On This Day: Celtic’s Birthday Party as McNeill’s side seal league title

SATURDAY 23 APRIL 1988 was a very special day at a packed-out Paradise and if you were there we’d love to hear from you today! Share your stories of that remarkable afternoon at Celtic Park by emailing editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we’ll compile into a great feature for later this evening. Here’s what happened…

Only the gullible believed the official statements about there being only 60,800 within Celtic Park. There looked to be well over 80,000 with spectators sitting on the running track as Celtic clinched the League Championship in their Centenary Year.

The official attendance was put at 60,800 but Celtic directors confessed in later years attendance was actually 72,000. It might have been even higher than that, maybe even as high as 80,000. Stewards had to lock the gates with thousands left outside.

It’s quite unbelievable that this wasn’t an all-ticket match and certainly the season ticket holders in the Main Stand were less than pleased to find other supporters already in their seats when they arrived at the match!

Celtic beat Dundee 3-0 with full back Chris Morris scoring within the first few minutes then Andy Walker adding a couple in the second half. The Celtic supporters sang sing ‘Happy Birthday Dear Celtic…happy birthday to you’ then invaded the field at the final whistle. The Celtic players are forced to stand on the ledge of the directors’ box to take the acclaim of the supporters.

The Celtic team was Bonner, Morris, Rogan, Aitken, McCarthy, Whyte, Miller (Stark), McStay, McAvennie (McGhee), Walker, Burns and the goalscorers were Morris (3) and Walker (75, 76).

Here are the match highlights:

Here is some Celtic Star readers feedback to start us off. Remember we want to hear from you today so email your memories of this day in 1988 to editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

‘YOU ARE NOT GETTING ON THIS PITCH!’ – ‘AYE AM URR’

l was there. Never seen Parkhead so full. Assumed a position, almost on the track. One policeman took it upon himself to stop me, kept saying, ‘you are not getting on this pitch!’,

I kept smiling and repeating, ‘Aye am urr’. I hadn’t played Scottish lion since my primary school days but l fancied my chances. The last ten minutes took an eternity, the crowd heaving to bursting. An unstoppable wave shook the place to the core and flooded the pristine, hallowed turf.

I gave the copper a wee jink and a wink as l flew passed him, l was on it, l was on the pitch! I danced with joy, embarrassingly, nothing cool and controlled, like most of my Jungle brothers, it was a fantastic frenzy of emotion and joy showering us all, we were almost hysterical.

I instinctively headed to the centre circle, drawn magnetically, to the eye of the storm as it were, where I met one of my neighbours from Blantyre. We greeted each other ecstatically, barely able to manage speaking and made noises more akin to cavemen, grunts and howls, it’s was undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences l ever had and rejoice recounting it now too.

I shake my head but I know it was true. I was there and it was the game.

Tom Cather

ON THE TRACKSIDE

I can’t really recall the actual game but I remember a lot of us in the Celtic end including myself being moved on to the trackside during the game and moved into the Rangers end.

It was quite surreal.

James Carrigan

WHAT AN ATMOSPHERE

I was there with my young bhoy who was 10 at the time. I remember standing at the old pie stall near the London Road end. The place was so packed I put my son onto the track for his own safety. Kids surrounded the whole area. What an atmosphere that day. They said the crowd was 60,000 .I think that might have in the Celtic end alone.

Charles Donaghy

A FANTASTIC DAY!

The 23 April 1988 was a fantastic day!

My normal place to stand was in the middle of the Jungle, but there was no way we could in that day, it was completely packed. I ended up in the Rangers end, not for the first time during the title run in that year.

For much of the first half we watched fascinated as the crowd were moved around the pitchside, getting re-located to the Dundee fans’ area and the empty terracing in front of the police hut which was never used at that time. The official attendance figure was a total joke as everyone who was there will know.

The early strike meant we could all relax and enjoy the game, then when Andy Walker scored the whole place went mental. My brother fell to the ground and got back up again just too late to see Walker score again –for the next 10 minutes or so he thought it was still two-nil – he thought we were still celebrating Walker’s first!

I think the two goals were about 40 seconds apart. A great day, and one I wasn’t sure I’d see when I went to Greenock for the first game of the season against Morton. That really was an inspired Celtic team though with McStay prompting everything from the middle of the park and the two full backs, Morris and Rogan, giving him those overlapping runs all day long.

I was a student at Liverpool University at the time and travelled up for most home games on the train with the Michael Davitt CSC. I would usually meet up with my pals, Jamie, Mick and Brendan from the Celtic Cross CSC in Dennistoun for a few drinks before the game but, on this occasion, the train was late and I headed straight to Paradise from Central Station.

Nobody had a season book back then and, even during Celtic’s highly successful Centenary Season, all-ticket matches were a rarity, especially at Celtic Park.

It certainly never occurred to me that the ground would be anywhere near capacity for the visit of Dundee. That all changed at about a quarter past two as I walked past the old Grange Bar on the Gallowgate and saw the queues sneaking round the corner of Janefield Street from the turnstiles at the Celtic End and the Jungle.

I always stood towards the front of the Jungle on the halfway line. A group of us would congregate there. Peter Grant’s sister often used to stand with us. I recall getting into the ground just as Glen Daly’s Celtic Song announced the arrival of the team and, remarkably, I was able to fight my way to my usual spot. As I appeared, I recall Mick shouting out to me: “Hey, Scouse, brand new wee man.”

He always called me Scouse even though I wasn’t actually from Liverpool and certainly didn’t have the accent!

With hindsight, it was a health and safety disaster waiting to happen but we all lived to tell the tale on that occasion and, thanks to Chris Morris and “Handy” Andy Walker, a great time was had by all.

Almost exactly a year later, I was at Hillsborough but that’s another story…

David Sleight

LAST MAN INTO MAIN STAND

I can probably claim to have been the last person admitted to the stand that day.

In these days there were no tickets for the stand and it was first come, first served. I just squeezed in at about 1.30pm and they closed the stand turnstiles immediately after that.

I was glad I got in to the stand, for the terracing was in some parts quite dangerous. We could have won the League the week before in Edinburgh but lost to Hearts, and everyone said that it was all done deliberately to win the game at Celtic Park. (Sounds a bit familiar that, does it not?)

Chris Morris, of all people, scored early, and the game against Dundee was a bit dull because we were all waiting for the final whistle, but there were two good goals in the second half from Andy Walker within a minute of each other.

The raising of scarves at the Celtic End reminded me of a venetian blind opening, funnily enough! Just near the end, the sun came out (it had been overcast up till then) and a lady beside me said this was because God was a Celtic supporter.

It was certainly a great day to be alive.

David Potter

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor David Faulds has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

Comments are closed.