A Famous Pair of Boots!

The football season of 1966-67 saw Celtic win every competition that they entered, reigning victorious in the League, League Cup, Scottish Cup and Glasgow Cup. The crowning moment of this success was the European Cup Final. Emblazoned in the memories of veteran Celtic supporters, and legendary amongst even the youngins, is the Celt’s first European Cup Final match, against Inter Milan, in Lisbon on 25 May 1967. 

The opening moments saw Inter Milan off to a strong start, with a goal from Mazzola in just the seventh minute. But the second half saw Celtic’s Tommy Gemmell pull it back, with an all-important equaliser. A second goal by the Celts, with Stevie Chalmers in the 84th minute, saw the Scottish team secure a 2-1 win over Inter Milan, and cement their status as champions. The Bhoys were the first British team to lift the European Cup, the victorious team dubbed the ‘Lisbon Lions’.

Asked to pick a stand out moment in the history of Celtic Football Club, this historic European Cup win would surely be up there for most Celtic fans, many of whom could recite the full line-up, and perhaps even recall Celtic’s first goal, the impressive equaliser scored by Tommy Gemmell from 25 yards out. What happened to the boots that volleyed that ball straight into the back of the net? Sometime following the European Cup win, when training resumed in Glasgow, Gemmell parted ways with his ‘worn out’ football boots. His friend - who was close friends with teammate Bertie Auld - asked Gemmell for a ‘Token from Tam’, for his little boy, a fan of the player. Gemmell tossed the boots to the man saying 'I wore these in Lisbon, tell the wee fella to look after them!'.

The wee fella did indeed look after them, and several decades later, the boots worn by Gemmell when he scored that historic European Cup Final goal will go under the hammer in The Sporting Medals & Trophies Auction at McTear’s. These will be offered at lot 1976, with an estimate of £7,000-10,000.

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Hannah Murphy

For a free no obligation auction valuation, please contact Hannah Murphy on 0141 810 2880, or email hannahmurphy@mctears.co.uk