Tuesday, March 19, 2024
NewsScots football fan reveals incredible piece of 1967 European Cup final memorabilia

Scots football fan reveals incredible piece of 1967 European Cup final memorabilia

A SCOTS football fan has revealed an incredible piece of Scottish footballing memorabilia – a signed programme from the 1967 European Cup final.

Die-hard Celtic supporter John McCabe, 58, has the one-of-a-kind piece hanging on the wall at his home in Glasgow.

The 55-year-old programme is covered in signatures but not from Celtic’s Lisbon Lions – instead from defeated Inter Milan footballers.

John's programme from Lisbon
John’s dad met the Inter Milan team at the airport in Lisbon. Credit: John McCabe

The match took place at Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal, and saw thousands of Scots fans descend on the city to watch Celtic win the European Cup.

John’s dad, also named John, was an avid collector of matchday programmes and attended the famous final where Celtic triumphed by two goals to one.

This earned the side from Parkhead the moniker ‘the Lisbon Lions’ as they fought so hard to win the biggest prize in European football.

John Snr bumped into Inter Milan players at the Portuguese airport shortly after the game and took out his programme.

Celtic Park
Celtic Park has a tribute to the Lisbon Lions on the stadium. Credit: Deadline News

The Italian giants showed great sportsmanship and passed it around for the players to autograph.

The worn programme reads: “Lisboa 25 de Maio de 1967 Estadio Nacional.”

The image of a sun has a football at the centre and underneath sits the European Cup with a snap of Lisbon in the middle.

It also states that this is the 12th European Cup final and the programme cost five Escudos which was roughly around 25p.

John Snr gave the prized possession to his son when he was a schoolboy and he has kept it safe ever since.

Speaking today, John said: “He was there at Lisbon and collected programmes and had such a love for Celtic, he took me to games from when I was four-years-old.

“He went to every Celtic game and never wanted to miss any of them.

“When I was about 12 or 13 my dad gave his programmes to me in a box and I just loved them. I covered my bedroom wall with all of them.

“My dad got back to the airport and he bumped into the Milan team and he couldn’t believe it when Helenio Herrera signed the programme and then passed it to Sandro Mazzola.

“There are around 12 or 13 signatures on the programme and it’s a special memento that I will never sell, to me it is priceless and it fills me with pride every time I look at it.”

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