Celtic invite Lions to Lisbon for Champions League

CELTIC have invited the 1967 European Cup-winning team and representatives of the team management and backroom staff to Lisbon at the end of May for this year’s Uefa Champions League final – the first time the final has been held in Lisbon since the Scots became to first British team to lift the trophy in 1967.

Celtic players show off the European Cup to their fans in 1967. Picture: SNS

As well as attending the final, a visit has been lined up to the Estadio Nacional, scene of the club’s greatest victory, and they will also be guests at a special dinner at the famous Palacio Hotel in Estoril, where they stayed in 1967.

Captain of that illustrious team and Celtic ambassador Billy McNeill said: “This is a magnificent gesture by the club and one which is greatly appreciated by all the boys and the families of everyone connected to the team. It will be a fantastic opportunity for us all to re-live what we achieved on that great day in Lisbon in 1967.”

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell added: “These are great men who achieved great things for our club and we felt it would be a real and meaningful tribute to make this invitation to the Lions, the families of those players who sadly are no longer with us and, of course, the families of the great Jock Stein and Sean Fallon. The Lions are men of real humility and are always humble about their great success. They played the game in a very different footballing era to today.”