Photo Of The Day: The Hampden Clear Up 1965

Today’s photo of the day was kindly sent to me by the editor of this website. It was featured in the Evening Times newspaper and evokes nostalgic memories of a bygone era on the terraces as Groundsman Bert Currie is pictured carrying a sack of beer cans when clearing-up started at Hampden Park on 25 October 1965 – two days after the Celtic v Rangers Scottish League Cup Final.

It was estimated that more than 50,000 cans – bottles were not in the count – were left lying on the terracing by fans. And the image below is thought to have been taken at the Rangers end of the national stadium.

The match itself ended 2-1 in Celtic’s favour. Yogi Hughes scored both for the Hoops, each coming from the penalty spot in the first half!

Full time saw huge sections of the 107, 609 crowd spill on to the pitch in pursuit of the Celtic players… or more accurately, rioting by the Rangers fans. The question on the media’s lips: ‘why did the Celtic team do a lap of honour?’

Riotous scenes would be repeated in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final when Rangers lost 4-0 against Celtic, after the 1980 Scottish Cup Final when Rangers lost 1-0 against Celtic; and after the 2016 Scottish Cup Final when a team from Ibrox lost 3-2 against Hibernian.

About Author

Hailing from an Irish background, I grew up on the English south coast with the good fortune to begin watching Celtic during the Martin O'Neill era. I have written four Celtic books since the age of 19: Our Stories & Our Songs: The Celtic Support, Take Me To Your Paradise: A History Of Celtic-Related Incidents & Events, Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys: Celtic's Founding Fathers, First Season & Early Stars, and The Holy Grounds of Glasgow Celtic: A Guide To Celtic Landmarks & Sites Of Interest. These were previously sold in Waterstones and official Celtic FC stores, and are now available on Amazon.

1 Comment

  1. Yes we know the common denominater but the media will always try the old deflection technique by blaming it on the opposition Tom English said let’s make no mistake about if the Hibs fans hadn’t Been on the park this would never have happened. Likewise if Celtic hadn’t turned up the other pitch invasions wouldn’t have happened.