Celtic, League Cup Finals and the Number 13

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The Celtic Star

·13 dicembre 2025

Celtic, League Cup Finals and the Number 13

Whatever happens in Sunday’s League Cup Final, the number 13 will feature heavily in events…

Wilfried Nancy will become the 13th man to lead the Celts in a League Cup Final as permanent manager. The first manager to do it was Jimmy McGrory, and most recently Ange Postecoglou was added to this list.

Photo Vagelis Georgariou

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The one exception came in 2000. That year, Celtic beat Aberdeen to claim the trophy, but did so under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, who was only a temporary appointment. Dalglish was also the 13th different man to score for Celtic in the League Cup Final.

Since the New Year bells rang on 1 January 2000 – and including that final under King Kenny – Celtic have won the League Cup on 12 occasions. Victory at Hampden this weekend will of course mean that number changes to 13.

(L-R) Willie Fernie, Billy McPhail, Neilly Mochan and Sammy Wilson. Photo The Celtic Wiki

So far, players from 13 different countries have scored for the Celts in a League Cup Final. Unsurprisingly, the first of these was Scotland, with Billy McPhail doing this in 1956. The most recent nationality added to the list was Germany thanks to Nicholas Kuhn in 2024.

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

On Sunday, Celtic could move off the ‘unlucky 13’ position. Possible scorers that would change this number include Auston Trusty (USA), Arne Engels and Michel-Ange Balikwisha (both Belgium), Sebastian Tounekti (Tunisia) or Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria).

This will be the first time that the Celts have faced St Mirren at the final stage of this specific competition. Therefore, the Buddies will join one of two lists: either teams that Celtic have beaten or lost to in the League Cup Final.

Sunday however will not the first time that Celtic have played St Mirren in a major cup final. Twice the two sides have gone head-to-head to claim the Scottish Cup, with Celtic winning in 1908 and the Buddies going home happy in 1926.

Hampden in the Sun – Celtic 7 Rangers 1

Celtic’s success in the League Cup began with a win against Partick Thistle (after a replay) in 1956, before a famous 7-1 victory over Rangers the following year.

Since then, Aberdeen, both Dundee clubs, Dunfermline, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone have looked on sadly at green-and-white celebrations. The most recent side Celtic beat for the first time to win the League Cup was the second Rangers in last season’s final.

Callum McGregor leads the Celtic celebrations with his players after lifting The Premier Sports Cup after the victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star

So far, the Celts have beaten 11 different teams to claim the League Cup. Victory against the Paisley men would move this to 12. Who might be the 13th? If you believe online rumours, perhaps it could be a third Ibrox team… Of course, the Celts have also been on the end of final defeats too. This first happened against the original Rangers in the 1964-65 season. Further losses have taken place against Partick Thistle, Hibs, Dundee, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

Misery for Paul McStay in the League Cup Final penalty shoot-out against Raith Rovers at Ibrox in 1994. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Raith Rovers of course famously beat Celtic in the 1994. This gives them a rare claim to fame, one shared with Third Lanark. The Fife men are the only team that Celtic have played in a League Cup Final without beating, something that is also true for Third Lanark and the Scottish Cup.

A win on Sunday would mean the Celts have won the League Cup 23 times, still five times fewer than the combined records of both Ibrox clubs. Defeat would mean Celtic have lost 16 finals, more than any other team in Scotland.

Celtic’s often poor record in League Cup Finals is dominated by a very poor run from the early-1970s to the mid-1990s. In that era, the Bhoys played in – that number again – 13 such events, losing all but two of them.

Sunday will also be a chance for Celtic to celebrate the memory of prolific striker John ‘Dixie’ Deans, who sadly died this week. In Celtic’s 13th League Final (in October 1974), he scored a hat-trick as the Celts hammered Hibernian 6-3.

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This made him the only man in Celtic’s history – and indeed Scottish football – to score a hat-trick in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup Finals, a significant achievement probably unlikely to be matched any time soon.

Traditionally, we think of 13 being an unlucky number. However, Sunday will hopefully prove to be the opposite for the Celts. Come on you Bhoys in green!

Matthew Marr

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