"Football without the fans is nothing."
Bill Shankly, as he so often did, found the right words. It was the evening of May 25, 1967, and Celtic had just won the European Cup, beating the much-vaunted Internazionale in the Final in Lisbon. Not just beaten them, but swept them off the park with a scintillating display of attacking football which set the Italians' stultifyingly negative tactics at nought. It was a huge victory for Celtic, for Glasgow and for Scotland. It was a huge victory for football. Shankly, who had travelled to the match as an ordinary supporter, talked his way into the Celtic dressing room after the match, and embraced his friend and countryman. "John", he announced. "You're immortal now." And so he was.
Stein had taken over this team just two years earlier, and in their first season of European Cup football he had taken them to the pinnacle. He did it by melding a disparate collection of Glaswegian talent (10 of the Lisbon Lions were born and bred in the streets around Parkhead - Bobby Lennox was the sole 'foreigner' hailing from Saltcoats in Ayrshire, 39 miles distant) into an exciting side which laid waste to the best that Scotland, and then Europe, could throw at them.
Shankly may be better known for his quotes, but Stein too was a master on the one-liner and this book celebrates his achievements with a collection of his finest quotes. Includes archive photography.