Celtic View

Statuette Of Samothrace,1970

23 February 2006

STANDING 12-inches high and not shining or gleaming, the Samothrace statuette is possibly not the most eye-catching trophy in the boardroom cabinet. Despite this, it is certainly one of the most revered.

Presented by the famous French football magazine L’Equipefor overall performances, Celtic were thus deemed European Team of the Year for season 1969/70.

To earn this coveted award, Celtic won the league by a clear 12 points from nearest rivals Rangers, and defeated St Johnstone 1-0 in the League Cup final, thanks to an early Bertie Auld goal.

On the downside, the Scottish Cup was lost in controversial circumstances to Aberdeen, and the club’s second appearance in a European Cup final ended in defeat, when a Feyenoord side that included Wim Jansen outplayed a Celtic side that seemed to underestimate their opponents. On the route to the final in Milan, Jock Stein’s Celtic side had defeated Basel, Benfica, (by the toss of a coin) Fiorentina, and, according to the English media at the time, the greatest ever English side, in the shape of Leeds United.

After beating Leeds at Elland Road courtesy of a George Connelly goal, the second leg was set for another classic game. Such was the demand from the fans that the game was switched to the then massive Hampden Park, where a European club record attendance of over 136,000 (officially) saw Celtic win 2-1, thanks mainly to an inspired Jimmy Johnstone performance.

Despite the setback of the poor performance in the final in Milan, the 1970 team had their own claim to fame, one only bettered by the Lisbon Lions. Whereas the Lisbon side were all born within a 30-mile radius of Glasgow, the Milan team were all born within a 40-mile radius. They are thus only the second British side to play in a European Cup final with all the players coming from the one country.

For the record, that season’s pool was: Fallon, Williams, and Simpson; Craig, Gemmell, McNeill, and Clark; Quinn, Cattenach, Brogan and Connelly; Hay, Murdoch, Auld, and Hood; Callaghan, Wallace, Dalglish, and Johnstone; Chalmers, Macari, Lennox, Hughes, and Davidson.

For good measure Celtic also won the Glasgow Cup that season, beating Rangers in the final.

JimmyJohnstone.com is not responsible for the content of external internet sites