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A good few years ago I was looking through some old Celtic programmes and came across some European games. Leeds, Internazionale, Fiorentina, Benfica, St.Etienne, AC Milan, Ajax and other great European names of the day from the Stein era were the notable ones for me. I was weaned on the tales of these great European ties and I became depressed as I realised that this great era for Celtic was just before my time and at that moment my own European experiences were mainly miserable ones, with a sporadic notable victory every five years or so.

Still, there was something special about those wonderful nights under the atmospheric floodlights. Continental sides brought something different from the bread and butter of the domestic game and were most exciting events. There was an eerie feeling when the opposition scored, you could hear the opposing players shout with delight and their dug out would empty as the officials and subs danced with glee on the track in the absence of any away fans, in contrast to the thousands of Celtic supporters standing in virtual silence with a mixture of shock and disappointment. 

Celtic’s standing in the game had dropped since those halcyon Stein days and there were times when I despaired we would never again return to major success on the European stage. However, since Martin O’Neill’s arrival in 2000 we have been blessed with many great European adventures and it was a privilege to witness the great sides of the continent and some of the greatest names in world football show their wares at Parkhead. Ajax, Juventus, Porto, Valencia, Liverpool, Lyon, Bayern Munich, Barcelona (three times), AC Milan (three times), Manchester United (twice) and  Benfica (twice). Some of the world’s finest players showed their talents at Parkhead and we witnessed a veritable who’s who of world football ; Ronaldinho, Del Piero, Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ballack, Canizares, Rui Costa, Henry, Kaka and a certain guy called Henrik Larsson who put us to the sword with Barcelona in 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate to strike a despondent chord in this article but those heady European escapades, certainly in the Champions League, may be over for a number of years. The new qualifying procedures make it look well nigh impossible that Celtic will qualify, and automatic entry to the group stages by way of winning the SPL will now come to a stop with the plummeting coefficient figure that Scotland now has. While Arsenal can rely on Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool to assist them getting a place for finishing fourth in the EPL, we have ‘relied’ on Gretna and Queen Of The South these last few seasons. So batten the hatches Bhoys, we may be in for a long wait before we hear that stirring CL theme again in Paradise. 

The five images in this article are :

1970 Celtic 1-2 Feyenoord

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When I was growing up in the seventies the word ‘Lisbon’ would bring a huge beaming smile to my Father’s face. Mention the word ‘Milan’ and it was a total contrast. This game was spoken of in hushed tones similar to some sort of sordid family secret, a scandal never to be mentioned in public. Even after 39 years the defeat to Feyenoord still has scars that have not fully healed. I reckon I was in my 30’s before I even saw the goals from that final. Had we survived another four minutes we could have had a replay and who knows how history could have changed from then.

In this pic a young Davie Hay (one of the few Celtic successes on the night) battles with the great Dutch midfielder Wim Van Hanegem.

1974 Celtic 4-2 FC Basle

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Imagine the scene - 70,000 in the old Parkhead for a European Cup quarter final second leg. The game is finely balanced at 5-5 on aggregate and is into extra time. Harry Hood controls a ball on the left bye line and puts a fine cross to the back post. Jinky stretches his small frame to head the ball back across goal to find midfielder Steve Murray, who sends a looping header high into the net past the despairing Swiss goalkeeper. You can imagine the bedlam on the terraces on that dramatic night with the most exciting finish since Vojvodina in 1967.

This pic shows Murray (far right) scoring the decisive goal. Is it just me or does the defender nearest him bear an uncanny resemblance to the great Carlos Puyol of Barcelona ?

1980 Celtic 2-0 Real Madrid

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In my teenage years this was the one time I dared to dream we could lift the European Cup again when we reached the quarter finals in March 1980. Pirri, Santillana, Laurie Cunningham, Juanito and co were sent packing with a 2-0 deficit and it could’ve and should’ve been more. The more cautious of us could recall Derby County travelling to the Bernabeau a few years before with a 4-1 lead and folding 5-1 in Madrid and so it was that Real performed the trick again by cuffing the Celts 3-0. It was a huge disappointment at that time.

This pic shows Johnny Doyle waiting for a corner at Celtic Park between the Real pairing of Jose Camacho (wearing Real’s change kit of all blue) and goalkeeper Garcia Ramon. This was probably Doylie’s greatest moment in the hoops when he scored a superb header for Celtic’s second goal.

1981 Celtic 1-0 Juventus

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This tie was very similar to the Real encounter a year previously. Celts won  1-0 and went down to the Italians 2-0 in the second leg. They were a hugely experienced side boasting Zoff, Scirea, Gentile, Cabrini, Bettega and Tardelli and they would win the 1982 World Cup in Spain for Italy nine months later with Zoff as their 40 year old captain. They also had a certain Irishman called Liam Brady who one day would return to Paradise as manager.

This pic shows Murdo MacLeod blasting a shot at goal past the Juve pairing of Bonini and Cabrini. Like Real Madrid, Juventus turned out that night in an unfamiliar all blue strip.

1988 Celtic 4-0 Honved

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After their 1988 centenary league win Celtic travelled to Hungary in the European Cup and lost 1-0 in the first leg to Honved. The goal we conceded was another disaster for our new, expensive English keeper Ian Andrews who had lost five to Rangers at Ibrox a few weeks earlier when replacing the injured Pat Bonner. For the second leg the experienced Alan Rough was called up for a rare start in the Celtic goal and he excelled in a 4-0 win and we all wondered how a side so poor as Honved could have beaten us in the first leg in Hungary.

This picture, from Roy of the Rovers, shows Billy Stark scoring Celtic’s first goal in the 4-0 home win.