After beating Dumbarton 3-1 in the semi-final of the 1891-92 Charity Cup at Ibrox, Celtic had a home game for the final and the opposition was Rangers. It was the first time the two Glasgow clubs had met in the final of any cup competition.
The match was played on this day in 1892 and the Celtic team was Cullen, Reynolds, Doyle, Maley, Kelly, Gallagher, McCallum, Brady, Madden, Campbell and McMahon. Rangers were not at full strength. Two players – Mitchell and Scott – were ill while another, Frank Watt, failed to turn up at all!
After heavy rain, the pitch was not in good condition, pools of water lying on the surface. Rangers kicked off with the breeze in their favour but Celtic had the better of the early play. Their forward line was much superior to Rangers’ attack and kept a lot of the action in the Light Blues’ half. However, chances constantly went a-begging and by half-time, it was still all-square.
Celtic opened the scoring on the hour mark, a fine run and cross by Sandy McMahon giving John Campbell the chance to head home. Rangers continued to press forward but Celtic always looked the more likely side to score got their second a few minutes from time, another Campbell header, this time from a Johnny Madden cross, sealing victory by two goals to one.
Jim Craig
