The Valencia file (Part 7) – The flashing head of Cesar breaks Vojvodina hearts

The calendar year of 1966 had been an incredible period for Celtic, provoking the full range of emotions from those with the club at heart. January began with a 5-1 victory over Rangers at a frosty Parkhead, Celts recovering from the loss of a goal in the opening minute to hit five in the second-half, including three from Steve Chalmers. Whilst a rare occurrence, it would not be the only hat-trick in the fixture this year, Bobby Lennox netting a Glasgow Cup treble at Ibrox in August, a feat he repeated in the November Final against Partick Thistle.

A heart-breaking week in April, where Celtic lost the Semi-final of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup to Liverpool then the replayed Scottish Cup Final to Rangers, was followed by the end of a twelve-year wait to be re-crowned Scottish champions, thanks to that man Lennox’s last-minute winner at Fir Park.

That set the Bhoys up nicely for a first tilt at the biggest prize in European football, the Champions Cup, and the year-end report was looking good, flawless in fact, as Zurich and Nantes were defeated.

Between the two European rounds, the League Cup had become the first trophy success of the new season, as (yes, you’ve guessed it) Lennox scored the only goal of the Final from a great knock-down from Joe McBride, to beat the Ibrox side in the Hampden showpiece for the second successive season.

Following the 6-2 aggregate victory over Nantes, there were a number of significant December events which would shape and define the second-half of Celtic’s 1966/67 season.

In the Quarter-final of the European Cup, Celts were drawn against Yugoslav champions, FK Vojvodina, or Atletico Madrid, who had won La Liga to join neighbours and current Cup-holders, Real, in that season’s competition. Their Second Round tie had gone to a play-off, to be held in Madrid that month.

Striker Willie Wallace had been bought from Hearts for around £30,000. He had been a regular scorer against Celtic, whilst at Tynecastle, including both games of a replayed Scottish Cup Quarter-final tie in March of that year, which were watched by an incredible 118,000 supporters.

For the last game of the year, a Hogmanay fixture at Tannadice, Joe McBride, Scotland’s top scorer, was missing from the teamsheet. He had injured a knee in training. I suspect it was not known at that time that he would miss the rest of the season, amazingly still finishing as the country’s top marksman.

And despite Celts being 2-1 ahead with just twenty minutes remaining, Dundee United hit back to win 3-2, thus ending the Bhoy’s proud unbeaten record. Jock’s side had remained undefeated in 26 domestic games from the start of the season, a record which would last for fifty years, before being trumped by Brendan’s Invincibles in January 2017.

It was actually Celtic’s first League defeat since February ‘66, a shock 1-0 loss to Stirling Albion at Annfield, and it would be the last until the following May, when a Hoops side seeking the single point required to retain the title, and fresh from winning the Scottish Cup against Eddie Turnbull’s Aberdeen, were again beaten by United by the same 3-2 scoreline, this time at Parkhead. A first Treble was secured at Ibrox, three days later, with a Jimmy Johnstone double. Only one other team would defeat Celtic in a competitive game that season.

The two defeats by the Tannadice side were part of a memorable season for Jerry Kerr’s men. As Celtic were defeating Nantes, they were marking up home and away victories over holders, Barcelona, in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a feat United would repeat under Jim McLean in 1987, surely an unique perfect record in world football. And in March, they would beat Italian giants, Juventus, at Tannadice, albeit exiting the competition following a 3-goal defeat in Turin. All this achieved by a side playing in Europe for the first time and who would finish an unremarkable ninth in the Scottish League.

As the New Year rang in, the thoughts of the Celtic support turned towards the March Quarter-final ties of the European Cup. As always, Stein’s preparations were thorough. He had travelled to take in the Second Round Play-off between Vojvodina and Atletico Madrid, which had taken place just before Christmas in the Vicente Calderon.

He watched as the hosts scored twice in the first five minutes to surely kill the tie, incredibly then losing three goals, the last in extra-time, to a Yugoslav side reduced to nine men by the finish. The Spanish champions were out. It would be a trip to Novi Sad for Celtic.

His plans soon included a February challenge match against Dinamo Zagreb, runners-up to Vojvodina in the Yugoslav First League the previous season and currently enjoying a strong run in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, having already eliminated Jock’s former club, Dunfermline, in the first European tie to be decided on the new ‘away goals’ rule. Intriguingly, the rule did not yet apply in the senior tournament. Had it done so, then Atletico would have qualified on that basis, with no requirement for a third game.

Zagreb had played at Celtic Park previously, in the wake of JFK’s assassination, in December ’63. Celtic had won 3-0 that night, on their way to the Semi-final of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup. There were a number of survivors from that Dinamo team in the line-up, notably the international trio of Skoric, Lamza and Zambata, as 46,000 hardy souls braved a cold night to make their way to the East End. They would be puzzled as the home line-up was announced, Jock going with a 3-4-3 formation, Hughes and Gemmell operating as wing-backs, which went very much against the normal convention of the time.

My late dad, as he often did, wrote the names and numbers on the match programme, allowing me to list the Celtic team and structure as follows:

1 Simpson

2 Cattenach
3 McNeill
4 Clark

5 Hughes
6 Murdoch
7 Auld
8 Gemmell

9 Wallace
10 Chalmers
11 Lennox

Johnstone, O’Neill and Gallacher were on the substitutes’ bench, with Jimmy replacing Bobby Lennox in the second half.

The new formation worked well in everything but end-product, Celtic missing a barrowload of chances before Zambata scored the only goal of the game, with just three minutes remaining.

 

The rehearsal over, three weeks later, the Celts lined up in Novi Sad’s Gradski Stadion, to take on the Yugoslav champions in the Quarter-final of the European Cup. This was new territory for both clubs. A Novi Sad XI, essentially Vojvodina representing the city, as often happened in those early days, had taken part in European football the season before Celtic’s introduction.

In September 1961, as Mundo was putting Nottingham Forest to the sword, with four of Valencia’s seven as they kicked off the run to their first European trophy, they had caused a sensation, with a victory over AC Milan in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A 9-1 Second Round win in the same arena, known at that time as Stadion Karadorde, over Greek side, Iraklis, then saw them through to the Quarter-final, where they were beaten twice by Karoly Sandor’s MTK Budapest. Celtic themselves would have reason to rue facing this side in 1964.

The following season, as Valencia and Celtic faced off for the first time, Vojvodina were beaten at the initial hurdle by a Leipzig XI, losing by the odd goal in three after another home win.

A domestic slump in 1962/63, where they narrowly avoided relegation, meant no European football the following season, however, they were back in the Fairs Cup in ‘64/65, as Vujadin Boskov, Mr Vojvodina, took the reins at his former club. They would again exit in the First Round, this time in a play-off to Bulgarians, Lokomotiv Plovdiv, following two 1-1 draws. That would be the last continental experience for ‘Vosa’ until their entry to the premier tournament in Autumn ’66.

There was a tough introduction to the 1966/67 European Cup for the new Yugoslavian champions. As Celts were rolling over the Swiss they were beating Austrians, Admira Energie in Vienna, the single goal enough for progress, following a goalless return in Novi Sad.

That led to the meetings with the Spanish champions, Atletico Madrid, goals from Takac, Pantelic from the spot and Brzic, providing a strong foundation for progress, despite a penalty goal from Madrid legend, Luis Aragones, whose name now adorns the road around Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium.

Aragones repeated his conversion in the return, a second from Adelardo then taking the tie to a Play-off a week later. There, as discussed earlier, Atletico collapsed despite a two-goal start and Vojvodina having two players sent off, losing the plot and the game to Takac’s second goal in extra-time.

Takac would not face Celtic in Novi Sad, having moved to Stade Rennais in the interim. Neither would left-wing pairing, Trivic and Pusibrk, suspended following the game in Madrid. Nevertheless, the hosts were on the front foot from the kick-off, Celts defending desperately to preserve the European dream. The only goal of the first-leg came with twenty minutes remaining, Tommy Gemmell, hero of the First Round victory over Zurich, short with a pass-back, Stanic nipping in to beat Simpson and win the game.

Seven days later, just under 70,000 packed Parkhead for Part 2 of Stein v Boskov’s tactical masterclass. Vojvodina’s previously-banned stars were both in the visiting line-up, whilst Wallace was still ineligible for Celtic and Auld was injured. The first half was tense, the best chance falling to the Yugoslavs, with Pusibrk failing to capitalise.

Jock switched things around at the interval, with Hughes moving inside, and the effect was immediate, the green-clad Celts suddenly much more threatening and dominant. The tie-equalising goal finally came on the hour mark, Gemmell thundering down the Jungle wing to fire over a left-footed cross. Goalkeeper Pantelic, a thorn in Celtic hearts all evening, this time misjudged the flight of the ball, Chalmers greedily accepting the gift to fire home and it was ‘game on’.

As attack after attack broke down and the minutes ticked away, thoughts turned to the prospect of a play-off in Rotterdam, the following midweek, given Vojvodina’s performance in Madrid, not an enticing one from a Celtic perspective. Then Johnstone won a corner in front of the main stand. Over went Charlie Gallacher to bring his expertise into play.

He swings it over under the lights. Pantelic and McNeill have their eyes on the prize. Cesar is there a split-second before the keeper. The ball soars towards the Vojvodina net. Defender Nesticki is on the goal-line. He throws up a hand in desperation. But to no avail. The ball is in the net. There is a split-second before a deafening roar erupts around Celtic Park. Ronnie Simpson is swinging on the crossbar.

The Yugoslavs protest that the keeper was impeded by Chalmers. But the referee is adamant. The goal stands. Vojvodina trudge back to the centre circle and kick-off. That is the last kick of the tie. Celtic are again in the Semi-final of a European tournament. But this time it’s the Big One.

The last four has not yet been established. The Battle of the Giants was completed last midweek, Inter Milan, under former Barcelona coach Herrera, completing the double over holders Real Madrid, with a 2-0 win in the Bernabeu. And Dukla Prague have upset the odds by beating Dutch champions, Ajax, with a late penalty and own goal. The other tie is at the halfway stage, Linfield drawing with Bulgarians, CSKA Sofia in Belfast. That tie will be completed next week and they are clearly the preferred draw.

Hail, hail!

Matt Corr

Follow Matt on Twitter @Boola_vogue

Thanks as always to the folk behind the Celtic Wiki on Kerrydale St., a fabulous source of information for these stories.

THE VALENCIA FILE – Parts 1-6 are below (there are 2 articles for Part 6)…

The Valencia file (Part 6) – Introducing Yugoslav football, Celtic links and Mr Vojvodina

The Valencia file (Part 6) – The Canaries are ‘bossed in France’ by the Flying Flea

The Valencia file (Part 5) – Celtic face another Magyar legend in Zurich

The Valencia file (Part 4) – A linesman’s flag prevents Celtic playing a European final at Hampden

The Valencia file (Part 3) – McGrory of Valencia and the end of an era

The Valencia file (Part 2) – From Euro rookies to the Semi-Final for Celts; a third Final for Valencia

The Valencia file (Part 1) – Celtic’s European adventure begins

About Author

Having retired from his day job Matt Corr can usually be found working as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park, or if there is a Marathon on anywhere in the world from as far away as Tokyo or New York, Matt will be running for the Celtic Foundation. On a European away-day, he's there writing his Diary for The Celtic Star and he's currently completing his first Celtic book with another two planned.

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