Alfredo di Stefano Trophy

Match | Matches: 19661967 | Friendlies – Away | 1966-67 Pictures

Trivia

  • The Alfredo di Stefano Trophy is a trophy won by Celtic in 1967.
  • Match in honour of the legendary Alfredo di Stefano.
  • The trophy was contested in a match between Real Madrid and Celtic on 7 June 1967 at Real’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
  • The match took place 2 weeks after Celtic’s victory in the European Cup and was effectively a testimonial match for Alfredo di Stefano.
  • Celtic won the match 1-0, with Bobby Lennox scoring the winner.

Match

The Alfredo Di Stefano Trophy http://www.thecelticwiki.com/1967-06-07%3a-real-madrid-0-1-celtic%2c-testimonial---alfredo-di-stefano - Pic

Anna McMillan
Source:Celtic View
16 November 2005

They assumed they would also have the trophy in the Bernabeu Stadium in 1967, but Celtic had other ideas. It appears that Real were rather ‘put out’ by Celtic winning ‘their’ trophy, with the Spanish press claiming that the European Cup belonged in Madrid. So it is understandable that, when choosing an appropriate team to honour the great Di Stefano, Celtic were approached and, indeed, were thrilled to accept the challenge.

The sides had met back in 1963, with Celtic losing 3-1 in a charity game in Glasgow. On June 7, 1967, just two weeks after they won the European Cup in Lisbon, Celtic took on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. There was one change from the Lisbon team, with John Fallon replacing Ronnie Simpson in goal.

Di Stefano played for 20 minutes of the game and received a standing ovation from the 130,000 supporters inside the stadium when he left the pitch. Neither side played as one might expect in a friendly match, but instead competed fiercely to win the match. And taking centre stage on the night was Jimmy Johnstone, whose skill and artistry completely mesmerised the Madrid players.

Indeed, such was the brilliance of Jinky that the Spanish support cheered him, shouting ‘Ole!’ whenever he was on the ball. Despite many discussions during my tours here at Celtic Park, when a good few men advised me that it was Jinky who scored the only goal of the game, such was the magnificence of his performance that night, it was, in fact, Bobby Lennox who netted the winner.

It is also fitting to say that Alfredo Di Stefano had been in Lisbon for the European Cup and had apparently gone to Celtic’s hotel to wish Jock Stein all the best for the game against Inter Milan. It could be that it was during this game that the great man decided the famous green and white hoops would be the perfect opponents to celebrate his own wonderful football career.

It was a fantastic night in Madrid. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, here was the icing on a big, fat, beautiful cake.