A Merry Christmas Day at Paradise for 34,000 fans as Celtic beat Hearts 3-2

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The Celtic Star

·25 December 2024

A Merry Christmas Day at Paradise for 34,000 fans as Celtic beat Hearts 3-2

If you are missing watching Celtic, you will have to wait until tomorrow for the next game. However, until the 1970s, you might have been looking forward to going and seeing the Bhoys today…

The last time Celtic played on Christmas Day was 1971. This was in the midst of Celtic’s nine-in-a-row run, so fans were always assured of interesting games.

The 1971 Christmas Day match was no exception, as the Bhoys faced Hearts. It proved to be an enthralling match, full of goals and excitement – and some rough treatment too for at least one Bhoy in green.

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Celtic on Christmas Day 1971. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The wrath of their “wife or mother”

34,000 fans left their Christmas dinners and headed to Celtic Park. In a reflection of attitudes of the time, The Scotsman said those men risked the wrath of their “wife or mother.” Presumably they didn’t think that some women went to the games too!

Celtic on Christmas Day 1971. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The story of Celtic at Christmas – 20 games, 64 Celtic goals and friendlies in England… thecelticstar.com/the-story-of… [image or embed] — The Celtic Star (@celticstarmag.bsky.social) 25 December 2024 at 07:54

Hopefully those fans all arrived on time, because within seconds of the match starting, Celtic fans got another present. As the clock read 41 seconds, the ball was knocked into the net by Harry Hood. The Celts perhaps hoped for a rout versus Hearts – but the expected goals didn’t come.

Huge pressure from Celtic

Despite huge pressure from Celtic, they could not double their advantage, and it wasn’t for lack of effort. Dixie Deans twice hit the bar – as did Tommy Callaghan – and Bobby Lennox had one ruled out for offside.

Then on 31 minutes, they were made to pay; Derek Renton equalised for Hearts. The Edinburgh men may have hoped this would turn things around – but any seasonal cheers for the visitors lasted only three minutes.

Celtic on Christmas Day 1971. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Jimmy Johnstone – later praised as man of the match – got the ball from Dalglish. He went on a run and smashed the ball past the Hearts’ goalkeeper to restore Celtic’s lead. It was an impressive performance by Johnstone, and he was subjected to some brutal treatment in Hearts’ attempts to stop him.

At half-time, it was 2-1 to Celtic

At half-time, it was still 2-1 to Celtic. Into the second half, Celtic continued to press, but again struggled to find a way past Jim Cruickshank in Hearts’ goal. That is, until the 70th minute when Dixie Deans made it 3-1 to the Hoops, doubling the home men’s advantage.

Celtic v Hearts – 25 December 1971.Dixie Deans scores Celtic’s third goal. Photo The Celtic Wiki.

With a two goal lead, Celtic should have seen out the game comfortably, but Hearts had other ideas. On 77 minutes, Jim Brown pulled one back, and the maroons went in search of an equaliser. With only minutes to play, Brown hit another shot … but fortunately for Celtic it came off the bar.

It ended 3-2 to Celtic

Shortly afterwards, the referee’s whistle brought an end to the festive proceedings. With a 3-2 scoreline, Celtic had claimed another two points in the title race – and fans had been entertained by a brilliant afternoon of football.

Celtic on Christmas Day 1971. Photo The Celtic Wiki

It wasn’t just the Hoops in action – there was a full card in Scotland. Like this season, Celtic’s nearest challengers were Aberdeen, who also marked the visit of St Nicholas with a 3-0 victory at Falkirk. It took Celtic towards the end of the season to shake off the Dons and claim the title.

That title triumph – secured in April 1972 with a 3-0 win at East Fife – came just days before Celtic were defeated in the European Cup semi-final, losing to Inter Milan in a penalty shootout which followed two 0-0 draws.

An historic season for the Celts

This still ended up being an historic season for the Celts. When they were crowned Champions (in April 1972), it was their seventh league title in a row, beating their own record from 1905-1910.

1971-72 also saw Celtic claim the Scottish Cup, with a 6-1 win over Hibs. Dixie Deans became only the second Celt to score a hat-trick in the cup final (along with Jimmy Quinn in 1904). Deans in fact made history as the only Celt to score a League Cup and Scottish Cup Final treble.

It’s now 53 years since Celtic played a match on Christmas Day. Starting in 1893, they played 26 games on 25 December, although this is something unlikely to happen again. Still, a Boxing Day win tomorrow – and victory in the next two games – would make for a great belated Christmas gift

Celtic 3 -2 Hearts – 25 December 1971

Celtic: Connaghan, Hay, Quinn, Dalglish, McNeill, Connelly, Johnstone, Lennox, Deans, Callaghan, Hood. Substitute: Craig Scorers: Hood (1), Johnstone (36), Deans (70)

Hearts: Cruickshank, Sneddon, Oliver, Brown, Veitch, Thomson, Fleming, Renton, Ford, Winchester, T Murray. Substitute: Wood Scorers: Renton (31), Brown (77)

Referee: A F J Webster (Falkirk) Attendance: 34,000

C’mon Celtic – and Merry Christmas from myself and everyone on The Celtic Star!

Matthew Marr

Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory

Click on cover to order a hardback copy

Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.

Matthew Marr with his debut Celtic book, Glory to their name, which tells the story of Celtic’s first ever title win. Photo The Celtic Star