Video: Celtic Beat Leeds United To Reach A Second European Cup Final, On This Day In 1970

On this day in 1970, Celtic hosted Leeds United in the second leg of the European Cup Semi Final. The game had to be moved to Hampden Park to accommodate the 136,505 European record attendance, whilst many more entered by getting a lift over the turnstyle or by other more dubious methods.

Celtic fans queuing ahead of the match

Having defeated the greatest team in English football at Elland Road, Celtic were confident of victory, whilst certain quarters still showed them a lack of respect. That said, Billy Bremner gave the visitors the lead with a stunning strike. Bremner later said of the following scene after his goal “Then it started, ‘Celtic, Celtic, Celtic,’ it got louder and louder, the type of cry that had froze many men!”

Hughes levelled the match in the 47th minute with a beautiful header, before Murdoch gave Celtic a 2-1 lead and 3-1 advantage, four minutes later.

That’s how things stayed as the European record crowd went home delirious at having beaten a superb side home and away, reaching a second European Cup Final in three years to boot!

About Author

Hailing from an Irish background, I grew up on the English south coast with the good fortune to begin watching Celtic during the Martin O'Neill era. I have written four Celtic books since the age of 19: Our Stories & Our Songs: The Celtic Support, Take Me To Your Paradise: A History Of Celtic-Related Incidents & Events, Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys: Celtic's Founding Fathers, First Season & Early Stars, and The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic: A Guide To Celtic Landmarks & Sites Of Interest. These were previously sold in Waterstones and official Celtic FC stores, and are now available on Amazon.

1 Comment

  1. Tommy Kennedy on

    I was 13 and got lift over at Hampden against Leeds and squeezed my way out to go down to pie stall at halftime hoping someone would buy me a pie and went back upstairs but it was so packed I couldn’t get back on the terracing and had to stand beside the polis at side of the main stand .what a memory