Celtic On This Day – 2nd May – 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 2nd May 1893. David’s latest bestseller The Celtic Rising ~ 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything is available now in print on Celtic Star Books, and also on Amazon kindle, links below…

TUESDAY 2nd MAY 1893 – The old guard of Sandy McMahon and Johnny Campbell score two each at Parkhead as Celtic take a stride towards their first ever League championship as they beat St Mirren 4-1. Meanwhile on the same night at SFA Headquarters, professional football is officially legalised in Scotland – not that it makes a great deal of difference, for clubs have been paying their players “under the counter” and “in their boots” for some considerable time!

SATURDAY 2nd MAY 1931 – Celtic lose to Rangers in the Glasgow Charity Cup first round on corner kicks 3-1 at the end of a 2-2 draw. All the luck goes the way of Rangers, but Celtic fight back well with two great goals from Jimmy McGrory, after full back Willie Cook is taken off injured.

SUNDAY 2nd MAY 1999 – One of the worst nights in Celtic’s long history as Rangers beat Celtic 3-0 to win the Scottish League championship. That is bad enough but what is worse is the felling of referee Hugh Dallas by a missile thrown from the crowd. He had earlier sent off Stephane Mahe who then lost the plot in a totally unacceptable way, and immediately after Dallas recovers, he awards a penalty for Rangers! Then at half-time a man falls from the top tier and is injured. Celtic are later fined for their part in this disgrace.

SUNDAY 2nd MAY 2004 – A curious game in which Celtic, already League champions, lose 1-2 to Dunfermline Athletic who will be their Scottish Cup final opponents in three weeks’ time. Henrik Larsson scores Celtic’s only goal, but their fans are puzzled by this lacklustre performance. Was it to lull the Pars into a sense of false security, or was it simply because too many players couldn’t be bothered and were trying to avoid injury?

2nd May 2004, Celtic lift the title.🏆 pic.twitter.com/tCegPFd2gR

— Li’l Ze (@LilZe_7) May 1, 2023

SATURDAY 2nd MAY 2009 – Celtic move four point ahead of Rangers (who have a game in hand) with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie in a lunch time kick off game. Aberdeen had scored first but Celtic equalised with an own goal, and then Scott McDonald put Celtic ahead in the second half and added a third more or less on the full time whistle.