Celtic on this Day – SFA did two Celtic players a massive favour

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The Celtic Star

·07 de outubro de 2024

Celtic on this Day – SFA did two Celtic players a massive favour

Celtic on this Day, unusual circumstances Celtic win European tie, James Forrest scores four first half goals plus a late fightback against Gretna…

James Forrest celebrates with teammates after scoring four first half goals against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on 7 October 2018. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

7 October 2018, Celtic blow away St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in a 6-0 victory. Celtic legend James Forrest scored four goals in a 30 minute period inside the first-half. Forrest was the first Hoops player to net four times in an away game since Maciej Zurawski’s quadruple against Dunfermline at East End Park in February 2006. Edouard and McGregor netted the other two for Brendan Rodgers side who languished in second place, three points behind Rangers. Also, Danny Swanson was ordered off in the game for an absolutely disgraceful challenge on Forrest which could have led to serious injury.

Vídeos OneFootball

07/10/07. SPL Gretna 1 Celtic 2. Fir Park, Motherwell. Celtic’s Scott McDonald scores to snatch all three points in injury time for Celtic. Photo: The Celtic Wiki

17 years ago today, Gretna 1-2 Celtic. Late drama at Fir Park. Gordon Strachan’s side were possibly still in celebration mode and a potential ‘European hangover’ following a 2-1 win against Champions League holders AC Milan on the Wednesday night. The Hoops came from behind with five minutes of normal time remaining to grab three points in a memorable league encounter. Chris Killen headed home an equaliser which was soon accompanied by a dramatic Scott McDonald stoppage time winner. What is it with the Australian and Fir Park late goals? The result would prove to be a crucial won as Celtic won the 2007/2008 league campaign by a fine margin of three points.

60 years ago today, Celtic 3-0 Leixoes Matosinhos. Celtic played the match in a changed strip of all green. The first leg had finished 1-1 with duo Ian Young and Stevie Chalmers being sent off. Despite the pair being ordered off, they were eligible to play in the second leg at Parkhead. The reason for this was that if a player was sent off in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the people dealing with the misconduct were the national association. In this case, it was the SFA. However, there was no meeting with the SFA and the players, therefore both were eligible to feature in the game.

Ironically, Celtic played with 10 men in the second half of the tie following Charlie Gallacher exiting the field after being on the wrong end of a terrible challenge. There were no subs to put on. Interestingly; Celtic’s manager Jimmy McGrory missed the entirety of the second half when he slipped and fell down the stairs at Celtic Park. This led to him having to go to hospital. Chalmers (who in modern times would have been ineligible to play) scored a double, with Murdoch adding to the scoreline late on. Celtic would go onto face Barcelona in the second round of the competition.

7 October 2012, Celtic 1-0 Hearts. Samaras with the winner.

7 October 2012, Celtic 1-0 Hearts. Neil Lennon’s side were buoyant heading into the game having won their first ever Champions League away match midweek. Samaras scored the winning goal for the second game running. He did so wearing in the special strip for the 125th anniversary of the founding of our club.

The weekend was made even better for Celtic as theRangers lost 1-0 to Stirling Albion at the Fourthbank Stadium in the Third Division. They had still yet to win an away game in Scottish football’s lowest tier. In the lead up to the international break, Fraser Forster became only the second Englishman Celt to be called up to an international squad. The other being Alan Thompson. That stat remains in place to the very day.

Conor Spence

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