Comparing Celtic FC Greatest XI v Rangers FC Greatest XI Of All Time
RM – Jimmy Johnstone
“Jinky” was one of the finest dribblers to ever pull on a football strip. His trickery decimated Inter’s defence – one of the best back fours the game has seen – in the famous 1967 cup final. He was voted Celtic’s greatest ever player in a fans’ poll in 2002. Jinky was the player that all neutrals identified with as they marvelled at his unique dribbling skills. His bravery was as impressive as his skill creating so many memories of stirring performances and famous victories.
Jimmy Johnstone joined Celtic in 1961. His career would be very much stop-start for the first two years until Jock Stein arrived and transformed the club and Jimmy along with it. Under Stein, Celtic became one of the most respected teams in Europe, integral to this success was Jimmy Johnstone himself. Although it has to be said that he was out of favour when Stein arrived, so much so that he was not named in the 1965 Scottish Cup Final victory at Hampden which launched the beginning of the successful Stein era.
Johnstone soon won Stein round with his skill, and by the 1965/66 season, Jimmy was now an essential part of the Celtic team. His 32 league appearances and nine goals over the course of the season helped Celtic to win their first league title in 12 years.
Johnstone was one of the “Lisbon Lions”, the team that won the then European Cup for Celtic in 1967. In an early round tie against Nantes, Johnstone’s trickery on the wing saw him dubbed “The Flying Flea” by the French press, whilst his performances over the course of the season saw him finish third in the European Footballer of the Year award. In all he scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances.
LM – Bobby Lennox
Lennox was a left-winger with an eye for goal, managing more than one in two for Celtic, a record most strikers can only dream of. Lennox’s main asset was his exceptional pace, and his ability to accelerate faster than anyone else enabled him to beat defenders giving him the advantage to take a pop at goal, which he took much advantage of. Ably assisted by Jinky, he scored in abundance and his record is almost without compare, scoring 273 league goals in 571 appearances for Celtic, making him the second-highest ever scorer for the club. A remarkable achievement!
He won 5 League Cup Medals, 8 Super Cup Medals, and 11 League Medals. He was also a member of the Celtic team who won the European Cup back in 1967. Among his fans were great Bobby Charlton and Alfredo Di Stefano.
There are so many high points to his time at Celtic but winning the European Cup is the highlight despite him not scoring in that match. Regardless, he along with his colleagues bombarded the opposition goals with shot after shot which rung the alarm bells for Inter Milan and helped Celtic to force the winning goal. He was as important as anyone else. Possibly the high mark for Bobby Lennox was in scoring the winner v Real Madrid just a couple of weeks later, admittedly a friendly match but Real Madrid were the grandees of European football and this victory cemented Celtic’s right to be crowned the champions of Europe.