Today’s photo of the day is from 30 April 1968, when Celtic beat Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park to seal the league title. The official match attendance was given as 27,000, but an estimated 50,000 Celtic supporters travelled to the ground, some of whom watched from the roof of stands and floodlight pylons, whilst half were locked outside.
It is a little-known fact that during Celtic’s run of nine consecutive league championships under Jock Stein, not one title was secured in front of the home crowd at Celtic Park. The Hoops had lifted their first title in 12 years on the final day of the 1965/66 season, by beating Motherwell at Fir Park, and they confirmed two in a row with a 2-2 draw at Ibrox on the penultimate week of the following league campaign.
As the curtain was coming down on the 1967/68 season, the league championship hung in the balance for a third successive time. All had appeared lost for Celtic in mid-April, until Bobby Lennox scored a last-minute goal at Celtic Park to hand the Bhoys a 2-1 victory against Morton, which then ensured that Celtic and Rangers remained level on 61 points going into the final game of the season.
Rangers played their last game at Ibrox on Saturday 27 April, where Aberdeen handed the Govan club their first defeat of the campaign, beating them 3-2. This meant that Celtic had all but won three in a row, considering that the Bhoys had scored 104 and conceded 23, giving a goal average of 4.5 as compared to Rangers, who had scored 93 and conceded 34 – giving them a goal average of 2.7. Ibrox didn’t take the result well. In apoplectic rage, one fan leapt on to the pitch and took out his frustration by booting Alex Ferguson, the club’s top scorer that season with 23 goals, in the shin! Ferguson later said: “I can’t blame him, we all felt sick.”
Regardless of Rangers conceding the title, Celtic wanted to win the league outright, and to celebrate three in a row in style. The Parkhead men travelled to East End Park to play against Dunfermline on Tuesday 30 April 1968. The Pars confirm that this match was witness to the record attendance at the stadium, with local police estimating that 25,000 Celtic fans were locked outside of the ground, unable to party with those fortunate enough to make it through the turnstyles. The fact that so few spectators were Dunfermline fans that day is somewhat surprising as the club had just won the Scottish Cup against Hearts three days previously, in front of a crowd of 56,366.
Celtic fans cram into East End Park to see Celtic win the league title in 1968. Official attendance was given as 27,000 but an estimated 50,000 Celtic fans travelled through for the game pic.twitter.com/Z1LC81mtAw
— Liam Kelly (@cfcliamk96) March 31, 2021
Naturally, hundreds of the Celtic supporters, who had made the trip to Fife, wanted a glimpse of the champions. A huge group of fans charged at a gate outside the stadium and smashed it down to force entry, whilst dozens were scaling the walls and entering by any means possible. Consequentially, there was grave danger of a crush and those already inside the ground tried to escape by climbing the 80-foot-high floodlighting pylons. Several supporters also took refuge on the roof of each stand, at which point play had to be stopped in the 8th minute. Managers, Jock Stein and George Farm, took to the field to plea with supporters to get down from the roof, whilst the Grandstand was cleared to become a makeshift casualty area for those injured in the overcrowding.
The injured were treated by Dr Yellowley, who was a Director on the Dunfermline board, and a local surgeon named Dr Wardlaw. An ambulance shuttle service was hastily organised, transporting those in need to West Fife Hospital. Among the reported injuries were broken legs, fractured ribs and head wounds. Furthermore, the ambulance controller, David Morris, was caught up in the crush and needed treatment himself.
Play restarted after a long delay. Ten minutes later, the referee, Tom ‘Tiny’ Wharton, had to adjourn proceedings again. This time 190 police officers managed to restore order within nine minutes, by clearing areas of terracing to allow more fans to disembark from the roof of the enclosure. Normal order prevailed thereafter, and Celtic got back to celebrating the day with two second half goals from Bobby Lennox earning a 2-1 win. Astonishingly, Lennox’s brace meant that he had racked up 20 goals in the final 12 games of the season.
There was further cause for celebration as a product from the youth team, George Connelly, made his debut after coming on as a substitute. The youngster impressed and looked assured on the ball in midfield, which is no surprise given that he went on to become one of the main players in the Quality Street Gang.
In total, 49 fans were injured at Dunfermline that day, 16 of whom were treated locally, whilst one fan was taken to Edinburgh Infirmary. The players of both teams deserved enormous credit for producing an excellent spectacle amid potentially disastrous scenes. Equally, on the terraces, good will was maintained as the huge Celtic support gave a great ovation to the Dunfermline squad when they paraded the Scottish Cup trophy around the pitch. It was also fitting that Celtic’s victory should take them to 63 points, from a possible 68 – the record total amassed in Scottish football history at the time (2 points for a win back then).
After the game that night you couldn’t get a drink anywhere. The Celtic fans had drunk the pubs dry and emptied the license grocers of beer !