In season 1982/83, the League Cup still began with sectional ties and in that campaign, Celtic were paired with Dunfermline, Alloa Athletic and Arbroath.
On paper, it did not appear to be a difficult section and that also proved to be the case in practice, as the Hoops won all six matches, scoring 29 goals with the loss of only 3.
Next up – in the home and away matches in the quarter-finals – were the Jags, or Partick Thistle to use the official title. They were beaten 7-0 on aggregate ( 4-0 (H); 3-0 (A)) and Celtic moved on to the semi-final, where Dundee United would be the opponents, again in a two-legged affair.
The first match, watched by 19,100 at Parkhead, saw Celtic prevail by two goals to nil; at Tannadice, two weeks later, 15,400 saw the Tangerines win 2-1, that vital away goal putting Celtic into the final, where Rangers would be the opponents.
And that took place on this day in 1982, a crowd of 55,372 turning up to see a clash between the major Glasgow rivals.
The teams were;-
Celtic; Bonner, McGrain, Sinclair, Aitken, McAdam, MacLeod, Provan, McStay, McGarvey, Burns, Nicholas.
Rangers; Stewart, McKinnon, Redford, McClelland, Paterson, Bett, Cooper, Prytz, Johnstone, Russell, Smith.
Celtic took the lead in 22 minutes through Charlie Nicholas and made it 2-0 in 31 minutes thanks to a thunderbolt from Murdo MacLeod. Just after the interval, Jim Bett pulled one back for Rangers but in spite of both sides giving their all, there was no further scoring and Celtic took the League Cup back to Parkhead for the first time in 8 years and the 9th time in their history.
Jim Craig
