Legends of the game pay tribute to Lisbon Lions leader 50 years on
Legends praise family’s bravery and back their drive to raise awareness
Rangers legend John Greig has backed Billy McNeill and his family’s decision to go public with his dementia struggle.
John became friendly with Billy in spite of their Old Firm derby battles in the 60s, 70s and 80s. They also played for Scotland together.
The 74- year- old, who lifted the European Cup Winners’ Cup for Rangers in 1972, was aware Billy had been struggling.
He said: “I was very sorry and sad to hear about Billy’s health.
“I’ve only been told by word of mouth how he’s doing.
“It’s horrendous for anybody but I think it’s even more extreme for someone who’s been a football player like Billy, who was used to being so fit and able.
“Like al l footbal l players, because you’ve had such a physical and a fit life, you feel indestructible.
“My heart goes out to his family. I know that Liz will look after him and he’s got a good family round him so from that point of view, he’s got a lot of backing. I want to give Billy and the family my best wishes.”
John and Billy had the utmost respect for each other despite being on opposite sides of the Old Firm divide.
He said: “We had so many great moments together but it’s easier to tell you the moments I didn’t like – and that was when he beat us.
“I always got on great with Billy, on and off the field.
“We played for Scotland together as well on several occasions and we had a great respect for each other as Old Firm captains. We did a lot of charity and personal appearances together.
“Apart from being a great football player, he’s a great guy. I really feel for him.
“I’m just sorry this has happened to him. I just hope that he can manage it as well as he can.
“I’ve no idea if football causes this but I suppose like everything else in life, there are many things that you can improve.
“I think the people who can find a cure for dementia should do as much as they can to make sure that every contact sport is as safe as it can be.”
Lisbon Lion Jim Craig has told how helping unveil Billy’s statue outside Parkhead made him realise how dementia had affected his close friend.
Billy was there with his family for the ceremony in December 2015 to honour him as Celtic’s greatest captain.
But Jim – who delivered an emotional tribute to his skipper at the event – was heartbroken Billy wasn’t able to appreciate the adulation from hundreds of fans.
Jim admitted: “The unveiling of the statue was a very emotional moment for us all.
“By that time he didn’t know very much about whathat was goingng on. It’s beenen like that for a wee while. It’s really difficult for everyone to see Billy like this.
“For Billy’s condition to be revealed in the year of the 50th anniversary is very poignant.
“It’s a bit awkward for those of us that will be taking a bow on behalf of the Lions because it would have been nice if Billy was able to fully enjoy it.
“I think it’s a very brave thing for Liz and the family to do this.
“It’s also a very sensible thing for the family because there were times when his difficulties surfaced, like when he went to the European
Cup draw and everybody ended up wondering what was wrong.”
Former full-back Jim first met Billy in 1961.
And he’s been devastated to see how the brain disease has affected his friend.
Jim, 73, said: “I noticed a few years ago that he wasn’t as comfortable in company as he’d been before.
“He was obviously in some form of discomfort in his mind. Since then it’s just deteriorated. We meet regularly and I’m just devastated that this has happened to him.”
The day he f i rst encountered Bil ly is etched in his memory.
Jim said: “I was about to play for Scottish schoolboys in a game at Celtic Park.
“I was centre-half and captain that night and before the game, the officials brought Billy in because he was centre-half for Celtic and doing really well.
“He’d played in the same schoolboys game a few years beforehand so they got him in as an example of what you could achieve if you stuck to it. “Six years later, we were teammates in the European Cup f inal. For him of al l people to suffer this is just such a shame.
“I speak on behalf of all the Lions when I say this – he was an excellent player, a really good leader but the most important thing that you can say about him is that he is a very nice man.
“I can’t say any more than that – he is a gentleman. “On behalf of all the Lions, I hope that the following years are as good as they can be to him.”
The Sunday Mai l has been campaigning with the families of ex- players to put pressure on the cash-rich football authorities to finally start funding dementia research.
Jim said: “I’m not sure Billy would want to turn back the clock and miss out on the career that he had.
“It’s the chance you take until it’s proved that heading the ball was definitely a cause.
“My own son James is a sufferer of a bipolar condition thanks to concussions from rugby so with all these sports, you always run a risk.
“I don’t think it’s ever been proved or disproved that football is a factor but there has got to be research into it.
“Wee Jimmy Johnstone helped raise awareness of motor neuro disease and now Billy, please God, will help raise awareness of dementia.”
Apart from being a great football player, he’s a great guy. I really feel for him
Billy McNeill and the European Cup were made for each other.
The 11 kilogramme trophy had just been redesigned when it was presented to the then Celtic captain in Lisbon in 1967.
To the watching world enjoying the game on television, whether in black and white or in colour, it could not have looked in better hands.
Six feet 2in tall in his football boots Billy looked the personification of sporting pride as he held the cup aloft.
One of Scottish football’s greatest figures, Billy McNeill remains a proud man and he has much to be proud of. He was nicknamed Cesar after the actor Cesar Romero. That was frequently misspelled as Caesar and ra r e ly can a mistake have felt more appropriate.
Billy’s dementia story is one that will be recognised by thousands of families across the country.
His wife Liz focuses on the positives, the recognition when he sees friends and old pictures, the unexpected ability to sign an autograph for a fan, his continued attendance at his beloved Celtic Park.
But she also recognises how much this cruel disease has taken from him.
As the 50th anniversary of Billy’s finest moment approaches, she has bravely decided to speak publicly about his condition.
The fact he hasn’t enjoyed the best of health has been known in football circles for several years.
But the McNeill family have taken a growing interest in academic research linking dementia to the heading of a football.
In particular, they have followed
our Football’s Timebomb campaign which calls for the game to spend more money funding research and caring for ex-professionals who are suffering.
Liz and her family back that cause and that should provide a wake- up call in the football community and beyond.
So far we have highlighted the stories of Frank Kopel, Ernie Moss and Jeff Astle, as well as Chris Sutton’s dad Mike.
Their families will be delighted and grateful to have Billy and Liz on their side.
Liz is not a woman given to self-pity but nor will she shy away from a fight for a just cause.
Already it has had a positive effect. Celtic have announced proceeds from their star- studded friendly game at the end of the season will go towards research.
It’s a start but much more needs to be done.
The sad fact is that a single weekly wage of certain average footballers who couldn’t lace Billy McNeill’s boots would make a huge difference to the academics who are extremely concerned at what they have so far discovered.
The national game at times resembles a values vacuum where cash is king and everything else comes a distant second.
Look no further than Leicester City’s sacking of Claudio Ranieri, another who graces the sport with dignity, for the most recent example.
For months, researchers have
been telling the game’s rulers they have a serious potential problem.
They have warned not only of evidence that heading the ball may have exposed a generation of players to serious damage but that the current generation may be at risk.
If they are speaking in a language the game does not understand then perhaps they should consider the words of Gordon Smith, a friend of the McNeill family, who played for Billy at Manchester City.
He said : “When I was at Manchester City, Billy was my manager.
“I always remember him telling me, ‘Heading was a special part of my game. I used to practise every day getting the ball kicked down the field 50 or 100 times and I used to head it as far and as hard as I could up the park’.
“When you see Billy now, it haunts me a little him telling me that.”
To an older generation of fans who recall the towering No5 bulleting late winning goals against Dunfermline Athletic and Vojvodina Novi Sad it will also resonate.
Perhaps even with a greater awareness of the risks attached to heading a football, Billy McNeill would have changed nothing about his life or his approach to the game.
It may be that he would have chosen to do nothing differently and a glance at the career he enjoyed would make that understandable.
There is no excuse, however, for the game at large to ignore these risks any longer.
This cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet, to become ignored or held as a dirty secret.
Everyone from FIFA to the billionaire sugar daddies who bask in the game’s reflected glory to the PFA and current players should become more involved.
Not because they know all the answers or even know where this discussion might conclude.
They should do it out of respect to the players who made the game great.
This cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet, be ignored or held as a dirty secret