Victorious Celtic overwhelmed by jubilant fans

There were scenes unprecedented at such a match when Celtic won the European Cup in the Lisbon National Stadium yesterday, beating the Italian champions, Inter Milan, 2-1. There was a crowd of 54,000, but so noisy and colourful were the 7000 Celtic supporters who travelled across Europe by air and road that it seemed at times that it was a home match for them.

When the final whistle blew hundreds invaded the field. Some knelt down and kissed the turf, some took clods as souvenirs. And in the excitement the players were badly mauled by those who sought to congratulate them. When they were finally shepherded to the pavilion it was remembered that the Cup had not been presented.

The captain, Billy Mcneill, had to be taken back through the crowd and up the terraces to the President’s rostrum to receive the great trophy. Scottish supporters pushed their way into the dressing room and were given sips of champagne from the Cup. Twenty minutes after the finish excited supporters – some of them wearing the kilt – were still dancing about the field and falling full length to kiss the turf.

Jock Stein, the Celtic manager, said: “This was a triumph for attacking football against defensive methods. This victory by Celtic will be a good thing for the game, because attacking soccer is what the fans want to see.

“Even before half-time I thought Inter were slowing down, and when we went out in the second half we were confident we were going to win. After Tommy Gemmell had made it 1-1, Inter had nothing left. They didn’t even fight back.”