Celtic On This Day – 3rd November – David Potter’s Celtic Diary

David Potter’s Celtic Diary is now into its fourth month of the season and there’s plenty to report from Celtic’s long, proud and unbroken history starting on this day in 1888. Over to you, Mr Potter…

“Darling Willie” Groves scored twice

SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 1888 – Celtic with a surprising amount of supporters travel through to Stockbridge in Edinburgh to play St.Bernards in the Scottish Cup. The crowd at the Royal Gymnasium ground is given as 6,000 and they see Celtic win 4-1 with two goals from “Darling Willie” Groves and one each from Neil McCallum and Tom Maley.

A hat-trick from Jimmy Quinn

SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 1906 – Even without the injured Willie Loney and Jimmy Hay, Celtic’s good form continues. Today at Douglas Park, Hamilton, before 5,000 spectators, Celtic beat the home side 5-2 with a hat-trick from Jimmy Quinn, one from Peter Somers and a penalty from Sunny Jim Young.

Jimmy McGrory
Two goals from Jimmy McGrory

SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 1928 – Poor weather restricts the crowd at Celtic Park to 7,000, but those who are there see an entertaining performance by Celtic who defeat Raith Rovers 3-1 with two goals from Jimmy McGrory and one from Alec Thomson.

WEDNESDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 1965 – Celtic fly to Denmark to beat AGF Aarhus 1-0 in the first leg of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Joe McBride scores the only goal in a low-key game.

Henrik Larsson scored

SATURDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 2001 – 9041 fans are leaving McDiarmid Park convinced that a hard-working St Johnstone team has earned a point until Henrik Larsson scores with a free kick with virtually the last kick of the game. Late goals have been a feature of the team in recent weeks, and is an indication of the professional attitude of the team. Today is a 2-1 victory at a difficult ground. Earlier in the game Darren Dods of St Johnstone achieved the unusual feat of scoring for both sides!

David Potter

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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