“Bobby Lennox knows what it means to wear the Celtic jersey.” Billy McNeill
“If I’d had Lennox in my team, I could have played forever. He was one of the best strikers I have ever seen.” Bobby Charlton (ex-Man U & England) on Lennox
”But the Scotsman who gave me the most trouble was Bobby Lennox of Celtic. My testimonial at the Bernabeu was against Celtic as, of course, they were the champions of Europe in 1967 and, although I remember the Bernabeu rising to Jimmy Johnstone, I admired Lennox greatly.”
Legendary Di Stefano on Lennox
“I had hundreds of great moments in football, including scoring Scotland’s second goal in our 3-2 win over England at Wembley in 1967. It’s hard to pick a defining moment, although it would need to be from the same year when Celtic won the European Cup in Lisbon. Which moment to choose, though? That’s even more difficult.
“Was it when the final whistle went after we’d beaten Inter Milan 2-1? Or was it when we got back to our hotel to kick-off our celebrations? No, I think I’d have to go for our homecoming, because it wasn’t we got back to Glasgow that the worth of what we’d achieved began to sink in.
“The funny thing is, I can’t even remember where we landed: Glasgow Airport or the old one at Renfrew. What I do remember is that hordes of folk lined the route all the way back to Celtic Park, where there must have been another 60,000 fans waiting to greet us. The atmosphere was fantastic. So many people were still outside later that we couldn’t leave by the front door. I’ve still got a photo of me going across the pitch to escape via the Janefield Street exit.
“We soon went to Madrid to play in Alfredo di Stefano’s testimonial and the papers were full of how Real Madrid would show they were the best in Europe. We won 1-0. Who scored? Err, Lennox, after Wee Jimmy Johnstone had beaten about 14 opponents.” Bobby Lennox on 1967, Lisbon and Di Stefano’s testimonial
“We thought it would be impossible. We had seen Real Madrid play and all those teams, Milan and all those and we thought they were magnificent.” Bobby Lennox speaking in 2003 about the players assessment of success in 1967
“I would still like to think I deserved more than the 10 caps I got, scoring three goals in six wins, three draws and only one defeat. It wasn’t a bad record but maybe I was a victim of the times.” Bobby Lennox on Internationals & Scotland Caps
See John Hughes on Wednesday 17 May, 1967 on the next page…
