Amazingly 30 years on

Amazingly in this media age only the 56,000 inside Celtic Park were really aware of what unfolded when Billy McNeill’s side came back from being behind to win 4-2 and create a piece of Celtic history and folklore.

Before the internet! before satellite and digital telly the game was played without live radio commentary, a Monday night being damn inconvenient! a league decider was taking place.

Across the globe there was BBC World Service or perhaps a very expensive phone call home to someone that didn’t know the score because there was no coverage of the match!

It had been a strange season, a great start from Celtic as McNeill settled into the manager’s chair with new signings Murdo MacLeod and Davie Provan making an instant impact and importantly midway through the season the return to fitness of Danny McGrain.

A harsh winter had robbed us of league football for almost three months leaving us regular midweek fixtures throughout the spring with the season running on through May with no big deal about re-arranging.

With Ibrox being reconstructed the Rangers-Celtic fixtures were switched to Hampden with Rangers calling a game off due to a small flutter of snow to avoid playing Celtic on the Saturday after being dumped out of Europe by 1FC Cologne.

Celtic rediscovered their touch and went on a late winning run that included a Friday night win against St Mirren at Ibrox as Love Street was redeveloped and a Monday night win over Hearts thanks to Mike Conroy’s goal that set up the chance to win the league at home to Rangers.

None of our 9-in-a-row title’s were clinched at Celtic Park but for the Lisbon generation of supporters here was the chance to see the league won at home with Rangers as guests!

Without reading through old books I remember the night clearly, as a primary seven pupil going to the match with my granda and uncle and sitting in Section B of the stand. My granda went to speak to an old work colleague, Tommy Burns dad, and found out that TB was devastated at missing the game through injury.

We were all devastated early in the first half as Alex MacDonald put Rangers in front with the distant cheering from the Rangers end painful on the ears, half time came with Rangers in front and Derek Johnstone back in defence to help Rangers to the draw needed to give them the title in their remaining games against Hibs and Partick Thistle.

Ten minutes into the second half it was despair as Doyle was sent off for having a kick at MacDonald who spring to his feet to square up to Doyle.

As Doyle trooped off it looked like a night of misery but this side had come back regularly from going behind and did so again with Roy Aitken and George McCluskey putting Celtic in front.

Johnstone was put up front again for Rangers and our lead lasted just a few minutes when Bobby Russell shot through virtually everyone from a cleared corner to draw Rangers level.

Despite being a man down Celtic poured everything into attack, win or bust as Rangers clung on knowing a draw virtually gave them the league in John Greig’s first season in charge.

The circumstances were hazy but six minutes from the end Colin Jackson headed into his own net and the scenes were incredible.

The title was in touching distance, just as it had been earlier when we went 2-1 up but now there was five minutes to survive to win the league against Rangers with ten minutes.

Agonisingly the clock barely moved but as the final minute approached Celtic broke forward with Murdo letting rip with an amazing shot that flew into the top corner of the net.

It was an amazing finale, an incredible game which will forever rank amongst the finest 90 minutes ever played by a Celtic side.

Outwith the stadium virtually no-one knew the score or had any idea of the drama, STV’s highlights programme was cancelled due to industrial action, footage lost just as it had been at Hampden in 57.

In those distant days folk did get their news from newspapers, the drama described with the closing 20 minutes squeezed into a few late paragraphs to make the print run.

The entire squad from that season deserved congratulations but on the night it was Peter Latchford, Danny McGrain, Tom McAdam, Big Shuggie, Andy Lynch; Roy Aitken, Mike Conroy, Murdo MacLeod; Davie Provan, George McCluskey, Johny Doyle that started the game with Bobby Lennox coming on as a sub and Vic Davidson an unused substitute.

Poor old Doyle was having his early bath fearing that he’d be on his way from Celtic as the guy that got sent off to gift Rangers the league, I never heard how he celebrated but the following season he had his best ever season culminating in an amazing Scottish Cu replay win over St Mirren at Love Street.

But thirty years ago it was a Celtic title win we celebrated with a largel
y homegrown team coming back from the dead to defy the odds and create their own history

HHAIL HHAIL to them all.