Seventies European Specials – Ajax v Celtic, 1971

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·14 de febrero de 2026

Seventies European Specials – Ajax v Celtic, 1971

SEVENTIES EURO SPECIALS- AJAX v CELTIC 1971

Celtic lost the 1970 European Cup Final 2-1 to Dutch champions Feyenoord in Milan. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic’s defeat to Feyenoord in the European Cup Final in 1970 was seen by Celtic fans as a disaster. Having eliminated the champions of Portugal, Italy and England on the way to the final, Celtic were rightly regarded as hot favourites.

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On the night, Feyenoord were superb and Celtic played extremely poorly. The Bhoys were so out of sorts that they were lucky to take the game to extra time. Twenty-five years later, Billy McNeill was honest enough to admit that the Dutch side might have won 5-1.

The crushing disappointment had a devastating effect on the morale of everyone connected to Celtic: “Celtic were now left to pick up the pieces, but the fall-out from Milan would linger as a malignant half-life for several years.” (Tom Campbell and Pat Woods, Dreams and Songs to Sing).

Celtic’s Quality Street Gang. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic would now enter a period of transition as Jock Stein set about rebuilding the Celtic side by introducing some of the Quality Street Gang. Domestically, Celtic continued to win matches even though some of these were unconvincing and betrayed signs of an underlying fragility. Despite these hiccups, Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football continued. Europe, however, was a different matter.

KPV Kokkola of Finland

In season 1970/71, Celtic benefitted from an extremely fortuitous draw. The first round saw them play the memorably-named KPV Kokkola of Finland, with the first leg at home. Although pronounced KOH-ko-la, for a generation of younger Celtic fans they were habitually referred to as Koka Kola.

Paul Wilson and Vic Davidson made their European debuts, and both scored in a 9-0 win. Celtic scored their NINTH goal with 20 minutes of the match remaining. For most of that time, the fans chanted, “We want TEN” but they were to be disappointed.

During the match, there also was a loudspeaker appeal for the parents of a seven-year-old boy who had been found on his own. His name was Maurice Johnston…yes, the very same!

The second leg was little more than a formality, with Kokkola feeling honoured even to be sharing the field with Celtic. Before the match, there was a stadium announcement by the Finnish club saying, “We hope the lesson you are about to give us will be to our benefit in future,” which must be a tribute unique in world football! Celtic cruised to a 5-0 victory.

The luck of the draw continued to favour Celtic in the second round, when the Bhoys were pitched against Irish champions Waterford. The first leg was played at Landsdowne Road to accommodate the huge 50,000 crowd. Celtic won 7-0, and the match was notable mainly because of crowd trouble during the first half. After Booby Murdoch scored Celtic’s third, a mass brawl took place BETWEEN Celtic fans in one section of the ground.

The fights appeared to be between Celtic fans from the North and those from both Dublin and Scotland. The “Green-on-Green” battles raged for 20 minutes with some fans spilling onto the pitch to escape the violence. The second half was delayed until the Gardai had restored order.

Four goals ahead at half time, Celtic added a further three in the second half once everything had settled down. The return leg in Glasgow was also notable, but this time because of the half time score: Celtic 0 Waterford 2! Thankfully, no doubt after a severe rollicking from Jock Stein, the Celts recovered in the second half to win 3-2 on the night, and 10-2 on aggregate.

Celtic had reached the quarter final without being remotely tested. This would change when they were drawn against Ajax, with the first leg to be played in Amsterdam. The Dutch champions were already a superb side, containing players of the highest quality, all of whom were equally comfortable on the ball.

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0. Handing over the club vases with the referee in the middle. March 10, 1971. Amsterdam, photo: piemags/ IMAGO

Most importantly, this group included Johan Cruyff, a player whose individual brilliance could have a decisive impact on any game. Cruyff would go on to win European Player of the Year at the end of that season, and again for the next two seasons after that.

European Cup quarterfinals 1971 , Ajax – Celtic: 3-0. March 10, 1971. Amsterdam, Noord-Holland. Photo IMAGO piemags

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0.

In the first leg, Davie Hay was given the unenviable task of man marking Cruyff and did a very good job. Celtic opted for an ultra-cautious approach which almost paid dividends as the match remained goalless for the first hour. Then, in 62 minutes, Cruyff scored with a brilliant individual goal after Neeskens had flicked on a long clearance from the Ajax keeper.

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0.

Davie Hay was blameless, as no one could counter Cruyff’s genius. In Graham McColl’s Celtic in Europe, Evan Williams recalled: “We had held them..but then Cruyff turned on that little bit of extra magic..and the whole thing turned upside down.”

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0.

A second followed eight minutes later, when Barry Hulshoff scored from a free kick at the edge of Celtic’s penalty area. It was a poor goal to lose. Not only did it look like a soft award, but Celtic also failed to set themselves up properly before the free kick was taken.

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0.

At two goals down, Celtic were still in the tie, but the real damage was done in the final minute when Keizer scored with a brilliant finish inside the box. This left Celtic a mountain to climb in the return game.

Anefo photo collection. European Cup quarterfinals, football Ajax – Celtic: 3-0.

However, the 0-3 scoreline did not flatter Ajax. Only resolute defending and a great performance from Celtic keeper Evan Williams had prevented an even heavier defeat. The Bhoys rarely threatened Ajax and Jock Stein was heavily criticised for the “appalling lack of attacking adventure”.

Stein was furious with the performance, especially the loss of the third goal so late in the game and was quick to take out his anger on the team. On arrival in Glasgow the players were taken straight to Celtic Park for an arduous training session. Jim Craig recalled: “We were already despondent about the defeat, but it was a case of big Jock taking it out on us. Once again, we were getting the blame.” (Dreams and Songs to Sing) Stein had publicly blamed the players after the defeat to Feyenoord the previous May, and many felt he was doing so again.

The second leg was played on 24 March 1971 at Hampden in front of a crowd of almost 84 000. Celtic had opted to move to game from Celtic Park because of reconstruction work on the main stand and to take advantage of the larger capacity. Celtic faced a colossal challenge, needing to score three goals against a top-class side simply to level the tie.

After 28 minutes of frantic, energetic pressure, Jimmy Johnstone managed to latch on to a header nodded down by Tommy Callaghan and nudged the ball home from six yards. Ajax stayed calm, kept possession and looked dangerous when they moved forward. Within minutes of Johnstone’s goal, Gerry Muhren cracked a shot off the Celtic post.

For the remainder of the game, Ajax simply ensured that Celtic would not add to their lead. The Dutch flooded the midfield to deny Celtic any space, whilst their full backs closed down Celtic’s wingers and were alert to any potential overlapping runs from Tommy Gemmell.

Celtic had most of the possession, but their attacks were predictable and lacked variety. The composure, vision and class of Bobby Murdoch in midfield were sorely missed in both legs but, in truth, Celtic had simply met a superior team which was on its way to dominating the European Cup during a three-year period from 1971 to 1974.

In Celtic in Europe in 2003, Jimmy Johnstone was extremely honest: “I couldn’t have seen us beating them at that time because they were superb. Cruyff was running the show and every time he got the ball it was absolute mayhem.”

Celtic were eliminated 1-3 on aggregate and had never at any point looked capable of overturning the three-goal deficit from the first leg. After the shock loss to Feyenoord in Milan in May 1970, “the defeat by Ajax was another dent to the club’s self-image as a top European side.” (Dreams and Songs to Sing).

In the semi final, Ajax would lose 0-1 to Atletico Madrid in Spain but win the return 3-0 in Amsterdam. In the final, they would comfortably defeat surprise opponents Panathinaikos by 2-0 at Wembley. The Greeks had eliminated both Everton and Red Star Belgrade on away goals but they were unable to offer any serious challenge to Ajax in the final, in a match where Cruyff was once again magnificent.

As for Celtic, the season would end with a sixth consecutive League Championship, equalling their own previous record of 6-in-a-row from 1905-1910. The Bhoys also won the Scottish Cup for the 21st time- another record- after a 2-1 win over Rangers in the replayed final.

However, for Celtic fans of this era, success in Europe was what really counted…

James McDevitt

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