FLASH BACK - Match 642 - 25th Aug 1993

Season: 1993/94
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP 3rd Round
Venue:  GAYFIELD PARK

ARBROATH    1    CELTIC    9 
Scorers: Tindall; McAvennie(3), Nicholas, McGnlay, McNally, Payton(3)

As Celtic are scheduled to play Arbroath on Wednesday in a Scottish Cup replay it gave me a chance to post my only visit to Gayfield Park which was 19 years ago when failing Celtic manager Liam Brady recorded the biggest win I have ever witnessed.  The only down side was it came against one of Celtic's all time greats Danny McGrain who was a rockie manager with the part-timers.
The match included two hat tricks, one Frank McAvennie and the other Andy Payton who had only came on as a substitiute!
Local man Kevin Tindall got the consolation goal for Arbroath with the last kick of the ball.

Celtic team:
Bonner,  Boyd,  Wdowczyk,  Grant,  McNally,  Galloway,  McGinlay,  McStay,  McAvennie,  Nicholas,  Collins; 
Subs used - Payton, O'Neill

MATCH 1492 - Saturday, 8th December 2012

Season: 2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  RUGBY PARK

                                      

KILMARNOCK    1    CELTIC    3

Scorers:  Sheridan; Brown, Ledley, Samaras

Fresh from their successful Champions League group campaign Celtic produced a solid performance to record a good away victory.  The third goal was a thing of beauty as it contained 20 passes before an inch prefect cross from Matthews was headed home by Samaras.

Kilmarnock

• 01 Bell 02 Tesselaar 04 Fowler 05 O'Leary 06 Nelson 07 Racchi (Sissoko - 56' ) 08 Kelly 11 Harkins (McKenzie - 68' ) 12 Sheridan 14 Heffernan 15 Perez (O'Hara - 68' )

Celtic

• 01 Forster 02 Matthews 03 Izaguirre (Kayal - 76' ) 04 Ambrose 06 Wilson 21 Mulgrew 08 Brown 16 Ledley 67 Wanyama 11 Nouioui (Samaras - 66' ) 88 Hooper (Miku - 82' )

Att:

• 6,501

Pre-match we enjoyed some refreshments in the Park Hotel situated outside the main stand.  A God send considering how miserable the weather was outside. Ideal for a snack and/or a few drinks before or after the match.

http://www.theparkhotelayrshire.co.uk/

Personal note:  63rd time seeing Kilmarnock (all against Celtic) and this was my 24th visit to Rugby Park.

FLASH BACK - Match 810 - Aug 1997

Season:  1996/97
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  RUGBY PARK

DI CANIO ROCKS RUGBY PARK TO IT'S CORE

           

KILMARNOCK    1    CELTIC    3
Scorers: ??; Di Canio, Thom, Cadete
Att: 15,900

With Celtic looking out of sorts Paulo Di Canio was introduced as a second half subsitute for his first appearance for the club and he made an immediate impact.  There had been great excitement following the Italian's summer move from AC Milan and in a very short period of time showed what all the fuss was about.  His quick feet and clever movement made him an instant hit with the Celtic support.
The Celtic fans like what they saw and the Chadwick Stand rocked as the 3,000 away fans went wild as they celebrated a great second half fight back and a new star.

Di Canio equalizer

Thom 1:2

Cadete 1:3

Match 1491 - Wednesday, 5th December 2012

Season:  2012/13

Group Match - Match Day 6

           

             

CELTIC    2    SPARTAK MOSCOW    1

Scorers:  Hooper, Commons(pen);  Ari

Celtic progressed from a difficult group after a very tense night at Celtic park against Russian side Spartak.  Celtic reached a remarkable total of 10 points from their six group matches.

On the night a mistake from the Spartak defence gifted Gary Hooper the chance to score the opener and he did not pass it up, striking the ball home from outside the box.  Late in the first half Spartak got their reward for some good attacking play when Ari chipped in an equaliser.

In the second half Celtic enjoyed more possession but their efforts where thwarted by the post and the Russian keeper before the ref, who from a Celtic's point of view had a great game, pointed to the spot with ten minutes to go after Samaras was slightly pushed in the box.  Commons took responsibility and fired his shot high off the under side of the crossbar and into the net to give Celtic the lead that they needed.  Benfica could only draw in the Nou Camp against an under strength Barcelona side which meant Celtic qualified for the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the third time in six years.

Aiden McGeady made a welcome return to Celtic Park.  As in the previous visit in 2007 Spartak were reduced to 10 men with five minutes remaining.

Celtic

• 01 Forster
• 03 Izaguirre
• 04 Ambrose
• 06 Wilson
• 21 Mulgrew
• 23 Lustig (Matthews - 71' )
• 08 Brown (Ledley - 84' )
• 15 Commons
• 33 Kayal (Nouioui - 73' )
• 09 Samaras
• 88 Hooper

Spartak Moscow

• 30 Pesiakov
• 02 Insaurralde
• 17 Suchy
• 06 Rafael Carioca
• 07 Kombarov
• 19 Jurado
• 21 Kallstrom
• 23 Kombarov
• 09 Ari (McGeady - 61')
• 10 Dzjuba
• 29 Emenike

 Personal note: 

Spartak Moscow become the 100th club that I have seen on more the one occasion.

FLASH BACK - Match 1245 - 29th Aug 2007

Season:  2007/08

Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    1 - 1    SPARTAK MOSCOW

Scorers:  McDonald;  Pavluchenko

Artur Boric was the hero as Celtic won a dramatic penalty shoot out to book their place in the Champions League proper.  Scott McDonald shot Celtic ahead only for Roman Pavluchenko to level. Pavluchenko had earlier missed a penalty which meant the match went to extra time as it mirrored the first leg score.
There have been many great European nights at Celtic Park since 2001 but few have matched this one for sheer excitment and energy.  It was end to end for 85 minutes then Spartak where reduced to 10 men then it was backs against the wall for the last  five minutes of normal time plus 30 minutes extra time before the grand finale of the penalty shoot.
A truely epic match for all in attendance.

Celtic:
Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (O'Dea 110), Nakamura, Scott Brown, Donati, McGeady (Riordan 104), McDonald (Zurawski 97), Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Goals: McDonald 27.  


Spartak Moscow:
Pletikosa, Soava, Stranzl, Kovac, Shishkin, Mozart, Torbinsky (Boyarintsev 100), Titov, Bystrov (Kalinichenko 95), Welliton (Dedura 88), Pavluchenko.
Sent Off: Stranzl (85).  
Goals: Pavluchenko 45.


Agg (2-2): Celtic win 4-3 on penalties 

Att: 60,000
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy).

Match 1490 - Saturday, 1st December 2012

Season:  2012/13
SCOTTISH CUP 4th Round
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                   

CELTIC    1    ARBROATH    1

Scorers:  O.G.;  Doris

A dreadful result for a makeshift Celtic team which consisted of 4 youngsters.  They failed to score against their Second Division opponents as it was only a comical own goal that give them a half time lead.  The Arbroath keeper was not over worked but he did have a number of fantastic saves.

A deflected free kick late in the game earned the lower league opponents a replay. 

Celtic

• 24 Zaluska
• 02 Matthews
• 04 Ambrose
• 23 Lustig (Nouioui - 79' )
• 25 Rogne
• 43 Chalmers (Izaguirre - 54' )
• 08 Brown (Kayal - 64' )
• 40 Ibrahim
• 46 McGeouch
• 67 Wanyama
• 07 Miku

Arbroath

• 01 Morrison
• 02 Baxter
• 03 Hamilton
• 05 Malcolm
• 06 Keddie
• 08 Robertson
• 04 Kerr
• 07 Paul Currie (Rennie - 64' )
• 11 Sheerin (Birse - 75' )
• 09 Doris
• 10 Holmes (Gribben - 90' )

Att: 15,000

Flash Back - Match 35 - 1st September 1982

Season:  1982/83
Scottish League Cup - Sectional Match
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    4    ARBROATH    1

Scorers: MacLeod, McCluskey, Nicholas, Dobbin

Att: 5,200

Celtic v Arbroath is a rare fixture in the Scottish game.  Personally I have only see it on two occasions.  The first and only one at Celtic Park was 30 years ago in on the 1st September.  Celtic enjoyed a free scoring start to the season and this match was no different as they scored four in a very comfortable victory. 

Charlie Nicholas

The scorers on the night included Charlie Nicholas and from my records it was the first time I had saw Charlie score, mainly due to the fact he was just returning after a long lay off following a broken leg.  A young reserve player, Jim Dobbin made his debut and also managed to get on the score sheet. John Buckley was another debutant.

The match was played in front of a very low crowd at Celtic Park of 5,200 as the midweek sectional format of the League Cup proved a real turn off for supporters.

Celtic team: 
Bonner, McGrain, Reid, Aitken, McAdam, MacLeod, Provan, Buckley, Dobbin, Nicholas, Burns, McCluskey

Flash Back - Match 309 - 7th Nov 1987

Season:  1987/88
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  TYNECASTLE

HEARTS    1    CELTIC    1

Scorer:  Colquhoun;  McGhee 
Att: 29,000

Hearts - Celtic clashes especially at Tynecastle have always had an edge.  The new stands maybe more intimate however the old terraces packed alot more people in with the away end holding 10,000 alone and was regularly sold out.

Just look at the packed ends behind each goal in this intense encounter from 1987.  Both teams were riding high in the league and although Hearts held a lead against a 10 man Celtic team Roy Aitken inspired his team to draw with a lateish equaliser.  Through great determination (his trademark) and a fair level of skill he sent over an excellent cross for Mark McGhee to power home a header.  In the first half John Colquhoun had scored from a cracking shot from out side the box.  Mick McCarthy was the Celt that was shown the red card. 

This is proof that rivalry in football is a good thing.  

Match 1489 - Saturday 24th November 2012

Season 2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                        

CELTIC    0   INVERNESS CT    1

Scorer:  McKay

Celtic's poor SPL home form continues as they lose there 2nd home game of the season. Another game where we could have played all day and not scored.  Best chances fell to Coomons and Lustig just before the break and it didn't get any better for Celts in second half. 
Watched the match from the North Stand rather than my usual seat in the South Front so I could see the small band of Caley fans even if I couldn't hear them although I'm sure they enjoyed it.
My normal seat went to my three year old daughter who attended her first match at Celtic Park with her mum and apparently became the youngest ever hooligan went she turn round and punched a wee boy on the nose.  Was the game really that bad?

Celtic

• 01 Forster 02 Matthews (Brown - 69' ) 04 Ambrose 21 Mulgrew 23 Lustig 15 Commons 33 Kayal 67 Wanyama 09 Samaras 32 Watt (McCourt - 65' ) 88 Hooper (Nouioui - 76' )

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

• 12 Reguero 02 Raven 03 Shinnie 05 Warren 14 Meekings 04 Tudur-Jones 10 Shinnie 07 McKay (Sutherland - 84' ) 09 Foran 17 Doran 23 Roberts Booked (Pepper - 90' )

Att: 44,379

Personal note:  This was only the Highlanders 2nd win and first in the SPL in the 16 matches I've seen them, all against Celtic.

Celtic  12 wins
Draws:   2
Inverness:  2 wins

SPL  13
LC  2
SC  1

Celtic Park   14
Caledonian Stadium  2

FLASH BACK - Match 1131 - 13th November 2004

Season: 2004/05
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                 

CELTIC    3    INVERNESS CT    0

Scorers: Sutton, Hartson(2)

Although Inverness CT inflicted the most infamous defeat of Celtic at Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup in 2000 I was delighted when they gained promotion into the top league as it meant a flesh SPL opponent.

In front of a 56,500 crowd at Celtc Park ICT were no match on this occasion as the formidable pairing of Sutton and Hartson scored the goals that eventually seen Celtic run out comfortable winners.  Although they were helped by Inverness missing a penalty.

Teams:

CELTIC:  Hedman, McNamara, Balde, Varga, Valgaeren, McGeady, Lennon, Sutton, Thompson, Hartson, Camara

INVERNESS:  Brown,  Tokely,  Golabek,  Dods,  McBain,  Wilson, Bayne,  Hart,  Juanjo,  Duncan

Personal note:  This was the first time I had seen Inverness in the SPL but the 3rd time overall having seen in them in the Scottish and League Cups all at Celtic Park.