‘ALL I wanted was to play for Celtic and be Jimmy Johnstone. Back then, I still thought I had a chance! I was there when they brought the European Cup back to Celtic Park and that was my dream, that one day I would go out there and play.”

Today as Peter Lawwell, Celtic’s chief executive, sneaks a glance from the window of his office to take in the colour of the Celtic Way the men he revered are there forever in front of him. The bronze statues of Billy McNeill and Jock Stein have their hands on the European Cup, Johnstone is poised with ball and world at his feet.

Lawwell, though, does not need to go further than the riches of his own memory to see it all in real time, drawing on indelible images through the prism of eight-year-old eyes. May 25, 1967 is the seismic moment in Celtic’s history; Celtic before Lisbon, Celtic after Lisbon.

“I watched the game on TV but I spent the eve of my eighth birthday here at Celtic Park seeing the Lions bring back the European Cup. We watched the team come up Kerrydale Street and then rushed in and watched them come around the stadium in the coal lorry. That stays with you forever.

“They are all heroes, every one of them, but wee Jimmy would have been mine – and every other eight-year-old’s. That experience forms you not only as a supporter but as a person too. The underdog, winning the way they did, everyone coming from Glasgow and watching your team become the best in the world. And what we have today is the modern day foundation that was started all the way back in Lisbon.”

Those formative years shaped Lawwell the supporter, but it is his acumen in the boardroom that has moulded the current face of a club he once peered in at with boyish optimism. Under Lawwell’s stewardship the Parkhead side have adopted a successful blueprint of identifying young, raw talent, nurturing them and then selling on for a profit that is then re-invested back into the club.

Given the financial disparity that has created such a chasm between the top five European leagues and the rest, it is a sensible approach that has underpinned a solid foundation which enables the moments that subsequently unfold on a football pitch. It is a strategy he believes would have pleased Jock Stein, the man responsible for the richest, most decorated period in Celtic’s history.

“I think he would have been really proud of us,” said Lawwell. “In terms of the club and where we are now, a lot of work has gone into establishing the organisation and the structure over the years, whether that is the Academy or the commercial side or the Foundation, but the club has certainly become a top class European club in everything we do.

In the day-to-day business of running the club, Lawwell has been an ever-present at the table of the Lions. There was once a suspicion among the men who delivered the European Cup that they were not afforded the respect they deserved at times, with the achievement diluted through the passage of time.

“One of the perks of my job is that you get to meet your heroes and I have,” said Lawwell. “I met every one of the Lisbon Lions and was never let down in terms of who they are and what they represent. ”