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Quotes
‘If ever a man was made for a specific club, it was Billy McNeill and Glasgow Celtic. He was never really manager here, or at Aston Villa. His heart was always at Parkhead.’
Peter Swales (Chairman of Man City 1989)
“There’s only one King Billy, that’s McNeill…”
Celtic fan song/chant for Billy McNeill
“I have often been asked what makes a successful team and I believe the answer is relatively simple. It’s about knowing that your mates are standing by your side ready to lend their unqualified support in the belief that there is nothing that cannot be achieved.”
Billy McNeill
“Apart from playing for Celtic, I’ll always be a Celtic supporter.”
Billy McNeill speaking after League Cup win in 1974.
‘You support the best team in the world, and you are the best supporters in the world, so carry on supporting them because they need you.’
Billy McNeill (1991)
“We are an extraordinary club and we demand extraordinary standards.”
Billy McNeill
“What makes a great player? It’s a question I’m often asked and my answer is always the same. He is the one who brings out the best in others, and when I am saying that I am talking about Billy McNeill.”
Jock Stein
‘It (winning the European Cup) might have been for Scotland, but it definitely wasn’t for Britain… it was for Celtic.’
Billy McNeill on European Cup Final win of 1967 (1995)
‘Somebody compared him to Billy McNeill, but I don’t remember Billy being crap!”
Tommy Docherty, the legendary football coach, on Rangers’ Italian flop Lorenzo Amoruso in 2000.
‘Times change. Not always for the better. The great Billy McNeill. from Celtic’s European cup winning side, told BBC radio yesterday that his dressing room nick-name was Cesar, after the getaway driver in Sinatra’s Oceans Eleven, because he was the only one of the lads with a car…Craig Bellamy isn’t fit to be mentioned in the same breath as a real sporting hero such as McNeill.’.
David Mellor (ex-Tory MP & London newspaper Evening Standard sports columnist & Chelsea fan 2006)
‘A man of true integrity and humility, Billy is someone who will always be held in the highest of esteem by the Club and its supporters. We are delighted to offer Billy this role – there is no finer individual to receive such an accolade.”
John Reid (Celtic Chairman) announcing Billy McNeill’s appointment as Club Ambassador in July 2009.
“What makes a great player? It’s a question I’m often asked and my answer is always the same. He is the one who brings out the best in others, and when I am saying that I am talking about Billy McNeill. It is this quality of bringing the units of the team together, and inspiring them to play for each other and for the club, which has raised our captain above all others in the past decade.”
Jock stein on Billy McNeill in the testimonial match program v Liverpool 1974
‘I’ve always seen us as the Cavaliers and them as the Roundheads.’
Billy McNeill on Celtic and Rangers
‘There’s as much chance of [Frank] McAvennie moving as there is of Rangers beating us 5-1 tomorrow.’
Billy McNeil, Celtic (Manager) commenting on reports that McAvennie was heading back to London.
We did lose 5-1 the next day, and McAvennie left soon after!
‘We climbed three mountains then proceeded to throw ourselves off.’
Billy McNeil on losing out on away goals, 6-6, to Partizan Belgrade.
‘The Manchester derby is like a March wind. The Old Firm’s a January hurricane.’
Billy McNeill on Celtic v Rangers matches (1993)
‘Angels don’t win you anything except a place in heaven. Football teams need one or two vagabonds.’
Billy McNeill (1983)
“I don’t think that I’ll be here in another 100 years time but I think these lads will be remembered. I’m delighted for them.”
Billy McNeill as Celtic sealed the Scottish Cup & league double in the centenary season (1988)
“Billy is a man of true stature, someone who has given so much of his life to Celtic and at all times with such grace, humility and dignity. He is respected by all in football and someone who will always be loved dearly by all Celtic supporters.”
Peter Lawell (2016)
“Billy McNeill was a natural leader of men. He had presence and arrogance without being big-headed. When he walked into the dressing room in 1958 I instinctively felt it was the start of something big for Celtic.”
Bertie Auld
“Billy set the benchmark as a Celtic player and captain, and that’s something everyone who pulls on the jersey has to aspire to. He won every honour in the game with Celtic including, of course, the European Cup.”
Scott Brown
“Celtic these days is such a massive business — changed beyond all recognition from my involvement at the sharp end. But one fact that will remain constant is the club’s supporters. They are magnificent. The best in football.”
Billy McNeill
“…our father always made time for the supporters. So, please tell his stories, sing his songs, and help us celebrate his life.”
The McNeill Family in their announcement of their father’s death (2019)
“I used to remind him that he had been my boyhood hero. He used to tell me to shut up. Modesty and humility were always at the core of Billy McNeill’s being, even though he had a lot not to be modest or humble about.”
Hugh Keevins (journo)
“The look on Billy’s face lifting that trophy. It says: ‘I am the ruler. We rule the world. We are the best.’”
John Clark
“As friends we were in each other’s pockets all of the time and the friendship has continued right down to our children and I’ll miss him awfully.”
Mike Jackson (ex-Celtic player, and long-time friend of Billy McNeil) (2019)
“He was actually too good-looking to be a centre-half!”
John Greig on his friend Cesar, (Apr 2019)
“He played for the jersey. That was his utmost ambition, to make that jersey successful and he did just that.”
Journalist Archie Macpherson (Apr 2019)
“But on the park, honestly he was before his time.”
Lisbon Lions John Clark and Bertie Auld reflect on the passing of former Celtic captain and manager Billy McNeill at the age of 79 (2019)
“He was a lovely man and he was a gentleman. He was a very good manager and at all times, Celtic was the first thing on his mind.”
Bertie Auld paying tribute to Billy McNeill (2019)
“No one headed the ball more than me. It’s sad that dementia is hitting so many guys from my era. The last time I saw big Billy [McNeill] was at a writers’ do. I had to tell him my name. He perked up at that, right enough, and hopefully was able to remember some of our great battles. But I almost wish I hadn’t seen him that day because he was this little hunched figure, not the giant of a man he’d been.”
Colin Stein (2023) The Rangers and Scotland legend who just wishes his parents had seen his scoring spree (scotsman.com)
Billy McNeil on Lisbon 1967
from UEFA.com
Arrival …
‘We always had the attitude of you and us– we can beat you when we’re on top of our game. The very fact that the Italian club met us in the final was magnificent and as they came out of the tunnel they started singing, so we started singing louder than them and I think that is what helped us. We went out there and we just went into the game and took it with us.’
Support …
‘We looked at them and the people that had travelled out of Scotland were absolutely magnificent. It was Celtic supporter after Celtic supporter down to Lisbon, probably having never been anywhere out of Glasgow, but they wanted to be part of it and they certainly put on a story. It was marvellous.’
Pushing forward …
‘The fact they scored an early goal, that made it obvious for us. The only thing we could do was to take the game to them and that worked for us. And that was our style. They weren’t into our style and it worked for us.’
Going ahead …
‘That was magnificent– I’ve got to be honest with you, I can’t even describe how I felt at that particular moment, but we knew then. I started saying to the other players, ‘We’ve got to finish this game! Don’t let them into this game!’ They were gone, they were gone at that time.’
Final whistle …
‘The fans were doing a job, which encouraged us to do a job, but it was great. We set up having got our goals in the game and we never thought we were going to lose and it worked. That’s what hit us. We had done something that had never been done before and it was terrific.’
Homecoming …
‘It was magnificent. On our plane we never knew what was going to happen. We dropped into Glasgow airport and when we came along London Road to go into Celtic Park there were thousands of people, thousands of people wanting to see what was happening, and that was what struck us. That’s really what made us realise exactly what we had done and it was wonderful.’