There seemed to be little point in denying that, in 1899, Rangers had a splendid team. The facts speak for themselves. They won the Scottish League with a 100% record, the only team ever to have done that. Granted, the Scottish League was a lot smaller with only 10 teams and 18 games, but nevertheless it was a considerable achievement. Celtic lost to them 0-4 and 1-4, and were also removed from the Glasgow Cup by the men from Ibrox. Celtic this time were clearly playing second fiddle.
Yet it was not entirely true that Celtic were having a bad season. Willie Maley had been in his job as Secretary/Manager for two years now and had worked tirelessly to build up a team that could challenge the men from the west of Glasgow. His major coup had been the bringing back of Barney Battles to Celtic, and this had made a huge difference to the side, and to the support who had been visibly energised by his re-appearance.
He had been “exiled” following his part in the strike of 1896, but now, repentant and determined, he was playing his part in the fight back. Centre forward John Divers had also been one of the rebels, but he too had made his peace with the club.
And, of course, up front Celtic had someone special in Sandy McMahon. He was a great goal scorer, but he was also a fine player. Now playing in the inside left position with his old friend Johnny Campbell at inside right, the forward line was beginning to click.
The path to the Scottish Cup Final had featured a game against Queen’s Park at Celtic Park in late February, and McMahon had scored the two goals in the 2-1 victory. This had actually been a replay of sorts, because the first game had been stopped by “bad light”, something more common in cricket than in football! Full backs James Welford and Davie Storrier would have been familiar with that, for they were both cricketers, Welford a professional with Warwickshire and Storrier an amateur with Arbroath and Forfarshire.
The Scottish Cup was the important competition in Victorian football. Celtic were uncomfortably aware that, since their triumph in 1892, they had not won the trophy. In that time they had won the Scottish League four times, but in the Scottish Cup, they had lost (painfully) in the finals of 1893 and 1894, and no-one mentioned 1897 without a shiver running up their spine. That was the year in which Celtic had managed to lose to Arthurlie.
Celtic had two English Cup winners in their team. Full back James Welford had won it with Aston Villa in 1895 and Johnny Campbell with the same club in 1897, but they did not have many Scottish Cup winners – only McMahon and Campbell having survived since 1892. Rangers on the other hand, had won the Scottish Cup for the last two seasons and were determined to do “three in a row” to equal the achievements set by Queen’s Park and Vale of Leven in the 1870s.
Celtic reached the final when they disposed of Port Glasgow Athletic on 18 March, and then they had a fair wait until 15 April to find out who their opponents would be. Rangers duly beat St Mirren in their semi-final, and thus the Scottish Cup Final was set for 22 April at Hampden Park.
Concern was expressed about the suitability of Hampden as a venue for this fixture. Hampden Park, as we know it, had not yet been built and this ground was the one that became known as Cathkin, the home of Third Lanark in later years. The problem was that it was simply not big enough, and warnings were issued about getting there early.
Glasgow talked about little else than the Scottish Cup Final in the week leading up to it. Most people thought that Rangers would win simply through their all-round strength and the fact that they had certainly had the upper hand over Celtic this year. On the other hand Celtic could play with a great deal of flair, and had improved immensely since their mediocre start. The Scottish Referee refuses to predict a winner, but says that it looks like being one of the best finals since the Scottish Cup began in 1874.
The weather was lovely. It was a beautiful spring day, not too warm and with only a hint of a breeze – just perfect for playing football in fact. The game was due to kick off at 4.00 pm but at 3.30 pm the SFA took the decision to close the gates, for already the ground was packed. This decision caused no little anger outside the ground.
Some of the disappointed went home, but more stayed outside to follow the game by listening to the roar of the crowd and hoping perhaps to be able to jump the wall when the policemen weren’t looking! The admission price was 1 shilling, when the usual admission to a football match in 1899 was about half of that, and sometimes less. Many of those waiting outside simply did not have the money to get in, and those of the middle classes arriving in their horse drawn taxis were warned to beware of pickpockets.
The game started a few minutes early (all the crowd were in, so why not?) and the first half was very even with neither side able to gain any significant advantage over the other. It was a game however where some of the tackling was a little fierce and several players on each side were spoken to by referee Mr Robertson. The worst culprits were Nick Smith the fair haired right back of Rangers and Barney Battles of Celtic whose methods were always on the robust side.
Things took a distinct turn for the worse when, early in the second half, Smith once again fouled Jack Bell, Celtic’s left winger. Smith was lucky not to suffer the “long, lonely walk” to the pavilion for that one, but it meant that Bell was now virtually a passenger. He would however still play a part in this game.
Gradually, Celtic now with the slight breeze behind them, gained the upper hand, and forced many corners as Campbell and McMahon began to take control of the situation. It was from one of these corners that John Hodge sent over a high ball which at first glance looked too high for everyone, but not for Sandy McMahon. Timing his jump perfectly, “the Duke” (as he was called) rose like a bird to connect, and the green and white verticals were one up, amidst “great cheering and waving of rattles”.
From then on, Celtic never looked back. The team had spent the few days before the match training at Loch Katrine, and a great bond of togetherness had been formed, and this now showed on the park. Full backs Welford and Storrier made sure that goalkeeper McArthur was never troubled, while the half back line of Battles, Marshall and King dominated proceedings to such an extent that many of the crowd, including some Rangers supporters, wondered why Rangers had been unbeaten in the League.
But with Celtic, there was also an element of good tactical nous. McMahon, having scored the goal, now dropped back, knowing that in so doing he would take at least one disorientated Rangers player with him, and all the while encouraging some of the other defenders to go forward and try their luck against the now tiring Rangers defence.
It was then that the injured Jack Bell played his part. The game had virtually passed Jack by, but suddenly the ball came to him, having spun off a Rangers defender. Jack managed to keep the ball in play, and then with his one serviceable foot, punted the ball in the general direction of the Rangers goal. By chance, it came to the unmarked John Hodge who gathered the ball, ran on and scored, as the Rangers defence appealed unconvincingly for offside.
Once again, the Celtic section of the crowd went mad with delight while some of the Rangers sympathisers departed. When the exit gates were opened for them, hundreds of supporters who had been trapped outside rushed in and were able to see the last few minutes of this now rather mundane Cup final. Full time came, and sporting handshakes were exchanged between the two sets of players and the Directors.
Celtic had won the Scottish Cup for the second time.
The Scottish Cup in those days was not presented to the winning captain after the game, but to the winning Chairman at a post-match banquet – something that one would imagine to be an excruciatingly painful experience for the players on the losing side.
However, not for Celtic’s Chairman, the mighty John H McLaughlin who at the Bath Street Hotel that night graciously accepted the Scottish Cup from the SFA Chairman Mr McCulloch of Dundee, and then went on to declare that sectarianism in Scottish football was a “dead letter” and that Celtic would continue to sign anyone “regardless of sect”. He then went on to talk of the pleasant and happy relationship between the two clubs, and hoped that it would continue.
David Potter
Scottish Cup Final Old Hampden Park Saturday 22 April 1899
Celtic: McArthur, Welford and Storrier; Battles, Marshall and King; Hodge, Campbell, McMahon, Divers and Bell
Rangers: Dickie, N Smith and Crawford; Gibson, Neill and Mitchell; Campbell. McPherson, Hamilton, Miller and A Smith
Referee: T Robertson, Queen’s Park
Attendance: 25,000
Line up (above) Back Row: Friel (trainer), Campbell, Hodge, McMahon, Divers, King, W. Maley (secretary / manager). Middle Row: Bell, Marshall, Storrier, Welford, Battles. Front Left is goalkeeper McArthur. Front Right Patrick Gilhooley.
Coming soon from David Potter on Celtic Star Books…
