, taking over at Dunfermline Athletic before a year in Hibernian. He briefly managed the Scotland national team in 1965, but then became the first ever Protestant manager in Celtic’s history. He took on the role in the March of 1965, winning the Scottish Cup with the Bhoys that saw them lift the trophy for the first time in more than a decade.
Celtic beat Red Star Belgrade 5-1.
Jinky discusses the match and the promise Jock Stein gave him. 🍀🍀— Williebhoy1956 (@williebhoy1956.bsky.social) 14 November 2025 at 12:24
He brought in Joe McBride for the 1965-1966 campaign, who went on to score 43 goals during the season. Although they lost the first Old Firm derby of the season, they did defeat Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final and made it to the semi-final of the Cup Winners’ Cup. They lost that 2-1 on aggregate to Liverpool, but Stein had gained some more experience, whilst the club’s race against Rangers for the title, having lost the Scottish Cup to them, resulted in Celtic’s first Scottish top-flight title in 12 years. That also meant that they would be in the following season’s European Cup.
Winning the Cup
Jock Stein was a confident man heading into the 1966-1967 campaign, telling his players that he believed that they could ‘win everything’. They enjoyed an unbeaten run that lasted until a 3-2 loss to Dundee United on New Year’s Eve 1966, with Stein surprising a few people when he signed the striker Willie Wallace from Hearts. The Bhoys made it through the first two rounds of the European Cup, defeating Zurich and Nantes on their way to a game against Vojvodina, a Yugoslavian team. They lost the first-leg 1-0, but a goal from William McNeil handed the Scottish club a 2-1 aggregate win.
That put them in the semi-final against Dukla Prague, a team from Czechoslovakia. The first-leg was played at Celtic Park and the game side won 3-1, whilst a goalless return match at Stadion Juliska meant that the Bhoys were off to Lisbon’s Estádio Nacional for the final against Inter Milan. All but two of the 15-man squad that Celtic sent to Portugal had been born within ten miles of Celtic Park, with the other two still being Scottish. The way Celtic played was in direct contrast to the cynical, defensive style employed by the Italians, which made for a thrilling 90 minutes of football.
Jim Craig brought down Renato Cappellini in just the seventh minute, giving Inter Milan a penalty that Sandro Mazzola happily converted. From that point on, the Italians went all-out defence, forcing just two saves from Ronnie Simpson. Celtic, meanwhile, worked to break them down, hitting the crossbar twice and forcing the Inter goalkeeper into 13 saves. The Scottish team equalised in the 63rd minute when Craig set up Tommy Gemmell, then they took the lead 20 minutes after that. From there, they held on, proving Stein’s point by winning all four competitions they were playing in.