Today the Celts take on theRangers. There’s been many controversial matches involving Celtic and both Ibrox teams. One game – played in the shadow of war – is largely unknown but features refereeing bias, bans and drunkenness.
The end of World War Two brought peace to Europe – and one trophy to Celtic Park. A Victory in Europe Cup was won by Celtic on 9 May 1945, the day after the war in Europe ended.
And then in 1946, a Victory Cup took place. It involved 32 sides and the prize was recognisable to Scottish football fans. During the war, a Southern League Cup was held. This later became the League Cup. The trophy for this was used as the Victory Cup.
In the first round, Celtic faced St Johnstone. On 20 April 1946, Celtic travelled to Perth and claimed an 8-2 win. The second leg – four days later – was an equally simple 5-0 win. Celtic were in the second round with a 13-2 aggregate score.
At the second stage, Celtic were drawn with Queen of the South. This time, there was only one leg, and the Bhoys claimed a 3-0 win on 4 May 1946. John Gallacher scored twice and a third came from Tommy Kiernan.
For the quarter-finals, Celtic had a journey to Fife. On 18 May 1946, Celtic went to Stark’s Park in Kirkcaldy. They beat Raith Rovers 2-0, thanks to goals from John Gallacher and Jimmy Sirrel.
Rangers had also reached the semi-finals, but with more problems than Celtic.
The Ibrox men had beaten Stenhousemuir in the first round, and then Airdrie in the second stage. But they needed a replay to get past Falkirk in the quarter-finals.
On 1 June 1946, 65,000 watched Celtic and Rangers draw 0-0 in one semi-final at Hampden. Rangers were the better team and Celtic goalkeeper Willie Miller was praised for his performance.
In the other semi, Hibs beat Clyde 2-1 at Tynecastle.
Four days later, Celtic and Rangers were back at Hampden Park for the semi-final replay. This time, a smaller but still large crowd of around 50,000 turned out. By the end of the 90 minutes, there would be enormous controversy.
Matthew Dale was the match referee. He was believed to be a Rangers fan. In one previous game between the Ibrox side and St Mirren, the Paisley team had threatened to walk off the park due to his decisions.
As the game began, Celtic complained about various early decisions. Rangers went ahead on 10 minutes, and soon various Celts – especially Sirrel and Gallacher – were limping due to hard fouls. But no free kicks were given to the Celts.
The referee later fell over.
Celtic defender George Paterson tried to help the referee back to his feet – and smelled alcohol on his breath. When he asked if the match official was OK, Paterson was instead booked for his trouble.
At half-time, Celtic lodged a protest against the referee. Whilst there were concerns about his pro-Ibrox views, this was much less important than him being drunk. The Celtic players and board officials complained – but nothing happened.
Celtic struggled in the second half. The injuries to Sirrel and Gallacher were so bad that the Bhoys were down to only nine fit men (in the days before substitutes were allowed).
Then things got worse when Rangers were given a penalty. Celtic captain George Paterson refused to hand over the ball to let the penalty be taken. As a result, referee Dale sent him off, putting Celtic down to only fit eight players.
Matters soon became even bleaker for the Hoops.
Another Celt – Jimmy Mallan – rubbed out the penalty spot with his boot then kicked the ball away. As a result, he too was sent off. This left the Celts with only seven fit players. Rangers scored the penalty and the Bhoys were 2-0 down.
Trouble now extended to the terraces. Some fans tried to invade the pitch and one Celtic fan attempted to attack the referee. Eventually, the match restarted and Rangers – unsurprisingly – saw out a 2-0 win.
After the game, Celtic received more punishment. The club were fined £50 and had to post warnings at Celtic Park about crowd behaviour. Three Celts also received long bans – Paterson and Mallan for three months, Matt Lynch for one month.
Matt Lynch’s ban was even opposed by a Rangers player! Ibrox man Jimmy Duncanson wrote to Lynch saying that the Celt had done nothing wrong and should not be punished. But still, the ban stood – and no action was taken against the referee.
Ten days later, Rangers were back at Hampden to beat Hibs and claim the Victory Cup. The Celts were less than happy, furious at the referee’s input. Still, at least such issues are no longer a problem…
And for today, c’mon the Hoops!
Matthew Marr
