Hail Cesar as statue to iconic Celt unveiled in home town
Fellow Celtic legends joined in paying tribute as a statue of Billy Mcneill was unveiled in his home town yesterday.
The Glasgow club’s most successful captain was immortalised in bronze after £80,000 was raised by fans to erect a permanent tribute to the skipper of the famous Lisbon Lions side. The statue, built by John Mckenna, was erected at Bellshill Cross, near Bellshill’s Abbotsford Place where he grew up. His widow Liz Mcneill, along with Parkhead legends including Frank Mcavennie, Danny Mcgrain and fellow Lisbon Lion Jim Craig, attended the ceremony.
The Billy Mcneill Commemoration Committee said: “The boy from Abbotsford Place went on to be one of the most respected gentlemen in world football and will finally get the recognition that he has so earned and deserved in his boyhood town of Bellshill and Mossend. We hope Liz and family are pleased and proud.”
Former Celtic players Mark Reid, John Fallon, George Mccluskey, John Clark, Pat Bonner, Tommy Callaghan and Tom Boyd also attended.
Mcneill died in April 2019, aged 79, after being diagnosed with dementia. He spent his entire professional playing career with Celtic, making a record 832 appearances.
As captain, Mcneill became the first British footballer to lift the European Cup after their Lisbon triumph over Inter Milan in 1967. A statue of Mcneill holding the trophy aloft is already in place outside Celtic Park in Glasgow’s East End.
He also won nine league titles, seven Scottish Cups and six League Cups as a player, and as manager led Celtic to the league and club double in 1988, their centenary year.