The Story of Celtic’s St Mungo Cup Triumph 75 Years Ago Today | OneFootball

It is well-known that Celtic had strong religious influences in their early days. 75 years ago today (1 August 1951), you can argue that another holy connection once gave Celtic an important tournament victory…

Celtic – Saint Mungo Cup Winners 1st August 1951. Image Celtic Curio

Saint Mungo is famously the patron saint of Glasgow. In the Parkhead trophy room is a prize in his name that the Celts won in the 1950s.

Football competitions were often held as part of national exhibitions and events. Celtic had enjoyed victory in the 1938 Empire Exhibition Cup and also reached the finals of the 1888 and 1901 Glasgow Exhibition tournaments.

In 1951, the Festival of Britain took place. This involved events and shows being held across Britain, from Bournemouth to Inverness and numerous other locations too. In Glasgow, attractions included book and film festivals as well as different exhibits.

St Mungo Cup, The Celtic Wiki

Another Scottish feature of this festival was a football contest organised by the Glasgow Corporation, although it contained clubs from across the country. This was named the St Mungo Cup and took place across July and August 1951, featuring 16 Scottish teams.

Originally, the event was meant to be smaller and involve only Glasgow sides as well as four east coast clubs. However, the excluded teams protested and were thus included.

Celtic approached this event with great confidence. Although the 1950s are not generally considered one of Celtic’s most successful eras, the Bhoys had recently claimed the Scottish Cup thanks to victory over Motherwell.

However, there were some concerns that the Bhoys might be fatigued for the St Mungo Cup. Following the Hampden triumph, Celtic had gone on their second visit to North America, playing nine games across the USA and Canada, facing teams such as Fulham and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Celtic and the St Mungo Cup, 1951. Press cutting from Celtic View

They returned to Scotland just over two weeks before the opening match in the St Mungo Cup. For this, Celtic were drawn to play Hearts. On 14 July 1951, the Edinburgh men made a westwards journey to come to Celtic Park, doing so on a very sunny day.

The first half was a tight affair. Hearts thought they had taken the lead, but it was ruled out for offside. And then on 35 minutes, Jimmy Walsh put the home team ahead.

In the second half, John McPhail extended this lead with the Celts seemingly on course for round two. And then came the third Celtic scorer of the day – except unfortunately for Alex Rollo it was an own-goal. Still, Celtic held on to claim a 2-1 win.

Celtic and the St Mungo Cup, 1951. Matchday ticket

In the other first round matches, seven teams made it through to the second round. These were Aberdeen, Motherwell, Hibs, Queen of the South, Raith Rovers, St Mirren and Clyde.

The first round signalled that it was going to be an exciting tournament. Warm weather and good football had attracted 171,000 fans to the eight games, and these featured 35 goals to cheer. Raith were the big winners, beating Queen’s Park 9-0 whilst Aberdeen also had high hopes of success after they defeated Rangers at Pittodrie.

If Celtic had only narrowly won their first-round tie, the next match proved to be an even trickier affair, one that would not be settled on the first day.

St Mungo Cup, The Celtic Wiki

On 19 July 1951, Celtic’s opponents were their near neighbours, Clyde. However, the match took place in Glasgow’s west end at the home of Partick Thistle. 29,000 were present – and what a match they witnessed.

If ever the term ‘Firhill for thrills’ was appropriate, it was for this encounter. By half-time, a double from Alec Linwood had put Clyde in control of the game, with one foot in the next round.

But Celtic were not yet finished. Two quick goals from Jimmy Walsh and Bobby Collins equalised proceedings early in the second half. Except no sooner had this happened than Clyde were again in front thanks to Tommy Ring before Archie Robertson restored the Shawfield men’s two-goal lead.

Eight minutes remained and Celtic again needed two goals – and quickly. Firstly, John McPhail got the second fightback underway and then Bobby Collins’ second of the game levelled things. There was even time for McPhail to hit the crossbar, but this game ended 4-4.

The next night, it was time to go again. Fans must have hoped for a repeat of the previous entertainment, and in a way, this is what happened, for one of the teams anyway.

The Celts echoed their four-goal exploits from the night before. Sean Fallon scored twice, one either side of the half-time interval and Bertie Peacock made it three-nil. Although Clyde pulled back one, it was to be their own only reason to cheer. A final goal from Jimmy Walsh gave Celtic a fourth and a comfortable passage to the next stage.

The Bhoys were joined in the semi-finals by Aberdeen and Hibernian, along with Raith Rovers. The Fife team had matched Celtic in needing a replay to get through. In fact, other than the Aberdeen match all other quarter-finals had taken place at Celtic Park.

Raith’s reward for winning their tie was a trip to Hampden to face the Celts. On 28 July 1951, 30,000 supporters made their way to Glasgow’s southside. On this occasion, there was no doubt about the identity of Celtic’s star man.

Jimmy Walsh struck early to give the Hoops the lead. However, for the second game running, an own-goal evened up the match as the unfortunate John McGrory scored against his own team.

In the second half, Celtic stepped up a gear. Walsh grabbed his second of the day almost as soon as the second period got underway and in the 65th minute, he completed his hat-trick. With a 3-1 victory, Celtic would be heading back to Hampden for the final.

Their opponents were Aberdeen, who overcame St Mirren by 2-1, following a replay. The first match had ended in a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park before the decisive fixture was held at Pittodrie.

The St Mungo Cup final took place on 1 August 1951 and was a fantastic game. 80,000 crowded into Hampden and they were well-rewarded for their attendance.

Aberdeen had been going well throughout the tournament and in the first-half, they seemed destined to claim the prize. First, Harry Yorston gave them the lead and then former Celt Tommy Bogan doubled the red advantage.

For the third time in the tournament – across two games – Celtic were two goals behind. Going in with this deficit at half-time might have proved fatal so thankfully they got one back before the break. Most sources say this was Sean Fallon although some credit Charlie Tully.

Now trailing by only one, Celtic fought back in the final 45 minutes. Four minutes into this time, Celtic’s second of the day was scored and this time it was definitely Fallon who got his name on the scoresheet. Back from two goals down, the Bhoys went in search of a third.

With twenty minutes remaining, Charlie Tully got to the bye-line and put in a cross. Despite claims that the ball had gone out, the referee did not award this. Instead, Jimmy Walsh was there again to score Celtic’s third goal, and the one that proved decisive in a 3-2 victory.

This was a particular achievement for Walsh who had now scored in all of Celtic’s games throughout the tournament.

The Bhoys had won the St Mungo Cup – but the trophy ceremony was very different from the modern era. Rather than handing over the prize on the park, instead an awards ceremony was later held at the Kelvin Hall.

3000 Celtic fans were in the hall to see this handover, having paid 1 shilling and 6 pence for entry. 1500 of these were bought by one man who represented the Celtic Supporters’ Association.

Despite the requirement for tickets to attend, there was still a busy and chaotic scene at the event. One fan who was refused entry tried to break through to get the players and was arrested for his troubles.

The trophy was handed over by Mary Wishart, the Lady Provost and wife of Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Victor Warren.

However, now that Celtic had the trophy, problems began! A handle fell off the prize, and it also seemed strange that the design included mermaids.

A jeweller advised Celtic that it was not a new cup and instead a second-hand prize, having begun life as a yachting trophy in the 1890s and then being used as a Glasgow police sports reward.

The Bhoys initially demanded a new trophy be purchased to recognise their achievement. Given the costs involved, arguments soon emerged about this, not least about who would pay for it. For instance, was it to be the Scottish FA or Glasgow Corporation?

Eventually Celtic backed down and agreed to keep the St Mungo competition trophy that they were given. The players at least were content with their financial reward for competing. The Celts received £50 each for playing five times in the tournament, with £10 per game being the appearance fee.

The day of the trophy handover included another interesting piece of Celtic history, one that was connected to their American excursion. One player they had seen on the trip was invited to Scotland for a trial game, which took place before the ceremony.

Celtic – Saint Mungo Cup Winners 1st August 1951. Image Celtic Curio

Jamaican-born Gil Heron would become Celtic’s first ever black player, appearing five times across 1951 and 1952 before signing for Third Lanark for a brief period. Arguably his biggest claim to fame concerns his son, Gil Scott-Heron who was a renowned singer and musician.

Despite initial complaints about the trophy, the St Mungo Cup stands proudly in the Celtic Park trophy room. It is another important part of Celtic’s story with the Bhoys continuing their proud record of victory in one-off competitions.

Bobby Evans collects the St Mungo Cup. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic have won numerous competitions over the years which are not always well remembered. To address this, a two-part book series by Matthew Marr called ‘Green, white and silverware’ will be released later in 2026. You can get details of this by following Hail Hail History on Twitter/X and Bluesky, or reading Celtic Shorts…

Matthew Marr

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