The Battle of Montevideo

Celtic Under Siege

Brian Belton

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9780752445823
• eBook ISBN:
  9780750956765
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

The 1967 World Club Championship decider between Celtic and Racing Club of Buenos Aires was one of the most violent and controversial matches of all time. Three Celtic players and two from Racing Club were sent off in total. The game descended into farce, with the Uruguayan police forced to take to the pitch with batons to separate brawling players. Pictures released of the match met with shock worldwide, but while an embarrassed Jock Stein fined his players, those from Racing Club were rewarded with a new car each! This book tells the story of a real clash of two very different footballing cultures.

ONE

CONTINENTAL
CHAMPIONS

‘We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines through British history. Our commitment to fairness, fair play and civic duty’ – Gordon Brown MP, born Govan, Glasgow

In the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, on 25 May 1967, Celtic became the first British team (and the first outside Spain, Italy or Portugal) to win the European Cup, beating favourites Internazionale 2-1. Ronnie Simpson was an inspirational part of this Celtic side that had won the domestic league title in 1966 and would hold on to it for the rest of his time at the club. There was also success in the Scottish Cup and League Cup, but the crowning glory was the defeat of the ultra-defensive Italian side. The Lisbon Lions, as Simpson and his teammates would forever be known, had posted an historical landmark for Scottish and British football, but Simpson seemed to see it as just another day at the office: ‘When we got to the European Cup final in 1967, it was just something that happened. The games we played in the run-up to the match with Internazionale were just regular games for us. When we got to the final, it was just another match.’

The match was a contest of two styles: Scottish attack v. Italian catenaccio resistance. For almost an hour, Inter’s massed ranks held Celtic off and protected their one-goal lead, until Tommy Gemmell scored from distance. With seven minutes left, Steve Chalmers hit the winner through a crowded penalty box. It was his team’s 200th goal in their 64th game of the season. Seven thousand travelling Celts celebrated, acclaiming the victory of a homegrown side, all born within a thirty-mile radius of Glasgow city centre.

However, Simpson had little to do during the match. The Italian penalty that was converted early in the game was a goal no keeper could have reasonably hoped to prevent. He was to recall: ‘Mazzola put the ball to my right and there was nothing I could do about it.’

Victory in Lisbon! Celtic become the first British club to win the European Cup.

So, Simpson spent much of what remained of the event watching as his teammates hunted for the equalising goal. He was asked to make just a couple of saves and one of his most vivid memories of that afternoon was the moment, as the final whistle blew, Bobby Lennox came running towards him. Simpson had his arms open for what he took to be the coming embrace but the Celtic forward tore by the keeper. He was running to retrieve Simpson’s cap from the back of the net as that was where he, Simpson and other players stored their dentures during matches. Simpson was to recount that he kept them there in case he had to meet someone important after the game. Bobby’s first thought was that he would lose his teeth to souvenir hunters as fans had poured onto the pitch. However, Lennox was later to insist that he only had one or two whereas Simpson had a full set. According to Jim Craig, Ronnie’s false gnashers had been knocked down his throat while at Newcastle, causing his air passages to be blocked. In reaction to this nasty incident, Simpson had sworn he would never again keep his teeth in while involved in a game. However, in 1999 Jimmy Johnstone shared a theory about Simpson and his molars. He claimed he was exceptionally good on his right side because: ‘He kept his teeth in his bunnet there! Nothing ever got by him there!’

Tommy Gemmell, goalscorer in the European Cup final in Lisbon.

Ronnie Simpson jumps to catch the ball against Internazionale in the European Cup final in Lisbon, 30 May 1967.

Simpson was the antithesis of the Internazionale players he faced in the European Cup final. The Italians were the most expensive team in the game’s history and included Luis Suarez, the Spaniard who had cost £214,000 to bring to Milan from Barcelona in 1961. Despite Ronnie’s modesty about his part in the game – ‘the only worry I had out there was the danger of sunstroke’ – when the Italians threatened in the dying minutes of the first half, Simpson produced a masterful piece of goalkeeping. But the vital save came in the third minute when a Mazzola shot hit Simpson on the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• One Continental Champions
• Two Football in the Blood
• Three To Avellaneda
• Four On Yer Heed, Ron!
• Five Football Missionaries
• Six The Gathering Storm
• Seven Belly of the Beast
• Eight Battle Lines Drawn
• Nine Under Siege
• Ten So Far Away
• Eleven Goodbye Ronnie
• Twelve Football in Argentina Post-1967
• Thirteen After Montevideo
• Fourteen Conclusion
• Bibliography