Former Celtic player & manager Billy McNeill dies aged 79
He captained the club to a European Cup, nine successive titles, seven Scottish Cups & six League Cups
In two spells as manager, he won four titles and four cups
He also managed Clyde, Aberdeen, Man City & Aston Villa
Respect for Billy McNeill breached the city divide between Rangers and Celtic fans, with rivals fans paying their respects at Billy McNeill's statue at Celtic Park.
Image source, SNS
Image source, SNSThanks to John Kilbride on Twitter for reminding us that not only did Billy McNeill lift the European Cup for Celtic but he also holds up part of the M8 motorway in Glasgow.
In mural form, of course...
Image source, SNSYou can listen to BBC 5 live's tribute to the Lisbon Lions here.
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Former Blackpool and England defender Jimmy Armfield's son is the latest to pay tribute to Billy McNeill...
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St Mirren chief executiveTony Fitzpatrick knew McNeill well and paid tribute to the man known as 'Cesar'.
"I have incredible memories of Billy and I'm so proud to say he tried to sign me as a player," he tells the Buddies' website. "As a man, he was an absolute gentleman and a great leader of men. I was in his company quite a lot and he really was an incredible man.
"Even though we knew he was unwell, you think guys like Billy McNeill are immortal. It's a huge shock to your system when you hear news like this.
"We've had incredible players over the years in Scottish football, such as Kenny Dalglish, David Cooper etc. But I think Billy, along with Sir Alex Ferguson, is the biggest name ever in Scottish football. Billy McNeill is a name that everybody will remember forever. He was a proper gentleman and everything you wanted in a hero."
Image source, SNS
Image source, SNSJohn Clark signed for Celtic in 1958, a year after Billy McNeill - and they played together for 13 years before being part of the management team together.
"That’s part of my life away now," Clark says. "He was a massive personality. He was big in stature and big in personality and we’ll all miss him very much.
“I played with him and managed with him at Aberdeen and Celtic I always knew Billy would be a good manager because he was determined enough to be successful and he was successful.
“He never let things get to him in a way some managers would have and that was down to the character he was. He could handle the pressure well and he did as a player and a manager.”
Image source, SNSLisbon Lion Bertie Auld recalls the confidence exuded by captain Billy McNeill as they prepared to face Inter Milan in the European Cup final of 1967.
"I remember in Lisbon, him carrying the ball out onto the park in Portugal," he says. "His chest was out and his head was back.
"He knew we would win and that filtered through the rest of us. He was never arrogant or egotistical. He just believed in himself and the rest of us."
Image source, SNSBilly McNeill's former Lisbon Lions team-mate, John Clark, is the latest to pay tribute on Celtic's website.
"Jim Craig called me this morning to tell me the news and, even though I knew he wasn’t well, it still stuns you when you find out," he says.
“I’ve known Billy for most of my life. We played together and spent most of our lives working together, about 60-odd years in total. I can’t imagine a time in my life then without him.
“There were no big egos in that team we were part of and Billy summed that up. He was down to earth and everyone in the team was as well. Billy was well-liked and everyone who met him liked him because of the kind of person he was.
“There’s nothing much more you could say to sum him up other than he was an icon in football."
Image source, SNSBilly McNeill managed Manchester City for three years from 1983 and one of his successors at the club has paid his own tribute.
"It's a sad day," present boss Pep Guardiola says. "I didn’t know him personally, but I know he was manager here and a big legend for Celtic. Condolences to his family."
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Rangers captain John Greig and Billy McNeill were close despite the rivalry between the clubs across the city of Glasgow.
"It's very sad news," the former Scotland full-back says. "I've lost a very good friend today.
"We have been close for many, many years. Although we were big opponents on the field, we had a mutual respect for each other off it.
"As Old Firm captains, we were asked to do a lot of public engagements together. We were even given doctorates from the University of Glasgow on the same day in 2008.
"Apart from being a great football player and a great captain for a great Celtic side, he was also a great guy, a real gentleman and I'll miss him."
Image source, SNSBilly McNeill and John Greig received honorary degrees in 2008
Former Celtic and Scotland midfielder Bertie Auld remembers when Billy McNeill arrived at the club as a teenager.
"I was there when the boss signed Billy at 17 years of age and, even then, he had tremendous presence about him," his fellow Lisbon Lion says.
"He was a big thin boy with spindly legs, but he was majestic in the air, even at that age. He had a tremendous temperament for a centre-back.
"As the months went on, you could see he had this ability to be a leader. Despite being so young, he would give everybody his opinion and everyone respected him."
Image source, SNSJournalist Alison Walker tells BBC Radio Scotland she can empathise with Billy McNeill's family because her own parents have dementia.
"I’m so pleased Billy wasn’t in the limelight in the latter stages of his life," she says. "I’m so pleased the family kept their privacy. That enables us to have lovely memories of how he lived as a man as a Celtic player, manager and captain."
Image source, SNSOne of Billy McNeill's last public appearances was on the 50th anniversary of Celtic's European Cup final victory
Billy McNeill's former Celtic team-mate, Jim Craig, tells BBC Radio Scotland he is "heartbroken" by the news of the 79-year-old's death.
"He’d been ill for a long time," the full-back who played in Celtic's European Cup final victory says. "In some ways, it’s a sense of relief. These last few years have not been easy, especially for Liz, his wife.
"I last saw him three weeks ago. He was able to sit up, but it was not the BIlly we once knew.
"We all looked up to him. He was hard not to like. The support adored him as well for the things he had done for the club.
"He was well recognised in Scotland and across the UK too. I’ll always be gratefully to Billy for helping me settle in when I joined the club."
Image source, SNSLisbon Lion Jim Craig
Former BBC Scotland journalist Alison Walker remembers her first meeting with "Big Billy".
"I had to interview Billy in his second spell as Celtic manager," she says. "I was doing my first-ever football interview, the only female in the sports department. Billy came up to me and said 'lovely to meet you Alison'.
"I told him I had lots of questions prepared for him and he said: 'Let’s have a chat. You don’t need your questions'.
"All throughout my career, he was supportive and he really did take care of young reporters, taking them under his wing.
"There was a stature to him. He was always known as Big Billy. What a privilege it is in our jobs to be able to connect with people like that."
Alison Walker and 'Big Billy' in Seville 2003
Chick Young
BBC Scotland pundit
He was a colossus of the Scottish game, as player, manager and personality. And the nicest of men who commanded respect across any divide. I adored him. I could sit here all day and night telling you tales but I have a favourite...
It was, I think, 1979 when I, while working for the Glasgow Evening Times, was sent to Germany for a pre-season with Celtic. I’m sure we were away about 10 days and I was the only Scottish football writer on the trip.
Big Billy spoiled me with stories and, given I was only 28 and fit enough to be running marathons, he invited me to train with the team every day and even decked me out in Celtic training kit. But there was no such thing as a free training session or run back to the hotel in the team bus. Particularly as he was convinced that my allegiances lay elsewhere.
I got on okay and eventually got to sit with him and John Clark… But the driver didn’t get to start the engine until I had sung the Celtic song over the address system to the amusement of the players - and childish delight of the big man.Every day, remember. And every day he giggled like a schoolboy.
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