Stevie Chalmers

Stevie Chalmers scored 231 goals for Celtic during a 12-year career with the club, making him the fourth top goalscorer of all-time. Only Henrik Larsson (242), Bobby Lennox (277) and Jimmy McGrory (468) have scored more goals for Celtic.

Yet that trio of legends couldn’t claim to have scored the single most important goal in Celtic’s history. Stevie Chalmers could.

It came on Thursday, May 25, 1967 at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon. With just five minutes of the European Cup final remaining, Chalmers knocked home a Bobby Murdoch shot into the Inter Milan net to give Celtic a 2-1 victory and ensuring they became the first club from Northern Europe to lift the prestigious trophy.

With just five minutes of the European Cup final remaining, Chalmers knocked home a Bobby Murdoch shot into the Inter Milan.

It was the crowning glory for the club, the manager, the group of players he assembled and, of course, for the supporters who, just two years before, had seen their side finish eighth in the league. Sadly, Stevie passed away in April 2019, but that goal and everything he did for the club, will ensure that his name will forever be remembered by Celtic fans.

If Lisbon was the pinnacle, then there were many other highlights for the forward who had made his debut as far back as 1959. Chalmers also scored in the 1969 Scottish Cup final, hit five goals in a game against Hamilton, on a night when team-mate Lennox also scored five, and was the club's top scorer in four seasons.

Many supporters have, down through the years, visited the famous stadium in Lisbon where history was made, standing on the spot where Chalmers connected with the ball, or re-enacting that moment. Only one man did it for real, and it accorded him legendary status.

PRELUDE TO PARADISE
Like so many that had come before him, Stevie Chalmers’ pathway to Paradise came via the Garngad. As the area had produced the great Jimmy McGrory, Chalmers had a lot to live up to but soon caught the eye of Celtic after a fruitful junior career during which he turned out for the likes of Kirkintilloch Rob Roy and Ashfield. His arrival at Celtic in the February of 1959, coincided with the emergence of youngsters such as Billy McNeill and John Clark who would soon be joined by the likes of Jimmy Johnstone, John Hughes and Tommy Gemmell, a group who were given the moniker of the Kelly Kids after the then Celtic chairman Robert Kelly, and would form the spine of Celtic’s most successful ever team.

DEBUT BHOY
Stevie Chalmers’ first start would see him take to the field against Partick Thistle in the spring of 1959 where the 23-year-old’s tireless running soon lit up the Celtic support. Described as a raw talent in the first team, he had all the attributes of a world-class striker, such as the ability to set up goals as well as score them. Indeed, this attribute and understanding of the game, allowed him to bring other players into the game – a skill that would be greatly utilised following the arrival of Jock Stein.

HIGHLIGHTS
The absolute highlight for Stevie Chalmers, along with his team-mates, came on May 25, 1967, with the European Cup triumph in Lisbon. He won a total of 15 trophies with Celtic, and was in the team which lifted the Scottish Cup in 1965, the club’s first trophy under Jock Stein. He scored 231 goals for the club, was part of the Celtic team which swept their Glasgow rivals aside in the 1969 Scottish Cup final to secure a domestic treble. Yet, for the striker, it always comes right back to Lisbon and that goal.

He won a total of 15 trophies with Celtic, and was in the team which lifted the Scottish Cup in 1965, the club’s first trophy under Jock Stein.

BOWING OUT
Like so many of the Lisbon Lions, Chalmers’ time at Celtic would come to a gradual end as the emergence of the Quality Street Gang soon challenged the first-team regulars at Paradise. As he battled back from a broken leg, the striker would have to contend with competition from the likes of Vic Davidson, Lou Macari, and a young Kenny Dalglish for a striking starting berth. In typical fashion though, Chalmers the hero of Lisbon would sign off from the Bhoys in typical goal-scoring form against Clyde in a league encounter at Celtic Park in May 1971. It was the Lions’ last stand as they defeated their neighbours 6-1.

BLUE AND WHITE HOOPS
Stevie Chalmers would attempt to continue his football career as he left Celtic by taking up a player/coach position with Morton before finally hanging up his boots at Partick Thistle. During his time at Cappielow, he was reunited with his former Lisbon Lions team-mate, John Clark.

FAMILY TRADITION
Stevie Chalmers’ first steps on his pathway to Paradise were influenced by father, David, who was his idol. Having started his career at Celtic but not made a first-team appearance, David Chalmers would go on to turn out for Clydebank. It was during this time that he would take to the field alongside Jimmy McGrory, who was on loan at the club, allowing the young Chalmers to be brought up with countless stories about the skills of the Celtic legend.

“Stevie scoring the winning goal in the European Cup final is my outstanding memory of him.”
Bobby Lennox

FROM BARROWFIELD TO LISBON
The winning goal in Lisbon may have seemed, to some observers, an opportunistic chance by a striker inside the box. It was not. Instead, it was the result of countless hours of practice on Celtic’s training ground, as Bobby Lennox explained: ‘Stevie scoring the winning goal in the European Cup final is my outstanding memory of him. It was the type of goal he had scored a thousand times in training, and while it might have looked as though Stevie just luckily got his toe to it, it was no surprise to any of us that Stevie had been the one to put the ball in the net. He was expert at knowing just how to get into the right spot and get that vital touch on a ball – that was the result of years of practice.’

406 CELTIC CAREER APPEARANCES
League: 261, Scottish Cup: 47, League Cup: 59, Europe: 39

231 CELTIC CAREER GOALS
League: 158, Scottish Cup: 33, League Cup: 27, Europe: 13

15 CELTIC CAREER MAJOR HONOURS
League Titles: 6, Scottish Cup: 3, League Cup: 5, European Cup: 1