The first half of the ’90s wasn’t a great time for Celtic.
Between a useless board gradually driving the club to insolvency and near financial collapse and a plethora of piss poor signings there was very little to shout about on the pitch.
It had been year after year, diminishing returns for Celtic after the glorious Centenary Season where we delivered a magnificent League and Scottish Cup double.
In May 1989 we had rescued an abysmal campaign – which had seen us finish a distant third in the league behind Rangers and eliminated early from both the European and League Cups – by ending the light blues treble aspirations via defeating them 1-0 at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final.
It was a glorious day in the sunshine but little did we know it would be our last piece of silverware for another six years.
That summer we suffered the tumultuous u-turn of Maurice Johnstone’s decision to back out of a deal to rejoin his boyhood club and instead take the 21 pieces of silver offered by Graeme Souness at Rangers.
We didn’t realise it at the time but it was a body blow the club would struggle to recover from for many years.
To try and make up for it the board went on a bit of a spending spree bringing in the likes of Hearts midfielder Mike Galloway, big Paul Elliott from Italian side Pisa, the Polish internationalist striker Dariusz Dziekanowski and Aberdeen attacker John Hewitt with another Polish internationalist Dariusz Wdowczyk arriving in November and all in the best part of £2.5 million was spent in the process.
A big investment at the time. Especially by our board who were still operating out of a biscuit tin.
However it didn’t help swing our fortunes and indeed things got even worse as the team plummeted to fifth in the league by the 89/90 season’s end and lost out to Aberdeen in both cup competitions, the Scottish Cup seeing us suffer a panful final loss on penalties after a dire 0-0 draw.
Then it was onto season 1990-91.
There was a feeling our legendary manager Billy McNeill really had to get it right this time or the unthinkable could happen and he’d be fired.
The club spent big again in the summer bringing in strikers Martin Hayes from Arsenal – who proved to be about as useful as a chocolate kettle – then club legend Charlie Nicholas from Aberdeen – Charlie has since well and truly burnt his bridges though – and exciting Hibs midfielder John Collins for a club-record fee of £1 million.
The terrible form continued though with Celtic only winning seven of the first twenty league fixtures and suffering nine defeats with any title challenge effectively over by New Year at which time Rangers defeated us 2-0 at Ibrox.
We also lost out to Rangers in October in the League Cup final throwing away a lead late on.
But with the storm clouds gathering we then went on a great run of form.
It was too late to stop them winning a third consecutive title – at that stage, we were still holding out for Aberdeen to pip them as both went neck and neck at the top – but it certainly lifted the gloom around Parkhead.
That run saw us go ten domestic games unbeaten with six wins and two draws on league duty and two wins in the Scottish Cup which led to us drawing Rangers at Celtic Park in the quarter-finals.
We’d eliminated the Ibrox side a round earlier in the competition the year before in what had turned out to the highlight of the entire season.
And with it just so happening to fall on St.Patrick’s Day what better time to eject them from the tournament again.
Unusually we’d also be playing the blue half of the city the very next week in the league but that would take care of itself.
On Sunday, March 17th, 1991 it was all about the Scottish Cup.
With the stadium packed and ‘Happy Birthday St Patrick’ ringing out throughout the green side of the ground – even though it wasn’t actually his birthday – the scene was set.
Now, this was a time in the clubs history when we’d usually disappoint especially on the big stage but not this day as Celtic started the game at a frantic pace and we took the lead after only six minutes when Tommy Coyne rose high to head it on for strike partner Gerry Creaney who bulleted home a magnificent volley that gave Chris Woods no chance.
With the Rangers end silenced and the rest of the stadium in raptures, it was a rare feel-good moment for all Celtic fans.
Just over half an hour later it got even better when a Dariusz Wdowczyk free kick from about 35 yards out was deflected over the despairing Woods by Rangers’ neanderthal midfielder Terry Hurlock’s right boot.
Then minutes before half time Celtic nearly made it three through Gerry Creaney but his effort went wide of the post.
Creaney also had a header whistle just past the face of the Rangers goal about 14 minutes in the second half but by and large, football went out of the window in the second 45 mins and it kicked off big time as Rangers players began throwing hammers galore.
Peter Grant had a moment of madness nine minutes into the second period when he gave the visiting hordes their only moment of celebration all afternoon by getting himself a second yellow card and sent off for charging down a Rangers free kick long before they came close to playing the ball.
It was the type of thing you’d see in schoolboy games but ‘Peter the pointer’ as he had come to be known was no stranger to getting wrapped up in the emotion of Old Firm matches.
The fact he’d already received a yellow literally sixty seconds before it made it even more mental.
It was game on as a result or so you would have thought but the visiting side struggled to string two passes together for the entire game and Celtic going down to ten men would do little to change that.
Indeed nine minutes after Grant’s dismissal, the aforementioned Hurlock capped off an awesome day and cancelled out his side’s numerical advantage by getting himself a straight red for lashing out at Tommy Coyne with a forearm smash directly in front of referee Andrew Waddell.
Genius.
Hurlock is celebrated by some Rangers fans as a hard man enforcer but he was a bang average player who’s only discernable talent was to kick lumps out of opposition players. No surprise then that Souness signed him or that the blue masses loved him.
Up until his dismissal, Paul McStay and John Collins had been running rings around him.
On 74 minutes, Mark Walters joined Terry for the early bath as he hacked Tommy Coyne with three flying challenges within the space of about ten seconds.
Coyne really was picking them off that day.
In fairness to Walters that was unlike him. A graceful player who often gave us fits he clearly had been sucked in by frustration that his side was second best all afternoon and the fact that Coyne had just taken the ball off him with a great challenge moments previously.
Not to be outdone only two minutes later Mark Hateley got his marching orders for an off the ball incident with Anton Rogan on the touchline.
Hateley blew kisses to the Celtic fans as he exited the field of play but it was big Mark who deserved hugs and kisses to thank him for his performance in a game that saw him in Paul Elliot’s back pocket from the first whistle
Then to put the cherry on top he did Anton right in front of the linesman.
Again….genius.
Incidentally, Elliot was terrific that day up against a top-class strike force in Hateley and Mo Johnstone.
A class player himself in a decidedly average side he marshalled both superbly and at one point even dived in front of a ferocious volley from Ian Ferguson which hit him square on the chest before bouncing up onto his face.
With blood all over his top, he refused to be subbed and simply changed his jersey before getting back at it.
What a guy.
Right at the death, Creaney could and should have made it 3-0 when Derek Whyte temporarily lost his mind and thought he was Franz Beckenbauer by playing a wonderful long pass from defence that split the Rangers backline wide open and released the striker who was one on one with Woods but he fluffed his lines and placed it wide.
The whistle went a few minutes later.
Celtic won 2-0 though it should have been by a lot more.
A record three Rangers players were sent off.
What a massacre.
And very much in their then manager’s image.
The following week it got even better as we cuffed them 3-0 in the league.
Happy days were here again or so it seemed.
Alas, it was a false dawn and any faint hopes of a title challenge – and by faint, I mean really faint- went out of the window as we lost three games in a row and then rather traumatically exited the Scottish Cup to eventual winners Motherwell in a semi-final replay at Hampden.
But you can read all about that horror show here:
https://onceatim.com/the-dark-days/1990-1991-down-and-up-and-down-again/
For now, let’s simply reminisce about that wonderful day back on March 17th 1991.
Oh, wonderful St.Patrick.
The full match is below.
Enjoy and despite what’s going on in the world just now…have a Happy St.Patrick’s Day!
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