Celtic On This Day – 12th September – David Potter’s Celtic Diary

Month 2, Day 12 of Celtic Historian David Potter’s new diary on The Celtic Star which will run throughout the new season and will highlight key Celtic-related events relevant to each day, today covering 12 September…

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1891

At Underwood Park, Paisley Celtic beat Abercorn 5-2 in the Scottish League with two goals from Sandy McMahon, two from Neil McCallum and one from Johnny Madden. The heat is sweltering and the crowd of 7,000 is described as “enormous” with the newspapers asking “Is there any team in Britain that can draw crowds as well as the Celtic?”. Such was the heat that Celtic were playing in “thin silk pants”, but some of them change at half-time into “something more substantial”, given the sensitivities of Victorian Britain!

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1914

With the battle to save Paris going on over the channel, Clyde shock Celtic by beating them 2-0 in the Glasgow Cup. Two rare blunders by Charlie Shaw give the goals away. Celtic have so many injuries that Jimmy McMenemy is played at centre-half and Johnny Browning at left-half. Even so this result causes “consternation in the British Expeditionary Force”.

Charlie Shaw

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1925

Celtic’s cracking start to the season continues with a 6-1 defeat of Cowdenbeath at Parkhead. Jimmy McGrory scores twice, Adam McLean scores twice and Tommy McInally and Alec Thomson once each. Tommy McInally, with all his wiles, entertains the 10,000 crowd who revel in his “second coming” after his three year absence to Third Lanark.

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1931

A very difficult day at Celtic Park, the first game after the death of John Thomson. The visitors are Queen’s Park, the game ends in a 2-2 draw with a goal from Jerome Solis and a penalty from Charlie Napier. John Falconer was the man with the unfortunate task of keeping the goal for Celtic.

WEDNESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 1956

Dunfermline Athletic of the Second Division are rare visitors to Celtic Park but they are here tonight for the first leg of the Scottish League Cup quarter final. It is a very one-sided game which ends up in a 6-0 win for Celtic with two goals each from Neil Mochan and Billy McPhail, one from Bobby Collins and an own goal from the luckless Harry Colville.

Neil Mochan

David Potter

David Potter’s new book, Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style is featured in the new edition of the Celtic View which is out now and available from the Celtic Stores. You can also pick up the Willie Fernie book there too or order direct from Celtic Star Books, link below…

About Author

David was a distinguished Celtic author and historian and writer for The Celtic Star. He lived in Kirkcaldy and followed Celtic all my life, having seen them first at Dundee in March 1958. He was a retired teacher and his other interests were cricket, drama and the poetry of Robert Burns. David Potter passed away on 29 July 2023 after a short illness. He was posthumously awarded a Special Recognition award by Celtic FC at the club's Player of the Year awards in May 2024. David's widow Rosemary accepted the award to huge applause from the Celtic Supporters in the Hydro.

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