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

The late, great Celtic Historian David Potter’s Celtic Diary each morning on The Celtic Star looks back at key Celtic events and matches on this day starting on 20th May 1914…

David’s bestseller The Celtic Rising ~ 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything is completely sold out in print on but is available on Amazon kindle, with all the photographs of the hardback edition, for HALF PRICE at just £3.49...click on the image below to order this brilliant Celtic book.

Patsy Gallacher scored

(And yesterday so did his great grand daughter Amy, to win Celtic FC Women the league…)

Amy Gallacher

WEDNESDAY 20th MAY 1914 – Celtic, the Scottish Cup winners meet Burnley, the English Cup winners on tour in Budapest. The game ends 1-1 with a penalty for each side (Celtic’s scored by Patsy Gallacher) but it is a rough-house of a game played on a dry, bumpy pitch with a poor referee and Burnley provocatively wearing blue!

WEDNESDAY 20th MAY 1953 – Celtic win the all-British Coronation Cup by beating Hibs 2-0 in the Final at Hampden before 117,060 spectators. Without the injured Charlie Tully, Celtic are forced to defend for most of the game against a strong Hibs attack with their “Famous Five” forwards viz. Smith, Johnstone, Reilly, Turnbull and Ormond in full cry. But goalkeeper Johnnie Bonnar is up to the task and is well supported by centre half Jock Stein and full backs Mike Haughney and Alec Rollo. Celtic score through Neil Mochan in the first half, and then Jimmy Walsh just before full-time.

SATURDAY 20th MAY 1989 – In an otherwise sadly under-performing Celtic career, Joe Miller earns his one moment of glory as he scores the only goal of the game to beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. The 1-0 victory however is well deserved and Celtic have now won the trophy 29 times. It is however be the last trophy that Celtic will win for six years, as the bad days now descend with a vengeance.

20/05/89 SCOTTISH CUP FINAL CELTIC V RANGERS (1-0) HAMPDEN PARK – GLASGOW
Celtic versus Rangers Scottish Cup Final 20th May 1989 Hampden Park Glasgow Scottish football score 1 0

David Potter

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Invincible by Matt Corr
Order any book from Celticstarbooks.com and you will receive a complimentary signed copy of Invincible by Matt Corr with your order.

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Invincible by Matt Corr

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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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