Man In The Know

Celtic historian Pat Woods donates his unique and unrivalled archive of Lisbon triumph to the club.

- Tony Connelly

THE STORY of the Lisbon Lions has been written many times over in the history books, but nowhere have the events surrounding that momentous day been as thoroughly and meticulously chronicled as in the hands of Celtic historian, Pat Woods.

The 72-year-old retired librarian has spent the majority of his life collecting newspaper clippings from across Europe reporting on the 1967 European Cup final.

It started with him buying a couple of local newspapers in the Portuguese capital on the morning of May 25, 1967, and concluded 51 years later when he gifted the archive of material to the club.

“I’m donating all of this to Celtic because I know it will be looked after,” Woods told the Celtic View when he brought the material to Celtic Park. “The articles can be used for the tours or put into display cases. They could be handy in case anyone was doing any research on Lisbon.

“I started collecting the newspaper stories when Celtic got to the final and I continued to gather more and more throughout the years. I initially bought a couple of Portuguese newspapers when I was in Lisbon, and over the years I kept putting them into wee scrapbooks and folders. It wasn’t until recent years that I arrange them all in these display books.”