Tommy Gemmell

There are very few players can boast of scoring in a European Cup/Champions League final. There are even fewer who can say they’ve done it twice. Tommy Gemmell is one such player who can.

He scored Celtic’s equaliser in the 1967 final in Lisbon as the Hoops went on to win the trophy with a 2-1 win over Inter Milan.

Three years later, he opened the scoring the final at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, but this time it was Celtic who lost out as Feyenoord secured a 2-1 extra-time victory.

One of the players who arrived at the club courtesy of Sean Fallon, Tommy Gemmell would go on to establish himself as one of the best full-backs in the club’s history, while his scoring exploits saw him net a total of 63 goals in his Celtic career, including those two European Cup final goals, which is a very impressive return for a defender.

In the early 1960s, Celtic had opted to pursue a policy of developing their own players and bringing them through the ranks and into the first-team. There was certainly short-term frustrations for supporters, who were starved of any tangible success since the 1957 League Cup final triumph over Rangers, but in the longer-term it was a policy which struck gold.

Gemmell and his team-mates benefited from the genius of Stein, delivering success in Scotland and in Europe.

The catalyst, of course, was Jock Stein. If he hadn’t taken over in 1965, then many of the talented young players the club had developed, including Tommy Gemmell, would have drifted away from Celtic Park, but Gemmell and his team-mates benefited from the genius of Stein, delivering success in Scotland and in Europe.

Gemmell himself said in his autobiography, Lion Heart, that he grew up ‘in the finest football academy for which a youngster could have wished. It was called Craigneuk, the little Lanarkshire town where I was raised, which is halfway between Motherwell and Wishaw.’ He played football from dawn ‘til dusk, and it developed his skills, and toughened him up to cope with the demands of professional football.

Tommy Gemmell never forgot where he came from, and he brought the European Cup to his parents’ house in Craigneuk after the ’67 final in Milan.

PRELUDE TO PARADISE
Before settling as a right-back, Tommy Gemmell originally played on the right wing when he was at school. He then moved to the back where he tried out on the left side of defence at his amateur club, Meadow Thistle – mainly because they were short in players for that position. It was late October 1961 when 17-year-old Gemmell eventually signed for Celtic, and he did so from Junior club, Coltness United. His arrival was also marked that day by the signing of Jimmy Johnstone, and they were the little and large of the Celtic team who became great friends – Gemmell standing tall at 6ft 2inches, and Johnstone just 5ft 4inches.

Tommy Gemmell would go on to establish himself as one of the best full-backs in the club’s history.

DEBUT BHOY
A lot of hard work finally paid off two years later when Tommy Gemmell was eventually handed the chance to make his debut in the green and white Hoops. It came on January 5, 1963 in a league match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The trip north was a successful one at that, as Celtic wrapped up a 5-1 win against the Dons thanks to a John Hughes hat-trick and a Bobby Craig brace.

HIGHLIGHTS
The most obvious highlight is an easy one to choose. The 1967 European Cup win was special to every Celtic supporter, but for Gemmell it was even more than a club achievement, it was a personal honour as well. He scored the equalising strike on 62 minutes, which brought Celtic back into the match. Stevie Chalmers then added a second five minutes from the end, and the rest they say, is history. Gemmell was also the first Celtic player to score in the European Cup – hitting home against FC Zurich in September 1966. There was a growing sense of excitement at Celtic Park in season 1966/67, and a belief that they were on the verge of something special.

BOWING OUT
Tommy Gemmell's last run-out for Celtic came on November 3, 1971 when the Hoops beat Sliema Wanderers 2-1 in the second round of the European Cup. They had previously knocked BK 1903 Copenhagen out, and breezed their way past the Maltese side 5-0 in the first leg. Harry Hood had netted a double to hand them a comfortable lead going into the second leg. Jim Brogan and Lou Macari struck as well, but most fittingly, Gemmell had opened the scoring that evening after just four minutes. His last game came in the away leg where the Hoops won a little less comfortably, but nonetheless progressed with a 7-1 aggregate score. Celtic went on to face Uijpest Dosza and Inter Milan without Gemmell, who would soon be on his way to Nottingham Forest, playing alongside the future Celtic management team of Martin O’Neill and John Robertson.

UP FOR THE CUP AGAIN
Having returned to Scotland, Gemmell was captain of Dundee when they reached the League Cup final in 1973. Not surprisingly, they faced Celtic in the final, and on a day when the sun definitely didn’t shine at Hampden, it was the dark blue side who triumphed, winning 1-0. And it was Gemmell as captain, who led the team up to lift the trophy. Gemmell would later manager Dundee, bringing his friend and former team-mate, Jimmy Johnstone, to Dens Park for a short spell.

THE PENALTY KING
Tommy Gemmell scored 63 goals for Celtic, and 31 of them came from the penalty spot. Indeed, he only ever missed three penalties throughout his Celtic career, and with a ferocious shot, it’s no wonder goalkeepers had difficulty in saving them.

"My main thought when I was taking a penalty was to get the ball on target"

‘My main thought when I was taking a penalty was to get the ball on target,’ he said. ‘Obviously, that was a must! And I wanted to hit it as hard as possible. With that combination, I reckoned I stood a good chance of scoring a goal. I made my mind up very early in my career that was the way to take them. I rarely changed my mind when we got an award. Get it bang on the button and leave the problem with the goalie!’

418 CELTIC CAREER APPEARANCES
League: 247, Scottish Cup: 43, League Cup: 74, Europe: 54

63 CELTIC CAREER GOALS
League: 38, Scottish Cup: 3, League Cup: 10, Europe: 12

14 CELTIC CAREER MAJOR HONOURS
League Titles: 6, Scottish Cup: 3, League Cup: 4, European Cup: 1