A NEW book on Celtic’s historic European Cup triumph in 1967 has revealed how Jock Stein suspected the match referee had been bribed by Inter Milan – and nearly came to blows with his opposite number Helenio Herrera at half-time during the final.

Celtic became the first British club to win the competition 50 years ago yesterday when they defeated Inter 2-1 in the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon thanks to second-half goals from Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers.

But the game against the Italian champions - who were highly fancied to lift the trophy having done so in both 1964 and 1965 - on May 25, 1967, got off to a bad start for the Scots when West German match official Kurt Tschenscher awarded the former winners a penalty.

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Tschenscher ruled that Jim Craig, the Celtic right back, had brought down Renato Cappellini, the Inter striker, inside his own area and gave a spot kick which Sandro Mazzola, the Inter inside right, converted in just the seventh minute.

Pat Woods, a lifelong Celtic fan who has co-authored a new book about the game, We’ll Always Have Lisbon, along with David Frier, an honorary research fellow in Portuguese at the University of Leeds, discovered that decision provoked a furious reaction from Stein.

It also led to the Celtic manager squaring up to Herrera, the renowned Argentinian coach with whom he had a frosty relationship with, in the bowels of the stadium.

“Jock Stein, as anyone who played under him would tell you, had a ferocious temper,” said Pat. “At half-time, he had a go at the referee. He said he thought the penalty was bought. John Fallon, the reserve goalkeeper, saw this. According to John, he said: ‘A penalty kick? You were conned! Where are you gonna get your villa?’

“Inter also had a consigliere, or advisor, called Dottore Chiesa who sat next to Helenio Herrera, the manager, during the final. He also overheard Jock Stein telling the referee ‘Inter placed an order for that penalty’ as he came off the pitch. Chiesa was following behind them and saw what was going on.

“Herrera had been at the mind games before the final and had deliberately tried to put pressure on the referee. He had done an interview with the West German newspaper, Bildzeitung, in which he said: ‘Herr Tschenscher should be aware of the Scots’ ruggedness and be confident enough to blow his whistle in the opening 15 minutes or so’.

“Stein’s paranoia may also have arisen from reports emanating from Italy at that time about Inter’s influence on referees in Serie A. He was acutely suspicious of what was going on. He didn’t trust Herrera and thought something untoward was happening. He felt that Celtic weren’t getting fair decisions.

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“Having said that, Stein was pictured with the referee and his linesmen at Lisbon Airport the following day as if nothing untoward had happened by a Portuguese newspaper.”

Pat added: “After his tirade at the referee, Jock then began to have a go at Herrera about his team’s tactics and their time wasting in particular as they went down the tunnel. Herrera tried to walk straight past him. But Jock kept on at him in his ear.

“When Herrera got to the dressing rooms he was so fed up he turned around and made an offensive gesture, the equivalent of the V sign, and Jock immediately grabbed him by his lapels. Giuliano Sarti, the Inter goalkeeper, had to intervene to stop the two men coming to blows. A reporter for Record, the daily Portuguese sports newspaper, witnessed this.”

The team which won the European Cup in 1967 – Ronnie Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill, John Clark, Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Wallace and Chalmers – has since become immortalised as The Lisbon Lions.

But Woods and his co-author Frier discovered that the game was only played in the Portuguese capital due to the public outcry that erupted over the city having the showpiece game taken away from them by UEFA the previous year.

“UEFA began to have doubts about whether Lisbon was capable of hosting the final during the 1965/66 season,” said Pat. “The basic issue was whether the Portuguese television station, RTP, their equivalent of the BBC, was up to the job of transmitting it across the continent. As the host nation, that was their responsibility.

“The Portuguese thought the venue for the 1966 final was in the bag. But it was moved in mid-March, just a couple of months before the game, and given to Brussels where Real Madrid ended up defeating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in the Heysel Stadium.

“UEFA had a meeting in Cannes and made the decision. The incredible thing about it was that the two Portuguese Football Federation officials who were meant to attend to argue their case didn’t turn up. They were away in Africa apparently.

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“Anyway, there was a backlash in the press about it in the months afterwards. The feeling was that Portugal, who were, despite the success of Benfica in the European Cup, a smaller European footballing nation than, say, Italy or Spain, had been picked on and unfairly treated. It was all political. The Portuguese Football Federation were very angry about it. They felt they had been cheated.

“UEFA had a fit of conscience about it and awarded the final to Lisbon the following year. By that time, RTP had sharpened up their act as well. They had only joined the Eurovision television network in the January of 1966.”

He continued: “In those days the venue for the European Cup final was decided very late on, sometimes as late as March. The reason for that was it was before sponsorship and the only sources of income which UEFA had were gate receipts and television money.

“UEFA wanted to see which clubs got to the final so they could choose a venue that would attract the biggest crowd and make them the most money. But they reacted quickly to the backlash to their decision to give the final to Brussels. They announced at the World Cup in England in the June of 1966 that Lisbon would get the 1967 final.”

We’ll Always Have Lisbon: Celtic’s Glory Year 1967 by Pat Woods and David Frier is available from Amazon and Celtic shops and is priced £9.99.