Celtic Historian David Potter takes us on a journey through all of Celtic Scottish Cup Final triumphs as we gear up for Saturday’s 2023 Scottish Cup Final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden. The story of Celtic’s glory in our favourite competition begins at Ibrox of all places, on 9 April 1892 and in our first instalment David told the story of the first eight Scottish Cup triumphs that Celtic enjoyed and you can catch up on those early Celtic triumphs HERE.

Now for another eight Scottish Cup Final wins covering the period 1914 through to 1951 with many more to follow on The Celtic Star…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 9…CELTIC 4-1 HIBS – IBROX, 16 APRIL 1914 – The first game in the Scottish Cup final was rich on passion and politics, but short on football, and those who had shouted and sung about Irish Home Rule (which looked as if it might just happen in 1914) saw a very poor game which Hibs might just have sneaked at the end.

But it was a totally different story in the Thursday night replay with Jimmy McMenemy and Patsy Gallacher taking charge from the start, spraying passes all over the field, in particular to Johnny Browning and Jimmy McColl who scored two goals each. It was one of Celtic’s best ever Scottish Cup triumphs, and two days later, against the same opponents, Celtic clinched the Scottish League as well.

The Celtic team was: Shaw, McNair and Dodds; Young, Loney and Johnstone; McAtee, Gallacher, McColl, McMenemy and Browning.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 10…CELTIC 1-0 HIBS – HAMPDEN, 31 MARCH 1923 – The nine years between the last final between these two sides and this one had brought unbelievable changes to the world, to Scotland, Ireland and everywhere else, but the winners stayed the same as Celtic equalled the total of 10 Scottish Cup wins of Queen’s Park. Today on a dull day in front of a poorish crowd of about 82,000 (the weather was uninviting and supporters were short of money in the difficult days after the Great War) Celtic won 1-0 through a Joe Cassidy header when he took advantage of hesitation in the Hibs goal.

The Celtic team was: Shaw, McNair and W. McStay; J McStay, Cringan and McFarlane; McAtee, Gallacher, Cassidy, McLean and Connolly.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 11…CELTIC 2-1 DUNDEE – HAMPDEN, 11 APRIL 1925 – One of Celtic’s most famous Scottish Cup finals as Celtic came from behind to beat a strong Dundee side who had scored in the first half through ex-Celtic player Davie McLean. But Celtic inspired by “wonderful Patsy” came back and scored twice in the second half with goals from Gallacher (the famous “somersault” goal with the ball wedged between his legs) and then an equally famous goal, a diving header by Jimmy McGrory from a “Jean” McFarlane free kick. Celtic had now won the Scottish Cup eleven times, once more than Queen’s Park.

The Celtic team was: Shevlin, W McStay and Hilley; Wilson, J McStay and McFarlane; Connolly, Gallacher, McGrory, Thomson McLean.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 12…CELTIC 3-1 EAST FIFE – HAMPDEN, 11 MARCH 1927 – Celtic duly won their 12th Scottish Cup, but in some ways the real heroes were Second Division East Fife who managed to get to Hampden in the aftermath of the General Strike and the Miners’ Strike of last year which devastated all mining areas and the Fife coalfield in particular.

Naturally the country sympathised with the Fifers, and it looked like as if a huge shock was imminent when they scored first, but Celtic equalised soon after with an own goal, and then Paddy Connolly and Adam McLean made sure. The game finished with Tommy McInally clowning and deliberately missing chances so as not to humiliate the part-timers from Fife. This was the first Scottish Cup final to be broadcast on the radio.

The Celtic team was: J Thomson, W McStay and Hilley; Wilson, J McStay and McFarlane; Connolly, McMenemy, McInally, A Thomson and McLean.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 13…CELTIC 4-2 MOTHERWELL – HAMPDEN, 15 APRIL 1931 – Celtic’s 13th Scottish Cup, and in some ways, the first drawn game with its two late goals is more famous than the replay which was played on a Wednesday evening before a crowd which was only just shy of 100,000. (And 1931 was the worst year of the depression!). It was a tight game with Celtic only really feeling secure when McGrory scored his second goal late in the game. Bertie Thomson scored the other two goals, but Motherwell fought all the way.

The Celtic team was: J Thomson, Cook and McGonagle; Wilson, McStay and Geatons; R Thomson, A Thomson, McGrory, Scarff and Napier.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 14…CELTIC 1-0 MOTHERWELL – HAMPDEN, 15 APRIL 1933 – The same two teams met again in 1933, but in 1932 the excellent Motherwell team won the League – and it was as well that they did, otherwise Rangers would have done nine in a row long before we did. This was a very poor game played on a dull day at Hampden, and the only goal of the game was a tap in scored by Jimmy McGrory. Harry Lauder at the time had a record called “the saftest o the familie”. This was what they called McGrory’s goal that day, but it brought Celtic their 14th Scottish Cup. The following day Maley took the Scottish Cup to the Bridge of Weir Sanatorium to show it to TB patient Peter Scarff, who had only a few months left to live.

The Celtic team was: Kennaway, Hogg and McGonagle; Wilson, McStay and Geatons; R Thomson, A Thomson, McGrory, Napier and O’Donnell.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 15…CELTIC 2-1 ABERDEEN – HAMPDEN, 24 APRIL 1937 – This was Aberdeen’s first ever Scottish Cup final as 146,433 (at least, allowing for the wall climbers!) packed Hampden to see this game. It was widely believed that this would be McGrory’s last Cup final and everyone hoped that he would score as he had done in 1925, 1931 and 1933, but in the event it was Willie Buchan and Johnny Crum who scored for Celtic while Matt Armstrong scored for the black and golds of Aberdeen. It was a tense rather than a classy Cup final, but Celtic did just enough to win.

The Celtic team was: Kennaway, Hogg and Morrison; Geatons, Lyon and Paterson; Delaney, Buchan, McGrory, Crum and Murphy.

Read all about Celtic ‘s next Scottish Cup Final win on the next page…

CELTIC’S SCOTTISH CUP FINALS – Number 16…CELTIC 1-0 MOTHERWELL – HAMPDEN, 21 APRIL 1951 – If ever Celtic needed to win a Scottish Cup, it was today. Since the Empire of 1938, thirteen years of war and its aftermath had yielded little to be happy about, but the support had stayed loyal through many disappointments. Hampden was not far short of its 134,000 limit – indeed there seemed to be more than that – to see Motherwell, possibly a slightly better side, re-enact the finals of 1931 and 1933 with Celtic. It was John McPhail who put Celtic ahead in the first half with a deft flick and finish, but most of the rest of the game was grim defending until the referee’s whistle announced that Celtic had returned, and that dancing could return again to the streets of the Gorbals.

The Celtic team was: Hunter, Fallon and Rollo; Evans, Boden and Baillie; Weir, Collins, McPhail, Peacock and Tully.

Many more Scottish Cup Final triumphs for Celtic to follow on The Celtic Star ahead of Saturday’s final…

David Potter

READ THIS…David Potter on Celtic’s Scottish Cup Finals – Our first eight triumphs