Celtic Lisbon Lions shirt has been put up for auction

There’s been a lot of talk over recent days about whether certain players are fit to wear the Celtic shirt. As Shane Duffy becomes the latest signing to want to wear the Hoops with pride, a story emerges of a very famous shirt and player.

Lots of fans, especially Celtic ones, will be aware of the famous Jock Stein quote: “Celtic Jerseys are not for second best, They don’t shrink to fit inferior players.”

With all the social media interest after some tricky games and results, it’s a good time to reflect on that with news of the sale of a Lisbon Lion’s European Cup final shirt. A shirt definitely fit to be worn by a fantastic player.

BT Sport tell the story of Jimmy Johnstone’s shirt going up for sale by auction, where a sale of around £25k is anticipated. That puts what would be a collectors dream purchase out of reach of many fans, but possibly still a bargain given the history behind it.

The shirt design was quite exclusive too with special neck stitching differentiating it from others at that time. The design was worn by Celtic twice, once in the Lisbon final and again when the Hoops played in and won a testimonial match shortly afterwards against Real Madrid on behalf of Alfredo Di Stefano.

And it’s an interesting tale behind how the shirt was passed on by Johnstone. On the day before the final, when the Celts were practising on the Estadio Di National pitch, the Inter Milan club photographer took a few snaps of Jinky and held his nerve to ask if he could have the shirt after the game.

True to his word, Johnstone handed over the shirt in the dressing room afterwards and signed one of the photographs taken the previous day.

It’s odd to think of such a prized possession being given away and held by one of the opposing team party! But if you know your history, you’ll understand why it was valued so highly then and now as it becomes available for auction.