How much did Pierre’s winner against Airdrie change Celtic’s outlook?

Pierre van Hoojidonk has been recalling the day he ended six trophyless years when Celtic lifted the 1995 Scottish Cup Final.

The 1-0 win over Airdrie was hardly a celebration of the beautiful game but when the Dutchman headed home a Tosh McKinlay cross it sparked a new era for the club after six years in the wilderness.

Van Hooijdonk had left Celtic by the time Wim Jansen lifted the 1998 championship but without the Scottish Cup breakthrough three years earlier it’s debatable what direction the club would have taken.

After winning the Scottish Cup Celtic returned to the new look Celtic Park with a team on the park capable of exciting fans in the stadium.

“I remember when the ref blew the final whistle and I knew then what it meant to the club,” van Hooijdonk recalled.

“I saw the joy of the fans and the guys who were Celtic through and through such as Peter Grant, Paul McStay and Tommy. I remember the Celtic View had a big picture of me with the cup on the back page and a quote, ‘I did it for Tommy.’

“It gave me a lot of satisfaction to pay something back to the person who took a chance on me. Tommy had the balls to sign me because there were doubts from other clubs.

“Can you imagine what would have happened if we had lost that final after what happened against Raith? What would the Celtic fans have thought about losing two cup finals to First Division teams? Tommy changed it in a short time.”

The Dutchman added: “I came from a club which was eighth in the Dutch League but when I entered Celtic I was glad we didn’t play each other in a friendly.

“I moved to Parkhead to make a massive step up but the gap between the size of the club on and off the pitch was a huge one. After a few training sessions I could judge the level and the standard wasn’t great.

“The club was down and the whole atmosphere wasn’t great. I heard all the stories and knew Celtic were going through a tough period.

“When I arrived I knew of the club but didn’t know about their history. I didn’t know it had been six years since they had last won a trophy.

“The players from that era were a part of a big transformation. The size of the club is well known all over the world but on the pitch good players came in and gave Celtic possibilities.”