Get ready to roar for the Lions

Celtic fan Frank Gallagher still remembers his club winning the European Cup when he was a boy. Tomorrow he plans to retell the story in musical form at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy

River City actor Frank Gallagher, better known as the Shieldinch gangster Lenny Murdoch wasn’t yet four when his beloved Celtic became the first British football club to win the European Cup.

As Stevie Chalmers and Tommy Gemmell famously secured a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan at the Estadio Nacional near Lisbon, Portugal on May 251967, young Frank was wrapped in a blanket watching the game on his granny’s couch in Bellshill.

“Every time I feel a bit down, I put the video of the Lions on to cheer me up,” reveals 54-year-old, who has had a season ticket at Parkhead since 1994.

Now the telly bad boy, who has also starred in Taggart, is swapping Montego Street for the road to Lisbon to help mark the 50th anniversary of this remarkable sporting triumph.

He is leading a cast of River City regulars on a journey back to the Glasgow of 1967, for a new production of the play The Lions of Lisbon, which arrives in Kirkcaldy tomorrow.

The musical, which features a full cast of 10 plus a live band, recreates the humour, passion and occasional calamity that befell those involved in that great European adventure.

It’s a welcome replay for Frank, who enjoyed being involved in the first production of The Lions of Lisbon in 1992 which marked the 25th anniversary of his team’s finest hour.

The play was penned by writers Willy Maley and Ian Auld, the late brother of Lions hero Bertie, and contains musical direction from Dave Anderson.

Director Martin McCardie’s daughter

Erin also features in the performance along with his wife. They are joined by Frank’s fellow River City dweller Garry Sweeney and a host of other famous faces from the stage and television.

For Frank, it’s proving to be an even greater family affair as he stars alongside his real life “Bhoy” – his 24-year-old son Matthew.

“I was just a young boy when Celtic won the European Cup,” he recalls.

“A couple of my uncles were at the game and I remember everyone shouting at the TV.

“So it’s great to be back doing something that tells the story from the perspective of people that were there.”

Frank says the updated version has been revamped to fit better with these more austere times.

“It was done as a play with stage settings last time around, but I would describe it now as more of a stage reading because of financial constraints.”

The journey made by 10,000 Celtic fans to Lisbon in 1967 has been described as “the most important crusade since the quest for the Holy Grail”.

There were remarkable stories from the time of hard-up, yet dedicated fans, travelling by whatever means they could in the days before cheap flights were readily available.

“We include a flavour of that – Hillman Imp stories of people setting off on these incredible journeys,” Frank laughs.

The celebration of the club’s greatest achievement will appeal most to Celtic fans – and interest has been buoyed following the club’s sweeping domestic success this season.

However, Frank hopes it will also be of general interest to other football supporters interested in a yet-to-be-repeated piece of Scottish football history.

“It was probably Celtic’s greatest achievement,” he adds. “Looking at this season’s remarkable treble, it’s amazing to think it was even greater than that.

“It would be great if a Scottish club could do it again some time – and I pray it would be us.”

It was probably Celtic’s greatest achievement

Frank and the cast rehearse ahead of the show’s appearance in Kirkcaldy.