A CELTIC fan who travelled to Lisbon by bus came back with a special souvenir – a piece of Hoops’ captain Billy McNeill’s winning shirt.

Liam Ferrie, 73, was living in London where he worked as a civil servant when Celtic reached the final.

He organised a bus to go to the game, and when Celtic won the European Cup, a friend, who invaded the pitch, managed to grab a piece of Hoops captain Billy McNeil’s shirt.

As a token of appreciation for organising the trip, Liam, who now lives in Galway, was given a piece of that shirt which he has treasured ever since.

Liam’s journey to Lisbon started through being a member of a supporters club in North London.

The Celtic fan, who is originally from Greenock, would travel by bus to Parkhead once a month.

His supporters club, however, realised that there were no flights going to Lisbon for the final, and they decided to hire their own bus to see the Hoops’ historic match.

Liam said: “When it came to the final, there was no one charting planes out of London. We had to do our own thing and we managed to fill the bus. It was £12,10 shillings for the whole package.”

Liam, who took the journey when he was 23, believes his bus was one of the few to make the final on the Thursday.

He explained that there was no proper motorway, and he heard of at least one bus which broke down and another ended up in Madrid.

The group, however, left London on the Monday evening before the match, travelled to Southampton where they spent the night at sea.

They continued their journey through Europe and managed to make the final prior to kick off.

He said: “We ended up with an extra person, lost someone on route who wanted to go home and we even picked up a hitch hiker.

“It was touch and go over whether we would make it. We even got held up at the border because it was the time of Franco and they wouldn’t let us cross the border at night time.”

Liam, who lives with his wife Pauline, has written about his journey to Lisbon which has been published online.

He said: “It is one of those things in my life I will remember forever. I suppose I have told the story so often, that I remember all the details.

“It was unbelievable. One of the guys on the bus tore off a piece of Billy McNeil’s jersey and everyone wanted a bit. The guy, whose name I can’t remember, told everyone that it was only me who was getting a piece of the jersey for organising the bus.”

McNeil, who was nicknamed Cesar by the fans, actually replaced his shirt for the iconic moment where he lifted up the cup.

And Liam’s memories are captured through a series of photos. He also believes that there may be fellow supporters in Scotland who were on that bus. He said: “We were all Scots living in London at that time but I am sure a few may have returned back to Scotland.”

You can read Liam's full story here: http://lisbonmemories.blogspot.co.uk/