MATCH 1659 - Saturday, 27 August 2016

Season:  2016/17
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    4    ABERDEEN    1

Scorers:  Griffiths, Forrest, Sinclair, Rogic;  Rooney

For the second weekend in succession Celtic score four against their SPL opponents.

MATCH 1658 - Saturday, 20 August 2016

Season:  2016/17
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: CELTIC PARK

ST. JOHNSTONE    2    CELTIC    4

Scorers: Swanson, MacLean;  Griffiths, Sinclair, Forrest, Christie

Celtic's 2nd SPL game of the season and despite losing another two goals they run out comfortable winners.

Note:

49th St Johnstone match with all bar one against Celtic.

MATCH 1657 - Wednesday, 17 August 2016

Season:  2016/17

Qualifying Round, 1st Leg

Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    5    HAPOEL BE'ER SHEVA    2

Scorers: Rogic, Griffiths(2), Dembele, Brown

*** Third qualifying match  ***

A rollercoaster encounter with the Israeli champions which saw Celtic take a 3-0 half time lead, Griffiths scoring a sensational free kick on the stroke of half time to send the crowd wild with delight.  However the mood changed when they were pegged back to 3-2, only for two late goals to give Celtic an impressive first leg lead. Great game, great score in front of another great crowd of over 55,000.

**** Almost there! ***



MATCH 1656 - Wednesday, 10th August 2016

Season:  2016/17
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP 2nd Round
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    5    MOTHERWELL    0

Scorers: Rogic(2), Dembele(2), Sinclair

Another Wednesday night, another Celtic Park match.  This time the beginning of the League Cup campaign.  Celtic took their goal tally to 12 in two matches against the Steelmen.

MATCH 1655 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016

Season:  2016/17

Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg
Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    2    FC ASTANA    1

Scorers: Griffiths, Dembele;  Ibraimi

Three seasons ago Celtic defeated Kazakhstan opponents to reach the group stage of the Champions League this time it only took them a step nearer.  Two down, one to go!

MATCH 1654 - Saturday, 23 July 2016

Season:  2016/17
Friendly - INTERNAIONAL FOOTBALL CUP
Venue:  Celtic Park

CELTIC    1    LEICESTER CITY    1

Scorers:  O'Connell;  Mahrez

The English champions no less visited Celtic Park for a prestigious pre-season friendly.  It was the first time I had seen the two sides play each other.

MATCH 1653 - Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Season:  2016/17

Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg

Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC   3   LINCOLN RED IMPS   0

Scorers: Lustig, Griffiths, Roberts

Celtic eased past their Gibraltarian opponents who had caused a major upset by winning the first leg. One down two to go in the club's quest to be in the Champions League group stage.

MATCH 1652 - Saturday, 16 July 2016

SEASON:  2016/17
FRIENDLY
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    2    WOLFSBURG    1

Scorers: McGregor, Christie;  Caligiuri

My first Celtic match of my 37th season following Celtic and new manager, Brenden Rodgers first home match. 

Pre-match we headed into Glasgow to watch a little of the Homeless World Cup in George's Square. 

Personnel note: 

Wolfsburg the 8th different German side to visit Celtic Park

MATCH 1651 - Thursday, 14 July 2016

SEASON: 2016/17

QUALIFYING ROUND - 1st Leg

Venue:  EASTER ROAD STADIUM

Hibernian    0    Brøndby IF    1



Scorer:  Wilczek

I travelled through to Edinburgh to watch Hibs' reward for winning the Scottish Cup for the first time in over 100 years - a return to European football in the Europa League.  It was a lovely summers evening in the capital for what was also Neil Lennon's first match in charge of Hibernian.  Within 20 seconds his new side were behind due to a bad goalkeeping error however it didn't get any worse and Hibs were unlucky not to get something from the game as a dubious off side decision just before half time denied them an equalizer.


Link to:  Official UEFA.com stats

Brondby outside South Stand

 

Personal note:  143rd European tie, 1st Hibs tie & 1st time seeing Brondby - club no. 203



MATCH 1650 - Thursday, 7 July 2016

SEASON:  2016/17

QUALIFYING ROUND - 2nd leg

Venue:  BELLE VUE STADIUM



my ticket

BALA TOWN    0    AIK STOCKHOLM    2

Scorers:  Avdic, Strandberg

New season for me starts in Rhyl, North Wales with a UEFA Europa League qualifying tie.  The small compact all seater ground is the venue - a new ground to add to my list.

There was small but lively crowd of fans from Sweden and as previously experienced they were all friendly and well behaved.

AIK fans

Having won the first leg 2-0 AIK completed their overall victory with another 2-0 win on the night, which saw them progress 4-0 on aggregate. 

The pre-match line up

Personal note: New ground no. 96 and two new clubs nos. 201 & 202

Link to:  Official UEFA.com stats

MATCH 1649 - Sunday, 15 May 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    7    MOTHERWELL    0

Scorers: Tierney, Rogic, Lustig, Armstrong, Roberts, Christie, Aitchison

A fitting way to end the season, a stunning seven goal performance with seven different scorers.  Ronny Deila brief two year stint as manager at least came to a happy ending.  While Jack Aitchison career began with a goal immediately after coming on as a second half substitute.

Personnel note: 14th complete season in a row without missing a home match

43 matches for this season including 36 Celtic games

MATCH 1648 - Sunday, 8 May 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    3    ABERDEEN    2

Scorers: Roberts(2), Lustig;  McGinn, Considine

Celtic wrapped up their 5th title in a row by beating their main challengers, Aberdeen.  The match perfectly summed up the season with Celtic racing into a three goal lead but unable to keep up their dominance as Aberdeen hit back with two goals and just like their league challenge they just fell short on they day of taking something from the match.

Personnel note:  120th Aberdeen all but two against Celtic.

MATCH 1647 - Tuesday, 3 May 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH LEAGUE 1 PLAY-OFF 1st Leg
Venue:  BROADWOOD STADIUM (4)

CLYDE    3    ELGIN CITY    1

Scorers: Gemmell, Linton, McLaughlin;  MacLeod

My first Elgin City match making them the 200th club I've seen.

Unfortunately the side that tried to play some football lost the first leg of this Play-off, in part due to the performance of the three officials who ranged from hopeless to homers.

Maybe in the return leg the chosen ref will equally favour the home side.

MATCH 1646 - Sunday, 24 April 2016

Season: 2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    1    ROSS COUNTY    1
Scorers:  Griffiths;  Murdoch

My 40th match of the season

MATCH 1645 - Sunday, 17 April 2016

SEASON 2015/16
SCOTTISH CUP SEMI FINAL
Venue: HAMPDEN PARK

CELTIC    2    RANGERS*    2

Scorers: Sviatchenko, Rogic;  Miller, Mckay

For the second time this season Celtic fail to get past the semi final stage of a domestic cup.

39th match of season.

MATCH 1644 - Sunday, 10 April 2016

Season:  2015/16
ENGLISH FA PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  STADIUM OF LIGHT (25)

The mark of champions

SUNDERLAND    0    LEICESTER CITY    2

Scorers:  Vardy(2)

The remarkable story of Leicester City's march to being the Champions of England continued at the Stadium of Light with a performance worthy of champions.  Going to a difficult venue and playing a team fighting for their lives they controlled the match from first to last touch of the ball, when Vardy rolled in the second in the fifth minute of injury time.

This was our first visit of the season to the Stadium of Light. We drove down and thankfully the Sunday morning traffic was kind to us with no hold UPS on M74 or A69.  We arrived at 11.15am and parked in the waste ground behind the east of the stadium, at no cost.

This was our 25th visit to SOL and it's always a great occasion watching Premier League football at Sunderland.  They continue to offer the best value of all Premier League clubs to watch top league football - from £25 for most matches - therefore it will be a shame if they lose their top flight club status.  Unfortunately on the field they are not so great, struggling to score goals and are currently in the relegation zone with only five game remaining.

Only my second time watching Leicester, the first was 32 years ago at Ibrox of all places when Gary Lineker was in their team!  Hopefully they can complete their fairytale story with three more wins.

THE TEAMS ENTER THE ARENA

FULL STADIUM AT KICK OFF

EMPTY STADIUM AT FULL TIME

LEICESTER FANS LIVING THE DREAM

BUS CONVOY FROM LEICESTER

MATCH 1643 - Saturday, 2 April 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    3    HEARTS    1

Scorers: Mackay-Steven, Roberts(2);  Walker

This was the first home match in four weeks so everyone was up for it.  Hearts took the initiative early on and managed to get in front with a cracking strike from outside the box. 

However before half time Celtic had fought back to turn the match around with two excellent strikes the first from Gary Mackay-Steven and then Patrick Roberts scored his first ever competitive goal.

Early in the second half Roberts completed the scoring to send Celtic seven points clear in title race.

Personal note:  32nd Celtic match of the season including 3 against Hearts.

MATCH 1642 - Thursday, 17 March 2016

Season: 2016/17



Round of 16, 2nd Leg

Venue: OLD TRAFFORD (50)

MANCHESTER UNITED    1    LIVERPOOL    1

Scorers: Martial;  Coutinho

Great way to spend St Patrick's Day watching England's two finest clubs scrapping it out in European competition.  Travelled down by bus from Glasgow to Manchester.  I had a few hours to kill before and after the game so walked from & to the city centre.  First time I've done this took about 40 minutes, good exercise.

Link to official UEFA site:

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2016/matches/round=2000660/match=2017210/postmatch/lineups/index.html

Fantastic first half action and tremendous atmosphere to accompany the play, which only increased when United took the lead.

The second half was less intense due to Liverpool securing the away goal to enhance their lead right on the stroke of half time.  The match ended with fighting in the East Stand as a few stupid Liverpool fans unfurled a banner to wind up the Reds support.  Not very clever when you have nowhere to go and only a few police and stewards to stop the onslaught of attacks.

The teams arrive for battle

United line up



Set play opportunity for United

 

Klopp observes the action

Man United could've done with this man on the pitch

Personal note:  My 50th match at Old Trafford over a span of 32 years!  Many changes over the years but the South Stand (soon to be renamed after legend Bobby Charlton) still remains my favourite stand in the ground.
7th match between the sides and Manchester United remain unbeaten with 2 wins & 5 draws!

MATCH 1641 - Sunday, 13 March 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP  FINAL
Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK

HIBERNIAN    1    ROSS COUNTY    2

Scorers:  Fontaine;  Gardyne, Schalk

Great day for Ross County as they completed a green double having already beating Celtic in the semi final, they defeated the Edinburgh greens to achieved their first ever cup success.  It was far from a classic but the final was settled in dramatic style with a last minute winner.
For the first time in over a hundred visits to Hampden I went via Rutherglen train station.  It's a good hike to the east end of the ground (25-30minutes) but still much quicker than the walk from the city centre or waiting in the queue at Mount Florida station.  A good option if travelling from/to Lanarkshire area.


Personal note: My 15th Scottish League Cup Final but first involving either of these clubs.


Attendance: 38,000 with Hibs bringing 30,000

MATCH 1640 - Sunday, 6 March 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH CUP Quarter Final
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    3   MORTON    0

Scorers:  Griffiths, Mackay-Steven, McGregor

Championship side Morton were no match for Celtic who quickly saw off their challenge scoring three first half goals to qualify for the semi finals.

The game played on Mothers Day and at 12noon for Sky TV were contributing factors to the  small crowd of around 15,000 with 2,000 from Greenock.

Next up for Celtic is another championship side, The Rangers!

Personal note:  15th meeting I've seen between the side, 3 of which have been in the Scottish Cup.  The last meeting at Celtic Park in 1998 attracted a crowd of 40,000 changed days in Paradise, maybe some fans have been spoiled by the success of the last 15 years.

MATCH 1639 - Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    0    DUNDEE    0

Dull boring football returns to Celtic Park.  This was the 3rd goalless draw in 14 SPL home matches this season and the 4th time the one upfront system failed, not to mention all three Europa League ties.  In 90 minutes the Dundee keeper only had to make one good save and his team-mates where very comfortable throughout.

Ronnie Deila has proven time and time again he is out of his depth at Celtic.

A year ago this week Celtic lost 1-0 at home to St Johnstone therefore a 0-0 draw at home to Dundee is hardly progress.

The club has got a major decision to make Peter Lawwell is taking the club backwards.

MATCH 1638 - Saturday, 20 Febrauary 2016

SEASON:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

The Celtic Way

CELTIC    3    INVERNESS  CT    0

Scorers: Mackay-Stevens, Griffiths(2)

More highland visitors at Celtic Park.  And more Green Brigade protests pre match against "the Bill".  They would be better off advising their members to stop using flares which attracts unwanted attention, due to the risk of serious injury to either themselves and other fans.

It was a miserable day around Celtic Park as heavy rain fell all day and the first half performance did little to improve the mood of the home fans still on a low from the League Cup exit.  The players left the field at half time to a chorus of boos.

Whatever was said in the dressing room at half time worked wonders as Celtic were transformed into a very different team.  A smashing second half performance lifted the gloom which had engulfed the club for three weeks.

All three goals were expertly taken by my man of the match, Gary Mackay-Steven and top scorer Griffiths, who took his tally for the season to 32.

With the win Celtic moved six points clear of Aberdeen are now well on course to making it five in a row.

Personal note:  25th meeting between these sides.

MATCH 1637 - Saturday, 13 February 2016

Season:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    2    ROSS COUNTY    0

Scorers:  Griffiths, Boyata

Second game in succession for me between these sides.  Following the League Cup semi final of two weeks ago it was a low key affair before a poor Celtic Park crowd.

Celtic were once again suffering from a lack of confidence at home and played well below acceptable standards.

Personal note:  10th Ross County match all against Celtic - the first one was a Scottish Cup tie in 2004.

MATCH 1636 - Sunday, 31 January 2016

SEASON: 2015/16
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI FINAL
Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK (115)

CELTIC    1     ROSS COUNTY    3

Scorers: Mackay-Stevens; Woods, Quinn, Schalk

Celtic's Highland Hoodoo at Hampden continues as a hapless performance sees them meekly fall at the semi final stage yet again.

Celtic took the lead within a minute of kick off but were soon level and a man short following a penalty and an ordering off.

In the second half County took full advantage of having the extra man scoring twice to take them to their second final in six years.

Celtic are a team with no fight and no character when the going gets touch, either in semis or Europe, this team and manager always fail.

Personal note:  30th match of the season. 9th Ross County match of which they have won 3. 1st match seen between the sides in the League Cup

 

MATCH 1635 - Saturday, 23 January 2016

SEASON:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    3    ST JOHNSTONE    1

Scorers: Mackay-Steven(2), Armstrong

Gary Mackay-Steven inspired Celtic to a hard thought victory over St Johnstone.  It was the second match of the season at Celtic Park between the sides and it produced the exact same result!

After a poor run of home performances Celtic are back in the grove at home with 11 goals in two games.

Personal note:  26th Celtic game this season & the 47th time I've seen us take on St Johnstone

MATCH 1634 - Tuesday, 19 January 2016

SEASON:  2015/16
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    8    HAMILTON    1

Scorers: Lustig, Bitton, Rogic, Griffiths(3), Forrest, McGregor

For the third time I witnessed a Celtic side put eight past Hamilton in an all out attacking display. 

Three goals up in 10 minutes, 7 up inside 55 minutes - it could have been double figure, it should have been double figures but in the end the home fans were delighted having seen only 4 Celtic goals in their previous 5 home matches.

Personnel note:  25th Hamilton match over 35 years.  20 have been against Celtic which has included two victories for the Accies.

Eight goal performances v Hamilton:

Jan 1987 - Celtic 8 Hamilton 3

Celtic scorers: MacLeod (2), McClair(4), McInally(2)

Nov 1988 - Hamilton 0 Celtic 8

Scorers: McAvennie(3), Stark, McGhee(3), Miller