“ENTERING the stadium in subdued light, you have a steep climb up almost vertical steps and, as you see over the rim of the terracing, the floodlights light up a bowl of green and white. I remember that image more than any other. You would blink in amazement. Awesome.”

50 years ago today, as the fate of the Apollo 13 space mission hung in the balance, 24-year-old Celtic fan Martin Brayford from Stevenston, Ayrshire, made his way to Hampden Park. 

Having missed the chance to watch his team win the European Cup in 1967, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to see them reach another final. That night in Glasgow, the Scottish and English champions faced off in a European Cup semi-final, the second leg of the competition’s first-ever “battle of Britain.”