“Another Centenary for Celtic,” an extract from Invincible from author Matt Corr…
Whilst domestically Celtic were going from strength to strength, there was midweek disappointment as a Messi double meant there would no home Champions League victory this season at what was once Fortress Parkhead. There was a further consequence, as the outstanding Scott Sinclair suffered an injury just before the interval, which would rule him out of the coming Sunday’s League Cup Final.
Nevertheless, there would be just under 50,000 rolling up to Hampden to see the two sides dominant in Scottish football over the past few seasons battle it out for the first silverware of the campaign. There was an extra incentive for Celtic, as if one was needed, the club currently sitting on a total of 99 major trophies, just one required for the magical century. And from a personal perspective, Brendan Rodgers was looking for his first football honour. The Celtic stars were surely aligning in the heavens.
The old ground crackled as the teams emerged to a sea of colour, a spectacular sight, the tension then racked up still further as the Celtic players carried out their traditional pre-match Huddle, the Dons team lining up to stare them down a la the All Blacks’ Haka. It was Hollywood at Hampden. Showtime.
As always, I had that air of apprehension associated with many previous League Cup Finals. This would be the third such contest I would witness between these two sides. There was a similar dark day back in November 1976, when the 15-year-old Matt Corr, unusually, took his place in the West Terracing, cheering loudly as King Kenny rifled an early penalty past Bobby Clark at the Celtic End. Jock Stein’s Hoops then turned in an excellent attacking performance against Ally MacLeod’s Dons, lacking only one thing, that killer second goal. We hadn’t yet worked out the staggering statistic that when Dalglish scored in a cup final for the Hoops, then that day would not end well, so Drew Jarvie’s headed equalizer before half-time was surely just the spur we needed to go on and claim the trophy. Sadly, there was a different story being written that day. The match moved into extra-time, where Aberdeen found the winner we could not, Davie Robb forcing the ball past Peter Latchford for a headline-writer’s dream. Jock would be robbed of a third and final Treble, as Celts lost a sixth League Cup Final in seven seasons.
A quarter of a century and two losing Scottish Cup finals with Aberdeen would pass before the sides met in the same fixture, in March 2000. This time King Kenny was the Celtic manager, so at least there was no danger of his scoring jinx striking again. The match took place in the turbulent few weeks following the dismissal of his former Anfield teammate, John Barnes, the Dream Team facing the stuff of nightmares, defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup and simmering discontent in the dressing-room, with Mark Viduka to the fore. In keeping with the mood around Celtic Park, the final itself was abysmal, however, as the saying goes, in the cup only winning matters, and Celtic did, 2-0 with goals from Vidar Riseth and Tommy Johnson. Kenny duly picked up his only trophy as Celtic manager. Could Brendan Rodgers achieve his own first today, albeit in vastly different circumstances?
Rodgers made two changes from his Barcelona line-up, James Forrest and Patrick Roberts replacing Callum McGregor and the injured Sinclair, forming an attacking spearhead with Moussa Dembele that would prove too much for Aberdeen to handle. Behind those three, everyone else seemed keen to get a piece of the action, Emilio Izaguirre driving down the left to pick out Dembele with a perfect centre, forcing Joe Lewis into the first of what would be many saves on the day. Then Jozo Simunovic emerged from defence, striding purposefully over the halfway line to seek out Tom Rogic with a precise through ball. His first pass blocked, the big Croatian slid in to find the Australian at the second attempt, and the Wizard did the rest, dancing inside his defender to curl a beautiful low shot around Lewis to give Celtic a vital advantage on 16 minutes, his third successive strike against the Dons. Defender Andrew Considine then passed up what would prove to be Aberdeen’s best chance of the afternoon, his free header from James Maddison’s delivery bringing out a fine stop from Craig Gordon. Eight minutes before half-time, Rogic the goalscorer turned creator, some dazzling footwork on the far side giving him the space to pick out Forrest, lurking just inside the Dons half. The little winger ran and ran, head down, his stepover outside the box buying him the vital yard to cut another cracker past Lewis with his right foot into the same corner. Two wonderful goals, both fit to grace any cup final.
The one-sided contest continued after the break, the only surprise being that the score remained at 2-0 until just after the hour. This time man-of-the-moment Rogic found Forrest at the angle of the box with another sublime pass, Anthony O’Connor’s desperate lunge on the fleet-footed Celt producing one outcome, a definite penalty, as referee John Beaton pointed to the spot. Dembele kept his cool, ignoring the gamesmanship of his old Craven Cottage buddy, Lewis, then waiting for the big keeper to pick his side before calmly stroking the ball into the opposite corner. There were further chances, the best of those set up by Forrest for Stuart Armstrong in the dying minutes, the midfielder somehow contriving to squeeze it wide, however, the result was never in doubt. Another centenary for Celtic.
There were contrasting emotions from the two Hampden managers, with Derek McInnes insisting his side were and are genuine contenders for the major Scottish honours.
“There’s a lot of pain and not feeling good about ourselves. We were beaten by a better team. The difference is that when we take them on in a cup final, we need everyone to be at their maximum. It’s important we try to pick ourselves up. We’re a team that can get to another final this season. This isn’t an end-of-season defeat. There’s so much more to come this season. We expect more of ourselves and people maybe expect more of us. It’s important that we stick together and recognise there’s plenty to play for. I don’t mind putting ourselves up there to be shot down. We were huge underdogs, but I still expected us to win and I still thought we would win the game.”
Brendan Rodgers saw the victory as a significant platform upon which to build.
“It’s a winning club, that’s what the history of this club has been based on. It marks a milestone, the century of trophies, and we’ve got to start off the next century of trophies. That will be important for us and the club. It’s a great night for the Celtic supporters to celebrate and we push for the next one. It’s six months and a week since I came in, and we talked about what we wanted to achieve and how we wanted to do it, and we’re well on our way to that. We’re trying to improve standards on and off the field. We’re shaping up the team to play in a certain style and that’s going very well. There are things we’ll analyse. What can we do better? How can we improve? Ultimately, the goal was to win the cup and, thankfully, we’ve won it. I’ve a huge job to do here in terms of building on it and sustaining it. It’s a great achievement. For the players, it’s something to show for the great work they’ve been doing. It’s great for the confidence and it sets us up for the rest of the season.”
And there was specific praise for his right-hand man on the pitch.
“If I’m to say anything on getting my own first trophy as Celtic manager, having Scott as the captain is a huge honour. He really dominated the game and collectively he pulls the team together on the field.”
An hour or so after the celebrations had died down at Hampden, for the first time in my life I went back to Celtic Park after a trophy win, my son and daughter beside me. There was a nice touch at the front door, as a giant ‘100’ sign had been placed there. Soon Brendan Rodgers emerged with the trophy, as the speakers blared out ‘The Celtic Song’ to the waiting crowds. Together with Kieran Tierney, he walked around the crowd, a handshake here, a word or two there, a shared joke, a photo.
I cast my mind back just seven short months to a very different Hampden outcome. It was quite incredible the change which had occurred in that time. I was too young to remember the 1965 Cup Final, when Cesar’s majestic header put Dunfermline to the sword, ending seven long years of trophy heartache and creating a spark which would ignite the greatest era in Celtic’s long, proud history. For the first time, I had a real belief that another very special period for the Hoops had just got underway.
