MATCH 2051 - Sunday 18 January 2026

 SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH CUP 4th Round

Venue: RUGBY PARK

AUCHINLECK TALBOT  0  CELTIC  2

Scorers: Kenny, Tounekti

Attendance: 10,723

My second Scottish Cup tie of the weekend and this time to Kilmarnock and my 30th match at Rugby Park.

It was described as David v Goliath as 6th tier Auchinleck Talbot took on Celtic.  With their own ground deemed unfit to host the biggest game in their history it was moved 16 miles to the next nearest senior ground.

As expected Celtic had the vast majority of possession but were limited to small number of clearcut chances.  In the end Celtic had to settle for a goal in each half to see off their Ayrshire opponents.

Under the lights at Rugby Park

Great view from the East Stand

Close to the action!

Match Report:  LINK

Personal note:

• My first Celtic Scottish Cup tie of season 25/26 but my 4th overall
• The first time seeing Auchinleck Talbot but my 30th match at Rugby Park since 1982
• The 155th Celtic tie I've attended in the Scottish Cup since 1981 

MATCH 2050 - Saturday 17 January 2026

SEASON 2025/26

 

SCOTTISH CUP 4th Round

Venue: CARMUIRS PARK

CAMELON JUNIORS  1  ELGIN CITY  3

Scorers:  Kirkpatrick;  Hester(2), OG

Attendance: 1,190

New ground visited within the town of Falkirk which was only a 30 minute drive from Airdrie and finally after 12 games and 40 goals conceded I saw a win for Elgin as they progressed into the next round of the Scottish Cup.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• 3rd Scottish Cup tie of the season - all involved different clubs.
• 12th time seeing Elgin all in 12 different grounds
• New ground and first time seeing Camelon Juniors
• Carmuirs Park is the 58th ground I seen a football match in Scotland and the 125th overall throughout Europe.

MATCH 2049 - Saturday 10 January 2026

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  4  DUNDEE UNITED  0

Scorers:  Yang, Engels, Nygren, Maeda

Martin O'Neill returned again for another stint in the dugout after the very short tenure of Wilfried Nancy and once again he made an immediate impact as Celtic recorded a fine victory over the Arabs.

Celtic scored twice in each half with four different scorers.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• This was the 104th time attending this fixture in the league
• Overall the 123rd time attending this fixture 
• My first time seeing Dundee United this season which takes the total times I've them to 134.

MATCH 2048 - Saturday 3 January 2026

SEASON  2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  1  RANGERS*  3

Scorers:  Yang;  Chermiti(2); Moore

The match went pretty much as expected Celtic played well in the first half, creating and missing many chances and in the second Rangers* took the chances that came their way.  Celtic again had no response.

Managers - Wilfrid Nancy (Celtic) and Danny Roll (Rangers*)

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• Second time seeing this fixture this season - first time at CelticPark
• This was the 16th time seeing the fixture in the league - all at Celtic Park
• Overall the 26th time attending this fixture

MATCH 2047 - Tuesday 30 December 2025

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  FIR PARK

MOTHERWELL  2  CELTIC  0

Scorers: Said, Watt

Attendance: 11,435

My last match of 2025 was in North Lanarkshire and visiting Fir Park for the 57th time.

Motherwell started well and continued to dominated the game throughout to record a deserved victory over a very disjointed Celtic team.

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• Second time attending this fixture this season - both in the league
• The 115th attending the fixture in the league 
• Overall the 129th time attending this fixture 

MATCH 2046 - Sunday 28 December 2025

SEASON 2025/26

ENGLISH FA PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  STADIUM OF LIGHT 

SUNDERLAND  1  LEEDS UNITED  1

Scorers: Adingra; Calvert-Lewin

Attendance:  46,675

My second trip to Sunderland this season and the first time seeing Leeds since 2007!

As the kick off was 2pm, it meant an early start leaving just after 8am to make it down from central Scotland in plenty of time.

Another bumper crowd with the away fans in fine voice from kick off and throughout the match.

Leeds had most of the possession and majority of the chances especially in the second half, however Sunderland created the best of the chances in the first 45 minutes plus the five minutes added on. They took the lead midway through the half and could and should have doubled their lead on the stroke of half time but the effort only hit the top of the bar. 

They soon rued the miss as Leeds scored a super equaliser at the start of the second half. A great passing move that involved the whole team.  Leeds controlled the remainder of the match but couldn't convert their dominance into any more goals.

Overall a draw was just about the right result.

Match report:  LINK

Personal note:

• A new fixture to add to the list and now totals 435
• Second visit to Stadium of Light this season and no. 33 in total
• Overall the 51st time seeing Sunderland and the 5th time seeing Leeds 

Post-match - Mass at St Mary's RC Church

MATCH 2045 - Saturday 27 December 2025

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  ALMONDVALE STADIUM

LIVINGSTON  2  CELTIC  4

Scorers: Montano(2);  Nygren(2); Yang, Engels

Attendance: 8,861

A crazy start to the game with four goals shared in the opening 10 minutes.  In a breathtaking first half Celtic added two more goals including a VAR awarded penalty to take control of the match at half time.

There were no more goals added to the six from the first 45 minutes in a more sedate second half.

Match report:  LINK

Personal note:

• 2nd time attending this fixture this season.
• This was the 28th time seeing the fixture in the league.
• Overall I've now attended 33 matches between the clubs.

MATCH 2044 - Sunday 21 December 2025

SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  3  ABERDEEN  1

Scorers:  Nygren, Tierney, Forrest;  Bilalovic

Celtic went into this match after four successive defeats so when 10 man Aberdeen equalised with around 10 minutes remaining it looked like the winless run would continue.  Instead of accepting their fate Celtic rallied and scord twice in the final minutes to clinch a much needed win.

Celtic should have been out of sight but missed chance after chance - the story of their season.

Match report:  LINK

Personal note: 

• The second time attending this fixture this season
• The 115th time seeing fixture in the league
• Overall the 140th time attending this fixture 

MATCH 2043 - Sunday 14 December 2025

 SEASON 2025/26

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP FINAL

Venue: HAMPDEN PARK

CELTIC  1  ST MIRREN  3

Scorers: Hatate; Fraser, Ayunga(2)

Attendance: 49,914

St Mirren took a very early lead but Celtic quickly got on equal terms and then looked more likely to go in front until Kelechi Iheanacho went off injured before half Tim.

In the second half it was a different story as St Mirren created the chances and took them to deservedly win the League Cup.

View from seat - East Stand section F3

Match report: LINK

Personal note:

• Overall this was the 80th time attending this fixture but the first in a Final.
• In the Scottish League Cup this was only the 4th time seeing this fixture since 1981 with Saints winning 3 of them.

MATCH 2042 - Thursday 11 December 2025

 SEASON 2025/26

GROUP STAGE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  0  ROMA  3

Scorers:  OG, Ferguson(2)

Celtic are completely outplayed in the first half and lucky to be only three down.  It seemed everything that could go wrong did.  Firstly a own goal was conceded, then Irishman Euan Ferguson scored twice to make it 0-3, next on the stroke of half time Celtic missed a penalty.  The bad luck continued in the second half as Celtic had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside.

Finally something did go right when Roma had a goal chopped out for offside so the deficit at least did not increase.

Match report:  LINK

Personal note: 

• Roma become the 6th Italian club that I've seen Celtic play in UEFA competition
• This was the 2nd time seeing Roma play Celtic both at Celtic Park
• Overall the 3rd time I've seen Roma