Arguments about who was the best Lisbon Lion are futile and even possibly offensive, so I will confine myself to saying that Bobby Murdoch was well worth his place!
Bobby made his debut for Celtic a few days before his 18th birthday at the start of the 1962/63 season. He scored in his debut against Hearts at Parkhead, and he was a good enough inside right without being outstanding.
It was only when Jock Stein arrived that he saw immediately (as many supporters also saw) that Murdoch would be an outstanding right half because in the centre of the field he could control play better rather than have to wait for the ball to come to him in the forward line.
He played there when they won the Scottish Cup in 1965, and by the time that Lisbon came, he and Bertie Auld bossed the midfield, even though he had to play in the final with his ankle all strapped up.
He could win a ball, pass a ball and feed Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox. Much loved by his Manager, he was nevertheless told on two occasions that he would have to lose weight and he was sent to health farms to do so.
In 1973 he moved on to Middlesbrough and he very quickly became a legend down there as well. He was the first of the Lisbon Lions to die in 2001.
David Potter
