After that it was back to the hotel for our evening meal and then a night of drinking and revelry with our fellow fans. On reflection it maybe was a case or premature celebrations.
There were a few sore heads the next morning. I was fine but Brian had over imbibed and took a while to recover. In contrast with the previous day’s sunshine, the day of the big game turned out to be grey and wet. in the early afternoon we boarded the bus for the journey into Milan. In the city we were given a quick tour of the sights and it was there we first saw the Feyenoord fans.
In Lisbon in 1967 there were very few Inter Milan fans. This time was different – we were certainly aware that Feyenoord would not be lacking support.
That was made so obvious when we got into the stadium. One of the stands in particular was populated by the Dutch team’s supporters – and they were making a lot of noise. Celtic fans were certainly capable of giving their team great vocal backing. And we had a large repertoire of songs – Club anthems, parodies and Irish ballads. But the Feyenoord fans had something we had never encountered before- Klaxons!
It almost seemed like cheating. Even the loudest rendition of the Celtic Song or the Soldiers Song was easily drowned out by the klaxons.
It gave the game an almost eerie atmosphere. Indeed there was something about the whole setting that on reflection made me think the omens were not good. It was a grey day and a wet night. The great San Siro stadium was disappointing. Dull and basic. The Italians had not really taken to the occasion. No programmes and little colour in the city or the stadium.
And when the game started Celtic too seemed out of sorts. We just could not going. The Feyenoord midfield were in control and we were struggling to get forward in our usual fashion.
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