Celtic On This Day – 20th February – David Potter’s Celtic Diary

Celtic Historian David Potter each morning on The Celtic Star looks back at key Celtic events and matches on this day starting on 20th February 1926. David’s latest bestseller The Celtic Rising ~ 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything SOLD OUT on Celtic Star Books but the good news is that it is now back in stock! You can place an order here and we’ll post your order immediately. The Celtic Rising is also now available on Amazon Kindle, link below…

Tommy McInally scored twice

SATURDAY 20th FEBRUARY 1926 – At a dangerously overcrowded Tynecastle 52,000 see Celtic beat Hearts 4-0 in the Scottish Cup. Tommy McInally is the star of the show scoring twice and the other goals are scored by Jimmy McGrory and Paddy Connolly.

Wille Fernie
Click on image to order your copy of Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style

SATURDAY 20 FEBRUARY 1954 – Willie Fernie is superb as Celtic turn it on today to beat Dundee 5-1 at Celtic Park. Neil Mochan scores twice and the other goals come from Jimmy Walsh, Johnny Higgins and Fernie himself. Celtic are behind Hearts in the Championship race following some poor results, but they do have games in hand.

Bobby Lennox scored

SATURDAY 20 FEBRUARY 1965 – Celtic pay a rare visit to Hampden to play Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup. They surprise everyone by appearing in all-green, feeling perhaps that the green and white hoops would clash with the black and white of the Spiders. It is not a great Celtic performance for the 27,443 fans to enjoy, but Bobby Lennox scores the only goal of the game in the second half. Everyone, of course, is very aware that Jock Stein will soon be arriving to take over.

WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 1980 – Celtic win a thrilling Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren at Love Street, Paisley. Celtic are down to ten men following the sending off of Tom McAdam, and the game finishes at 2-2 after 90 minutes, both sides having scored a penalty (Bobby Lennox scoring Celtic’s) and a goal each from open play with Celtic’s coming from Johnny Doyle. And it is Johnny Doyle who scores the winner in the 91st minute of the game with a delightful individual goal. He nutmegs a defender on the wing, pulls the ball back just as it is about to cross the bye-line, then cuts back and with everyone expecting a pass, scores himself. 27,166 enjoy this game.

Johnny Doyle scored

David Potter

Sold out in print, now available on Kindle by popular demand…

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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