The Valencia File – Czech-mate as Celts face another Old Master…
On 21 March 1967, Celtic learned their European semi-final destiny, drawn against Czech champions, Dukla Prague, with the first leg to be played at home, three weeks later. There was a frenzy for tickets, with the 75,000 briefs selling out quickly, in the lead-up to the big game.
In the interim, Celts had qualified for a third successive Scottish Cup Final, after a replay win over local rivals, Clyde. Their opponents would be Aberdeen, who had beaten Euro giant-killers Dundee United, thanks to an early own goal at Dens Park, watched by an unbelievable crowd of over 41,000.
There was also a huge personal honour for Ronnie Simpson, chosen as Scotland’s goalkeeper for the forthcoming fixture against World Champions England at Wembley. This would be a first international cap, making him the oldest Scottish debutant ever. It was yet another incredible chapter in the life of ‘Faither’, the man who had played in the Olympics in the 40s, won two FA Cup medals with Newcastle United the following decade then feared his career was over, after Hibernian manager, Jock Stein, sold him to Celtic in 1964, as back-up to John Fallon, after the pair had fallen out. Little did he know…
Like many of the sides Celtic had come up against in their early European campaigns, Dukla were a club with a proud history including some special characters. Formed as ATK Praha in 1948, they enjoyed the patronage of the Czech army, having first call on all players completing military service.
They won the first of what would be eleven national titles, five years later, by which time the club name had changed to UDA Praha. Whilst that would have made for an interesting ‘half-and-half’ scarf in 1967, thankfully, a further identity change was to follow in 1956. Their second Czechoslovak First League crown prompted a rebrand to Dukla, honouring those who had died at Dukla Pass on the Polish/Slovakian border, during the Eastern Front conflict of 1944.
Very much the dominant Czech side of the era, they had been Champions no less than eight times before they faced Celtic in April 1967. They also had European Cup experience in spades.
