Cork City v Celtic: Matches Of The Past | OneFootball

Brendan Rodgers’ double winning Celtic side got the wheels in motion with a narrow victory over Queen’s Park in the week, and now they prepare to take on Cork City in Ireland on Tuesday night. Though meetings between the two sides are far from regular, this scheduled pre-season match will not be first time that the teams have met.

The Bhoys first visited the Rebel County in 1963, when they beat a Cork Select 4-0 during a short tour of Ireland. However, it was not until July 1991 that the Celts competed against Cork City Football Club specifically. On that occasion, 6,000 people witnessed the hosts, who were assistant managed by former Celt Mike Conroy, beat Celtic 2-0. It was City’s finest hour, according to the Cork Examiner newspaper.

A year later, in July 1992, Celtic got revenge over Cork with a victory of the same scoreline, in front of the same crowd. Indeed, 6,000 spectators saw the Hoops win 2-0 thanks to goals from the two Tommy’s – Coyne and Boyd.

Two years later, once again in July (1994), the teams met in Cork again. Tommy Burns had taken over from Lou Macari at that stage and this fixture gave him a chance to have a look at the squad in action. Burns saw his team win 3-2, a result which he described as “good”, but he claimed “we can be an awful lot better.” The match ebbed and flowed with Paul McStay giving the visitors an early lead, before Woods levelled for Cork. Three minutes later, Simon Donnelly restored the lead and John Collins added a third. Liam Murphy grabbed a consolation for the home team – the Irishman had scored against Celtic in previous matches too.

Cork had to wait until July 2001 to host Celtic again, where a crowd dominated by hooped shirts gave a rousing reception to Martin O’Neill and a fit again Morten Wieghorst. Celtic came from a goal down to win the game 3-2, courtesy of goals from Jackie McNamara and Mark Burchill (2).

Finally, the most recent encounter between the clubs took place in September 2009. This time it was a benefit match to help the financially struggling Irish outfit. Unfortunately, the fixture clashed with an international break in which the Republic of Ireland were playing, so a meagre crowd of 3,500 turned up. Celtic’s XI was very much second string, but Marc Wilson, Mark Crosas and future first team star Paddy McCourt did play; Barry Robson also featured on his return from injury. An early goal from the Derry Pele was the difference between the teams as Celtic ran out 1-0 winners, and Cork City were offered a financial lifeline from the fixture.

Overall, matches between Cork City and Celtic have been very close run affairs on Irish soil. Let’s see how Tuesday night takes shape.