In the opening tie of Liam Brady’s first European campaign with Celtic, two goals by Charlie Nicholas – one of them from the penalty spot – gave Celtic a 2-0 win at home against Germinal Ekeren of Belgium. Two weeks later, in the return leg, a strike by midfielder Mike Galloway gave the Hoops a 1-1 draw, which was enough to put them through to the second round.

For round two, they were drawn with Swiss opposition and on this day in 1991, Celtic ran out at the Stade de La Maladiere to meet local side Neuchatel Xamax.

Pat Bonner was in goal; the full-back pairing comprised Mark McNally and Dariusz Wdowczyk; Brian O’Neill was at centre-back, alongside Derek Whyte; Peter Grant, Paul McStay and Stevie Fulton made up the midfield; with Tony Cascarino, Charlie Nicholas and Tommy Coyne as the strike force.

It turned out to be a humbling night for the Hoops.

By the time Brian O’Neill scored for Celtic just on the hour mark, they were four-down and before the end, Liam Brady had to cope with the Swiss scoring a 5th. It was Celtic’s biggest defeat in the European scene up to that point.

Many Happy Returns to Paul McStay, born on this day in 1964.

Jim Craig

EAT, SLEEP, DRIBBLE CELTIC

LISBON LION Jim Craig writes his wonderful Celtic Diary every morning on The Celtic Star. There may be other attributes that sets this Celtic site apart from others but it is unarguable that having a Lisbon Lion writing for us is pretty unique and we think is rather special.

We are now looking to have Jim’s diary sponsored – with ALL the money going to Jim. If you run your own business or are have a marketing role in your company and would like to discuss this further please email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we’ll get back to you. We have some great ideas on how this low cost opportunity would give your business some amazing exposure – since launching in February this year The Celtic Star achieved by 17 October an incredible 789,744 users according to Google Analytics. And Jim will also be able to assist at one or two events for you – maybe a few lunch dates with key clients etc? Interested? We’d love to hear from you…