“That Was The Celtic Goal That Was” – a blog post looking at some famous and some not so famous goals from Celtic players through the years.
No 1 – 18 May 1985, Frank McGarvey
Frank McGarvey played over 240 competitive matches for Celtic in just over 5 years, scoring over 110 goals.
He had a knack of being in the right place at the right time, scoring a late winner against Rangers at Celtic Park shortly after signing in 1980.
McGarvey played his part in 2 League Championship winning teams, scoring one of the goals in 3-2 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice that secured the title.
He won 1 League Cup as Celtic beat Rangers 2-1 in a rain soaked Hampden Park in 1982, he also won two Scottish Cups, the first of which came just 2 months after joining from Liverpool in the 1980 Hampden riot match.
McGarvey would win his last medal with Celtic in his final match when Celtic played Dundee United in the 100th Scottish Cup Final in 1985.
With the official attendance showing as 60000 fans, the Celtic end of the ground was a bursting point as fans paid at the gate to watch the showpiece final.
Celtic struggled to get a foothold in the game and the first half passed without much incident. Early in the second half a goal from Stuart Beedie looked to be handing United their first Scottish Cup Final victory.
With less than 15 minutes left Murdo MacLeod was fouled on the edge of the United 18 yard box directly in front of goal. Davie Provan lined up the free-kick and curled the ball over the tangerine wall and into the top corner (and the history books), the overcrowded Celtic end went wild and with only 10 minutes remaining Celtic were very much back in the match.
The Celtic fans sensed a historic late winner as the noise levels increased so did the drive and determination from Roy Aitken who now looked like he was covering every position on the field.
With time running out a short game of head tennis ended with Roy Aitken picking up the loose ball on the right wing, he moved into space and crossed the ball into the box where an unmarked Frank McGarvey connected with a diving header that looped passed Hamish McAlpine into the United goal. The celebrations amongst the Celtic fans on the terraces was matched by the players on the field as the goal scorer looked in a state of shock after his moment of glory.
With no time left for United to get back into the match, Celtic hung on to their lead and won the Scottish Cup for the 27th time.
The winning goal from McGarvey gets better every time you see it. The cross, the connection, the bend on the ball as it sailed into the net and then that moment of jubilation from the fans and players.
As a 7 year old watching the match on the TV that goal will always stick in mind as one of my favourite Celtic goals.
Martin Donaldson
