AMID the grand halls and marble staircases of Glasgow City Chambers, where the most famous team in Celtic’s history are being honoured with a civic reception by the Lord Provost, Willie Wallace is a Lisbon Lion who stands alone.
Not only was he the only member of the Celtic starting line-up that fateful day 50 years ago who was actually signed by Jock Stein - he was picked up from Hearts for £30,000 ahead of rumoured interest from Rangers in December 1966 - Wallace is the only one of these men from a 30-mile radius of Glasgow who has opted to spend the remainder of his life away from Scotland, on the opposite side of the world in fact.
Not that Wallace - who largely inherited the place vacated by the injured Joe McBride - ever felt he got any special treatment. “It wasn’t any different,” said Wallace, now 76. “He [Stein] bought me for as cheap as he could and it was amazing for me. I fitted in there within two weeks. I’d known most of them from Scotland so it wasn’t the wrench that moving from club to club normally is. Within six months of joining Celtic I had won everything. If someone had said that to me when I signed I’d have phoned the asylum.”
As special as the 50th anniversary is - with Celtic closing in on an invincible domestic season, and the fourth treble in their history - wherever he goes in the world Wallace usually finds wellwishers recalling the part he played in the achievement. “Even living in Australia, I’m reminded of the Lisbon Lions,” said Wallace, who worked as a pundit and still has an involvement in youth development. “I go over to a little tournament in Brittany with some Under-13 teams from Australia and the guys I meet are all Celtic supporters. They were still showing me the newspapers from 1967 just last year – all the reports of the game. There are guys who walk up to you and tell you in Chinese that they are a Celtic supporter.”
Having jetted in from his home in the Gold Coast for the golden anniversary of Celtic’s crowning achievement, Wallace can’t fail to notice the poignancy of these affairs. He was with Tommy Gemmell just days before his pal’s death in early March, yet had flown back to New Zealand by the time he learned the news. “I’m feeling good and the climate out there helps a lot,” he said. “I love coming back but it saddens me that the team is falling apart due to ill health and those who have passed away. Every time I come back there’s less members.”
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