Bobby Murdoch will be best remembered as a Lisbon Lion - as a Celtic player, he was part of the first British side to capture the European Cup in 1967.
Yet there was much more to his and Celtic's achievement that far-off Thursday evening at Portugal's National Stadium.
As Lisbon's Mundo Desportivo newspaper put it: "The Inter of catenaccio paid for their refusal to play entertaining football." Against Helenio Herrera's Italian champions, manager Jock Stein fielded 10 players born within a dozen miles of Celtic Park.
The line-up was all Glaswegian save for winger Bobby Lennox who hailed from the nearby seaside town of Saltcoats.Yet common ground wasn't the only factor helping these local boys make good; there was also the astute leadership of Stein. The club had sent him to watch Hungary at Wembley in 1953, as well as the '54 World Cup, so it was no surprise that his team was imbued with positive spirit.
It was this verve that allowed Celtic to recover from the setback of Sandro Mazzola's sixth-minute penalty, and hit back through Tommy Gemell on the hour and the predatory Steve Chalmers seven minutes from time. The authoritative Murdoch combined with Bertie Auld in midfield to provide the platform for full backs Jim Craig and Gemell, and wingers Lennox and Jimmy Johnstone, to attack the flanks.And in a throwback to the competition's early years, Celtic's free-flowing football swept aside the pragmatic, physical approach of Inter and so many others.
After the match, Stein was approached by a beaming Portuguese official who said: "This attacking play, this is the real meaning of football."Stein replied: "Go on, I could listen to you all night."
About Bobby Murdoch
Bobby Murdoch is a Parkhead legend.
He was voted Scottish Player of the Year in 1969 and was a key player in the success throughout the 1960's for Celtic FC. Jock Stein once said that Bobby Murdoch was the best player he ever managed, and that says it all.
Bobby made almost 500 appearances, scoring around 100 goals. His sack full of trophies included a European Cup Winners' Cup, eight League titles, four Scottish Cups and five League Cups.
Birthplace : 17.8.1944 Rutherglen
Height : 5ft 9
Weight : 11st 8
Position : Midfield
Squad Number: 6
Position: Right Half
Signed : 23.10.59
Appear's: 484
Goals: 105
Billy McNeill. "Bobby was a lovely, warm and tender person, a genuinely nice man. Everything about that team relates back to that evening in 1967 when we won the European Cup. It united us and there's a bond between us all."
Jimmy Johnston: "I have got stacks of memories of him, so many good, good memories.�
"He just touched everybody and everybody will miss him.�
