Odd Liverpool FC club tweet overlooks Celtic excellence

By John McGinley

March 13, 2023

Liverpool Football Club’s social media team have made a blunder on Twitter, claiming that iconic former boss Joe Fagan was the first British manager to win three major titles in a single season.

Fagan did indeed win the English Football League First Division, English League Cup and European Cup in the 1983/84 season – an unprecedented feat by English standards that deserves to be celebrated to this day by their club’s supporters. However, in a British-wide context, Celtic’s European excellence as part of a multi-trophy success came years earlier.

You won’t need me to tell you that Jock Stein’s legendary Lisbon Lions side won every trophy available to them in the 1966/67 season, including a European Cup at the expense of Inter Milan. The Bhoys ushered in a new era of European football, paving the way for English teams to later find success in the tournament against Spanish, Italian and other continental sides.

Ironically, it was Liverpool’s manager at the time – Bill Shankly – who famously said, “John, you’re immortal now,” in the wake of Stein’s biggest triumph. [Glasgow Times]

Whether Liverpool don’t see the Scottish League, Scottish Cup or Scottish League Cup as major honours is unknown – but they are to this day. At the time, they were even more significant in the context of European football with no competitive gap existing between the Scottish top flight and the rest of the world. It should also be noted that Bill Struth won a domestic treble with Rangers in 1949.

Stein’s triumph, with the inclusion of a European Cup in a single-season trophy haul, deserves to be remembered in the right way and as you can imagine, online Celtic supporters are now bombarding the official Liverpool account with the correction of history.

Celtic and Liverpool are set to be on better terms later this month with a big charity game at Anfield which will be played between legends of both clubs. Some big names are in the squads, with the teams to be managed by Kenny Dalglish and Paul Lambert – both former European Cup winners themselves.

All proceeds of the event, which takes place during the upcoming international break, will be donated to charitable causes supported by the foundations of both clubs.

In other news, Kris Commons thinks proposed SPFL shake-up will be of benefit to Celtic.