A year before Manchester United became the first English side to lift the trophy, the Lisbon Lions were the first Scottish and British club to win the cup, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final held in the Portuguese capital. Gemmell scored the equaliser in the match.
The auction house said the Adidas boots were being sold by an anonymous Glasgow businessman, whose father was friends with both Gemmell and fellow Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld. The seller’s dad was with Gemmell after a training match in 1967 and asked jokingly if he could have a “token from Tam”. Gemmell tossed him his worn-out boots and said “I wore these in Lisbon, tell the wee fella to look after them.”
The footwear, which had taken pride of place in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park over the past nine years, sold to an anonymous private collector.
Historical significance
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.”
As well as Gemmell’s boots, this Sporting Medals & Trophies Auction featured other important Celtic items.
Bertie Auld’s holdall from the 1967 European Cup final made £1800 at McTear's.
Berti Auld’s Adidas holdall from the 1967 European Cup final sold for a mid-estimate £1800 while Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Johnstone’s match-worn jersey from Celtic’s now infamous game against Racing Club in the 1967 Intercontinental Cup took a mid-estimate £4200.
The Lisbon Lions faced the Buenos Aires club in the contest which pitted the European champions against the South American equivalent. The two legs were drawn and a play-off organised in Uruguay was so brutal that it was dubbed the Battle of Montevideo, with six players sent off.
Rangers captain
Relating to the other half of the Old Firm was a collection of 21 medals belonging to former Rangers captain Bobby Shearer.
The collection, which was sold by the family of the late player, covered the period 1955-65 and was believed to be “the largest set of Rangers medals to feature in a single auction”, said McTear’s.
Shearer’s Scottish Cup winner’s medals from 1962 and 1963 sold for £2200 and £2100 respectively. His 1961 European Cup Winner’s Cup runners-up medal took £2000.
