Tommy Gemmell’s match winning boots from the 1967 European Cup Final have been bought by an anonymous private collector for £18,000 at auction.
The Celtic legend scored the equaliser in the momentous 2-1 win over Inter Milan in Lisbon, and experts at the auction house knew that there would be a huge amount of interest in the boots that scored that historic goal.
The Adidas boots were sold by an anonymous Glasgow businessman, whose father was friends with both Tommy Gemmell and fellow Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld.
The seller’s dad was with Tommy after a training match in 1967 and asked jokingly if he could have a ‘token from Tam’.
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Tommy tossed him his worn out boots and said “I wore these in Lisbon, tell the wee fella to look after them”.
Marked ‘TG’ on the inside, the footwear has taken pride of place in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park over the past nine years.
In addition to Tommy Gemmell’s boots, the auction also featured a number of other important Celtic items.
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Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Johnstone’s match worn jersey from the Club’s now infamous game against Racing Club in the 1967 World Club Championship in Uruguay was sold for £5,400, while Bertie Auld’s Adidas holdall from the European Cup final fetched £2,300.
Brian Clements from McTear’s said: “We have seen many important pieces of football memorabilia come through our doors over the years but rarely have we seen a piece with such huge historical significance.
"Any memorabilia associated with Celtic’s momentous 1967 European Cup win is important but the boots that scored one of Celtic’s two goals are on another level entirely.
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“Although the seller has had the boots for over 50 years, he decided the time was right to pass on the baton and let another football fan get some enjoyment from this amazing piece of Celtic memorabilia.
“We knew there would be significant interest in the lot and we were not disappointed. There was some fierce bidding with the boots eventually selling for £18,000 to a private collector.”
Tommy Gemmell played 247 times for Celtic from 1961 to 1971, scoring 37 goals for the Club.
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The left back, who was capped 18 times for Scotland, passed away on 2nd March 2017, aged 73.
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