Harold Wilson was the prime minister of the day, yet it is the famous words of Harold Macmillan that seem more apposite when looking back on the spring of 1967. Quite simply, Scottish football had never had it so good.

That Jock Stein's Celtic completed a clean sweep of trophies that season is all the more remarkable when the quality of their domestic rivals is considered.

The day before the Lisbon Lions etched their names into history, Kilmarnock lost to Leeds United in the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Six days afterwards, Rangers were narrowly defeated by Bayern Munich in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Not only were Scottish clubs at the sharp end of every continental competition, the national side had swaggered to victory over England, still polishing their World Cup medals, at Wembley a month earlier. Baxter turns champs into chumps

Saturday, April 15, 1967 ENGLAND 2 SCOTLAND 3 European Championship qualifier Perhaps the most iconic victory in Scotland's international history as the world champions were humbled in their own backyard. Four of the soon-to-be Lisbon Lions were included in the side, including a debut for 36-year-old Ronnie Simpson in goal, but injuries prevented Bobby Murdoch and Jimmy Johnstone from being considered.

Billy McNeill was kept out of the defence by Ronnie McKinnon who, along with John Greig, provided representation of the Rangers team which would reach the Cup Winners' Cup final.

Denis Law opened the scoring for Scotland after 27 minutes, bundling home a rebound from a Willie Wallace shot, and Bobby Lennox pounced in the second half to make it 2-0 to Scotland.

Jack Charlton pulled a goal back for England but Jim McCalliog, another debutant, restored the two-goal lead for Bobby Brown's team in the 87th minute. Geoff Hurst had time to score another for England, but it was irrelevant. The mere run-of-play does not, of course, come close to quantifying why this match attained such legendary status in eyes of the Tartan Army. It was the impudent way in which Alf Ramsey's World Cup winners were teased and tormented, as encapsulated by the masterclass of skills delivered by Jim Baxter.

His impromptu exhibition of keepy-uppy was described in The Herald the following Monday by Glyn Edwards.

"I shall cherish for a long time the memory of Baxter slowing down the game to almost walking pace, insouciantly juggling the ball with instep, forehead and knees while Nobby Stiles, no more than a couple of yards away, bobbed up and down, unsure whether to make his challenge at knee or head level."

That Scotland did not qualify for the European Championship finals, with England instead progressing, could not diminish the romance of a famous spring afternoon in London. Rangers fall at final hurdle

Wednesday, May 31, 1967 RANGERS 0 BAYERN MUNICH 1 European Cup Winners' Cup final Playing the final in Nuremburg gave Bayern close to home advantage as Rangers sought to make it a Glasgow double less than a week after Celtic had hoisted the European Cup in Lisbon.

That achievement heaped additional pressure on the Ibrox club, but they had already seen off Glentoran, Borussia Dortmund, who were the tournament holders, Real Zaragoza and Slavia Sofia on a fine European run.

There was, though, controversy in the team selection for the final as Alex Willoughby was left out in favour of Roger Hynd. Willoughby had been a prolific scorer for Rangers in the preceding months yet Hynd, primarily a defender who had played up front in the second leg against Sofia, was preferred in his place.

Hynd actually had a goal disallowed during the 90 minutes, but also missed a fine opportunity after being set up by Dave Smith. The match crossed into extra time and Franz Roth ultimately notched the strike that landed an emerging Bayern their first European prize.

The Bavarian club would go on to dominate European football in the mid-1970s, winning three successive European Cups, yet the final also marked the start of an excellent period for Rangers in continental competition.

They would reach the semi-finals of the Fairs Cup in 1969 before their progress culminated in winning the Cup Winners Cup in 1972, with revenge taken against Bayern in the last four. The 35th anniversary of the Barcelona Bears was yesterday.

Sandy Jardine had just broken into the Ibrox side in 1967, when Rangers also finished as runners-up to Celtic in the league and League Cup. "I can remember playing in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup, playing in the semi-final of the Fairs Cup, and then getting to the Cup Winners' Cup final again in Barcelona," said Jardine.

"So over that five year period we did really, really well." They tightened things up and we just couldn't break them down

Wednesday, May 24, 1967 KILMARNOCK 0 LEEDS UTD 0 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi final, 2nd leg (Leeds won 4-2 on aggregate) Kilmarnock had routed Royal Antwerp and seen off fellow Belgians KAA Gent to reach the quarter-finals of the forerunner to the UEFA Cup. There, they returned from behind the Iron Curtain in decent enough shape to defeat Lokomotiv Leipzig and march on to the last four, where Leeds United lay in wait.

Don Revie's team were emerging as one of the most powerful forces in English football following their promotion to the old first division three years before.

They were driven by a trio of the finest Scottish talents of the age in Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer and Eddie Gray, and scored twice early on in the first leg at Elland Road, which took place on a Friday evening.

A double from Brian McIlroy clawed Kilmarnock back into contention as the game ended 4-2 to Leeds.

There was a belief that the tables could be turned at Rugby Park, yet Revie's side stuck doggedly to their defensive duties with Gary Sprake, the goalkeeper, in tremendous form on the rare ocassions that the Ayrshire men managed to break through.

Jackie McInally, the Kilmarnock forward of the time, later recalled the vice-like grip that Leeds enforced on proceedings.

"It was quite a mountain to climb to get back into it after the first leg," said McInally.

"They tightened things up and we just couldn't break them down. We didn't have any absolutely outstanding players then, we were a good team and we played as that."

Leeds eventually lost to Dinamo Zagreb in the final but Kilmarnock took immense credit from a campaign that significantly raised the club's profile outwith Scotland.

They finished in seventh place in the first division that season, 18 points behind Celtic, and sold Bobby Ferguson, the Scottish international goalkeeper, to West Ham United for £65,000 after the Leeds tie.