The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Tommy Gemmell – the man who started the fight-back in Lisbon

CELTIC legend Tommy Gemmell passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning at the age of 73, and his death has been mourned by Celtic supporters and also the wider football world.

A member of the legendary Lisbon Lions, Tommy scored Celtic’s equaliser that famous day, on May 25, 1967, as Jock Stein’s side went on to beat Inter Milan 2-1 and lift the European Cup, the first British team to do so.

And Tommy was also one of the few players to have scored in more than one European Cup final, scoring again three years later in the 1970 final against Feyenoord in Milan’s San Siro Stadium.

He spent 10 years at Paradise, between 1961 and ’71, making 418 appearances and scoring 63 goals. And as well as his two European Cup final goals, there were also 31 penalties. Indeed, he only missed three spot-kicks from the 34 he took in his career, a remarkable conversion rate.

Tommy’s first-team debut came on January 5, 1963 when he played in a 5-1 league win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, while his first goal came at Rugby Park in October 1964. The Hoops lost 5-2 that day, although Celtic’s other scorer was the man who joined Tommy on the score sheet in Lisbon just under three years later – Stevie Chalmers.