The highly controversial first ever meeting between Celtic and Hibs

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The Celtic Star

·26 September 2025

The highly controversial first ever meeting between Celtic and Hibs

The Celts tomorrow face Hibs for the first time this season. The earliest time the two sides met in any competitive game was more than 130 years ago. It proved to be a very controversial tie, one that took weeks to settle…

The Celtic team Lin-up, 1894/95 season, image via The Celtic Wiki

This is the story of that fixture, a tale which highlights different footballing experiences in Celtic’s opening years.

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Celtic had won the League in 1893 and 1894, becoming the first team to retain the title as sole champions. The Bhoys wanted to build on this in 1894-95, including winning the Scottish Cup, which was then seen as the country’s top prize.

In Celtic’s first Scottish Cup tie that season, they met Queen’s Park. The Spiders were then the top team in the competition, but Celtic easily disposed of them with a 4-1 scoreline. At the same time, Hibs demolished Forfar Athletic, winning 6-1 in Edinburgh. This set up a meeting between the two green teams in the following round.

Newspapers claimed that Hibs had been praying for such a draw. A great many people associated with Hibs disliked Celtic, and wanted the chance to beat them on the pitch. Reflecting the two club’s Irish heritage and political debate of the time, one journalist stated that the game would have “daggers drawn”, because “the teams have as much regard for each other as the Redmondites have for the ‘Antis’.”

In a resentment that can still be witnessed to this day, Hibs blamed Celtic for their “extinction.” They had been Scotland’s dominant Irish club prior to Celtic’s formation, and helped the Glasgow club’s rise. Then they suffered an enormous collapse. Hibs especially resented many of their best players switching to Celtic Park.

Whilst there is some truth in this, it is also partially selective. In those days, there was no professionalism and so players were not tied to clubs in a way which would later be the case. Also, it ignores the reality that Hibs often took players from other sides, such as Ayrshire’s Cronberry Eglinton.

The Scottish Cup tie involved a trip to the east coast for Celtic. Playing at Easter Road on 15 December 1894, it was expected to be a tough game. There was pre-match excitement; one reporter predicted it would be one of the “greatest ever ties” seen in “Scotia’s capital.”

A huge crowd was present, attracted by the pairing of Scotland’s two main Irish clubs, and Celtic’s first visit to Easter Road. Hibs hoped to capitalise on this interest. Pre-match adverts said there would be no half-time admission, forcing fans to attend the full game and pay full price.

This did nothing to dampen enthusiasm, indeed it was quite the opposite. One report described a “torrent” of fans pushing into the ground. There were even fears that too big a crowd would gain entry, and perhaps spill onto the pitch. This did not eventually happen, although some sections of Easter Road were said to be dangerously overcrowded.

The condition of the pitch also attracted comment. One match preview suggested that Celtic would struggle on this because the state of the turf made it “no place for sand dancers,” implying it would blunt the technical skills of the Celtic team.

Although it was in Edinburgh and three-quarters of fans backed the home men, a local journalist said the Celts got the loudest cheered when they arrived, ahead of the 2.15pm kick off. In a reminder of the extra edge attached to this game, when Celtic won the coin toss, this was greeted with jeers and complaints by the home fans.

Reflecting this challenge, the Celts had a strong team: McArthur, Dunbar, Doyle, Maley, Kelly, McEleny, Madden, Blessington, Cassidy, Campbell, Divers. Despite this, it was the home men that started best, but Celtic eventually settled.

The goalkeepers at each end were kept busy, to the delight of those spectators present. A good interception from one Hibs man – whilst Celtic’s Blessington was said to be “diddling” on the ball – also cheered the home section. However, when half-time arrived, there were not yet any goals.

In the second half, this would very quickly change. Within a minute of restarting, it was the Edinburgh men who had cause for celebration. The ball fell to Michael Murray – who has the strange distinction of playing for and against Celtic in their first league-winning season – and he “smartly tipped the leather past Dunbar” in the Celtic goal.

The Bhoys sought an equaliser, but without luck. As a sign of their troubles, even a penalty could not help. Following a foul, Johnny Madden took the kick but McGinn in the Hibs goal tipped it over the bar.

In the last minute, the hopes of the Glasgow East End men were truly extinguished. Dan Doyle was penalised for handball, and a Murphy free-kick was deflected into the net by Cassidy. The home team led 2-0, which was the final score.

The Edinburgh Irish had claimed a big win and there were huge celebrations. In a nod to the tensions which existed between the teams, the Scottish Referee publication had a headline which read “Revenge is sweet.”

The Hibs team were showered with compliments afterwards, and tipped to repeat their 1887 experience by winning the Scottish Cup. In particular, reporters praised the performance of young Robert Neil, suggesting his efforts had made a huge difference, a fact which later became of huge significance.

Continues on the next page and there’s a major twist in this story…

Despite the match being finished, that wasn’t the end of the story. In those days, protests against results were common. This tended to be for different issues, including complaints linked to bad weather, limited light, refereeing decisions and other issues too. Now Celtic had a grievance about Hibs. The Glasgow men said two Hibs players had played games for other teams and so should have been ineligible.

A hearing was held by the Scottish FA, to consider this and other protests concerning other games. In another example of differences between the 1890s and modern day, this meeting took place on Christmas Day 1894. Celtic identified issues related two Hibs men; Michael Murray, the scorer of the first goal, and also Robert Neil, considered by many to be man of the match.

Eventually, the protest about Murray was withdrawn. However, Celtic produced evidence that after signing for Hibs, Neil had gone on to play for Airdrie, without being given SFA permission to do so. This meant that he was ineligible for the Celtic game. After much discussions, the SFA voted 12-3 in favour of replaying the Hibs versus Celtic game.

Celtic had been given the Christmas gift of a Scottish Cup reprieve, and would have another chance to march on through the rounds. This meant a second trip to Edinburgh, two weeks after the last one. The Bhoys would have been in Scotland’s capital city either way that day; the Scottish Cup replay meant postponing a Celtic visit to Tynecastle.

In advance of the game, newspapers were very critical of Celtic’s decision to protest, and suggested they should no longer be in the competition. One Edinburgh-based reporter even said that the Bhoys had a smaller group of supporters in the replayed game because people in the east and west of Scotland were angry at the club.

Hibs also provoked some complaints with one of their decisions. The home team decided to significantly raise prices for the replayed game, partly to reduce the numbers but also seeing a chance to make extra money. Usually the prices were 6d (pence) for entry, and free for women, and then extra to sit down. However, for the second game, the only advertised price was one shilling.

Jerry Reynolds, Celtic FC. Image via The Celtic Wiki

Celtic had one change to their team from the first game: Jerry Reynolds replaced Tom Dunbar in defence. Bizarrely, Hibs were allowed to play Robert Neil, who had caused the replay! This was due to the fact that the Scottish FA could give permission, but it had not been sought before the first game.

Dan McArthur, Celtic FC

It was a typical winter day, full of snow and wind, which also had the impact of further reducing the number of spectators. Again, Hibs started best but without any breakthrough. Celtic’s ‘keeper Dan McArthur had an amazing game; one report claimed he must have made a deal with the Devil in exchange for his performance.

Once more, it was 0-0 at the interval. And in another repeat, the deadlock was again broken early in the second half. However, this time it was Celtic that cheered. A Hibs attack was broken up by defender Dan Doyle, and the Celt knocked forward the ball, which found its way to John Divers. He struck to give his team the lead.

John Divers scored. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Now Celtic chased a decisive second goal. At one point, Johnny Campbell thought he had achieved this, but it was ruled out for offside, much to the fury of the Glasgow team. But when Celtic did finally get another, it was Hibs’ turn to vociferously protest.

The Celts were awarded a free-kick, which was to be taken by Dan Doyle. In those days, you could not score directly from a free kick. Doyle struck the ball which ended up in the net, and the goal was awarded. Hibs said it had not been touched by anyone else, however the Celts claimed that Campbell had managed to get a slight connection on the ball.

At this point, the game came close to ending. Hibs players walked off the park and refused to play. This only ended when the Hibs’ club president came onto the park to stop this. He was joined by some fans and for a period, it seemed that violence was an option. Eventually, the game was able to restart.

By the time the 90 minutes were reached, no further goals had been added. The Celts had reversed the first game and won 2-0, although they were still not safely through. At first, they needed a police presence to protect them as they made their way back to the changing rooms.

Charles McEleny, Celtic FC. Image via The Celtic Wiki

Furthermore, Hibs had a protest of their own. They claimed that Celtic’s Charles McEleny was also ineligible, meaning the game should again be replayed, or even awarded to them. However, this time the complaint was rejected. Celtic were through to the next round of the Scottish Cup.

This wasn’t an entirely popular outcome. Celtic were repeatedly accused of poor sportsmanship for their initial protest. It was also suggested that they had played so poorly in the first game that they would lose in the next round anyway. This proved to be an accurate prediction.

In the third round, the Bhoys went to Dens Park. Hibs may have cheered on the Tayside men as Celtic lost 1-0 to Dundee and exited the competition. That season, an Edinburgh team won the Scottish Cup: St Bernard’s, who beat Renton in the final.

The maiden competitive match between Hibs and Celtic definitely took place in December 1894. However, the specific game you think counts as being first may depend on which of the sides you support. Hopefully tomorrow’s match sees the Glasgow green-and-whites once again claim the ultimate victory.

Matthew Marr

Follow Matthew on X @hailhailhistory

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