APPLAUSE was heard across the East End today as Celtic fans bid an emotional farewell to another of their greatest heroes.
Stevie Chalmers’ funeral cortege passed by Celtic Park for the last time on Wednesday afternoon.
Supporters gathered at the ground in their numbers five days after thousands turned out to pay their last respects to Chalmers' former captain, Billy McNeill.
Stevie Chalmers funeral as it happened: Glasgow's farewell to second Lisbon Lion in a week
The forward scored the most important goal in Celtic's history, the 1967 European Cup final winner against Inter Milan, one of 231 he netted for the club.
A funeral mass took place in Calton, near Parkhead, for Chalmers, who died aged 83 last week after suffering from dementia in recent years.
The service took place at 11.30am at St Mary's Church, where Celtic Football Club was first established during a meeting in 1887.
Neil Lennon, Sir Alex Ferguson, the Celtic squad and the remaining Lisbon Lions were all in attendance.
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia told the congregation: “I offer our sympathies to the Celtic family. He was, of course, one of the incomparable Lisbon Lions who won the European Cup. Stevie had the tremendous distinction of scoring the winning goal.
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“Stevie’s family say his priorities in life we his faith, family and football. That is surely a fitting legacy.
“Stevie and Billy’s names have become synonymous over the past two days. This has been a distressing time for their families.
“You could not hope to meet two different men. And yet, as we all know, there was something that joined them together - and it was how their lives came to an end.
“To score the winning goal earned him the right to say he scored the most important goal in the history of Scottish football. He was proud to score that goal, but to him it was more important that the team won.
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“What Stevie did that day in Lisbon had an affect on the whole nation. Nobody was really convinced a team from Scotland could be kings. It gave the country a whole new set of aspirations.”
After the service, the cortege then passed through the Celtic Way just after 1pm to rapturous applause before going onto a private family cremation.
Celtic Football Club described Chalers as “the man who scored the most important goal in the club's history.”
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