A visit to Deventer to take on Go Ahead. Jock Stein’s first European game as Celtic manager…
In late September 1965 Celtic travelled to Deventer in the Netherlands to take on D.V.V Go Ahead, a club now known as Go Ahead Eagles in a Cup Winners Cup tie, first round first leg.
Go Ahead were a part time side then, but were a solid part of the Dutch top flight having finished 11th the previous season, but qualified after finishing runners up in the KNVB Cup to champions Feyenoord who qualified for the European Cup.
This was the first time Jock Stein had taken charge of the club in European competition and the Dutch side were swept aside in a terrific display of football that would give us a taste of things to follow in the next couple of years.
Celtic thrashed their Dutch opponents by six goals to nil thanks to a Bobby Lennox hat trick, a Jimmy Johnstone brace, and a John Hughes strike.
It wasn’t just the high scoreline that impressed, our hosts, but the all round performance and our style of football. The Celtic supporters had seen that on the field in the first few months of Jock’s reign, but the watching Dutch media were left in awe with some of the football that they just witnessed.
The next days newspaper headlines reflected just that we the Dutch sang the praises of their Scottish visitors as they were treated to a style of football that was rare on the European continent.
The second leg back in Glasgow was a forgone conclusion, and Celtic were victorious 1-0 on the night advancing 7-0 on aggregate. We would eventually lose out to Liverpool at the semi final stage due to a hugely controversial offside decision against Bobby Lennox at Anfield, but something special was just around the corner as Celtic were about to further stamp their authority on the European scene in the coming 12 months.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
