HONOUR THEM

Rodgers calls for Lions to be recognised

BRENDAN RODGERS has called for the Lisbon Lions to be recognised on the Honours list as the 50th anniversary of their European Cup triumph approaches.

Speaking in the week Tommy Gemmell passed away aged 73, Rodgers claimed Celtic’s greatest- ever side had not been sufficiently commemorated at a UK level.

Manager Jock Stein received a CBE in 1970, while captain Billy McNeill — recently confirmed to be suffering from dementia — and forward Bobby Lennox received MBEs at the end of their playing careers.

Rodgers, though, feels there is a strong argument for the Lions’

APOIGNANT week for Celtic began with the news that Lisbon Lions captain Billy McNeill is battling dementia and ends with a minute’s silence tomorrow to mark the death of Tommy Gemmell.

The marauding left-back was a goalscoring hero that famous day in 1967 when a team of lads drawn from within a 30-mile radius of Glasgow took on Europe’s finest and won. The first British club to lift the European Cup.

Gemmell won’t be here for the 50th anniversary of that incredible achievement in May. Nor will Jimmy Johnstone. Nor Ronnie Simpson. Nor Bobby Murdoch.

The one opponent these formidable footballers could not beat was time.

But their team-mates remain. Heroic yet humble men. John Clark can still be found working as kit man at the club. Not for these kind of heroes the riches enjoyed by the players of today. Players not fit to lace the boots of Jock Stein’s stars.

For McNeill, and Bobby Lennox, recognition did come by way of an MBE. Stein received a CBE. But the others have been ignored. It is time to right that wrong.

Yesterday, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers spoke eloquently as he called for the Lisbon Lions (above) to be collectively recognised on the Honours List as the anniversary of their triumph approaches.

It is a call which is wholeheartedly supported by the

Scottish Daily Mail today as we start our campaign to Honour the Lions.

Who could be more deserving? As Rodgers himself says: ‘These types of achievements are given out to people who devote their lives to something or do something exceptional, and I’m nearly sure that everyone would say that’s what they’ve done.’

So we are calling out to the decision-makers and politicians: this year, as British football looks back on one of the most extraordinary feats in its history, let’s make sure that the heroes of Lisbon are honoured properly. Readers of the Scottish

Daily Mail can help us in our quest by letting us know their views.

You can either write to us at ‘Honour the Lions’,

Scottish Daily Mail Sports Desk, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB, email us at Scot.Sport@dailymail.co.uk, or Tweet us @ScotMailSport