The end was exciting. On 15 April 1922 when Morton were beating Rangers in the “roughest ever Scottish Cup final”, Celtic consolidated their position with a 2-0 win over Albion Rovers at Coatbridge, and then on the Holiday Monday, Patsy Gallacher scored twice and Joe Cassidy once to beat Partick Thistle.
This mean that Celtic with one game to play were five points ahead of Rangers who still had three to play. Rangers duly won their two games in hand, which meant that it all came down to the last day of the season, 29 April. Celtic were at Morton, and Rangers were at Clyde, and Celtic were a point ahead.
Celtic had the better goal average, although there was some doubt in the minds of supporters about whether that would be the method used.
A bizarre incident happened on the Tuesday. Andy Cunningham of Rangers had been awarded a benefit, but was injured and could not play. While Andy walked out with the team, who took his place? None other than Patsy Gallacher! He was cheered by the Ibrox crowd for doing so, and it is maybe an indication that the rivalry in the 1920s was not quite so cut throat as it is often portrayed.
It was tense at Greenock, though. The Morton crowd, still on a high after their Scottish Cup triumph, were not above “playing the Orange card” to antagonise the Celtic crowd, and on several occasions play had to be stopped for reasons of overcrowding at certain parts of the ground and sometimes sheer hooliganism.
At half time it looked possible that the game might have to be abandoned, but players of both sides helped usher the fans back onto the terracing.
Morton were 1-0 up at half time, and rumours were spreading that Rangers were hammering Clyde. The problem with “news” in the 1920s, however, was that it was often “made up” in the absence of modern accurate communications, and no-one really knew. What they did know however was that Celtic had to grab at least a point, and preferably two.
They got one. Late in the game after some desperate attacking, Edwards the Morton goalkeeper could only palm a McFarlane drive out to the head of Andy McAtee. Five minutes remained, and everyone knew that a draw would not be enough, if indeed the score was 6-0 for Rangers at Shawfield, as the rumours said it was.
The game at Morton finished 1-1, and as the sorely overstretched Greenock police ushered the Celtic fans to the train, no-one knew for certain who the League champions were, although a wee boy claimed to have heard a newspaper reporter, who had phoned his office, say that it was 0-0 at Shawfield, and enough to give Celtic the title. Perhaps!
It was only when the trains pulled into Glasgow Central Station, and evening newspapers were on sale that it was confirmed that Celtic had won their 16th League title. Rangers had pressed and pressed but the brave Clyde defence had held out. Many Celtic supporters bought a drink for their Clyde supporting friends that night, as the joy knew no bounds.
David Potter
Extract from Celtic – How the League was Won 49 Times by David Potter.
