The Bhoys from Seville - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Bhoys from Seville is a nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

used to refer to Celtic F.C.

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

's team and fans during Celtic's 2002–03 UEFA Cup campaign, which culminated in their defeat in the final in Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

, Spain. Over 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to support their team in the final.

The name "The Bhoys from Seville" is a play on words from the book and film The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil may refer to:*The Boys from Brazil , a 1976 novel by Ira Levin*The Boys from Brazil , a 1978 film based on the novel, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason...

, the nickname of Celtic F.C. (the Bhoys), and the location of the UEFA Cup final. As 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

1970 European Cup Final

The 1970 European Cup Final was a football match held at the San Siro, Milan, on 6 May 1970, that saw Feyenoord of the Netherlands defeat Celtic of Scotland 2-1 after extra time. Ove Kindvall's goal in the 117th minute meant the trophy was going to a Dutch club for the first time. It remains...

, the team was compared to Celtic's European Cup winning team

1967 European Cup Final

The 1967 European Cup Final was a football match between Italian team Inter Milan and Scottish team Celtic. It took place at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 in front of a crowd of 45,000. It was the final of the 1966–67 European Cup, the premier club competition run by...

in 1967, the Lisbon Lions.

Background

Celtic's participation in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup came as a result of defeat in the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League 2002-03

The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League was the 11th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding in 1992, and the 48th European Cup tournament overall. The competition was won by Milan, who beat Juventus on penalties in the European Cup's...

third qualifying round to FC Basel

FC Basel

Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...

(3–3 aggregate score with the Swiss team progressing to the group stage on away goals). During the 2003 UEFA Cup competition, goalkeeper Rab Douglas

Robert Douglas (footballer)

Robert James "Rab" Douglas is a Scottish footballer currently playing for Dundee as a goalkeeper. He is a former Scotland international, and is known as a Motherwell F.C. supporter.-Celtic:...

and defender Bobo Balde

Bobo Balde

Dianbobo "Bobo" Baldé is a Guinean footballer who currently plays for AC Arles-Avignon. He has previously played for Mulhouse, AS Cannes, Toulouse, Celtic and Valenciennes...

both featured in twelve matches, which led the team in that category. They both missed the 2nd leg of the first round against FK Sūduva

FK Suduva

FK Sūduva is a football club from the city of Marijampolė, Lithuania.At the UEFA Cup 2002-03 tournament Sūduva twice defeated S.K. Brann of Norway 3–2. During the home game 21-year-old Tomas Radzinevičius scored a hat-trick. Their next opponent, Glasgow Celtic, of Scotland proved to be much...

. Douglas conceded twelve goals and had six clean sheets. Celtic outscored opponents 26 to 11 on their run to the final. Striker Henrik Larsson

Henrik Larsson

Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

scored eleven goals, including a hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

in the first game against FK Sūduva

FK Suduva

.

The motto "V for Victory" was coined during the campaign as every team Celtic faced; FK Sūduva

FK Suduva

, Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

, Celta Vigo

Celta de Vigo

Real Club Celta de Vigo , simply referred to as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, currently playing in the Segunda División. It was founded on March 28, 1923 following the merger of Real Vigo Sporting and Real Fortuna Foot-ball Club.Nicknamed Los Celestes ,...

, VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart

Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...

, Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

, 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 letter V, for the days leading up to the game the Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

, a Scottish tabloid newspaper, 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 Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n team FK Sūduva

FK Suduva

. Sudūva 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

Celtic Park

Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,...

on 14 August 2002 which they won 8–1. Henrik Larsson

Henrik Larsson

scored a hat-trick, while Stilian Petrov, Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...

, Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert

Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

, Joos Valgaeren and John Hartson

John Hartson

John Hartson is a former Welsh international footballer who played as a striker, best known for his spells with West Ham and Celtic. Hartson also featured prominently for Wales, earning 51 caps until his international retirement in 2006...

all netted a goal each. Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...

rested a number of players for the second leg, with first-team regulars such as Larsson, Sutton, Lambert, Valgaeren, Petrov and Neil Lennon

Neil Lennon

Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....

all being left in Glasgow. 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

Celtic's next opponents were English side Blackburn Rovers, who at were managed by former Rangers

Rangers F.C.

Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

player-manager Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness

Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...

. 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 should 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. Celtic went on to win 2–0 away from home in the second leg with goals from Larsson and Sutton to the joy of the 8,000 travelling fans.

Third round v Celta Vigo

Martin O'Neill

received a two-game touchline ban after he was sent from the home dugout

Technical area

A technical area in association football, is where a manager, other coaching personnel and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a match.The area, where people may stand or sit, includes the dugout, bench and a marked zone adjacent to the pitch....

during Celtic's 1–0 victory over Celta Vigo; this was later reduced to a one match ban after an appeal. The second leg finished 2–1 to Celta Vigo and Celtic went through on away goals. John Hartson

John Hartson

scored the equaliser in the second leg for Celtic

Celtic F.C.

, after Benni McCarthy

Benni McCarthy

Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy is a South African footballer who is currently contracted to Orlando Pirates in South Africa.McCarthy holds the record of international goals for a South African...

had given Vigo the lead. This was the first of two defeats for Celtic on the way to the final.

Fourth round v VfB Stuttgart

The opponent for Celtic in the fourth round was German Bundesliga

Fußball-Bundesliga

The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

team VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart

. As in every round before this Celtic had the advantage of playing the first leg of the tie at home. Celtic won the first leg, coming from a goal down after Kevin Kuranyi

Kevin Kurányi

Kevin Dennis Kurányi is a German footballer who plays in Russia for Dynamo Moscow. He is a striker who possesses great aerial ability and finishing skills.- Early life :...

scored in the 27th minute, but were 2–1 at half-time after 2 goals from Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert

Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

and Shaun Maloney

Shaun Maloney

Shaun Richard Maloney is a Scottish footballer who plays for English club Wigan Athletic in the Premier League and for the Scotland national team. He plays on either Wing or as a Striker and occasionally as an Attacking Midfielder...

. They won 3–1. In the second leg Celtic

Celtic F.C.

went 2–0 up after the first 14 minutes, but after a comeback and a late goal Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart

won 3–2. Celtic

Celtic F.C.

won 5–4 on aggregate.

Quarter-final v Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

were competing in the UEFA Cup having finished third in Group B of the Champions League

UEFA Champions League 2002-03

which also featured Celtic's conquerors in the qualifying round FC Basel, who finished second. The first leg of the quarter-final game against Liverpool took place at Celtic Park on 13 March. This clash 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. Liverpool player El Hadji Diouf

El Hadji Diouf

El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays for Doncaster Rovers. He can play on both wings as well as in attack. He has also garnered a large amount of notoriety for a series of controversial incidents.-Early career:Diouf started his career in France with...

spat at a Celtic supporter, and was later fined £5,000 at Glasgow's Sheriff Court

Sheriff Court

Sheriff courts provide the local court service in Scotland, with each court serving a sheriff court district within a sheriffdom.Sheriff courts deal with a myriad of legal procedures which include:*Solemn and Summary Criminal cases...

for the incident.

The return match at Anfield took place the following week on 20 March. Celtic won 2–0, with the goals coming from an Alan Thompson free kick and a long-range strike from John Hartson

John Hartson

Semi-final v Boavista

Celtic won the semi-final to stop an all-Portugal, and all-Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

final, with Henrik Larsson

Henrik Larsson

scoring in both legs of the tie against Boavista. In the first leg Celtic went a goal down through an own goal from Joos Valgaeren in the 48th minute. Larsson equalised seconds later, but then missed a 75th minute penalty. The 1–1 draw was Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

's 50th unbeaten match at Celtic Park

Celtic Park

, a record of results that stretched back to Ajax in August 2001. 60,000 fans attended that match at Celtic Park.

In the return leg, Larsson scored in the 80th minute, to win the game 1–0 meaning Celtic would go through to the UEFA Cup Final, with a 2–1 aggregate score.

Celtic fans and Seville

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.

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 120,000 Celtic supporters travelled to watch the club compete in the final at the Estadio Olímpico in Seville

Seville

in southern Spain.

Thousands of Celtic fans partied in Seville during the days leading up to the match. Many of the supporters congregated in the Cathedral area of the city.

The final v. F.C. Porto

See main article 2003 UEFA Cup Final
2003 UEFA Cup Final
The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei...

Celtic lost the final match

2003 UEFA Cup Final

The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei...

3–2 to Porto after Porto became the first team to win a trophy on the silver goal rule to claim their first UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

. The bad weather meant that the game was played at a relatively slow pace which seemed to favour Porto, and led to a number of rash challenges from Celtic, one of which led to Joos Valgaeren getting a yellow card on 8 minutes. After this it was very much a stoic affair, until 32 minutes into the first half when Capucho played in Deco

Deco

Anderson Luís de Souza, OIH , commonly known as Deco, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Fluminense....

, but he could do no more than fire his shot straight at Robert Douglas

Robert Douglas (footballer)

Robert James "Rab" Douglas is a Scottish footballer currently playing for Dundee as a goalkeeper. He is a former Scotland international, and is known as a Motherwell F.C. supporter.-Celtic:...

. Straight after this attack Celtic broke on the counter with Henrik Larsson

Henrik Larsson

putting Didier Agathe

Didier Agathe

Didier Fernand Agathe is a professional footballer who currently plays for JS Saint-Pierroise in Réunion....

through on the right but his cross was too high for Chris Sutton

Chris Sutton

. Larsson had a chance to make it 1–0 on 35 minutes, but he was unable to get enough contact on the ball. Porto came close on 41 minutes when Deco moved past Bobo Balde

Bobo Balde

Dianbobo "Bobo" Baldé is a Guinean footballer who currently plays for AC Arles-Avignon. He has previously played for Mulhouse, AS Cannes, Toulouse, Celtic and Valenciennes...

to go one on one with Robert Douglas, who saved Deco's shot with his legs. Porto finally found a way through on 45 minutes when, after some great work from Deco, Derlei

Derlei

Vanderlei Fernandes Silva , aka Derlei, is a retired Brazilian-Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.He spent most of his 16-year professional career in Portugal , having represented all three most important clubs in the country, and amassing top division totals of 187 games and 70...

followed up Dmitri Alenichev

Dmitri Alenichev

Dmitri Anatolievich Alenitchev is a professional association football coach and a former player and politician. Currently, he is managing the Russia Under-18 national football team.-Biography:...

's shot which was saved by Robert Douglas, to give Porto a 1–0 lead on the stroke of half time and his 11th goal of the competition.

Porto's lead did not last long after the restart as Celtic equalised when Henrik Larsson met Didier Agathe's cross to send a looping header in over the helpless Vítor Baía

Vítor Baía

Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His career was intimately connected with F.C...

to get his tenth goal of the tournament and his 200th Celtic goal. However within 5 minutes it was 2–1 when Deco's through ball found Dmitri Alenichev who scored. Just 3 minutes later Celtic equalised once again through Henrik Larsson when he headed in Alan Thompson's corner. After this the game stagnated until a couple of minutes from time when Jackie McNamara

Jackie McNamara

Jackie McNamara is a Scottish football player and manager who currently manages Partick Thistle. He is a former Scottish international and has filled a variety of defensive roles in his career and captained Celtic under the management of Martin O'Neill.-Dunfermline Athletic:The son of former...

's errant pass found Dmitri Alenichev, however he shot over.

Normal time ended with the game at 2–2, the ensuing periods of extra time saw cagey football from both sides and Celtic were down to ten men when Bobo Balde was dismissed on 95 minutes after his second yellow card. On 112 minutes Derlei reacted quickest to a Robert Douglas block and rounded McNamara to make it 3–2. Porto managed to hang on even after having Nuno Valente sent off, thus ensuring that Porto had ended their 16 year wait between European trophies.

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 a runners up medal. He was named man of the match.

The Porto manager, José Mourinho

José Mourinho

José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....

led his team to the Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

title the following year, before moving to Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

The team for the final

{| width="100%"
|valign="top" width="50%"|
{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|colspan="4"|CELTIC:
|-
!width=25| !!width=25|
|-

|GK ||20||

Robert Douglas

Robert Douglas (footballer)

Robert James "Rab" Douglas is a Scottish footballer currently playing for Dundee as a goalkeeper. He is a former Scotland international, and is known as a Motherwell F.C. supporter.-Celtic:...

|-
|RWB ||17||

Didier Agathe

Didier Fernand Agathe is a professional footballer who currently plays for JS Saint-Pierroise in Réunion....

|-
|CB ||5 ||

Joos Valgaeren || ||
|-
|CB ||6 ||

Bobo Baldé

Bobo Balde

Dianbobo "Bobo" Baldé is a Guinean footballer who currently plays for AC Arles-Avignon. He has previously played for Mulhouse, AS Cannes, Toulouse, Celtic and Valenciennes...

||
|-
|CB ||35||

Johan Mjällby

Johan Mjällby is a Swedish former footballer. He made his debut for the national team in 1997, and played 49 matches and scored 4 goals as a defender or midfielder. Mjällby was the team captain during the 2002 World Cup. He also took part in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004...

|-
|LWB ||8 ||

Alan Thompson
|-
|CM ||14||

Paul Lambert

Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

Neil Lennon

Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....

||
|-
|CM ||19||

Stiliyan Petrov

Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov is a Bulgarian footballer who captains Aston Villa in the Premier League and the Bulgarian national team. He won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2003 when he was playing for Celtic...

|| ||
|-
|CF ||9 ||

Chris Sutton

|-
|CF ||7 ||

Henrik Larsson

|-
|colspan=3|Substitutes:
|-
|GK ||21||

Magnus Hedman

Magnus Carl Hedman is a Swedish former football goalkeeper. He played 58 matches for the Sweden national football team, and represented his country at two FIFA World Cup and two European Championship tournaments....

|-
|DF ||4 ||

Jackie McNamara

|-
|DF ||16||

Ulrik Laursen

Ulrik Rosenløv Laursen is a Danish former professional football player who ended his career playing for F.C. Copenhagen in the Danish Superliga. Laursen was predominantly used in the central defense, but was also competent as a left back.-Career:He began his career at Odense Boldklub, where his...

|| ||
|-
|MF ||3 ||

Mohammed Sylla

Mohammed "Momo" Sylla is a Guinean footballer. Sylla has become something of a cult figure at many of his clubs.Sylla, a Guinea international, started his football career at French Second Division club Créteil, on the outskirts of Paris, before moving on to Le Havre when he was 18. He has also...

|-
|MF ||39||

Jamie Smith
|-
|FW ||12||

David Fernández

David Fernández Miramontes is a Spanish footballer. Fernández began his career with his hometown club of Deportivo, but has spent most of his career in Scottish football. He had a successful spell with Livingston, which earned Fernández a £1M move to Celtic...

|-
|FW ||29||

Shaun Maloney

|| ||
|-
|colspan=3|Manager:
|-
|colspan=4|

Martin O'Neill

Match facts

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!

Celtic

Celtic F.C.

!! Fact !!

Porto
|-
| 3 || Efforts On Target || 11
|-
| 33 || Fouls || 24
|-
| 5 || Corners || 5
|-
| 4 || Off-Side || 4
|-
| 4 (Valgaeren, Lennon, Petrov, Balde) || Yellow Card || 4 (Derlei, Alenichev, Ferreira, Valente)
|-
| 1 (Balde) || Red Card || 1 (Valente)
|-
|}

Viewing figures

The viewing figures for the cup final were as followed:

Match average - 8.3 million, 34.8% audience share
Programme average - 7.8 million, 33.6% audience share
Viewing peaked at 10 million for the quarter-hour 10.00-10.15pm

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

Head of Football, Niall Sloane said: "We're delighted that so many people tuned in to follow a British team's progress in the final. We're only sorry that Celtic didn't win."

Celtic fans win awards

Approximately 80,000 Celtic supporters, the largest travelling support in history at that time, made the journey to Seville

Seville

for this game. The exemplary conduct of the Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville (there were no Celtic fans arrested) and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

and UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

"for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour". FIFA president Sepp Blatter

Sepp Blatter

Joseph S. Blatter , commonly known as Sepp Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA . He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007, and 2011...

also stated that he believed Celtic fans were the greatest fans in the world when he presented the FIFA Fair Play award at Celtic Park.

Sevilla 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 from 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 DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

s. This included a book called Over and Over which documented the experience of the travelling fans, the official video and DVD produced by the club was entitled The Road to Seville with the DVD edition including a bonus disc featuring the full away match with Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

at Anfield. and a television programme and subsequent DVD produced by STV took its name from the team and was called The Bhoys from Seville.

The Bhoys from Seville DVD focused on the fans and their endeavours to get to Spain and see the final. The DVD also contained broadcasts from Scottish news programmes from Seville and a tribute piece to the Lisbon Lions.

Campaign results

{| class="wikitable" width=100%
|-
!colspan=7|UEFA Cup 2002-03
|-
!Date
!Venue
!Opponents
!Score
!Round
!Celtic scorers
|-
|19 September 2002
|Celtic Park

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

FK Sūduva

FK Suduva

|align=center|8–1
|First round, 1st leg
|Larsson

Henrik Larsson

(3), Petrov, Sutton

Chris Sutton

, Lambert

Paul Lambert

Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

, Valgaeren, Hartson

John Hartson

|-
|3 October 2002
|Sūduva stadium

Suduva stadium

Arvi arena Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Marijampolė, Lithuania. The stadium was built using funds from the European Union and opened on July 6, 2008. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FK Sūduva...

, Marijampolė

Marijampole

Marijampolė is an industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Marijampolė is 48,700...

(A)
|align=center|0–2
|First round, 2nd leg
|Fernandez

David Fernández

, Thompson
|-
|31 October 2002
|Celtic Park

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Ewood Park

Ewood Park is a football stadium in the English town of Blackburn, Lancashire, and is the home of Blackburn Rovers Football Club — one of the founder members of the Football League and Premier League. Rovers have played there since they moved from Leamington Street in the summer of 1890. The...

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

Celta Vigo

Celta de Vigo

Vigo

Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

VfB Stuttgart

Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion

The Mercedes-Benz Arena is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and home to German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.Before 1993 it was called Neckarstadion, named after the nearby river Neckar and between 1993 and July 2008 it was called Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion...

, Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Anfield

Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

Celtic Park

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

(H)
|rowspan=2|

Estádio do Bessa

The Estádio do Bessa is a football stadium located in the Boavista area of Porto, Portugal, used by Boavista.Like other stadiums used in Euro 2004, the Bessa is a new ground, but built on top of the old stands, and each one of them was built at a time, which allowed Boavista to continue playing...

, Porto

Porto

(A)
|align=center|0–1
|Semi-final, 2nd leg
|Larsson
|-
|21 May 2003
||

Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Seville

Seville

(N)
||

Porto
|align=center|2–3
|Final
|Larsson (2)
|}

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