Happy Easter to the entire Celtic family around the world!
Today marks Jesus rising from the dead three days after his death. The one unfortunate side effect of this was that it led certain football clubs to wrongly believe that they could do the same!
Celtic are in action today, travelling to Almondvale to face Livingston. This article will examine Celtic’s Easter Sunday record, which isn’t an especially positive one.
The Bhoys did not play on any Sunday until 1974, however it was 1996 before a Celtic game took place on Easter Sunday. That day – and since – the Bhoys’ record has been less than stellar.
Celtic’s first Easter Sunday experience – on 7 April 1996 – took the Celts to Hampden to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Pierre van Hooijdonk’s strike was not enough as goals from Laudrup and McCoist gave the Ibrox men a 2-1 win.
In these 11 games, there have been only four wins for Celtic, alongside four draws and three defeats. All losses came against a team called Rangers. In terms of goals, Easter Sunday has witnessed Celtic score 15, whilst conceding 11.
The Celts’ one home fixture on this day came in 2006, and it ended in a 1-1 draw with Hibs. However it was still a day of cheer as post-match the Bhoys were presented with the League trophy by Billy Connolly.
On a further positive note, this Sunday will be only the second time that the Celts have played an Easter Sunday game in March. The first time was in 2008 (March 23), with the Celts winning 3-0 versus Gretna. In the best omen of all, this was on the way to a title win.
As a coincidence, this match also took place at Almondvale, as Gretna did not have their own home venue. In fact, Celtic played the Dumfriesshire team three times this season, all at different grounds (Fir Park, Almondvale and Celtic Park).
Sadly for Gretna, there was to be no Easter resurrection. The southern Scotland side were liquidated at the end of the season, although another similarly named team (Gretna 2008) has been formed, one that is distinct from the original.
A new team being formed but entirely different from the one that came before? It would truly be another Easter miracle if such ideas caught on.
Matthew Marr
Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory
Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE for HALF PRCE or alternatively you can pick up a copy at any official Celtic store. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.
