Within 48 hours of the news confirming that Billy McNeill had dementia the Green Brigade has donated £1967 to Alzheimer Scotland.
At Saturday’s match against Hamilton Accies a bucket collection was arranged to fund a full stadium tifo display to salute the Lisbon Lions on the final day of the season.
Online almost £13,000 had been collected towards a £15,000 target with the bucket collection aimed at making up the shortfall.
Over £9,000 was raised from fans going to the Hamilton match which allowed the Green Brigade to instantly make the donation to Alzheimer Scotland.
A statement on a fans forum said: “The Green Brigade would like to offer a massive thank you to the entire Celtic support for their overwhelming response to our Lisbon50tifo fundraising campaign.
“Launched online just 21 days ago we have decided to close the gofundme page after reaching £12,864 of our £15,000 target. Donations spanned the globe and included £1,000 from North Curve Celtic.
“We certainly haven’t fallen short of our target though. At Saturday’s match you would have noticed our members collecting for the same appeal. We can now confirm that the collection raised a generous £9,141.82 pushing our combined total to £22,005.82.
“As planned from the outset, this money will fund a full stadium tifo to commemorate the Lisbon Lions which is scheduled for the league trophy presentation fixture. Given the vast sum raised, remaining funds will also be invested in other Lisbon tifos.
“Yet again we have been left humbled by the generosity of the Celtic support. Given the constant and incredible backing that we receive, we feel a responsibility that extends beyond our membership.
“In light of this and of the recent news concerning Billy McNeil, we will make a donation to Alzheimer Scotland in honour of our greatest ever captain.
“Billy McNeil led the Lisbon Lions to footballing dominance and immortality in 1967 and today we donate £1,967 to Alzheimer Scotland in his honour and on behalf of all those who have contributed to our appeal.”
In 2012 the Green Brigade arranged their most impressive tifo display when Celtic beat Barcelona 2-1 with the tifo honouring the 125th anniversary of the club.
It’s expected that a number of fund raising events will be arranged to back Alzheimer Scotland with a growing campaign for research into links between dementia and heading footballs
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