FLASHBACK 1191- Wednesday 17 May 2006

 SEASON 2005/06

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Venue:  STADE DE FRANCE

BARCELONA  2  ARSENAL  1

Scorers:  Eto'o, Belletti; Campbell

Arsenal in their first UEFA Champions League final suffered an early blow when their German goalkeeper Lehmann was sent off leaving them to play over 70 minutes with 10 men.  Remarkably though the 10 men took the lead before half time against the much fancied Spanish giants.

It wasn't until the latter stages of the match and the introduction of Henrik Larsson that Barcelona eventually found the goals to take the final away from Arsenal and to win their second European Champions title.

The stats from the match:

Barcelona: Valdes, Oleguer (Belletti 71), Marquez, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, Deco, Edmilson (Iniesta 45), Van Bommel (Larsson 61), Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho.

Subs Not Used: Jorquera, Motta, Xavi, Sylvinho.

Booked: Oleguer, Larsson.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pires (Almunia 20), Silva, Fabregas (Flamini 74), Hleb (Reyes 85), Ljungberg, Henry.
Subs Not Used: Bergkamp, Van Persie, Senderos, Clichy.

Sent Off: Lehmann (18).

Booked: Eboue, Henry.

Att: 79,500

Ref: Terje Hauge (Norway).

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The 4th time I attended a Champions League final - the 2nd involving Barcelona
• The 2nd time I attended a match in Paris

Highlights:

MATCH 2072 - Saturday 23 May 2026

 SEASON 2025/26

141st SCOTTISH CUP FINAL

Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK

CELTIC  3  DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC  1

Scorers:  Maeda, Engels, Iheanacho;  Cooper

Attendance:  49,613

The 141st Scottish Cup Final was contested between Martin O'Neill's Celtic and his former player, Neil Lennon's Dunfermline. In contrast to the full season it was a comfortable win for Celtic to win their 43rd Scottish Cup.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• This was the 3rd time attending a Scottish Cup Final between these two clubs
• In total this the 9th time attending this fixture in the Scottish Cup since 1983
• Overall I've now attended this fixture 62 times - the first was 1982
• I've now attended 21 Scottish Cup Finals including 20 involving Celtic

MATCH 2071 - Saturday 16 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  3  HEARTS  1

Scorers: Engels, Maeda, Osmand;  Shankland

Attendance: 60,000

TITLE DECIDER

A dramatic day at Celtic Park for the final league match of the season as both sides had a chance to win the league, Hearts only needed to avoid defeat to win a rare championship while Celtic needed nothing less than a win.

In a tight first half, Hearts took a late lead but there was still time for Celtic to find an equaliser to go into the dressing room at 1-1.

As the second half progressed into the final few minutes it looked like Hearts were going to achieve their objective of winning the league but Celtic scored with only three minutes to go and then deep into time added on scored another to secured three points, the league title and to make them champions once again.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The second time attending this fixture this season
• This was the 105th attending this fixture in the league
• Overall this was the 122nd time attending this fixture
• My 28th time visiting Celtic Park this season

MATCH 2070 - Wednesday 13 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  FIR PARK

MOTHERWELL  2  CELTIC  3

Scorers:  Watt, Gordon;  Maeda, Nygren, Iheanacho 

An eventful night in North Lanarkshire as Celtic win a five goal thriller with the last gasp winner coming from the penalty spot after a VAR review.

Motherwell played in a new kit (a plain dark blue strip) to mark their 140th year since their formation.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• 4th time attending this fixture this season - all in the league with 2 at Fir Park
• This was my 40th time attending a Celtic match of the season 
• This was my 58th time seeing a match at Fir Park

MATCH 2069 - Sunday 10 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

Beautiful Sunday

CELTIC  3  RANGERS*  1

Scorers:  Yang, Maeda(2);  Moore

Glasgow's greens and blues under a perfect blue sky and played on an excellent green pitch in the wonderful month of May.

Celtic had to came from behind to go into the dressing room level at half time and then produced a rousing second half display to come out worthy winners in the final Glasgow derby of the season.  

Celebration in the Celtic End

The aftermath - the calm after the storm

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• The 4th time attending this fixture this season - the 2nd at Celtic Park with the others at Hampden and Ibrox.
• This was the 17th time attending this fixture in the league since 2016
• Overall this was the 29th time attending this fixture since 2013

MATCH 2068 - Saturday 9 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

ENGLISH FR PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  STADIUM OF LIGHT

SUNDERLAND  0  MANCHESTER UNITED  0

Attendance: 47,233

With both clubs objectives achieved for the season perhaps it wasn't completely surprising this game ended in stalemate.  Although both teams had chances, especially the home side you got the feeling early into the second half that it would end goalless.

While the game was a little disappointing the atmosphere was fantastic as both sets of fans gave their sides great support.

It was a horrible day in the north-east of England.  Cold for the month of May with a constant drizzle from the grey sky and unusually for the Stadium of Light I was siting in the lower tier and in the second row.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• My 3rd visit to the Stadium of Light this season, overall it was my 34th visit for football
• It was the 6th time attending this fixture all at Sunderland and all in the league 
• The 225th game I have attended outside of Bonnie Scotland

MATCH 2067 - Sunday 3 May 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: EASTER ROAD STADIUM

HIBERNIAN  1  CELTIC  2

Scorers:  Newell;  Maeda, Iheanacho 

My third match at Easter Road this season with all three ending in a 2-1 defeat for the home side.

Celtic narrowly won this one against 10 man Hibs who played for most of the game with a man short following a red card with just 20 minutes on the clock and the match still scoreless.  By half time the match was level at 1-1 as Hibs equalised with the last kick of the first half.  The decisive goal was scored shortly after the 70th minute.

Pre-match walk around stadium

View from my seat almost completely obscuring one of the goals

Main Stand Upper

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• This was my 4th time attending the "Battle of the Greens" this season all in the league
• In total it was the 116th time I've seen the fixture in the league
• Overall this was the 134th time attending this fixture in all competitions