Celtic: The Awakening: From East End Misfits to European Masters

by Alex Gordon

Celtic strode majestically into the history books in 1967 as the first British club to conquer Europe, and the iconic photograph of captain Billy McNeill holding aloft the glittering European Cup in the Lisbon sunshine is the defining image of that footballing era. Yet at the start of the decade, Celtic were a team plagued by defeats and in disarray both on and off the field. What brought about their remarkable transformation?In The Awakening, Alex Gordon enters uncharted territory to investigate the story of Celtic in the 1960s, an extraordinary decade in the club's roller-coaster 125-year history. Players of the era, good, bad and indifferent, are interviewed in depth in an attempt to unravel one of football’s greatest mysteries.Sweeping through the ’60s and beyond, The Awakening details the previously untold story of how a proud club rose from grief to glory, from dismay to delight.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2013

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Reviews

[James Tidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Celtic supporter and never having been to Parkhead, I found this book fascinating. It follows Celtic from 1959 through to 1979, from the barren spell pre 65 through to 79 where Celtic were league champions 9 times in those years.

It begins with 1959-60, Celtic are in the middle of an astonishing run where in eight seasons, they win absolutely nothing. That is until a certain man by the name of Jock Stein came along and transferred them from East Glasgow misfits to European Champions in just three seasons in 67, where in Lisbon, they beat Inter Milan 2-1 and thus became the first British team to win the European Cup. In interviews with club legends such as Auld, McNeill and Lennox, Gordon takes the reader on a journey which begins with Celtic winning nothing in the early 60s through Celtic's finest period.