The remarkable story of Celtic at Tannadice

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The Celtic Star

·22 de março de 2026

The remarkable story of Celtic at Tannadice

Celtic today head to Tannadice for what is a must win match for the defending Champions. At stake are three points and the chance to again pressure Hearts at the top of table…

Massimo Donati and Neil Lennon of Celtic celebrate victory at the final whistle during the Premier League match between Dundee United and Celtic at Tannadice Stadium on May 22, 2008. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Celtic this morning trail Hearts by FIVE points after their 1-0 win over Dundee at Tynecastle yesterday afternoon and the Hoops also have a two points deficit on the Rangers after their 4-1 win at Ibrox over Aberdeen last night.

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The remarkable story of Celtic at Tannadice

Dundee United’s ground was one that offered little success for the Celts in its early years. It took the club decades to win a league game there!

Tannadice was originally called Clepington Park. It was used by various teams, including Dundee Wanderers. Celtic did actually play at Clepington Park in an 1894 friendly against the appropriately named Dundonians.

Dundee Hibernian used it from 1909 – amid some controversy – then in 1923 they changed their name to Dundee United.

Celtic did not go to Tannadice to play Dundee Hibernian. The Bhoys first visit was to meet Dundee United in 1925. Playing in a League game, the Celts lost 1-0 before a crowd of around 20,000, then a ground record.

For Celtic’s next Tannadice visit (in April 1927) they did at least avoid defeat. In another league game, fans were hugely entertained by a 3-3 draw. The Bhoys had been two goals down but fought back to equalise.

Peter Scarff, Celtic FC.Image by Celtic Curio for Celtic in the Thirties (Vol 1 & 2) by Matt Corr.

It took Celtic until 1931 to finally win at Tannadice. That match was a February Scottish Cup fixture. On a snowy day, the Celts came from behind to win 3-2 with Peter Scarff scoring twice and Charlie Napier getting the other Celtic goal – and then went on to win the Scottish Cup (beating Motherwell in the final).

Charlie Napier image from Celtic Curio for Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr out now on Celtic Star Books.

However, Celtic still didn’t have a League win at Tannadice, despite other attempts. Changing that took until 1962, almost 40 years after first visiting! Admittedly United were not in the top league for much of that time, but it was clearly still something of a bogey ground for the Bhoys.

In January 1962, it was another hugely entertaining fixture as the Celts won 5-4, although they had been 5-1 up at one point! Afterwards, manager Jimmy McGrory was angered by Celtic’s complacency.

Tannadice has one unique claim during Celtic’s greatest season – it was the only Scottish venue where the Celts lost in 1966-67. In fact, Dundee United were the only team that Celtic failed to beat at least once. They actually won BOTH matches against the side that would soon sit atop the European pile (in this days teams played each other once at home and once away in the league).

Ronnie Simpson makes a save at Tannadice. Dundee Utd 3-2 Celtic, 31 December 1966. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Since then, Tannadice has been a very positive venue for Celtic. Apart from Rugby Park (with five), it’s the away ground where the Hoops have most commonly won the title. This has happened four times, in: 1981, 2008, 2022 and most recently in 2025.