That Was The Celtic Goal That Was

That Was the Celtic Goal That Was




No. 7 26th April 1969 Steve Chalmers

　

Celtic complete the domestic treble as they thumped their city rivals 4-0 in front of over 130,000 fans at Hampden Park. The 2nd treble in 3 seasons cemented our place as the leading club in the country & Jock Stein as one of the top managers in world football at the time.

　



With a few big names missing from the starting line-up, Celtic surprisingly were not the clear favourites going into the match. Rangers had crushed Aberdeen 6-1 in the Semi final & with Jinky suspended & John Hughes injured, the media had Rangers edging the final.

　



In a blistering first half Celtic scored 3 goals with out reply. The first coming from our captain & leader Billy McNeill. After only 3 minutes Celtic took advantage of some poor marking in the box, a corner swung into the box was met perfectly by McNeil as he steered the ball into the corner of the net.

　



Rangers had chances but Fallon in goal kept Celtic in front. As the match approached half time Celtic scored 2 quickfire goals. Bobby Lennox made it 2-0 when he capitalised on some slack passing in the Rangers Midfield. With the Celtic fans still celebrating the 2nd Goal, George Connelly dispossessed John Greig on the edge of the rangers box, then rounded the keeper to make it 3-0.

　



With the match over as a contest Celtic continued to attack in the 2nd half, then on 76 minutes Steve Chalmers scored Celtics 4th goal. In a move that started from inside our own 6 yard box, Celtic swept from defence to attack in seconds.

　



McNeil headed a cross clear & within 4 passes Chalmers found himself in acres of space in the Rangers half, he advanced on the left wing, cutting into the box, bearing down on goal he had support from Lennox & Auld, but with the angle closing Chalmers clipped the ball with the outside of his right foot passed Martin in the Rangers goal & inside his near post.

　



As the Celtic players & fans celebrated the huge victory the rangers fans made their way for the exit, some trying to enter the field of play.

　



The cheek of the finish from Chalmers not only showed the confidence in that Celtic teams ability it also showed the gap in quality between both teams in the final.

　



To win the treble was reward for a fantastic performance, but to secure it so emphatically against our rivals made it more special.

That Was The Celtic Goal That Was

That Was the Celtic Goal That Was



No. 6 24th August 1996 Paolo Di Canio



On the 31st May 1996 Paolo Di Canio joined Celtic from AC Milan. Tommy Burns had been looking to add a game changer to our team, someone who could unlock defences , make & score goals - Tommy & the Celtic fans were not to be disappointed.


The arrival of Di Canio complete the "Three Amigos" forward line of the 96/97 season with Cadete & Van Hooijdonk. Andreas Thom would add some more firepower to a sometimes unstoppable attacking formation. However, with so much focus on going forward our defence were often left wide open & even with a fast flowing strikers we couldn't always get the win we so sorely needed that season.


In an early season match at Rugby Park, Celtic scored 3 second half goals coming from behind to beat Kilmarnock.


After going into the dressing room at Half-Time 1 down Celtic had to find a way to get back into the match. Having survived a scare early in the 2nd half when Kilmarnock should have doubled their lead, Di Canio & Cadete burst into life.


With an hour gone Di Canio picked up the ball near the half-way line & broke forward at pace before exchanging passes with Cadete on the edge of the Kilmarnock box. The Italian had slipped passed his marker in the box, he took one more touch to jink passed the last defender & then stabbed the ball with the outside of his boot into the bottom corner of the net, wrong footing the goalkeeper as Celtic drew level.


The hunger to get a winner was evident as the Italian retrieved the ball from the net to get the match started again.


Moments later Celtic found themselves ahead as we quickly broke up the park from a Kilmarnock corner. Cedete rode a heavy challenge on the half way line & made an inch perfect pass for Thom to complete the move with left footed finish.


A third goal was added in the final minutes when Di Canio slipped the ball through to his Portuguese team mate to wrap up the 3 points. The explosive introduction of Di Canio turned the match around & gave a clear indication of how Tommy Burns wanted his side to perform & entertain.

That Was the Celtic Goal That Was

That Was The Celtic Goal That Was
　
No 5 - 29th April 1995 - Tom Boyd
　
During the early 90's there was very little for Celtic fans to get excited about, boardroom unrest & inconsistency on the pitch. The tail end of the 94 season saw the boardroom struggle finally coming to an end as Fergus McCann took the reins at the club. A new plan & vision was sold & the supporters joined him in the quest. In our push to become the number one team in Scotland again we had to take a few detours on the way & one of these detours took us to Hampden for the 1994/95 season
　
The league season at Hampden could easily be forgotten, but in reality the season spent there allowed the Club to replant their roots at Celtic Park & make inroads to winning silverware once again.
　
In one of the many away days during the season Celtic visited Brockville for a important League match against Falkirk.     The hosts were playing well & looking to finish in a European spot in the league, Celtic on the other hand were struggling to put a run of results together & with one eye on the Scottish Cup Final at the end of the season, that could perhaps be forgiven.
　
Celtic started well & scored after only 5 minutes through Phil O'Donnell. Falkirk came back into the match with Maurice Johnston missing a good chance in front of goal much to the amusement of the travelling support, especially when it was clear that Bonner had also caught Johnston & left the striker checking all items in his shorts were still intact.
　
Into the 2nd half Falkirk were awarded a soft penalty which was converted to bring the sides level. With so many draws hampering Celtic all season it seamed like it would be another day without a win.
　
From a throw in on the right, Tom Boyd made his way passed two defenders & tried to square the ball, following a game of pinball on the Falkirk box the ball broke to O'Donnell who snatched at his shot, the ball fell kindly for Boyd & he diverted the ball passed the Falkirk keeper from close range.
　
As Boyds team-mates swarmed round him, you could see what the goal meant. It wasn't a league decider, it wasn't a cup final, but it was one of the few times in the season when we managed to grind out a win when it seamed more likely to leave with a point.
　
Tom Boyd only scored 2 competitive goals in his 11 years at the Club & although he had to endure the difficult times during the early nineties, he was able to sign off his Celtic career in some style Captaining the team that won the title in 1997/98 & then secured a Treble in 2001.