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| '''The Bhoys From Seville''' was the ] given to the ] team that participated in the ] which culminated in Celtic's appearance in the final and 80,000 Celtic fans travelling to ] in ] to support their team. | '''The Bhoys From Seville''' was the ] given to the ] team that participated in the ] which culminated in Celtic's appearance in the final and 80,000 Celtic fans travelling to ] in ] to support their team. | ||
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The Bhoys From Seville was the nickname given to the Celtic team that participated in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup campaign which culminated in Celtic's appearance in the final and 80,000 Celtic fans travelling to Seville in Spain to support their team.
The name The Bhoys from Seville is taken from a play on words from the book and film The Boys from Brazil and then adapted to incorporate the nickname of Celtic F.C. which is the Bhoys and the location of the UEFA Cup final. The team was compared to Celtic's European Cup winning team in 1967 called The Lisbon Lions, and was the first Scottish team for 16 years to reach a European final and the first Celtic team to reach a European final since the 1970 European Cup Final.
Background
On the way to the final, goalkeeper Robert Douglas was the only player to play all 13 matches. Douglas conceded twelve goals and had six clean sheets. Taking the goals scored by Celtic and goals conceded the aggregate score was 26-11 to Celtic. Striker Henrik Larsson was the highest goalscorer for Celtic scoring a total of 11 goals, including a hat-trick in the first game against FK Sūduva.
The motto "V for Victory" was coined during the campaign as every team Celtic faced, including Sūduva, Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo, VfB Stuttgart, Liverpool, and Boavista, each had V in their name, with the exception of the team Celtic played in the final, Porto, although it was highlighted that the game would be in Seville.
In another reference to the V issues, for the days leading up to the game the Daily Record, a Scottish tabloid, sent an open topped double decker bus to Seville with the slogan "Here V Go" on the side of the bus.
First round v. FK Sūduva
The first game of the campaign was against Lithuanian team FK Sūduva. Suduva stated that they could not send a scout to Glasgow to spy on Celtic to prepare for their match and had to watch videotapes of Celtic.
Celtic all but won the tie in the first leg at home in Celtic Park on 14 August 2002 when they won the game 8-1, with Henrik Larsson scoring a hat-trick. Martin O'Neill rested a number of players for the second leg, with first team regulars such as Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon, Joos Valgaeren and Stilian Petrov all being left in Glasgow along with club captain Tom Boyd, whose wife had just given birth to a baby. Celtic won the second leg 2-0 and went through to the second round on an aggregate of 10-1.
Second round v. Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Celtic's next opponents were English side Blackburn Rovers, who at the time were managed by former Rangers player-manager Graeme Souness. The tie was dubbed the "Battle of Britain".
The first leg of the tie was at Celtic Park which resulted in a 1-0 win for Celtic, though some commentators stated that Blackburn had dominated the game. After the game Souness was quoted as saying that Blackburn show have won the game and that it was like watching "men against boys" and further stated before the second leg that if Celtic scored one goal then Blackburn would score three.
Third round v. Celta Vigo
Martin O'Neill received a two game touchline ban after he was sent from the home dugout during Celtic 1-0 victory over Celtic Vigo, this was later reduced to a one match ban after an appeal.
Fourth round v. VfB Stuttgart
The opponent for the Bhoys from Seville in the fourth round was German team VfB Stuttgart. As in every round before this Celtic had the advantage of playing the first leg of the tie at home.
Quarter-final v. Liverpool F.C.
The first leg of the much awaited quarter final game against Liverpool took place at Celtic Park on 13 March March. This clash of two of the biggest football clubs in the world was the focus of much media attention and was again billed as the Battle of Britain. The first leg ended 1-1 with Larsson scoring for Celtic but the away goal giving Liverpool the advantage going in to their home tie at Anfield.
The return match at Anfield took place the following week on 20 March. Celtic won by two goals to nil, with the goals coming from Larsson and Hartson.
Semi-final v. Boavista F.C.
Celtic won the semi final to stop an all Porto final.
Celtic fans and Seville
The race for tickets
Tickets for the match had been selling for £500 in the lead up to the game and Celtic fans were warned to avoid the estimated 700 fake tickets that were circulating before the game.
Travelling to Seville
There was a scramble to arrange travel to Spain for what was called "one of the biggest events in sporting history" and Celtic fans travelled by plane, car, bus, train and ferry in order to get to Seville on time.
Around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the club compete in the final at the Estadio Olimpico in Seville in southern Spain.
The fiesta in Seville
The final v. F.C. Porto
- See main article 2003 UEFA Cup Final
Celtic lost the final match 3–2 to Porto by a silver goal in extra time, despite two goals from Henrik Larsson during normal play. Celtic's cause was not helped by the booking of Alan Thompson early in the match, and the late sending off of defender Bobo Balde. A total of 2 red cards and 8 yellow cards were shown. The attendance was 52,972.
Henrik Larsson scored twice for Celtic (47th min and 57th min). Derlei scored two for Porto, Alenichev scoring the other (Derlei 45 Alenichev 54 Derlei 115).
Celtic fans win award
The exemplary conduct of the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville (not one single supporter was arrested) and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA "for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour".
UEFA also expressed disappointment at the jeering by the Celtic support during the presentation of the cup to Porto.
After the match Henrik Larsson said in an interview that he was disappointed to have scored two goals in the final and still come away with runners up medal. He was named man of the match.
The Porto manager, José Mourinho led his team to the Champions League title the following year, before moving to Chelsea.
Seville FC fans travelling to the 2007 UEFA Cup in Glasgow noted that the visiting Celtic fans left them with a "great impression" of Glasgow.
Legacy of the Bhoys of Seville
The support of the Celtic supporters that the teams performance during the campaign provided the inspiration for a number of books, television programmes and DVDs. This included a book called Over and Over which documented the experience of the travelling fans, the official DVD produced by the club was entitled The Road to Seville and a television programme and subsequent DVD produced by ITV took its name from the team and was called The Bhoys of Seville.
Campaign results
The team for the final
See alsoReferences
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