David Potter’s Celtic Diary started back on 1st August 2022 and has appeared every morning on The Celtic Star to take us through an entire season looking at Celtic on each and every day. it’s been a remarkable journey and the addition of videos posted at midnight every day by Li’l Ze
@LilZe_7 on Twitter not only covered many games that David didn’t highlight but brought the Celtic story on that day and every day of the season vividly to life.
Not many games have been played at this time of year, with our current season stretching into June with the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday 3rd June. So to take is up to the end of May on the last day of David Potter’s Celtic Diary we have one match from 29th May, two from 30th May and one from 31st May.
The Diary posts of Celtic On This Day are all easily found on our home page and are there as a permanent record.
David Potter has also written in the same format the story of each of Celtic’s Scottish Cup Final wins and we’ll begin this later today and run it right through until Saturday morning.
SATURDAY 29th MAY 1999 – A truly terrible season comes to an end with a 0-1 defeat by Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final. The game is even enough but it is Rangers who get the goal through Rod Wallace. Near the end, a net bound Celtic shot seems to hit a Rangers player on the arm but referee Hugh Dallas says “no”. TV replays seem to indicate that Dallas was right, but nevertheless “I’ve seen them given” says one of the commentators, and it proves that when you need a break, that is when you will not get one! The supporters’ buses are silent at this low point in the club’s history.
Jimmy “Napoleon” McMenemy scored
SATURDAY 30th MAY 1908 – Celtic complete a remarkable season by beating Queen’s Park 3-0 at Hampden to win the Glasgow Charity Cup. This means that Celtic have won every trophy they entered for, a feat that would be emulated only in 1967. Two goals are scored by Jimmy McMenemy and the other by Jimmy Quinn.
John McPhail: Scottish cup final – Celtic v. Mothervell at Hampden. Goal scorer McPhail – Captain of the Celtic team – Holds the Scottish cup Aloft. – Players faces from left: Weir, Boden, Fallon and Peacock. April 1951
TUESDAY 30th MAY 1950 – Celtic play Lazio in Rome to celebrate the Roman team’s Golden Jubilee. Celtic captain John McPhail and his marker Remondini clash and are ordered off after 30 minutes, but it is admitted afterwards that McPhail was only sent off to appease the crowd. Perhaps fortunately, the game ends in a 0-0 draw.
Joe Kennaway
SUNDAY 31st MAY 1931 – On their tour of North America, Celtic lose 0-1 to Fall River in the United States. They play well in the searing heat and would have won the game but for the sustained brilliance of the local goalkeeper James “Joe” Kennaway, who has expressed his desire to play in Scotland and has sounded out John Thomson to ask if he knows of any Scottish team needing a goalkeeper.
David Potter