130 years ago today, Celtic won the Scottish League for the first time. This article is taken from – from Matthew Marr’s debut Celtic book ‘The Bould Bhoys! Glory To Their Name’, which is published by Celtic Star Books and tells the story of the match that sealed the title for Celtic Football Club for the very first time!
The first-ever Celtic XI to leave the field as Scottish Champions was: Cullen, Doyle, Dunbar, Maley, Kelly, Curran, Madden, Blessington, McMahon, Davidson and Campbell…GLORY TO THEIR NAME!
Morning all, I hope you’re all feeling Champion today. Speaking of Champions, on this day in 1893, 5 year old Celtic won their first league title after defeating Leith Athletic. The hoops were still a decade away as the young club took the crown. pic.twitter.com/AmkhbjvMei
— Lisbon Lion (@tirnaog_09) May 9, 2023
Celtic’s first chance to celebrate came three days later. If they beat Leith Athletic, it would make them the Champions and only the second team to win the Scottish League outright (the first title was shared jointly between Dumbarton and Rangers). Nowadays, a potentially title-winning match is a major event. Not only will it attract substantial newspaper coverage – to say nothing of social media comment – it is also likely to be a live television contest. Despite this, there were fairly minimal references to this possibility in contemporary match previews, with most not mentioning it at all.
Leith Athletic being Celtic’s opponents meant victory was no foregone conclusion. Earlier this season, the Celts had only narrowly won in Edinburgh, and in the 1891-92 season it had been defeat to the Leith men that had fatally hurt Celtic’s title ambitions. Furthermore, whilst Celtic had twice been beaten in friendlies versus Sunderland, Leith had managed to overcome the Wearsiders in their own meeting. The Bhoys were strengthened by the return of Willie Maley at half-back but were otherwise unchanged from their previous game.
🗓️ On This Day 9th May 1893 :
We won our 1st ever League Title after a 3-1 victory over Leith Athletic 🏆🍀 pic.twitter.com/FcLV7lYMsj
— Celtic Curio (@Celticcurio) May 9, 2023
As the men in green-and-white walked onto the park, they knew this was their moment to claim a victory and the title. Perhaps they did not fully understand how much such an outcome would echo down the footballing ages. Only 3,000 fans turned out to witness the game; a 6.30pm kick-off on a Tuesday during the working week was not conducive to attracting large audiences.
Leith won the toss, and it was the Celts that kicked off, forcing back their visitors right from the start. Russell in the Athletic goal was busy, although his forwards did offer some attacks of their own. Then a Celtic break opened the scoring. Fine work from the Bhoys’ frontline let Johnny Campbell set up James Davidson to score his first goal since the start of April. After this, the home men kept a “perfect siege” on the Leith goal but good work from Russell kept the scoreline at 1-0. The away team were not helped by injury forcing them to play with only 10 men for much of the first half.
130 years ago today, Celtic won the Scottish League for the first time…@hailhailhistory in his debut @CelticFC book, The Bould Bhoys – Glory To Their Name, tells the story of that season. Order your copy at https://t.co/ThWbDtOrEA pic.twitter.com/1NGbNht57p
— The Celtic Star News Feed (@CelticStarMag) May 9, 2023
The second half proved a more even contest, at least at first. Both sides produced openings, and at various times the Leithers “outwitted the Celtic defence” but could not get an equaliser. Sandy McMahon came close to doubling the green side’s lead, but he shot over. However, not long after this it was 2-0 when Johnny Madden scored (The Aberdeen Press & Journal said it was Blessington, but all other newspapers said Madden) and shortly after that the Celts’ lead was further extended when Davidson got his second of the day. Three-nil up – with all goals coming from ex-Leith players – and well in control, the home men were now all but champions. They were given a slight scare when a good shot by Athletic’s forward Henderson brought it back to 3-1 but this was not enough to change the final outcome of the game, which had no more goals.
As the full-time whistle was signalled, history was made as Celtic achieved their inaugural League title. Strangely, this was the first time in the entire season that the Bhoys had stood alone at the League’s pinnacle.
The first-ever Celtic XI to leave the field as champions was: Cullen, Doyle, Dunbar, Maley, Kelly, Curran, Madden, Blessington, McMahon, Davidson and Campbell. This achievement would be only the start of a long and glorious history of title wins, and yet the response which followed seems muted, not simply in most newspapers but also from the club and fans.
To read the full story of Celtic’s first title win, buy the book ‘The Bould Bhoys! Glory to their name’, available now from Celtic Star Books.
Matthew Marr
Matthew Marr is Author, The Bould Bhoys – Glory To Their Name which is out now on hardback and also on Amazon Kindle, links for both below.
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