Tommy Callaghan says its ‘bad taste, degrading and inflammatory’ for the Spanish giants to recreate the strip from the infamous European Cup semi-final in 1974 when they kicked the Hoops off the park
Tommy Callaghan, a Celtic legend, has criticized Atletico Madrid for choosing to wear a unique uniform at Celtic Park in remembrance of the historic match from 1974 in which three of their players were sent off.
The legendary red and white uniform of the Spanish stars will be replaced with a clone of the one they wore in Glasgow 49 years ago during a toxic 0-0 stalemate. During the semi-final, Jimmy Johnstone, a winger, was subjected to a barrage of over-the-ball challenges and received particularly harsh treatment.
Despite the fact that Atletico, who also had seven players booked, received harsh criticism for their actions at Parkhead—police intervened to break up the altercations—and were only fined £14,000 by UEFA. There were rumors that Johnstone and manager Jock Stein were receiving death threats, therefore Celtic supporters were advised not to come to Spain for the second leg of the match.
Rodriguez scored the second goal of the match as the Spanish won the second leg 2-0. However, a replay saw Bayern Munich beat the Spanish team 4-0 in the final. Additionally, Callaghan expressed to the Daily Record his optimism that Diego Simeone’s side would receive additional justice on Wednesday.
The 77-year-old, who played 172 games for Celtic after signing in 1968, said: “Whether Atletico have forgotten all about 1974 and the things that happened, I don’t know. I don’t think there will ever be a game like that again. It’s certainly in bad taste to wear that strip and it’s a bit degrading and maybe they are trying to get at Celtic a bit, it’s inflammatory.
“I don’t think it will have any impact on the Celtic team that is playing now as what happened back then had nothing to do with them. It’s the club which will be offended and the people still at Celtic and the supporters who were there back then, there’s not a lot of us left but we remember well what happened.”
Speaking to the Record Sport, he added: “It was a game and a half, I don’t remember many games that far back but this was a game I will never forget and it was all down to how Atletico played the game. I think their left back was released from jail to allow him to play that night.
“His name was Ruben Diaz and he was an absolute thug and his job was to keep Wee Jinky up in the air all night, he booted him stupid all game. It was the most brutal game I ever took part in, it was disgusting.
“It was one of the games from my career which still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I’ll never forget it and it’s not for anything good.”
Diaz himself later accepted he would have been jailed for the assaults on the late Celtic superstar if he had carried them out today. But Atletico plan to honour their team from that day by wearing a special retro strip.
The club’s president, Enrique Cerezo, said: “This Wednesday we meet again with a historic club in a mythical stadium, Celtic Park, where we will have the honour of reliving a duel that half a century later continues to remain in the memory of all Atletico players.”
And Atletico’s captain that night, 84-year-old Adelardo Rodriguez, added: “For all the players who played in that match, and that great European Cup, it is a huge recognition that fifty seasons later, the team is wearing the same uniform again at Celtic Park.
“It fills us with pride now as it filled us with pride then. That semi-final was very special, we had just won the League the previous season and we eliminated a European champion at a very good moment in our careers.”
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