The start of a long history of notable Celtic games at Fir Park

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The Celtic Star

·30 dicembre 2025

The start of a long history of notable Celtic games at Fir Park

It’s appropriate that Celtic’s final game of 2025 will take place at Motherwell’s home venue. This year marked the 130th anniversary of Fir Park, with Celtic doing the honours in opening the ground. It started a long history of notable Celtic games at Fir Park…

Fir Park, photo by Vagelis Georgariou

The Lanarkshire club had played in different venues since their inception. In 1895, they moved to their current ground, Fir Park. Like Celtic, their land was rented from a Lord: in the two cases, it was Lord Newlands for Celtic and Lord Hamilton of Dalzell for Motherwell.

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Like Celtic Park in this era, the early Fir Park looked very different from the modern venue. It featured a small stand and also basic terracing around the pitch. This would be full for the Celts’ visit.

Around 6000 fans came to open Fir Park. The match had numerous dignitaries in attendance. According to newspapers, various club officials, local politicians and a Father Collins watched the game.

Portrait of John Glass – Celtic Founding Father. Photo The Celtic Wiki

In the days that each club provided a linesman, Celtic’s President John Glass acted as one of these. The Celtic XI featured some famous club names, including renowned early goalkeeper Dan McArthur, defender Barney Battles and attacker John Divers.

Early Celtic legend Barney Battles, born in Springburn on 13 January 1875. Image by Celtic Curio

In this era, it was common for non-players to kick-off matches. Lanarkshire FA President Alex Kirkwood – who would later become SFA President – started the proceedings. From the earliest moment, it was obvious this would be a one-sided encounter.

John Divers scored. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Shortly after the match got underway, the Bhoys went ahead. John Divers became the first ever player to score at Fir Park. By half-time, it was 6-1 to Celtic. Thomas Smith did at least get Motherwell’s first goal at the ground.

In the second half, Celtic were not quite so dominant, although added two further goals. By full-time, the first Fir Park game had ended Motherwell 1-8 Celtic. The Bhoys had not proved to be the most gracious of first visitors to the ground!

The big scoreline continued a pattern involving Celtic and eight goals in Motherwell. The Bhoys’ first visit to the Lanarkshire town came in 1889, a little over ten months after Celtic’s first ever game.

At that point, Motherwell were playing at Dalziel Park. On 6 April, 5000 fans were present to watch the visit of Celtic, and another one-sided affair. By half-time, the Glasgow men had a comfortable 4-1 lead, and when full-time was called, the scoreline now read 8-3.

Celtic’s first games in Motherwell and at Fir Park featured the number eight. However, on another occasion, eight brought a very different and negative Lanarkshire experience for the Bhoys.

Celtic Scottish Cup winners 1937. Photo The Celtic Wiki

On 30 April 1937, the Celts travelled to face Motherwell in the final League game of the season. Celtic would finish third in the title race, but the previous week had beaten Aberdeen to win the Scottish Cup. As such, the Glasgow men were in a confident and positive mood.

However, judging by the 90 minutes that followed, they should not have been. By half-time, the scoreline read four-nil to the home men. The Bhoys were truly demoralised, and things soon got much worse.

Celtic in the Thirties – Unpublished works of David Potter – Joe Kennaway. image by Celtic Curio for Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr out now at celticstarbooks.com

A problem with injuries took Celtic down to nine men, including losing their goalkeeper, Joe Kennaway. This meant attacker Willie Buchan had to take his place in between the goalposts.

Unsurprisingly, none of this helped improve the Celts’ performance. Instead, things declined further. When the referee sounded the final whistle, it was Motherwell who claimed an 8-0 victory. And for the Bhoys’ team, the only thing they took from that day was being part of Celtic’s heaviest ever defeat.

Back in 1895, when Celtic played the opening game at Fir Park, there was one unusual aspect to the story. Specifically, it wasn’t the only time that the Celts played that day. As one Celtic team had been hammering Motherwell, another was involved in a game at Celtic Park. Using a different starting XI, the Bhoys welcomed Belfast Glentoran to Glasgow, and the home men won 6-0 in that match.

Playing twice in the same day is rare, but Celtic have done this more than once. One other occasion also featured Fir Park and was an even more momentous event…

During World War One, games in the Scottish League continued to take place. Although some people were opposed to football being played whilst war was on, others felt that it was important for morale that sports go on, although the Scottish Cup was not held at this time.

Celtic were very successful in this era. Before the war began, the Celts were title holders, and then they also won the 1915, 1916 and 1917 titles. Rangers claimed the 1918 one, the last before war came to an end in November of that year.

Although football was still going on, there were some changes to the sport. As well as limits being placed on players’ wages, there were also restrictions about when games were allowed to be played. As such, in season 1915-16, Celtic were struggling to complete all their fixtures.

To try and overcome this problem, they decided to April 1916. It proved to be a huge day.

On 15 April 1916, Celtic firstly welcomed Raith Rovers to Glasgow’s east end. A big win for Celtic brought cheer for different reasons. For one thing, the Bhoys’ 6-0 win set a new scoring record for the Scottish League in one season. And another, it left Celtic on the brink of winning the championship.

After beating Raith, the Celts weren’t finished and had a journey to undertake. They travelled to Fir Park to play their second match of the day. This resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Bhoys, and it meant that for the 13th time, Celtic were the champions.

Black Sunday

When it comes to League-winning matches, Fir Park has been a mixed venue for the Celts. They might have celebrated in 1916, but this was most definitely not the case in May 2005. Instead, on that day the Bhoys suffered something of a footballing disaster.

Martin O’Neill’s team travelled to Motherwell for the final fixture of the season. They simply needed a win to claim the title. However, the match took place under something of a cloud. Owing to his wife’s illness, O’Neill had surprisingly announced that he was going to leave the club.

Although the Bhoys went one ahead thanks to a Chris Sutton goal, they could not get a second to give themselves breathing room. This would soon be a matter of great regret. With two minutes remaining, Scott McDonald equalised for the home team, and then scored the winner just afterwards. From Celtic’s point of view, the term ‘Black Sunday’ became permanently associated with this day.

However, on a much brighter note, one Fir Park visit helped send the Celts to the road to Lisbon. 1965 was a major year for Celtic; it saw the arrival of Jock Stein, who went on to win the Scottish Cup, the Celts’ first major trophy in eight years.

As a result of this, season 1965-66 started with positive Celtic hopes in Stein’s first full season in charge. By May 1966, Celtic stood on the verge of their first title since 1954. On the final day of the season, they travelled to Fir Park.

Before the match began, it was a near certainty that the Celts would be champions. They sat level on points with nearest challengers, Rangers, and the Bhoys had a much better goal average. Only a massive defeat by Motherwell could change things.

Despite this, the Celts wanted to win the title under their own steam. And, going back to 1937, they did know that big defeats can happen to Celtic at Fir Park!

As the match went on, no team could find the net. Celtic it seemed would win the League by a point in an otherwise forgettable 0-0 draw. That is until the final minute when Bobby Lennox grabbed a late winner to send the fans into delirium – including some that sat atop a roof at Fir Park to watch!

Not only was the Bhoys’ first League title in 12 years – and the first of nine successive championships – it also took Celtic into the 1966-67 European Cup. This would, of course, end in the club’s greatest day when they beat Inter Milan to claim Europe’s top footballing prize.

The Celts have another sad connection with Fir Park. One of the stands at the ground is named after Phil O’Donnell, a former Celtic player. He had originally played for Motherwell before moving to Celtic in 1994, becoming the Bhoys’ then most expensive signing.

By 2004 – and after a stint in England – he was back in Lanarkshire and later became ‘Well captain. But in 2007, a genuine tragedy took place, not simply a footballing defeat. On 29 December, Motherwell played Dundee United. During the game, O’Donnell collapsed and died when aged only 35.

An empty Celtic Park, as an Old Firm match was due to take place was cancelled due to the sudden death off Phil O’Donnell, January 2, 2008 in Glasgow, Scotland. Phil O’Donnell aged 35, collapsed near the end of the match between Motherwell and Dundee United. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The footballing world was shocked, as were the Celts. It led to the postponement of different games, including Celtic matches. The Bhoys and Motherwell later played a benefit game to help O’Donnell’s family. And to this day, an annual walk celebrates O’Donnell’s life, going from Fir Park to Celtic Park.

Celtic Park will always be the location with the most important place in the Celts’ history. But numerous other Scottish football grounds have a central place in the Bhoys’ story. Fir Park is certainly one of these, with numerous tales of goals, victories and League-winning celebrations. Hopefully this month’s game is the latest reason for Celtic cheer.

Matthew Marr

If you want to learn more about Celtic history, follow Hail Hail History on 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.