With all the summer football going on at present, today’s photo of the day followed that theme by revisiting Tony Mowbray’s Testimonial at Middlesbrough in July 1992. Then a Celtic player, Mowbray returned to Ayresome Park, where he had spent nine years plying his trade for the English club.
10,000 Celtic fans made the trip south, watching the Hoops play out a 1-1 draw. ‘Boro gave a decent account of themselves considering that they had only just been promoted to the Premier League, but there was not much respect between the fans of each club and there had been animosity throughout the game. Eventually, tensions spilled over when Celtic fans invaded the pitch and waved an Irish tri-colour, which triggered a section of the local support to try and recreate the Battle of the Boyne. The fact that the Troubles were still raging at this stage probably heightened tensions too.
Notwithstanding the crowd trouble, there was a tremendous atmosphere generated by the fans, who witnessed a decent game of football. Tommy Coyne scored the equaliser for the Hoops and both sets of supporters ultimately got to pay tribute to a decent player in Tony Mowbray.