Celtic’s Lisbon Lions were one of a kind and it looks like nobody is in a hurry to forget about them anytime soon as they added another feather to their cap.
We knew it, you knew it and now the world knows it again. Another honour for the Lisbon Lions as an online vote by BT Sport voted the 1966-67 Celtic team that won the European Cup as “the world’s greatest club football team of the last century”.
BT Sport had been running a series of polls during April which led to a final decider between Barcelona and Celtic. After neck and neck voting we were reaching the conclusion on Sunday as the poll closed.
After lots of voting and anxious checking on the poll results throughout the day, BT declared a draw and a replay poll was immediately launched.
Have you ever heard the like a draw on an online poll of around a 100,000 people? What on earth happens if it goes to penalties online?
Well we don’t have to answer those questions as 187,000 votes later BT Sport rightly declared the 1966-67 Celtic side as the winners. How fantastic is that!!!
The club were as delighted as we all are and rightly quoted Jock Stein in their celebratory tweet:
🍀 "We did it by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football." - Jock Stein #CelticFC's Quadruple-winning Lisbon Lions have been voted 'The Greatest Club Football Team of the last century' in a poll by @btsportfootball 🏆🦁 https://t.co/NQA1LDQhmE pic.twitter.com/yAFDnUgScL
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 20, 2020
The first British team ever to make the final of the European Cup, let alone win it. That team definitely deserves this recognition.
It might come as a surprise to many that how a side like Celtic managed to beat out globally-supported clubs like FC Barcelona, Manchester United and AC Milan. But those who know the history of that side can only nod their head in agreement.
Apparently there is no truth to the rumour that Rangers are preparing a statement nor that they want the poll outcome to have an asterisk against it.