It was on April 12, 1967 that Celtic took on Dukla Prague in the first leg of the European Cup semi-final. And it would prove to be a thrilling night in front of a crowd of 75,000.

Jimmy Johnstone gave the Hoops the lead after 27 minutes but the Czech side equalised just before half-time. However, two second half goals from Willie Wallace gave Celtic a 3-1 lead to take to Prague for the second leg.

For Willie Wallace it was a dramatic Euro debut for the Hoops. He had missed the 3-1 home win over Nantes in the second round of the European Cup, which had taken place just 24 hours after he joined the club, while bureaucratic red tape meant he wasn’t eligible for the quarter-final clash with Vojvodina Novi Sad.

He watched the second leg of that tie in the stand at Celtic Park, and the atmosphere in the stadium as Celtic overturned a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Yugoslavia to win 2-0 on the night, with the winning goal coming in the dying seconds of the match from the head of Billy McNeill, was as thrilling to the new Celtic striker as it was to the packed into Paradise, as he later explained in his autobiography, Heart of a Lion.

He wrote: ‘I had been sitting beside the injured Joe McBride in the stand at Celtic Park to witness the astounding quarter-final against Vojvodina and I thought ‘Wispy, this is the place for you’. I wanted a slice of that, believe me. I know all the lads would say the same thing, but the atmosphere generated by our support on those occasions was just breathtaking – quite staggering really.’

Willie Wallace’s two goals helped the Hoops reach the European Cup final, the first coming in the 60th minute to put Celtic 2-1 ahead on the night.

A right-footed clearance from Tommy Gemmell on the halfway line deceived the Dukla defence, and from eight yards out, Wallace volleyed the ball into the back of the net to restore Celtic’s lead. And just five minutes later, he made it 3-1, though the goal owed much the impudence and ingenuity of Bertie Auld.

The Hoops were awarded a free-kick about 25 yards from the Dukla goal after a desperate handball from Jan Zlocha. Auld ran up as if he was going to take shot but then, at the last minute, stopped and leant over like he was going to readjust the position of the ball.

Instead, he passed it forward into the path of Wallace who, from the edge of the ‘D’, smashed home an unstoppable shot beyond Ivo Viktor in the Dukla goal.

And Wallace could even have grabbed a hat-trick when he steered a Stevie Chalmers cross goalwards from six yards out, but the ball spun up into the air and came back off the crossbar. However, Celtic had a vital two-goal lead to take to Prague, and Willie Wallace had scored his first European goals for the club.

For more great content, including interviews, features and the latest Celtic View Podcast, check out The Celtic View Hub page on the official website.

THE CELTIC VIEW HUB

A Moment in Time: Celtic beat Dukla Prague in European Cup semi-final