Happy Birthday to Lisbon Lion, Bobby Lennox

Today, August 30, Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox is celebrating his 83rd birthday.

The Celtic legend scored 277 goals in 589 games for Celtic, and up until recently he was the club’s most decorated player with 25 major honours. He has only recently been surpassed by Callum McGregor (26) and James Forrest (28).

Bobby’s impressive roll of honour reads as 11 League titles, eight Scottish Cups, five League Cups and, of course, the European Cup when he was part of the legendary Celtic side which defeated Inter Milan in Lisbon’s Estadio Nacional on May 25, 1967 to become the Kings of Europe.

And as the Celtic Family wishes Bobby a very happy birthday, we take a brief look at the incredible career of a legendary figure in Celtic’s long and illustrious history…

Born in Saltcoats, Bobby was the farthest-flung of the Lisbon Lions – hence the title of his autobiography – Thirty Miles from Paradise. Bobby, of course, has remained a Saltcoats Bhoy to this day. In his book, Bobby describes an almost idyllic childhood beside the sea and, apart from his six-month spell with Houston Hurricane in 1978, he has stayed in the town his entire life. ‘I had a great upbringing,’ he later told the Celtic View. ‘We weren’t the richest family in the world, but I didn’t want for much, although all I really wanted was a ball at my feet anyway.’

Bobby scored an incredible 277 goals in his 589 appearances for the club. The tally tells you everything about his natural ability in front of goal and he should have had a lot more to his record, had he not been ruled wrongly offside on umpteen occasions. Lennox was a flying machine, a man built for speed and while he was at times punished for it by the officials, his pace was always utilised for the good of the team. Completely unselfish and tireless in his pursuit of the win, he was one of 11 ‘jersey players’ in the Lions’ starting XI, as his captain Billy McNeill said, ‘Bobby knows what wearing a Celtic jersey means’. Another of his team-mates, Bertie Auld, had another description: ‘Bobby would chase a paper bag on a windy day.’

In 51 Scottish Cup appearances, Bobby Lennox hit an impressive 31 goals, winning the competition on no fewer than eight occasions. The wins also came in three different decades, with Lennox winning his first Scottish Cup medal in 1965 and his last in 1980. His favourite? The 1969 victory over Rangers, where Celtic ran out as underdogs in front of an all-ticket crowd of 132,870. Expecting victory, Rangers had announced a post-match victory parade at Ibrox on the morning of the game. Lennox was on the scoresheet as Celtic demolished their stunned opponents in a comprehensive 4-0 hammering.

Today, Bobby Lennox is recognised as one of Scottish football’s true greats, having been given his place into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame at Hampden – not that you would know it from his paltry cap haul. During a 19-year playing career that included European finals and a weighty haul of trophies, he was capped on just 10 occasions. Bobby remains typically magnanimous when asked about this low tally. What was even more baffling was the fact that Lennox was on the losing Scotland side on just one occasion and was one of the heroes of the side that beat world champions, England, 3-2 at Wembley in 1967. Sadly, the selectors showed a similar attitude toward the rest of the Lions. Bertie Auld won just three caps for Scotland.

The year of 1967 is the date of Bobby’s greatest victory, that 2-1 win over Inter Milan on a balmy evening in Lisbon. There is, however, another date that sticks out in his mind as being more important. In 1965 Celtic lined up in their first final under Jock Stein, in the Scottish Cup, against the manager’s former club, Dunfermline. The team contained many of the men who would go on to win the European Cup two years later, but that day, they were unproven and playing for their futures under the new manager. Bertie Auld scored twice and Billy McNeill got the other in front of 108,800 supporters at Hampden. ‘That win kept the team together,’ said Lennox, ‘and after that we went from strength to strength.’

Bobby holds 11 championship medals from his two spells at Celtic Park. He played in every one of the victories in Celtic’s record-setting nine-in-a-row run under Jock Stein and then returned after his brief stay in Houston to play his part in another championships. Some sources state that Bobby won 10 championship medals during his time at the club, but you can ask the man himself for the evidence, he has all 11 of them at home!

It was in 1976 that Bobby and his close friend and away day room-mate, Jimmy Johnstone, shared a testimonial game against Manchester United. The English giants travelled north on May 17 that year for a meeting with a select side that included ‘Lemon’ and ‘Jinky’ and were duly hammered 4-0 in front of a near-capacity crowd. It’s no surprise that Lennox was on the scoresheet, with Kenny Dalglish also scoring a hat-trick that night. The occasion was memorable for another reason, with a Manchester United select facing a group of Celtic ‘old Bhoys’ at half time. They were led out by the special referee, a certain Billy Connolly, who ran out wearing an old pair of wellies and a ragged Rangers hat and shirt. The Celtic-supporting comedian was booed mercilessly throughout the mini-match, until he showed the cheering Jungle a red card!