Fly the Flag – The 52 Days that Celtic became Scottish Champions

THE DAYS THAT WE WON THE LEAGUE…

Celtic have now won the Scottish League 52 times. including the title triumph that will be confirmed this week, probably on Wednesday night at Tannadice.

Sometimes it is difficult to say exactly when, but the dates given are when the League was won mathematically, just like the position we are in at the moment.

Several times the League was decided when Celtic were not actually playing – but our rivals lost on that day. In 2020, in the oddest of circumstances, Celtic were not even playing! A remarkable number of the League winning games were anti-climaxes, but that was not true, for example, in 1905, 1909, 1922, 1967, 1973, 1979 1986 or 2008. But Leagues are of course won over the course of a season.

Of the 52 Championships, the first three were won when the club was run and the team was picked by a committee, but since then the roll of honour for managers is

Willie Maley 16
Jock Stein 10
Billy McNeill 4
Neil Lennon 4
Brendan Rodgers 3
Martin O’Neill 3
Gordon Strachan 3
Ronnie Deila 2
Jimmy McGrory 1
Davie Hay 1
Wim Jansen 1
Ange Postecoglou 1

1893 Celtic Park, Tuesday 9 May . Celtic 3 Leith Athletic 1. Two goals were scored by Bob Davidson, one by Johnny “the rooter” Madden. Most games had been played months previously, but this was a game that been postponed. It was not heralded by many trumpets, because the Scottish League was not as yet highly rated.

1894 Celtic Park, 24 February. Celtic 3 Rangers 2. Rangers had beaten Celtic in the Scottish Cup final the week before, but on this day on a treacherous and very wet pitch in constant sleet, Sandy McMahon, Jimmy Blessington and Johnny Madden scored the goals.

1896 Celtic Park, 14 December 1895. (The League was finished before the New Year). Celtic 6 Rangers 2. Once again, heavy rain threatened the game but it eased by kick-off time. An astonishing crowd of 25,000 saw Celtic home with two goals from Allan Martin, two from Sandy McMahon and one each from Jimmy Blessington and Johnny Madden.

1898 Celtic Park, 12 February. Celtic 3 St Mirren 0. Two goals were scored by Pat Gilhooley and one by Davie Russell, but there was also “a little help from our friends” – as Barney Battles, playing for Dundee, scored to beat Rangers. (Similarities with Albert Kidd in 1986!)

1905 Hampden Park, 6 May. Celtic 2 Rangers 1. This was a play-off to decide the winners of the League as both teams had finished level on points. Jimmy McMenemy and Davie Hamilton scored the goals.

1906 Hampden Park, 10 March. Queen’s Park 0 Celtic 6. Celtic had stuttered a little towards the end but today Jimmy Quinn scored four and Alec Bennett and Davie Hamilton one each.

1907 Firhill, Wednesday 24 April. Partick Thistle 0 Celtic 2. Goals scored by Jimmy Quinn and Alec Bennett, to make the Celtic the first team to win a Scottish “double” of Cup and League, the Cup having been won the previous Saturday.

1908 Ibrox, 25 April. Rangers 0 Celtic 1. Jimmy Quinn was badly crocked by brutal tackles, but even so, this Celtic team was far too good for them. Alec Bennett scored the only goal of the game, but if Quinn had been fit, it would have been a great deal more. It was a fine 40th birthday present for Manager Maley.

1909 Douglas Park, Hamilton, 30 Friday April. Hamilton Accies 1 Celtic 2. Jimmy McMenemy and Davie Hamilton scored the goals to complete the task. Celtic has just played 8 games in 12 days to win the League!

1910 Celtic Park, Monday 25 April. Celtic 0 Hibernian 0. A somewhat anti-climactic way of winning their sixth League championship in a row, but Celtic needed only a point, having lost to challengers Falkirk at Brockville on Saturday.

1914 Celtic Park, 18 April. Celtic 3 Hibernian 0. Having defeated Hibs to win the Scottish Cup on Thursday, the same team beat them again to win the Scottish League with two goals scored by Jimmy McMenemy and one by Jimmy McColl.

1915 Cathkin Park, 17 April. Third Lanark 0 Celtic 4. Johnny Browning scored two, and Jimmy McMenemy and Jimmy McColl one each. The triumph was confirmed with the news that Hearts had lost to St Mirren.

1916 Celtic Park and Fir Park, 15 April.  In emergency war time circumstances, by dint of winning two games on the one day (6-0 v Raith Rovers at Celtic Park, and 3-1 v Motherwell at Fir Park), Celtic won the League. Patsy Gallacher scored a hat-trick against Raith Rovers, Joe O’Kane scored two and Joe Dodds one, while against Motherwell Jimmy McMenemy and Johnny Browning scored and Joe Dodds converted a penalty.

1917 Boghead, Dumbarton, 7 April. Goals scored by Jimmy McColl, Johnny Browning and Joe Dodds (with a penalty) gave Celtic the Championship with four games to spare.

1919 Somerset Park. Ayr, 10 May. Ayr United 0 Celtic 2. Goals scored by Andy McAtee and Adam McLean won the League for Celtic on a lovely warm day.

1922 Cappielow, Greenock, 29 April. Morton 1 Celtic 1. In a game with serious crowd trouble and overcrowding, a late headed goal by Andy McAtee earned Celtic a draw, and as Rangers also drew that day, it was enough to win the League.

1926 Celtic Park, Wednesday 14 April. Celtic 3 Morton 1. Goals were scored by Jimmy McGrory, Paddy Connolly and Tommy McInally but it was an anti-climax in front of a poor crowd who were all disappointed by the loss of the Scottish Cup to St Mirren on Saturday.

1936 Tynecastle, Wednesday 22 April. Hearts 1 Rangers 1. Rangers could only draw and this meant that they could not now mathematically catch Celtic, but Celtic had effectively won the League the previous Saturday with a 6-0 thrashing of Ayr United, in which Jimmy McGrory scored a hat-trick and his 50th goal of the season.

1938 Love Street, Paisley, 23 April. St Mirren 1 Celtic 3. Johnny Crum scored in 30 seconds, then again near the end, and in between Jimmy Delaney had scored one of his great goals.

1954 Easter Road, Edinburgh, 17 April . Hibernian 0 Celtic 3. Two goals from Neil Mochan and one from Johnny Higgins brought Celtic their first post-war title.

1966 Fir Park, Motherwell, 7 May. Motherwell 0 Celtic 1. A draw would have been enough, but Bobby Lennox scored in the last minute to “mak siccar” as Celtic celebrated their first title in Jock Stein’s first season.

1967 Ibrox, 6 May. Rangers 2 Celtic 2. A game played in teeming rain, and a curious one with both teams scoring a good goal and a scrappy one each. Celtic’s two were scored by Jimmy Johnstone. It was Celtic’s first ever domestic treble.

1968 East End Park, Dunfermline, Tuesday 30 April. Dunfermline 1 Celtic 2. Celtic would have needed to lose by a ridiculous score at this dangerously over-crowded ground not to win the title, but Bobby Lennox scored twice. As it happened one man did lose his life in the crowd and several others were injured. Dunfermline had won the Scottish Cup the previous Saturday.

1969 Dens Park, Dundee, Tuesday 22 April. Dundee 3 Rangers 2. Celtic had drawn 2-2 with Kilmarnock the previous night, but Rangers still had a mathematical chance of catching Celtic until losing at Dundee.

1970 Tynecastle, Edinburgh, 28 March. Hearts 0 Celtic 0. A disappointing performance, in which Tommy Gemmell missed a penalty, but enough to win the League given that Rangers could only draw 1-1 with Airdrie.

1971 Hampden, Thursday 29 April. Celtic 2 Ayr United 0. Technically a Celtic home game, but Celtic Park was being renovated. The game should have been played the previous Saturday but was rained off. Bobby Lennox and Willie Wallace scored for Celtic in a rather anti-climactic game.

1972 Bayview, Methil, 15 April. East Fife 0 Celtic 3. Dixie Deans scored twice and Harry Hood once as Celtic now win the Scottish League for a record seven times in a row.

1973 Easter Road, Edinburgh, 28 April. Hibs 0 Celtic 3. A packed Easter Road with a 45,000 crowd saw the climax to an exciting League race this year (a draw might have been enough, but a win clinched it) as Dixie Deans scored twice and Kenny Dalglish once to win the League eight times in a row.

1974 Brockville, Falkirk, 27 April. Falkirk 1 Celtic 1. A draw was enough to win Celtic their ninth Championship in a row, the goals coming from Kenny Dalglish after Falkirk had scored twice.

1977 Easter Road, Edinburgh, 16 April. Hibs 0 Celtic 1. A churlish and spiteful Hibs Board refused to allow TV cameras in to this game, but Joe Craig’s goal was enough to land Celtic’s 30th Championship.

1979 Celtic Park, Monday 21 May. Celtic 4 Rangers 2. The night that 10 men won the League, the goals scored by George McCluskey, Roy Aitken, Murdo MacLeod and an own goal. Johnny Doyle was sent off, and there was no TV coverage. No real conspiracy involved here, just unions turning awkward as they often did in the 1970s.

1981 Tannadice Park, Dundee, Wednesday 22 April. Dundee United 2 Celtic 3. Celtic just needed to draw, but goals by Frank McGarvey, Murdo MacLeod and Tommy Burns did the job.

1982 Celtic Park, 15 May. Celtic 3 St Mirren 0. After nearly throwing the League away, Celtic eventually came good with two second half goals from George McCluskey and one from Tom MacAdam. Had Celtic lost, and Aberdeen beat Rangers 4-0 at Pittodrie, the League would have gone north, and guess what the half-time score at Pittodrie was!

1986 Love Street, Paisley and Dens Park, Dundee, 3 May. St Mirren 0 Celtic 5, Dundee 2 Hearts 0. Albert Kidd and all that! Celtic’s goals were scored by Brian McClair (2), Judas (2) and Paul McStay. Possibly the most dramatic of them all.

1988 Celtic Park, 23 April. Celtic 3 Dundee 0. A dangerously over-crowded Celtic Park (the biggest crowd in recent history and certainly well over 70,000) saw Celtic win the League in their Centenary season with goals from Chris Morris and two from Andy Walker.

1998 Celtic Park, 9 May. Celtic 2 St Johnstone 0. The most nerve racking of them all, as Celtic at last regain the Championship after ten dreadful years with Henrik Larsson scoring early and then Harald Brattbakk redeeming himself from countless sins by scoring the second. Celebrations were long and loud, and one of these games where we couldn’t have taken it, if we had lost!

2001 Celtic Park, 7 April. Celtic 1 St Mirren 0. Celtic won the League with loads of games in hand. The game was disappointing and the only goal was scored by Tommy Johnson after a miskick!

2002 Celtic Park, 6 April. Celtic 5 Livingston 1. Playing superb football, Celtic won the League in style with a hat-trick from Henrik Larsson and a double from John Hartson.

2004 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Sunday 18 April. Kilmarnock 0 Celtic 1. A goal from Stilian Petrov was enough to win the League for Celtic.

2006 Celtic Park, Wednesday 5 April. Celtic 1 Hearts 0. Celtic beat their main rivals for the League this year with an early goal from John Hartson.

2007 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Sunday 22 April. Kilmarnock 1 Celtic 2. A late spectacular free-kick from Shunsuke Nakamura clinched the title after Vennegoor of Hesselink had scored the first goal.

2008 Tannadice Park, Dundee, Thursday 22 May. A very exciting night. Celtic’s 1-0 victory, a header from Vennegoor of Hesselink from a Paul Hartley corner kick would have been enough to win the League on the very last round of games, but in any case, Rangers lost to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Icing was put on the cake with the news that Nacho Novo had been sent off!

2012 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, 7 April. Kilmarnock 0 Celtic 6. For the third time this century, Celtic won the League at Kilmarnock, this time with a very emphatic victory, the goals coming from Charlie Mulgrew (2), Gary Hooper (2), Glenn Loovens and Joe Ledley, thereby avenging the League Cup final defeat.

2013 Celtic Park, 21 April. Celtic 4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1. Gary Hooper scored twice, and Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras one each. Neil Lennon was not allowed to talk to the supporters for 15 minutes after the final whistle. Those who wondered about those who run Scottish football had a point.

2014 Firhill, Wednesday 26 March. Partick Thistle 1 Celtic 5. Two goals from Anthony Stokes, and one each from Stefan Johansen, Liam Henderson and Kris Commons saw Celtic home in a very easy victory.

2015 Tannadice Park, Dundee 2 May. Dundee United 1 Aberdeen 0. Aberdeen needed to win to keep the League race going for another game, but failed to do so. Celtic had already beaten Dundee 5-0 on the Friday night, the highlight being a great goal from Nir Bitton, not a man renowned for his goal scoring abilities.

2016 Celtic Park, Sunday 8 May. Celtic 3 Aberdeen 2. This game was not as close as it looks for Celtic were 3-0 up at one point with 2 goals from Patrick Roberts and one from Mikael Lustig. In any case a point would have done for Celtic and there were still a few games left. Ronny Deila thus completed his remarkable two years at the club with two League Championships out of two!

2017 Tynecastle, Edinburgh, Sunday 2 April. Hearts 0 Celtic 5. A canter for Celtic as Scotty Sinclair scored a hat-trick (one a penalty) and Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts score the other two. The second trophy of the season for the “Invincibles”, and there are still 8 League games to go! Matt Corr’s book on this INVINCIBLE season published by The Celtic Star is an absolute joy to read.

Celtic emptied the away end…

2018 Celtic Park, Sunday 29 April. Celtic 5 Rangers 0. Celtic won easily over their old rivals with two goals from Odsonne Edouard and one each from James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor. Celtic had faltered occasionally this season – they lost to Hibs the previous week – but they still won the League with three games remaining.

2019 Pittodrie, 4 May. Aberdeen 0 Celtic 3. After some indifferent games, Celtic finally made sure at Aberdeen with goals from Mikael Lustig, Jozo Simunovic and Odsonne Edouard. Neil Lennon deserves a great deal of credit for the way he took over seamlessly at the end of February when Brendan Rodgers unaccountably jumped ship.

2020 Declared winners 18 May. The oddest and least satisfactory of them all when the Coronavirus pandemic compelled the authorities to “call” the season. Celtic were 13 points ahead with 8 games to go, (Rangers had a game in hand) so it was a reasonable assumption. A great deal less happy were Hearts who were relegated!

2022, Tannadice, Dundee 11 May 2022 – A league winning celebration is on the cards for Tannadice as Ange Postecoglou makes sure his side sprints rather than falls over the finishing line. If Ross County lose at Ibrox Celtic need a point at Tannadice, but even then assuming there is no cricket score at Ibrox the goal difference advantage is so great that even with a defeat Celtic would still effectively be there. That’s not the way Celtic will be planning to see this one won and it’s going to be won at Tannadice with the Trophy Day against Motherwell on Saturday at Celtic Park.

David Potter

TELL US YOUR TOP THREE TITLE WINNING MEMORIES FROM THE 51 LISTED ABOVE…Either post in the Comments section below or email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we’ll compile a title winning article with your collective Top Threes ….

David Potter’s new book, Putting on the Style, a biography of Celtic legend Willie Fernie is out next week, thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered and your copy will be posted out as soon as the lorry arrives. If you would like to order your copy please use the link provided below.

About Author

I am Celtic author and historian and write for The Celtic Star. I live in Kirkcaldy and have followed Celtic all my life, having seen them first at Dundee in March 1958. I am a retired teacher and my other interests are cricket, drama and the poetry of Robert Burns.

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