 I ask those who are still exiting the chamber to do so quietly, please. The next item of business is members business debate on motion 5239 in the name of James Dornan on when the Lisbon Lions roared the 50th anniversary of Celtics' European Cupwin. The debate will be concluded without any questions been put. Would those members I wish to speak in the debate, please press the request to speak buttons now. I call on James Dornan to open the debate. Around seven minutes, please, Mr Dornan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I know that very often when you see a lot of speakers, you ask for an extension for the length of debate. I was wondering if I could get an extra 30 minutes for this speech. There are quite a number of things I would like to say, and the problem I've had is curtailing it. 1967, what a time to be 14, the Beatles, Motown, Girls and Celtic. I'll never forget Thursday 25 May 1967, my dad, my brother Brian, my mum and I, all crouts round our wee black and white TV, 5.30pm kick-off, comes and goes. Nine minutes into the game, the referee works his hardest to ensure that we're not smiling at the end. That's a conspiracy. By giving a penalty against my dentist, I still say that it was a ludicrous decision. Battered, battered, battered, yet nothing gives. Then, in the 63rd minute, justice begins to be served. My dentist attacks from the right back position, knocks it over to Danny K and it's one each. Sounds like an old movie, doesn't it? After that, it was just a matter of time until charging up from left back position comes Danny K once again. He slips it to Bobby Murdlach, the greatest mouthful player of all time, who's shot his stuck-in to the back of the net by Stevie Chalmers. Utter Mayhem and Lisbon on the pitch, in the stadium, most houses in Scotland, and I suspect houses of football supporters across the world. But particularly in my house, of course. Number of things I remember about it outside of the goals and performance. When that goal went and I got soaked as my dad's team went flying all over the place, as we all tried to reach for the ceiling at the same time. My other brother, Michael, came in from the other room, where he was doing his homework, asking what all the noise was about. I know, I know. We despaired too. Top of the Pops followed right after that game. I remember that because, hey, that was 14 at the time, right? And the last thing is, I had the opportunity to go to that game with my uncle, but I never got to go for two reasons. One was because of the financial situation at the time. It was not uncommon back then to not be able to afford to do these sort of things. But the other was because I was grounded. So remember kids, if you're lucky enough to support a great team, make sure you behave. Who knows what the consequences could be? Oh, and by the way, for you younger folk, which is everybody, I think, my dentist was Jim Craig, and Danny Kay, an American film star at the time, was Tommy Gemmell. But that result was larger than me, my family, Celtic or even Scottish football. It changed things. It changed the way people thought the game should be played. For years, Cattinaccio had been the way, score then, defend at all costs, and it had been hugely successful. Inter Milan had won the European Cup twice and were expected to win it for a third time in four years, especially when it went for one nothing up. But he couldn't live with the world when it was Celtic. 42 attempts at goal to Inter's five and 10 corners to Inter's nil. After that game, teams realised that they could still win by playing the Celtic way, and they started to see teams like the great Dutch teams Ajax and Feyenoord take up the mantle. But Celtic weren't done. After that, they had one quarter final, two semifinals, and one final of the European Cup in the coming years. Unfortunately, we lost that final to one of those upcoming teams, Feyenoord. Celtic were one of the great European teams. But that changed the way Scottish football thought of itself. Ludicus, as it may sound now, Scotland could have made a claim to be the best footballing nation in the world in 1967. Comanate reached the semifinals of the First City's Cup, Rangers reached the final of the Cup, Winner's Cup, and Scotland won the All-In Official World Cup by hammering England free to it wembly with a quite scintillating display. On the outside of football, it was fitting too. Celtic played stylish football. A time in modern life was changing. When young people started to see themselves as more than an appendage to their parents and became more adventurous in how they lived their lives, Glasgow to be young was exciting. Music had motown the Beatles, Hendrix, The Doors, and the continuing expansion of modern culture. For us, Celtic's victory fitted in well. However, the place where I think it may have been the most difference was in the working-class areas of the west of Scotland, particularly among the Irish communities, made us feel a real sense of pride in our achievement. We did think that it was our achievement, a team full of working-class lads, all born within 30 miles of Glasgow city centre, the real centre of the universe, George, wherever you are. The city came together. We celebrated as one. We Celtic fans cheered rangers on against Bayern meaning to fall on week and shared in their disappointment when they lost one nothing. But outside of football and modern culture, in so many ways 1967 was the most exciting of years. The first heart transplant was done that year by Christian Barnard. I've talked about the Beatles a number of times, but Sgt Peppers was released Penalane in Strawberry Fields, the best double A side of all time was released. The first North Sea gas was pumped through the pipeline, and of course it was downsized like Muhammad Ali at five years for refusing to be inducted into the US Army. Otis Redding died, and Peter and Gordon split up. Google it. I was extremely lucky to come across a number of the Elizabeth Lions in later years. As I said earlier, Jim Craig was my dentist for a short time in Mount Florida. Billy McNeill and John Cartman, my son's management team when he was at Parkhead. I spent a few nights chatting to the wonderful Bobby Murdoch when he had a pub in Rutherglen, sang and cracked jokes with Jinky and Buzz Balm Leonard at a few Celtic Doos, and the great thing was that they were all gentlemen, all down to earth and happy to chat with you. It's hard to imagine the same scenario with the modern day swiffer stars. And remember, Jinky was the messy of his day. I also think it'd be terribly remiss of me not to mention the other four lines. John Fallon, the first substitute in a European final, Charlie Gallic are a wonderfully gifted player who crossed for big Billy to score the winner against Bodgedena in the quarterfinal. John Hughes, the unluckiest player to miss out on a player who could get a team on his own, and of course, Joe McBride to finish to Scotland's top scorer that year despite being out from the new year injured. So for parliamentary posterity, let me just remind everyone again of that team. Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnson, Wallace, Chalmers, Leonard and Ald. I've mentioned before that I was 14 that glorious year. During the summer, I made a friend on holiday and, like most holiday friendships, we lost contact. We'd recently made contact through social media again. When I said I was having this debate, she sent this poem by her father, John Mulligan. I want to read out just the last verse of it. I think it highlights perfectly what that great day meant to so many people and how it's a day we will never forget. This is from when the winning goal goes in. Through tears of joy, I see it yet, lying so peacefully in the net. The watches are out, just minutes to go. Boy, oh boy, has this been a show. Came the final whistle, the final scene. Get that sideboard ready, Mr Steen. The sun sinks slowly in the west and weary bodies lie down to rest. If that nine-some men are smiling in their dreams, they're living again the Lisbon scenes. Going over this great, great day, 1967, Thursday, 25 May, hail, hail. Women, now move to the open debate. Speeches of four minutes, please. Can I have Willie Coff—sorry, my apology. Graham Simpson, followed by Willie Coffey. Thank you. Can I first of all apologise for the non-appearance of my colleagues Murdo Fraser and Adam Tomkins, who were desperate to take part in this session but were somehow unavailable. I've always stayed clear of mentioning football allegiances as a west of Scotland politician, but my wife tells me it's time to come out. My dad, his dad and his dad before him were born and brought up in the shadow of Parkhead in Glasgow's east end. My dad supported Celtic because they were his local team, and he used to tell me about the club's charitable origins, which as a youngster always impressed me. I was only three when Celtic was born. I guess my father was pretty excited. I don't remember it, but I spent many years under the impression that we were somehow related to the late Ronnie Simpson. My dad told me that, but despite extensive research, I've never been able to establish the connection. So if there's anybody out there who knows better, please get in touch. The Lisbon Lions played a swashbuckling style of football entering the European Cup and it's how football should be played. That, there were all young men from within a few miles of Glasgow, was remarkable. And as the motion suggests, we'll never see such a feat again. In fact, last year's winners, Real Madrid, only had two Spaniards in the starting 11. That Celtic made it to a second European Cup final this time unsuccessful was also incredible. The first Celtic game that made me the first Celtic game that my dad took me to was also Lisbon Lions Billy McNeill's, that the captain Billy McNeill's last, the 1975 Scottish Cup final against Airdrie. Fittingly Celtic won 3-1 in front of a 75,000 crowd and Caesar lifted the cup. We used to travel up from Carlisle for the odd game and it was all a big adventure. When I eventually moved to Glasgow for work, I would follow the team through thick and thin, including the supercaligo ballistic game, a particular low point. But I was lucky enough to be at the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003. My work had a team, which played in a charity match against Chick Young's Ducla Pumfiston and I lined up against one of my football heroes, Danny McGrane. He never played in a tougher game. Then Jerry Collins body-checked me off the park. The first time my dad met my wife was on the park head terraces during a less successful period when it was quite easy to find someone on the terraces. And quite why she married me after that is anybody's guess, especially when I decided to become a seasoned ticket holder. Football has changed greatly since 1967. It's become big money and international. Now that's not something to be sad about. Celtic fans have been lucky to see the lights of Henrik and Lloobo, Dicanio and Pierre. Rangers have had Laudrup, Alberts, Gaza and Philip Sebo. But some of their greatest stars have also been homegrown. Baxter McCoy, Sturrant, Barry Ferguson. Whoever you support, seeing local talent come through the ranks is great, but we won't see a team of Scots make it to those heady heights that Jock Steen's men achieved in Lisbon that day again. For Scotland to have produced the first British team to win Europe's premier trophy is something that we should all, whoever we should support, celebrate, including Murdo Fraser and Adam Tonkin's. Carl Willie Coffey to be followed by James Kelly. Thanks very much, Presiding Officer, and congratulations to my friend and colleague James Dornan in bringing this important debate to the Scottish Parliament to commemorate the 50th anniversary today of a wonderful achievement by Celtic Football Club when they won the European Cup in Lisbon in 1967. I'm naturally very appreciative that he also mentioned my team, Kilmarnock's achievement that same year, where, 50 years ago yesterday, we played in the semi-final of the fair's cup, which then became the UEFA Cup and now the Europa League, losing out narrowly to a wonderful Leeds United team. Again, I attended as a young boy, like all of the European matches that came to rugby part. But the Celtic achievement in 1967 was pretty incredible when you considered that they finished eighth in the league a couple of seasons earlier when Kilmarnock were more champions. The key, of course, was the arrival of Jock Steen as the manager in 1965. To go from eighth in the Scottish League to winning the European Cup two years later and then nine championships in a row is an unbelievable achievement and marks out Jock Steen as one of the all-time great football managers in the world. Apparently, Jock had managed to get Bertie Old and Ronnie Simpson to Celtic even before he officially became the manager of the club and then went on to assemble a talented group of players, most of whom lived near the ground, Bobby Lennox being furthest away in Solcoats. In fact, one street in Solcoats can boast nine Scottish Cup winners' medals in the one street. Kilmarnock's Raymond Gummary has one of them and Bobby Lennox has the other eight on top of his European Cup and other medals, but that's a different story. The journey to the final of the European Cup in those days was straight, home and away, aggregate knock-out, no leagues like today, and it was only champions who got into the competition. I'm indebted to an old friend and colleague of mine, Presiding Officer, who sadly passed away only last year. I'm Mr Albert Ghanella, who very kindly some years ago let me copy the match programme for the final that he brought back from the game and on which are the autographs of both the managers, most of the players and that which he managed to get in the way back home from the airport. So Big Jock and Herrera have signed this, along with the whole Celtic team and Charlie Gallagher, along with Missola, Sartey and most of the Inter team as well. Quite a privilege to have this. The programme shows us that Celtic beat four teams in the way to the final. FC Zurich, FC Nont, Vodg Vardina and then Ducla Prague in the semi-final. Interestingly too, Linfield from Northern Ireland also made it to the quarter-finals that year, losing out to CSKA Sophia. The final was on a Thursday, just like today, and kicked off about 5.30pm. I remember watching it on TV at home in Black and White and it seemed a pretty hot day there at the time. One of the funniest stories I've read about the game is when Billy McNeill described both teams in the tunnel before the game. Inter, all tall, athletic and tanned, and Celtic, all peely-wally-white, and some of them with no teeth. Bertie Aug then started singing the Celtic song and that must have been a huge motivation for the players before they came out onto the park. Now soon after the game started, an Inter were awarded a slightly dodgy penalty to go up 1-0. However, as the game developed, it looked to me like Celtic could have been three or four up in the first half. As a young boy used to see my own team winning regularly in those days, it became clearer as the game wore on that Celtic were miles ahead in both skill and stamina. When the equaliser went in in the second half, there was only one outcome and the winner duly arrived with about five minutes to go. So the Scottish team, who had no chance against the fabulous Inter Milan, played them off the park and, by the end, it was the Inter players who were looking to get hold of Celtic strips for souvenirs. The great Bilt Shankley summed it up after the game when he told Jock Steen that he was now immortal. So, Presiding Officer, it was indeed in the heat of Lisbon that the boys came in their thousands to see the boys become champions 67. So thank you once again to James Dorman for bringing the debate to the Scottish Parliament, allowing some of us to share our memories and to offer our congratulations to Celtic on a magnificent achievement. I call James Kelly to be followed by Christine Grahame. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I first of all congratulate and thank James Dorman for lodging that motion and also securing the debate in Parliament, which has allowed so many people to share their memories of such an important occasion? It seems to be a debate where people are revealing their ages. At the time of the 67 Cup final, I was three and a half. It was my first memory in life. I can remember it so well. I can remember the excitement in the house. I can remember the game coming on the TV. I wouldn't say that I understand football a great deal at that time, but I realised the importance of the occasion. I remember all the excitement of Celtic winning. What I did to that was that a lot of families had their own representatives in Lisbon, and mine was no different. Our representative was my grandfather, James Kelly, who I'm named after. He got the courtesy of winning a newspaper competition quite good because he didn't even know that he'd entered it. My dad had actually entered them in it. You name all the teams that Celtic played in the way to the final, and he also came up with a caption. My dad's caption was, Clean Sweep suits the Celts. Suits spelt S-O-O-T-S as in a chimney sweep. Certainly for my grandfather, Clean Sweep really did suit the Celts as he thoroughly enjoyed his time in Lisbon. Not just to footballers, I understand it, but also the celebrations after the game. My other memory of it is the fast forward in it to April 1980, and I'd saved up for one of those projection kits that you get that showed football films that you used to get them advertised in the shoot magazine. When that arrived, we crowded round in my house in halfway with my brothers Jack, Frank, Tony and Gerard, and my friends Jerry Foyer, David Gibbons and Paul Wilson. That was in the days before YouTube, so we hadn't really seen any footage of the game apart from maybe the goals. We ran this 10-minute silent black-and-white film, and we couldn't believe how good Celtic were. We watched for the first time the famous Ronnie Simpson back heel as he took out an intern Milan defender. We watched Jeremy Johnson run rings round the defence. We watched the phorosis, Tommy Gemmell shots. Those were in the days before people compiled statistics of games, but since then they have compiled the statistics of that game. Celtic had 45 shots on target, and only three. Celtic had 10 corner kicks and entered into any. It must be the only time in the history of European Cup finals that a team is not in a corner, and that showed their dominance. However, as I say, we couldn't believe the absolute quality of how good Celtic were, even watching it on a fuzzy black-and-white film. Somebody challenged me the other days to what life should the Scottish Parliament be debating a game of football 50 years ago. There are two reasons for that. First of all, as James Dornan said, it was a real victory for the working-class community. Eleven players from around the 35 million radius of Celtic Park have been able to take on the best in Europe and win. It was also something that my family and a lot of working-class families in Glasgow and West Central Scotland at that time took great pride in and still take great pride in today. It is something that is still shared with families. Summing up, what a fantastic achievement by the Lisbon lines and what a great piece of history that is still very relevant for many families today. It is very much relevant that James Dornan has been able to secure this debate to allow us to celebrate that tradition. I call Christine Grahame to be followed by Annie Wells. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I, too, congratulate James Dornan on securing this debate, but I have no doubt that the summary of what on earth Christine Grahame is doing in a debate about football. As you know or may not know, sport, either participating or watching, is not in my DNA, so I know little about it. I am not proud of it. It is just a fact, and it is a bit overwhelming to be among so many experts on football. I take you back again to 25 May 1967, and here is another declaration of age. A young secondary teacher, Bee, who had a date that evening with her later-to-be husband. He was a keen sportsman—football, rugby, golf and so on. They do say opposites attract. The time and the place with the date was the top of Dumfermline High Street, and now I cannot recall the exact time, but it will become relevant. My Dumfermline landlady, Mrs Irwind, had settled down to watch the Celtic match, and so I joined her on her big sofa just to pass the time until my evening romantic rendezvous. Soon, despite myself, I was engrossed in a match between a team that I saw as fighting scots, Davids against the Goliaths of Inter Milan. I recall my heart sinking when that first penalty goal was scored against him. Instead of leaving the despair, I found myself immersed as Celtic time and time again tried to break down a solid wall of Italian defence. I had no idea that it was a match of, let's say, attacking as opposed to defensive style. Then it came at long last the equaliser, and I was going nowhere—date or no date. I recall their struggle against fatigue, socks rolled down, and playing with every sinew of muscle and determination. When that winning goal was scored, I held my breath till the final whistle. They may have been exhausted, but so was I. Of course, I turned up late for that date and was just about to pack it in when my boyfriend came round the corner. He too had been determined to see the end of the match. You see how the significance of that match cannot be exaggerated, a match that a non-football fan like me can recall to this day. Part of the explanation why I was so drawn to that contest, beyond that David and Goliath reference, but that this was a team forged, as others have said, from local players, from very ordinary backgrounds, with a man of the stature, the worldliness, the determination and indeed the dignity of Jock Steen. He was at the helm, but frankly now that football has become so commercialised, a business with millions for top players from all parts of the world and manages themselves on a treadmill of hirings and firings, I cannot see that day being repeated. The phrase team spirit has been, I think, overworked, but not of the Lisbon lines because it was that team spirit which carried them over the goal line that day. I thank James Dornan for bringing forward this motion to celebrate a fantastic achievement that still stands tall in the history of Celtic and of Glasgow today. Although I am not old enough to remember the game, I really am. I feel like I kicked every ball on the journey as my dad would always tell me stories about it, and the fact that a team of 11 Scottish players, all born in Glasgow in the west of Scotland, were able to overcome the might of Intermalan and that infamous defensive football is a story worth retelling. Jimmie Johnston, Bertie Old and Bobby Murdoch were the players that my dad would always talk about as I grew up, but when the time came for his heroes and Lisbon, it was not them who wrote their names into the history books. Celtic had already enjoyed a huge amount of domestic success that season, as they so often would for the remainder of Jockstein's tenure. While Intermalan had fallen short in their own league, the odds were still stacked against Celtic and the team of 11 boys from within 40 miles of each other against the might of the Italian giants. Step forward, Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers. Just a wee thing about Stevie Chalmers, my dad and his brother were often very young, and Stevie Chalmers was just to his girlfriend come and get my dad and my uncle Frankie and make sure he got to the Celtic game when he could get them, so I would like to thank him for that, and my dad always spoke very kindly of him. From one nil down, Celtic scored twice to provide a fairytale ending in Lisbon. It was a Scottish club, a Glasgow club, who had made history. The fact that we are discussing it in the Scottish Parliament 50 years later is a testament to how significant an achievement it was. Celtic heroes of Lisbon flew in to Glasgow that night to find themselves the underdog heroes of the football world. Fans were wearing some breros and wielding champagne bottles in delight. On the players' return from their European success, the team bus was mobbed by thousands of jubilant Celtic fans, all the way from the centre of Glasgow. My dad was at Parkhead that day and always said he remembered like it was only yesterday. He told me of being at Celtic Park that day, made up for not being in Lisbon for the game. The streets were lined with thousands upon thousands of fans, delirious weeping openly as they welcomed home the men who changed the face of football. At Parkhead, my dad and his friends were put on the back of a lorry and followed the procession route four times. One in the European Cup was the making of the club. After that, everyone knew about Celtic. Never again have we seen the scenes outside a football stadium like my dad did. The east end of Glasgow was brought together, people of all ages and classes, and given something to be proud of. Thousands and thousands of Glaswegians were coming together to appreciate their local heroes, who had overcome all the odds to be crowned the ultimate champions of Europe and put Glasgow's name firmly in the history books. Due to the financial climate of modern football today, European success feels a long way away for any Scottish club at the moment. However, that aspect of communities coming together stands strong. We have debated in this chamber the anti-social behaviour in modern-day football and we still too often see that side of the story. Perhaps we can look at the past and see the legacy of Lisbon and how it brought so many people together. The legacy stands strong every second Saturday at Celtic Park. We should remember that fact when we talk about football fans today, for it is the younger generations of people like my dad who are dreaming of that success for their heroes. I have three speakers left who wish to speak, so I am minded to accept a motion under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes to allow them all to take part. Could I ask James Dornan to move such a motion? Are members in agreement? Everyone being in agreement, I therefore extend this debate understanding order rule 8.14.3. I call George Adam to be followed by Pauline McNeill. I thank James Dornan for bringing this debate to the chamber. I congratulate Celtic after Mr Tomkins arrived. After all this, 50 years later, after the success to sit here and still talk about it, all I can say is, football fans, what are we like? Some might find it strange that I am taking part in this debate as I am not a Celtic fan and I am not from Glasgow. I am, of course, a proud Paisley buddy and support our local team, St Myrin. I, too, have a 1967 Celtic European Cup story, which is surprising considering I was not born until 1969. My mother and father were actually married in 1967 and, bizarrely, they thought it would be a great idea to take their wee triumph fetes and drive all the way from the centre of the universe in Paisley to Portugal. They thought that they would do this journey. Obviously, with the motor industry in the UK being the way it was, you could understand how this could probably be quite a difficult job for them as well. The whole point was that their holidays up until that point had consisted of just trips to Blackpool and the like. Even their very romantic honeymoon that year had been in the granite city of Aberdeen, which, to our death, my mother still says she had never even seen the Northern Lights. I have no idea what she was talking about in that scenario, Presiding Officer. However, you will be aware that just how much this was an undertaking for them, so they left with friends of theirs, Tam and Sheena McKee, who were married at a similar time. They drove through England, France and then through Spain to finally make it to Portugal, only to get lost in the middle of Lisbon. They ended up watching the game in a terrible black-white telly in some cafe at the edge of town, but they still talked about the fact that they got the opportunity to be there and see there. As James Dornan and Willie Coffey have already said, what a year for Scottish football 1967 was, not only did Celtic become champions of Europe, but their rivals Rangers were also made to the final of the European Cup winners' cup, and Kilmarnock managed to get to the semi-final of what was then the fair cities cup, the fairs cup, which eventually became the UEFA cup. I think that tournament was changed every year of its existence in the past. It was quite a year for Scottish football. We even had the audacity to go down on April 15 and absolutely hammer England 3-2. We became the then standing champions of the world. Scotland was quite literally at the pinnacle of football in 1967. Not such a great year for my own teams at Murn, as they were relegated from the old 1st division and ended up in the 2nd division. However, like in all football stories, there is a happy ending where it became straight back up the seas and after that back into the top flight. When you talk about Scottish football in 1967, you cannot mention the great John Steen. Born John Steen in 5 October 1922 in Burnbank Lanarkshire was part of that dynamic group of Scottish managers, Matt Busby, Bill Shankley and, of course, there was always the three of them when you talk about Big Jocky himself. He played for Celtic and Albion Rovers as a centre half and took up management as a result of an injury. Who can forget the time when he moved on to Scotland and managed to get us after 1978, world cup into the 82s, world cup finals and, of course, that night in Nynion park in Cardiff, where he died before the end of the world cup flop qualifier, not knowing that David Cooper had scored the goal that got Scotland through to the next round. He was a man who lived and loved football and wanted to play it in the correct manner, and the Lisbon lines were the pure example of that. John Steen said it better himself. He said, I think that it is important to win a match, but I think that what is even more important is the manner in which you win that match. That, Presiding Officer, is what our national sport should be about. Bal closed with words of an esteemed sportswriter Hugh McElvaney when he was talking about John Steen. He said, he was the greatest manager in the history of the game. You tell me a manager anywhere in the world who did something comparable, winning the European cup with a Glasgow district 11. That team will be remembered by us all, and to paraphrase the great late Bill Shankley, they will be forever immortal. I call Polly McNeill, to be followed by Gail Ross. Thank you to James Dornan. It is a pleasure to hear these speeches and experiences and to give you my own. There is hardly a person by now who does not know about the historic and incredible victory in Lisbon 50 years ago. I live and work in class men, homegrown talent, the best footballers of the generation and probably still now. It will never be repeated. Celebrated by Scots, the nation's victory internationally, I think it was. But, like many Glasgow Catholic Celtic supporting families like my own, brought up in a diet of Celtic victories and Celtic defeats. For years, we all did think we were or must have been related to Billy McNeill because of the number of times that he was mentioned. And, like George Adam, he is a mortal joxtain, a household name, a god, a genius manager, but, importantly, a bridge of the sectarian divide. We used to wait with Bated Brett, the latest letter back from Celtic Park because my dad was a prolific writer, and he used to campaign because Celtic was his first love, if not his second love, because Frank Sinatra was also one of his great loves. He used to write to Celtic Park every week to say that he would rather play the Sinatra version of Never Walk Alone, but it never happened to my knowledge. It is not just a story of a football team who took on the champions into Milan as the underdogs and brought with them a Celtic support, a wider support, I do not think that the world had experience, but a tale of a football club formed to save the lives of poor Irish people fleeing from famine and persecution for their faith, wanting to be accepted on equal terms. There are quite a few quotes that I have got here in my speech from Kevin McKenna that I want to credit with because he has written some excellent articles on the subject. Last night of the many documentaries, I caught this one, and it was an account given by Bobby Lennox, who said that Jackson decided to take the players the night before to some prestigious house, a contact that he had in Portugal, and they could not work out how to get in the front door of this large house, and so they were all dripping over the walls to get in. Bobby Lennox was saying that he would just be inconceivable now that a footballer the night before a European final would be climbing over walls that could have been all sorts of disasters. At the pre-training session, the Intermalan players were allowed to look on to the Celtic training and said in amazement that they thought it was incredible how relaxed the team were in a kick-around, as they described. I think that that is all down to the way in which Jackson managed the team. Jinky Johnston, by all accounts, agreed to Celtic player of all time. We thought that he was a superstar, but we were amazed that my dad was pictured with him in a silver picture that I have on my desk today. Maes MacKennar writes that premature death and the health inequalities that have stalked those communities and traditional afflictions have not spared many of the men who became their champions. 22 trophies from 1965 to 1975 feared and saluted throughout Europe. Those men were ill-rewarded for their labors. Celtic ranked in untold, raked in untold riches on the back of their endeavours, but players saw little of that. It was, in fact, Jim Krieg. The man who set up the path for Tommy Gemmell's goal said, there is no question of our players receiving life-changing amounts of money. However, those men, as we have heard, were a part of their own communities. They saw their supporters every single day and perhaps are better men for it. I think that it is worth noting that the Rangers team of that era, many think, would also have been a match for other European teams. Tom Devine, the historian, said that the cultural and social impact of Celtic's Lisbon lion triumph can never be underestimated and it still resonates to this day. He said, that team and their achievements gave such a boost to working men all over Scotland, but especially to the Irish Catholic community in west central Scotland, whose story had been characterised by discrimination, although that was beginning to fade. What a team they were. A year later in 1968, the reputation was further embellished when Celtic, who had been drawn hungry in the European cup tie, protested at the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia by refusing to play. Chalmers' winning goal in the six minutes from the end will never be forgotten. A leading Swiss journalist said of the team, we must all now play football this way, your way, the Celtic way, with eight forward, and the rest is history. If you could have proven that you were in fact related to Billy McNeill, I'd let you talk for longer. The last of the open speeches is Gail Ross. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to speak in this debate today. I also thank James Dornan for taking it to the chamber. Glasgow Celtic Football Club, the first British non-Latin team to win the European cup on 25 May 1967, with a team that was all born within 30 miles of Celtic Park and all but won within 10 miles. The Lesbian Lions defeated Inter Milan 2-1 with goals from Tommy Gemmel and Stevie Chalmers. Incidentally, Tommy Gemmel also scored the first and Celtic's only goal in the 1970 European cup final, which they lost to Dutch side Feyenoord. Tommy Gemmel also scored Celtic's first ever goal in the European cup against FC Zurich in 1966. That famous season in 66-67, when Celtic won every competition, they entered. The European cup, the Scottish league division 1, the Scottish cup, the Scottish league cup and the Glasgow cup. Some say that the attendance was 45,000, some say that it was 70,000, but we can safely say that whatever the number of the day many, many more people have seen that famous game since on TV and the internet. Of the approximately 12,000 Scottish fans that made the journey to Lisbon, many travelled in the Celtic aid, which was led by Celtic fan and Glasgow Evening Times reporter Danny Garavelli, and maybe even Mr and Mrs Adam were part of that, who knows. It was made up of 100 cars that made the trip. Unfortunately, one unlucky fan woke up in Glasgow after getting a flight home and then realised that he'd left his car in Portugal. Before the game, manager Jock Steen told his players, if you're ever going to win the European cup, this is the day and this is the place. We don't just want to win this cup, we want to do it playing good football to make neutrals glad we won it, glad to remember how we did it. And not just neutrals, Presiding Officer, this win brought together communities and fans from all sides of the footballing world. It was a truly inclusive win. Moving forward in time slightly, I used to work in a hotel in Glasgow in the early naughties when Neil Lennon first signed for the club. For the first few weeks, he stayed in the hotel and one day he came down for his breakfast and I gave him a strip of mine to sign and he took it away and the whole team signed it. It was 2001 and that season Celtic won the treble. That was the first time they had done it since the 68-69 season and that team had consisted of most of the Lisbon Lions. More recently, names like Sutton, Tbilie, Moravchick, Mialbae, Lambert, Agat, Valharan, Smith and Larson are etched into Scottish football history and, of course, Martin and Neil. I am sure that there are many other names to be put forward since then. That hotel was also the temporary home of Donagall Celtic's supporters' club on match days and I remember arriving for my work at 6am on a Sunday to find them still in the lounge playing guitars and singing Celtic songs and some days I would be lucky and get a spare ticket to a game. It would be remiss of me in a speech about Celtic, not to mention one of my past jobs as well, working for a charity called Football Lead based here in Edinburgh and set up by Celtic trustee Craig Patterson and whose vice-patron is Celtic ambassador Danny McGrane. I attended a charity match at Celtic Park with Tommy Boyd and Paul Lambert one year and I can say that I have scored a goal at Celtic Park, but I should probably confess that there was no one else on the pitch. Presiding Officer, I could probably fill up most of the afternoon with tales and stories and I struggled as James Dornan did at getting my speech within four minutes, but let me leave you with some thoughts of Jockstein. Bill Shankley said of him, a great manager, my Paul for years, a great man as well with a heart of gold who'd give his last shilling. I, steam knows it all, he's the best. The Glasgow Herald wrote, arguably the most important man working in this nation at this time, and a message on a bunch of flowers the night he died in Cardiff said, Jock, heroes live forever. From the man himself, Celtic jerseys are not for second best. It's the jersey worn by men like McNeill, Gemell, Clark, Ald, McBride and Chambers. It won't shrink to fit an inferior player. To those names, may I add Simpson, Craig, Murdoch, Johnston, Wallace and Lennox? Let's not forget assistant manager, Sean Fallon. It may have been 50 years, but this remarkable game will live long in the memories of football fans all over the world. Paul Eileen Campbell, to respond to this debate. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Before I begin, I want to reflect on what has been a remarkable debate that spoke of the reach of football, the power of football, the cultural and societal impact that it has, its complete power to do good. Last night, while the tragic events of Monday in Manchester put life, put politics and even put football firmly into perspective, Manchester United's victory last night against Ajax provided just a glimmer of light in this truly dark time. I would certainly also like to put on record our congratulations to Manchester United for winning the Europa League last night. I would like to thank James Dornan for bringing this debate to the Parliament this afternoon and for all the other contributions made across the chamber, family memories, stories and often told with great humour. Unlike James Dornan, I am not able to personally remember that fantastic European Cup win 50 years ago, but, like all of us, I have seen both the footage in black and white as well as in colour. It remains as evocative today as it was then. The footage may be grainy, but the memories and the place of the Lisbon lines in history will absolutely never fade. Jackson brought together a truly remarkable squad of players. Not only were the starting 11 all Scottish, but all hailed from a 30-mile radius of Celtic park. Like Pauline McNeill, I want to also reflect on what Kevin McKenna wrote in his article. I am glad that she has not used the same bits that I was going to use, but certainly for anyone here in the chamber today, I would recommend reading his article. He wrote, on one level, Celtics 2 won victory in the European Cup final over Inter Milan. The champions of Italy must stand as Scotland's greatest sporting achievement. Football then, as it is now, was the most popular sport in the world in terms of participation and commerce. A squad consisting purely of men from the west of Scotland with no advantages, or privileges of finance or sport science could win the world's premier football tournament was considered improbable then. It would be regarded as well nigh impossible now. There was light and joy in Celtics play through an exuberance that you might more commonly associate with Latin or African countries. It belied the grime and industrial drudgery of the places where the Lisbon lions were reared. Celtic played total football before it was even coined as a phrase. It played the Glasgow Celtic way. Its victory remains iconic in Scottish sport. Indeed, an iconic landmark in British sport, as Celtic, of course, as others have recognised today, was the first British club to win the famous trophy. It is fitting that, as Celtic are celebrating the 50th anniversary of its greatest ever season, it is having another hugely successful campaign. It is difficult to admit as a St Johnston fan, but Celtic have been absolutely phenomenal this season. Not only have they remained unbeaten all season, they have accumulated more than 100 points and scored more than 100 goals. In terms of silverware, Celtic have already won the league cup as well as their sixth Premier League in a row, and they will be looking to complete the domestic treble when they face Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final on 27 May. Those achievements have been recognised in the PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers annual awards, when members recognised the achievement of the club with a clean sweep. Manager of the year to Brendan Rogers, player of the year to Scott Sinclair and young player of the year to Ciaran Tierney. A team that some have described as having a whiff of the Lisbon lions. I am also delighted that the women are having a strong season too, and Celtic are near the top of the SWPL and completed in the Scottish Women's League Cup on Sunday. I am pleased that Christine Grahame, Pauline McNeill, Annie Wells and Gilross have shown that today our beautiful game is more than just for men. Scottish Football sometimes makes the headlines for the wrong reasons, as I point that Annie Wells had noted. I am delighted today to be able to focus on the positives as this Parliament comes together to celebrate one of the Scottish Football's greatest achievements. Like many of the speakers today, I love football and I am a big football fan. The memories that it creates are phenomenal and last a lifetime. Celtic's win in 1967 transcended clubs, transcended geography. My dad, a young man playing football for Kenrosi Amateurs and Pethshire, remembers that he talks about it, he cheered Celtic on. It's etched in Christine Grahame's memory for who wasn't herself a football fan. Football creates stories, it creates drama, it raises passions and it creates heroes. Those lions are undoubtedly heroes. So, too, the heroes in Tangerine, the terrors of Dundee United, who 30 years ago did Scotland proud again, narrowly missing out and securing the UEFA Cup final, but again placing Scotland on the world football stage. I commend BBC Alibaz's documentary of that expedition that they had into Europe. George Adams and others spoke about our national team successes in that era in the 60s and also rightly commended the phenomenal record of Jock Steen and his Glasgow district 11. Willie Coffey also talked about the achievements of Kilmarnock and James Kelly recognised that the Lisbon Lions' win was his first-ever memory. The memories are strong for every football fan. They might not always mean that they are the glories of European Cup games, but the power of football and its stories are why the football memories work taken forward by the Scottish Football Museum is so important in our reminiscence therapy approach to helping those with dementia. As a mother of a wee boy who has himself daffed on football, I know that 47 years from now he will be still talking about the time that St Johnston won the Scottish Cup 50 years ago and hopefully we might even be talking about a win in between times. Football inspires memories and it also has a reach that no Government could ever or dare emulate. That is why it is also important to put on record our thanks to Celtic and all the other clubs that do so much work off the pitch to help the communities that they serve. I want to, in summing up, recognise and celebrate what has been a remarkable achievement of the Lisbon Lions and hope that everybody involved with Celtic Football Club enjoys the celebrations during their 50th anniversary. Again, I thank James Dornan for his opportunity for us all to come together as a Parliament, pay our respects to the immortal Lisbon Lions. Heroes do live forever and I am glad that we are able to recognise what they achieved and how we will continue to remember the way in which they went about winning the cup, not just for Celtic, but also for Scotland. Thank you. The meeting is suspended until 2.30 p.m.