CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 24…
CELTIC 3-1 AIRDRIE – HAMPDEN, 3 MAY 1975 – By the time that Celtic came back for the Scottish Cup final of 1975, they had lost the Scottish League. Admittedly they had won the League Cup, but the Scottish Cup now assumed greater importance.
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![Celtic - Scottish Cup winners 1975]()
- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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![Celtic - Scottish Cup winners 1975]()
- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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![Celtic - Scottish Cup winners 1975]()
- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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![Celtic - Scottish Cup winners 1975]()
- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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![Celtic - Scottish Cup winners 1975]()
- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
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- Celtic – Scottish Cup winners 1975. Billy McNeill’s last game for Celtic. Photo The Celtic Wiki
Their opponents were Airdrie, a team who had not been in the final of the Scottish Cup since their halcyon days of Bob McPhail and Hughie Gallacher in 1924, and they were not really expected to do much against Celtic, however tarnished Celtic had been by their miserable performances in the League.
Paul Wilson had lost his mother at the start of the week, but he and Stein decided he should play, and it was a good decision, for Paul scored two goals while Pat McCluskey scored a penalty. Airdrie put up a good fight and held Celtic for a spell at 2-1. At the end of the game, Billy McNeill announced his retirement from the game. He had won 7 Scottish Cup medals and Celtic had won the Scottish Cup 24 times.
David Potter
The Celtic team: Latchford, McGrain, Lynch, Murray, McNeill, McCluskey, Hood, Glavin, Dalglish, Lennox, Wilson. Scorers: Wilson 2 (14, 43), McCluskey (pen 53).
Airdrie: McWilliams, Jonquin, Cowan, Whiteford, Black, Menzies, McCann, Walker, McCulloch (March), Lapsley (Reynolds), Wilson. Scorer: McCann (42)
Referee: Ian Foote (Glasgow). Attendance: 75,457
Celtic manager Jock Stein before the game: “Since the situation changed with that defeat by Rangers at the New Year, it has not been easy for the team. After all these years it was difficult to adjust to not winning the League. But the Cup is different. We beat quality sides like Hibernian and Dundee to get this far. We will win.”
“My mother passed away the week before the Scottish Cup Final in 1975. I skipped training for a couple of days and then attended her funeral. Big Jock and a few of the players came along and I was very touched they made the effort for me.
“But I still went back in to training on the Friday. I said to Jock: ”I would like to play tomorrow.” I had played well that season and felt I could contribute. Often, it is the best thing to keep yourself occupied after a bereavement like that. Anyway, I was duly selected and managed to score two goals in a 3-1 victory over Airdrie.
“I joined the lads to have a celebration drink that night for just five minutes and then made my excuses and left them to it. It was after that game that Billy McNeill decided to call it a day and hung his boots up. There were a few guys waiting to step into his shoes and Roddy McDonald took over from him in defence.
“The week after that final, I scored two goals against Rangers at Hampden in, I think I am right in saying, the final of the Glasgow Cup.” Celtic’s Paul Wilson
