Celtic v Slovan Bratislava – The story of the first time the two teams met

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The Celtic Star

·16. September 2024

Celtic v Slovan Bratislava – The story of the first time the two teams met

Celtic start their Champions League campaign by facing Slovan Bratislava, 60 years on from the two sides’ first game. They met in the 1963-64 Cup-Winners’ Cup, a tournament that featured a series of Celtic European firsts.

A new beginning. #UCL
– Montag, 16. September 2024

The early years of the 1960s was a disappointing time for Celtic until the arrival of Jock Stein in 1965, which would soon bring home the Scottish Cup to Celtic Park. Prior to this, the Bhoys had failed to win a major trophy since the 7-1 League Cup win over Rangers in 1957.

Celtic first played in Europe in the 1962-63 Fairs Cup, losing to Valencia over two legs. However, the next season, Celtic entered the Cup-Winners’ Cup – and for most of the competition seemed to be more than capable of winning it.

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In the first round, the Celts faced Swiss side Basel in September 1963. In a piece of club history, this saw Celtic gain their first European victory, easily beating Basel 5-1 in Switzerland. In addition, 15,000 fans saw John Hughes get the club’s first European hat-trick.

The second leg was just as simple. Celtic enjoyed a 5-0 win in Glasgow, although it was only in front of 8000 fans who were put off by terrible weather and a belief that the tie was over. This was Celtic’s first home European victory, and also the club’s first clean sheet (kept by ‘keeper Frank Haffey). With a 10-1 aggregate score, Celtic were through to Round Two.

In Round Two, Celtic faced another team they will meet in this season’s Champions League: Dinamo Zagreb. This promised to be a very hard tie, as the Yugoslavs had reached the 1963 Fairs Cup final. In fact, the winners of that competition were Celtic’s conquerors, Valencia. Despite this pedigree, in December 1963, 42,000 fans watched as the Celts eased to a 3-0 home win.

Despite this comfortable advantage, the tie was not yet over. Later that same month, Celtic flew to Zagreb. In a very quiet stadium (10,000 fans attended out of 60,000 spaces), Celtic took an early lead, giving them a substantial lead. Although Zagreb eventually fought back and won 2-1, the Bhoys were comfortably through by a 4-2 aggregate.

In the quarter-finals, Celtic were drawn to face Slovan Bratislava. The home leg came first – played in February 1964 – and 53,000 fans came to cheer on the Bhoys. A second half penalty from Bobby Murdoch eventually gave the Bhoys a slender advantage.

One Bratislava player did not appear in this fixture – but he later had a big Celtic connection. Midfielder Josef Venglos would of course become Celtic manager in 1998-99. Arguably his biggest contribution was signing players like Lubo Moravcik and Johann Mjallby, although Bhoys’ fans have great memories of beating Rangers 5-1 at Celtic Park.

Bratislava believed that Celtic’s narrow victory could be easily overturned and looked forward to the second leg. In March 1964, Celtic faced an early 1.30pm kick-off, due to the home team having no floodlights. However, the 30,000 Czech fans were left disappointed as a late John Hughes winner settled the tie and sent Celtic to the semis.

In the semi-final, Celtic were opposed by MTK Budapest. After the first leg, it looked like the Celts could pack their bags for their first European final. On 15 April 1964, Celtic easily beat the Hungarians 3-0 in a one-sided contest. It seemed to be game over.

Celtic travelled to Hungary in very confident mood, already looking forward to a Final trip to Brussels. However this overconfidence proved to be their undoing and instead, disaster struck to end European hopes. The Bhoys were completely outplayed, losing 4-0, and exited Europe on aggregate.

When the final was played in Brussels in May 1964, Celtic could only look on with regret. If they had reached the final, the Bhoys would have faced Sporting Lisbon, from the city where Celtic would of course go on to win the 1967 European Cup. Sporting ultimately beat Bratislava to win the final, but only after a replay.

Celtic’s first proper run in Europe came so close to ending in final glory, but fell short. This season, the Celts hope to make a bigger impact in Europe than in recent years. They can start by echoing the 1963-64 season and beating Bratislava and Zagreb.

Matthew Marr

Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory

Click on cover to order a hardback copy

Manchester bound for the legends game. Reading material sorted. @hailhailhistory
– Samstag, 7. September 2024

Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.