Celtic in the Eighties – Ajax v Celtic European Cup, September 1982

Demand for tickets to watch the second leg in Amsterdam was enormous, fuelled by the incredible drama of the first match in Glasgow and by the attraction of watching Cruyff. At that time, Ajax’s own ground held only 25,000 so their normal practice was to move European ties to the Olympic Stadium with its capacity of over 60 000.

However, such was the appeal of this match that the stadium was sold out for the first time in nine years. One man with special reason to be delighted was Johann Cruyff. Under the terms of his contract, he would collect £150,000 as his 40% share of the gate receipts.

Only three thousand tickets were allocated to Celtic fans and these were all snapped up. In those days, before the advent of budget airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair, most fans would have travelled to Amsterdam on supporters’ club buses. Apart from cheering on the Bhoys in what looked like an almost hopeless task, some would no doubt have looked forward to sampling the many cultural delights of Amsterdam – the art galleries, museums and canals.

Others would no doubt have been drawn more to the other attractions of the famously liberal city, including relaxed drinking laws and the tolerant attitude towards dope and sex. In terms of football, it’s probably fair to say that most travelled in hope rather than expectation.

On the Saturday immediately before Celtic travelled to Amsterdam, the team stuttered to a 2-0 over Hibs at Celtic Park. On the same weekend, Ajax prepared for Celtic’s return by winning 5-0 over Nijmegen.

The scorer of a hat-trick in the Nijmegen match was a young striker named Wim Kieft, who was returning from injury. Kieft had been Europe’s top scorer in the previous season, scoring 32 goals and winning the Golden Boot. He was another outstanding young player, who would go on to win the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988 and the European Championship with the Netherlands in the summer of that year. Injured for the first leg, he would be back for the return leg at the Olympic Stadium.

Roy Aitken had been unavailable for the first leg due to suspension but was selected for the return. A more surprising pick was Graeme Sinclair, signed only a few weeks before from Dumbarton. Billy McNeill had decided than Cruyff would have to be man-marked and identified Sinclair as the man to do it. Sinclair was remarkably blasé about it, saying, “I won’t lose any sleep. I have done marking jobs before at Dumbarton”. No one had the heart to point out that he had certainly not marked anyone of Cryuff’s calibre at Dumbarton!

Few fans or observers gave Celtic a realistic chance of going through. After a 2-2 draw in the first leg at Celtic Park, words like “miracles” and “fairytales” had been used to describe Celtic’s chances of qualifying. However, Celtic started the second leg superbly, playing a style of composed, controlled football.

Sinclair had the game of his life and carried out his marking job on Cruyff to perfection. Celtic got their reward in 34 minutes, when Paul McStay played a brilliant long pass forward to Sinclair on the left. His cross found Nicholas, who slipped past two men and then played a neat one-two with McGarvey. Again evading two defenders, he curled a beautifully controlled shot past the goalkeeper.

The goal provoked euphoric celebrations among the players and the 3000 travelling fans. However, it also provoked a swift and frightening response from Ajax, who dominated the next part of the match. They came close on several occasions but were thwarted by Pat Bonner having another excellent game and by a resilient performance from the whole Celtic defence. The pressure finally paid off in the 65th minute when Vanenburg equalised with a curling shot which came in off the far post.

The tie was now level 3-3 on aggregate but as it stood Ajax would qualify on away goals. With nothing to lose, Billy McNeill made what could be argued as the most inspired substitutions of his whole managerial career. In 72 minutes, he took off Provan and replaced him with McCluskey, and then in 78 minutes he withdrew McStay and put on Moyes. The latter change allowed Aitken to move into midfield, from where he could drive the team forward in his inimitable style.

The match again swung back in Celtic’s favour, with Ajax pinned back by Celtic’s increasingly dangerous attacks. McGarvey came agonisingly close in 83 minutes when his header from a Sinclair cross came off the bar. The team kept pressing forward and then, with less than two minutes remaining, the miracle – or the fairy tale – took place. A series of passes ended at the feet of George McCluskey inside the penalty area, who hit a sweet left foot shot past Schrijvers in the Ajax goal.

McCluskey was mobbed by his overjoyed teammates; the players, coaches and the manager jumped out of the dug-out to celebrate wildly; the 3000 fans roared with delight- and amazement! It was a fittingly dramatic finish to what had been another thrilling match and decided one of the most exciting and enthralling ties ever played in the European Cup.

The Celtic fans remained in the stadium for around 45 minutes after the final whistle, singing, chanting and rejoicing. McNeill, the players and all the backroom staff joined them for a while to acknowledge their incredible backing and to savour a famous victory.

For the fans, the celebrations continued in the city centre and lasted long into the night. Some trams were stoned by Ajax fans and in the hours after the match some local thugs roamed the streets, looking for fights. That there weren’t more instances of crowd trouble was down to the heavy police presence, the good behaviour of the Celtic fans and to the excellent work of the Celtic Supporters’ Association, whose representatives had worked closely with their counterparts at Ajax and with the local police prior to the match.

The Dutch were stunned by the late defeat. They, like almost everyone else, had not expected such a controlled, professional performance from a young Celtic side playing away from home in a huge stadium. They were, however, magnanimous in defeat, particularly Cruyff himself who said, “I wish them every luck from now on. They can go a long way in this competition if they are fortunate enough to get a decent draw in the second round.”

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