Road to Seville

A majority of the information below has been taken from the Seville Cup Final programme, kindly brought back by Big Davie Greig - Cheers - HAIL-HAIL.

Introduction

Celtic fans in Seville

The Bhoys From Seville was the nickname given to the Celtic team that were runners up in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup.

The key to Celtic's presence in the Seville final is that Martin O'Neill's side won four of its six away games and scored in all six. This meant that the painful 2-0 defeat in Basel, in August, in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round had proved to be a valuable lesson.

Apart from the 8-1 over newly promoted Lithunian side FK Suduva in the opening round, Celtic FC failed to obtain conclusive results in Glasgow and, in both the Quarter and Semi-Final, seemed to be on the brink of elimination after being held to 1-1 draws at Celtic Park.

Their ability to score away goals proved to be crucial in Vigo and Stuttgart, where Spaniards and Germans subjected them to great pressure. Even though Henrik Larsson is top scorer with nine, Celtic's 25 goals in the 12 games played have been shared by nine players. What's more, Martin O'Neill's side has worked its passage to Seville by beating teams from leading footballing nations such as England, Germany and Spain.

As the campaign proceeded, the fans coined the phrase "V for Victory" as every team had V in their name except Porto in the final - Suduva, Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo, VfB Stuttgart, Liverpool, and Boavista.

UEFA Champions League - 3rd Qualifying Round

14 August 2002 - Parkhead - Celtic 3 (1) v (1) 1 FC Basel

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Sylla, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Sutton, Lambert (77, McNamara), Petta (56, Guppy), Lennon, Petrov, Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Hedman, Hartson, Fernadez, Maloney & Crainey.
• Scorers:- Gimenez (1), Larsson (2), Sutton (52), Sylla (88)
• Attendance:- 49,200 - Referee:- Manual Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)

28 August 2002 - Basel - FC Basel 2 (2) v (0) 0 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Sylla (70, Hartson), Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Sutton, Lambert (46, Agathe), Laursen (46, Guppy), Lennon, Petrov, Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Hedman, McNamara, Fernadez & Crainey.
• Scorers:- Gimenez (9), Yakin (22)
• Attendance:- 30,510 - Referee:- Anders Frisk (Sweden)

UEFA Cup - 1st Round

19 September 2002 - Parkhead - Celtic 8 (5) v (0) 1 FK Suduva

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Sylla, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson (61, Hartson), Sutton, Lambert, Laursen (61, Fernandez), Lennon (61, Crainey), Petrov, Guppy.
• Unused Subs - Gould, McNamara, Thompson, Agathe.
• Scorers:- Larsson (15, 23, 29), Petrov (27), Sutton (35), Lambert (50), Hartson (71), Valgaeren (82) - Radzihevicius (90)
• Attendance:- 36,824 - Referee:- Miroslav Liba (Czech Republic)

03 October 2002 - Kaunas - FK Suduva 0 (0) v (2) 2 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Gould, McNamara (55, Miller), Thompson, Hartson, Fernandez, Petta (79, Lynch), Agathe, Healy, Maloney, Crainey, Kennedy (66, Smith).
• Unused Subs - Douglas, Sylla, Balde, Laursen.
• Scorers:- Fernandez (13), Thompson (25)
• Attendance:- 2,500 - Referee:- Ferenc Bede (Hungary)

UEFA Cup - 2nd Round

31 October 2002 - Parkhead - Celtic 1 (0) v (0) 0 Blackburn Rovers

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Sutton, Lambert (76, Hartson), Laursen, Agathe (81, Sylla), Lennon, Petrov.
• Unused Subs - Gould, Fernandez, Maloney, Guppy, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Larsson (85)
• Attendance:- 58,695 - Referee:- Hermann Albrecht (Germany)

14 November 2002 - Blackburn - Blackburn 0 (0) v (1) 2 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Sutton, Hartson (67, Lambert), Laursen, Agathe (82, Sylla), Lennon, Petrov (77, Thompson), Guppy.
• Unused Subs - Gould, Fernandez, Maloney, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Larsson (15), Sutton (67).
• Attendance:- 29,698 - Referee:- Cosimo Bolognino (Italy)

UEFA Cup - 3rd Round

28 November 2002 - Parkhead - Celtic 1 (0) v (0) 0 RC Celta Vigo

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Sutton, Hartson, Laursen, Agathe (85, Sylla), Lennon, Petrov, Guppy (83, Thompson).
• Unused Subs - Gould, McNamara, Fernandez, Lambert, Maloney.
• Scorers:- Larsson (52).
• Attendance:- 53,500 - Referee:- Claude Colombo (France)

12 December 2002 - Vigo - RC Celta Vigo 2 (1) v (1) 1 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Sutton, Hartson (62, McNamara), Laursen, Agathe, Lennon (52, Lambert), Petrov.
• Unused Subs - Gould, Sylla, Fernandez, Maloney, Guppy.
• Scorers:- Jesuli (23), Hartson (36), McCarthy (52).
• Attendance:- 16,955 - Referee:- Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)

UEFA Cup - 4th Round

20 February 2003 - Parkhead - Celtic 3 (2) v (1) 1 VfB Stuttgart

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, McNamara, Valgaeren, Balde (88, Laursen), Thompson (69, Smith), Sutton, Lambert, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov, Maloney.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, Sylla, Fernandez, Healy, Guppy.
• Scorers:- Kuranyi (27), Lambert (36), Maloney (44), Petrov (68)
• Attendance:- 57,450 - Referee:- Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

27 February 2003 - Stuttgart - VfB Stuttgart 3 (1) v (2) 2 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Thompson, Sutton (87, McNamara), Hartson, Lambert (82, Maloney), Laursen, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, Sylla, Guppy, Mjallby, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Thompson (9), Sutton (11), Tiffert (39), Hleb (76), Mutzel (88).
• Attendance:- 47,280 - Referee:- Jan W. Wegereef (Netherlands)

UEFA Cup - Quarter Final

13 March 2003 - Parkhead - Celtic 1 (1) v (1) 1 Liverpool

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson (76, Lambert), Thompson (26, Guppy), Sutton, Hartson, Lennon, Petrov, Mjallby, Smith.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, Sylla, McNamara, Maloney, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Larsson (2), Heskey (17).
• Attendance:- 59,500 - Referee:- Terje Hauge (Norway)

20 March 2003 - Liverpool - Liverpool 0 (0) v (1) 2 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Sylla (86, Smith), Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Hartson, Lambert (73, McNamara), Lennon, Petrov, Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, Laursen, Maloney, Guppy, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Thompson (45), Hartson (81).
• Attendance:- 44,238 - Referee:- Markus Merk (Germany)

UEFA Cup - Semi-Final

10 April 2003 - Parkhead - Celtic 1 (0) v (0) 1 Boavista

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Hartson, Lambert, Agathe (71, Sylla), Lennon, Petrov (77, Fernandez), Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, McNamara, Maloney, Smith, Crainey.
• Scorers:- Valgaeren (48, own goal), Larsson (49).
• Attendance:- 58,240 - Referee:- Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

24 April 2003 - Porto - Boavista 0 (0) v (0) 1 Celtic

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren (74, Smith), Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Hartson, Lambert (34, Sutton), Agathe, Lennon, Petrov, Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Marshall, Sylla, McNamara, Laursen, Maloney.
• Scorers:- Larsson (79)
• Attendance:- 10,163 - Referee:- Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

UEFA Cup - Final

21 May 2003 - Seville - Celtic 2 (2) v (2) 3 FC Porto (aet)

• Celtic Team:- Douglas, Valgaeren (64, Laursen), Balde, Larsson, Sutton, Lambert (74, McNamara), Agathe, Thompson, Lennon, Petrov (104, Maloney), Mjallby.
• Unused Subs - Hedman, Sylla, Fernandez, Smith.
• Scorers:- Larsson (47, 57), Derlei (45, 115), Alenichev (54)
• Attendance:- 52,972 - Referee:- Lubos Michel (Slovakia)

Over 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to Seville.

The Celtic fans were themselves later awarded the title of "the best in Europe" by Uefa BBC, and presented with the UEFA Fair Play Award for their outstanding behaviour in the tournament.

The referee that night was Lubos Michel of Slovakia who sent off Bobo Balde 5 minutes into extra time and Nuno Valente in the final minute. There were a total of 2 red cards and 8 yellow cards shown that night.

The final score was 3-2 to FC Porto with Henrik Larsson scoring twice (47th min and 57th min). Derlei scored two for Porto, Alenichev scoring the other (Derlei 45 Alenichev 54 Derlei 115).After the match in an interview Henrik Larsson said that he was disappointed to have scored two goals in the final and still come away with runners up medal. Henrik Larsson was named man of the match.