The Celtic Trebles #1: 1966-67

With Celtic going for a fourth treble on Saturday, we thought we'd take a look back at the three previous trebles won by the club, beginning with fifty years ago, and the legendary season of 1966-67.

The achievements of Celtic in 1966-67 are unprecedented, as Celtic won every competition they entered, including of course the European Cup, but we are focusing on the domestic honours as the treble was achieved for the first time in our history.

League Cup Final: October 29th 1966; Celtic 1 (Lennox 19') Rangers 0

*You can see the goal from the game at 3:34 of the above clip

Celtic clinched the first trophy of the season with a hard-fought victory over Rangers in the final. A Bobby Lennox volley in the 19th minute provided us with the only goal of the game, but Rangers were arguably the better team, and Celtic were indebted to a late goal line clearance to preserve our lead. The final whistle brought scenes of relief and joy, as Celtic had won the league cup for the second year in a row.

Scottish Cup Final: April 29th 1967; Celtic 2 (Wallace 42', 49') Aberdeen 0

Celtic win the Scottish Cup thanks to a Willie Wallace double

Back in the old days the Scottish Cup Final was often played before the end of the league and as such Celtic were not confirmed champions when we comfortably defeated Aberdeen 2-0 before a huge crowd of 126, 102 at Hampden Park. Willie Wallace was the hero with both goals, both close range finishes after fine play by Lennox for the first goal and Johnstone for the second. Just one month later this starting line-up would become immortalised as the Lisbon Lions.

First Division Champions: P 34 W 26 D 6 L 2 GF 111 GA 33 Pts 58

Jimmy Johnstone's second goal wins the league at Ibrox

Celtic were involved in a very close title race with Rangers for much of the season, the league only being won on the second last game of the season, with Jimmy Johnstone's double in a 2-2 draw at Ibrox securing the point needed to clinch the championship. The incredible amount of goals scored - 111, an average of three a game - is testament to the team's natural attacking abilities, with Joe McBride scoring 18 goals before a knee injury ended his season in December. Interestingly enough, our only defeats of the season were to the same side, Dundee United, with the same scoreline - 3-2 , who ended the season in 9th place. Tommy Gemmell and John Clark were the only two players to play in all 34 league games, with Stevie Chalmers the top scorer with 23 goals.

Tomorrow we'll have a look at the Bhoys of 1968-69 and their memorable treble victory.