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What became of the Lisbon Lions?

UK Sport | | | By Newsdesk
What became of the Lisbon Lions?

Stevie Chalmers, who scored the winning goal as Celtic won the European Cup in 1967, has died aged 83.

Jock Stein’s ‘Lisbon Lions’ beat Inter Milan 2-1  at the Estadio Nacional in the Portuguese capital to become the first British team to win the trophy.

Here, Press Association Sport remembers the trailblazing side which made history and takes a look at what became of the players, all of whom were born within a 30-mile radius of Glasgow.

Ronnie Simpson

Celtic goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson (PA)
Goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson joined Celtic from Hibernian (PA)

Jim Craig

Jim Craig
Jim Craig talks to the media at the funeral of Tommy Gemmell (Jane Barlow/PA)

Tommy Gemmell

Tommy Gemmell was a fans' favourite. (PA)
Tommy Gemmell was a fans’ favourite (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Billy McNeill

Another Lanarkshire-born defender, the centre-back went down in history in Lisbon as the first British player to lift the European Cup. The Lisbon Lions skipper spent 18 years at Celtic as a player – making a club-record 790 appearances – and had two spells as manager, where his greatest achievement was guiding the club to the double in their centenary season, 1987-88. Nicknamed Cesar after actor Cesar Romero, who played the getaway driver in the original Ocean’s Eleven, because he was one of the few players to own a car in the early 1960s. McNeill also managed Aberdeen, Manchester City and Aston Villa and later worked in television. McNeill’s family confirmed during 2017 that he had been diagnosed with dementia. The former Celtic captain died in April 2019, aged 79.

John Clark

Nicknamed ‘The Brush’, Clark was the sweeper behind McNeill – both men were born in Bellshill. He first joined Celtic in 1958 and the 78-year-old has continued his close relationship with the club, having worked at the Lennoxtown training ground and also on matchdays as the first-team kit man. Clark managed Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde before returning to Celtic, where he was a regular in the dugout until very recently.

Bobby Murdoch

Bobby Murdoch
Bobby Murdoch played for Celtic between 1962 and 1973 (PA Archive)

Bertie Auld

Celtic's Bertie Auld (PA)
Bertie Auld was another key member of the side (Richard Sellers/PA)

Jimmy Johnstone

A statue of Jimmy Johnstone at Celtic Park (PA)
Jimmy Johnstone will always be remembered at Celtic Park (PA)

Bobby Lennox

Hugely popular with the Celtic fans, Lennox spent 19 seasons playing for the club, minus a few months in the United States of America. He was the last Lion to retire as a player, in 1980, and stayed on in a coaching capacity at Celtic Park. He won 25 major trophies during his time with the club – almost a quarter of Celtic’s total – and his 277-goal haul is second only to Jimmy McGrory in the team’s scoring charts. Hailing from Saltcoats in Ayrshire, Lennox was the only one of the Lisbon Lions to have been born more than 10 miles from Parkhead. The 75-year-old is still a familiar face at the ground, often working as a matchday host and recently had a statue unveiled in his honour in his home town.

Stevie Chalmers

The man who scored the winner, Chalmers, was told he had three weeks to live as a 20-year-old when he contracted tuberculosis meningitis, but was one of the first Scots to survive the illness after being given pioneering treatment. Four years later in 1959 he joined Celtic from Ashfield Juniors and had to wait six years for his first trophy, but then enjoyed unprecedented success. Glasgow-born Chalmers scored three goals in five Scotland appearances and netted 231 times in 12 years for Celtic. He later played for Morton and Partick Thistle before running an off-licence business and then becoming a sales agent for the Celtic Pools. Chalmers, whose son Paul played for Celtic, suffered a heart attack in the late 1980s. His family revealed Chalmers was unable to attend the Lisbon Lions 50th anniversary events due to ill health, having been diagnosed with dementia. Chalmers died at the age of 83 on April 29, 2019.

Willie Wallace

The prolific goalscorer joined Celtic six months before Lisbon in a club record £30,000 transfer from Hearts. With Joe McBride suffering a bad knee injury weeks later, ‘Wispy’ formed a partnership with Chalmers which carried Celtic to a clean sweep of trophies. Wallace, from Kirkintilloch, netted 134 goals in five years for Celtic before moving to Crystal Palace in 1972. He rounded off his career in Australia, where he still lives, but the 78-year-old has made the long journey back from Down Under to attend some games at at Celtic Park.

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