The story of Celtic’s dramatic league title play-off victory over Rangers

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The Celtic Star

·20 de mayo de 2025

The story of Celtic’s dramatic league title play-off victory over Rangers

The Celts clinched the League title weeks and on Saturday they received the Scottish Premiership trophy at a sold-out Celtic Park…

Celtic Champions 2025 – Post match title winning celebrations after the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St Mirren at Celtic Park on May 17, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

However, 120 years ago, Celtic clinched the League title in very different and unusual circumstances. In doing so, they became the only Scottish football club to ever do this and emerge as sole winners.

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On 6 May 1905, Celtic went to Hampden to face Rangers. At stake was not a trophy such as the Scottish Cup. Instead, victory meant the winners of this playoff would be the League champions.

Season 1904-05 proved to be a memorable and successful one for the Bhoys. Back in August 1904, in the words of one newspaper, “they began their intercourse for the season” and went on to claim two cups, winning the Glasgow Cup and Charity Cup.

Celtic also performed well in the League, although were often behind Rangers. With two games to play, the Bhoys went to Ibrox for a must-win fixture, or their title hopes were gone. A stirring performance meant the green-and-white hooped men gained a 4-1 win, following it up with a 6-2 victory over Motherwell.

This ensured that Celtic finished the season on 41 points. However, unfortunately, this was also the case for Rangers.

In those days, the only thing that could separate teams was a points difference; actions such as goal difference or goal average were not yet used. Instead, in these circumstances, a special one-off game was held to decide the destination of the League flag.

1905 was not the first time such a game had taken place, although it is the only occasion that there has been a definitive result.

In the first season of the Scottish League – back in 1890-91 – Rangers and Dumbarton each topped the table with 29 points. A playoff game was held which ended in a draw, and so the title was instead shared. That’s 50% each so when they these days talk about 55 they include Dumbarton’s share, so it should really be 54.5 IF you include the one title won by the latest Ibrox club, or 53.5 if you don’t.

Therefore, to settle the question of who would be 1905 champions, a playoff was to be arranged between Celtic and Rangers. However, before this could take place, the two sides met in the Scottish Cup. To say the least, it was a controversial game.

Donald McLeod (Celtic FC). Photo The Celtic Wiki

On 25 March 1905, Rangers came to Celtic Park for a semi-final tie. Celtic dominated the opening 20 minutes, but an injury to defender Donald McLeod meant the Celts were down to 10 men, in the days before substitutes were allowed.

Jimmy Quinn, Celtic FC, photo The Celtic Wiki

Although it was still even at half-time, in the second half, Rangers made their numerical advantage count, scoring in the 65th and 80th minutes. It seemed there was no way back for Celtic, and this was definitely the case when forward Jimmy Quinn was sent off, putting his team down to nine men.

At this point, chaos began amongst the spectators. Some Celtic fans were outraged at the referee and rushed onto the pitch, eventually attacking the match official. The police managed to get him to safety whilst the Rangers players took refuge too.

Order was finally restored and an attempt was made to restart the game. However, once more, many fans spilled onto the pitch, making it impossible to finish the cup tie. It was then decided to abandon the match.

Despite eight minutes remaining in the game, the decision taken by the Scottish FA was to award the win to Rangers, given that they had been leading at the time the game stopped, and also because it was deemed as Celtic’s fault that their fans had invaded the pitch.

Furthermore, Celtic specifically did not seek a replay. The Hoops noted that there had only been around 100-150 fans on the pitch – out of a crowd of 35,000 – and that most were young boys playing around, rather than engaging in serious violence. However, the club also said they wanted to send a message to fans about the consequences of pitch invasions.

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After the match, Jimmy Quinn faced problems connected to his ordering-off. Despite the Rangers defender Alec Craig writing a letter to the Scottish FA saying that Quinn had not deliberately kicked him, the Celt was still banned for a month.

Quinn also ended up going to court. The Glasgow Evening News claimed he had “savagely kicked Alec Craig” so the Celtic forward sued them and was eventually awarded damages for this false report.

In April, the Ibrox side went on to meet Third Lanark in the final, with the Warriors claiming victory. This was the last time that the Cathkin Park men won the Scottish Cup.

When 6 May 1905 came around, it was time for Celtic to face Rangers in the League playoff match. In order to ensure a fair encounter, different steps were taken. For one thing, it was to be played at the neutral venue of Hampden Park.

In addition, an outside referee was brought in for the match. Given concerns about the impartiality of Scottish officials, an English referee was chosen for this occasion. Fred Kirkham refereed English and international games, and also had a year-long spell as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

30,000 fans turned up at Hampden for the game, which kicked off at 3.30pm. It was a dry day although also very cold, and there was a noticeable wind too. After winning the coin toss, Rangers chose to play into this breeze in the first half.

David Potter’s book on Jimmy McMenemy

The opening 45 minutes of the game were relatively even. There were various attacks from both teams; Rangers came closest to scoring through Robert McColl. He was better known as RS McColl, and gave his name to the famous chain of newsagents. At the other end, Jimmy McMenemy went close for the Hoops.

It was 0-0 at the interval, and Rangers now had the backing of the wind. However, it did not help give them any obvious advantage. Instead, almost halfway through the second period, it was the Celts that first had cause to celebrate.

In the words of one newspaper, the Bhoys “moved with more unison forward” and, twenty minutes after the re-start, they took the lead. A soft shot from Jimmy McMenemy crept past Tom Sinclair in the Rangers goal. Sinclair would later have a Celtic connection; the Ibrox side loaned him to Celtic at the start of the 1906-07 season, and he went on to set a League shutout record for the Bhoys.

David Hamilton. Celtic FC. Photo The Celtic Wiki

As the Celtic fans cheered and the Rangers players tried to regroup, there was almost immediately another goal to celebrate. Straight from kick-off, Celtic went back up towards the Rangers goal. They won a corner and after this was taken, a shot from David Hamilton sneaked into the goal, doubling the Celts’ advantage.

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This may have seemed to settle the game, but Rangers had other ideas. Within five minutes, the Ibrox team’s John Robertson had halved the deficit. It was expected to be game-on for the final quarter; instead, it became scrappy, with Celtic being warned by the referee for timewasting.

Celtic Champions 1905. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Rangers’ job became even harder when they went down to ten men owing to injury, and they struggled to create any outright chances. By the time the 90th minute arrived, no further goals had been scored. The final whistle ensured that the Celts were the League champions, for the first time in the 20th century.

After the playoff match, the Daily Record’s headline read “Celtic win the rubber”, referring to the Bhoys’ victory following a tie on points. This created another ‘Old Firm’ draw as both teams had now won the title on five occasions. This was not a stalemate that would remain for long.

The 1905 League win had a momentous outcome for Celtic; it started them on the road of setting a then world record, and also a Scottish record that stood for decades, until the Hoops themselves surpassed it.

Following their 1905 success, Celtic retained the championship flag in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910. This six-in-a-row run was a then world record, and acknowledged by the Scottish League with the presentation of a special shield.

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Interestingly, during this run, Celtic’s main rivals were not Rangers. Twice the League runners-up were Dundee, twice Falkirk with Rangers and Hearts also finishing second.

Celtic 7IAR Champions 1972. Image Shoot.

Six-in-a-row remained the Scottish record until 1972 when Celtic sealed their seventh successive title in what became the famous nine-in-a-row run. In the twenty-first century, Celtic did nine-in-a-row for a second time, from 2012 to 2020.

Since 1905, arguably the closest that Celtic have come to repeating a playoff-type fixture was in 1979. At the end of Billy McNeill’s first season in charge at Parkhead, the Bhoys faced Rangers in the Hoops’ final league game of the season.

Celtic Champions 1979 – Monday 21 May 1979. Celtic 4-2 Rangers – Ten Men Won the League. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Victory was needed to ensure the title returned to Celtic Park. Despite falling behind – and going down to ten men after Johnny Doyle was sent off – the Celts fought their way to a famous 4-2 victory, ensuring that they could not be caught in the League race.

As exciting and memorable as this was, this was actually just a normal League game, albeit one which settled the title’s destination. In reality, had Celtic lost this match, Rangers would have still had to win their two remaining games to claim the title.

The 1905 playoff, however, was a very different affair. On that day, both teams entered the pitch knowing that victory would mean they would see the League championship flag hoisted above their home ground. It was a huge incentive, and one which most inspired the Celtic players.

Nowadays, teams that are tied on points at the end of a long season can be separated based on issues such as goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head results. Technically, if all of these still lead to a tie, a playoff could be used, but it is not something that’s happened since Celtic’s 1905 triumph.

It’s another small piece of Celtic history, being the only side to become Scottish champions after winning a playoff game. Which is maybe just as well – imagine the media and police hysteria which would arise if such a game had to take place now!

Matthew Marr

VISIT – https://celticwalkingtours.wordpress.com/

If you want to learn more about Celtic history, follow Hail Hail History on Twitter/X. You can also take part in a FREE Celtic history walking tour. Visit celticwalkingtours.wordpress.com for more information.

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

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books.