Celts made it three home wins in a week with a 3-0 victory over Hibernian three days later, Sammy Wilson with a double and Ian Lochhead all on target in a devastating 10-minute spell early in the second half. That teed things up nicely for the biggest game of the season to date, 80,000 spectators inside Hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final with St Mirren on Saturday, 4 April 1959.
On an afternoon when nothing went right for Celtic, John Divers had an early goal incorrectly ruled out by our old friend R H Davidson of Airdrie before an Ally Miller double put Saints in control. When Davidson then allowed Gerry Baker to make it 3-0 before half-time when clearly two yards offside the rotund lady was gargling, Tommy Bryceland sealing Celtic’s fate with a fourth goal in the final minute. The Buddies would now await the winner of the Aberdeen v Third Lanark replay in the final.
The selection eccentricities which plagued Celtic during this era were highlighted again 48 hours later, as John Colrain and Bertie Auld – first picks in the eyes of many, were re-instated to the team which faced Raith Rovers at Starks Park. In fairness, they would not change much as Celts lost 3-1 which included former Hearts legend Alfie Conn, who scored the opening goal, and a young Jim Baxter.
The malaise continued on the Wednesday, with a 2-0 defeat at Fir Park, Motherwell featuring another future Scotland star in Ian St John. John Kurila made his debut at full-back in place of Dunky MacKay, who was on Scotland duty ahead of the England v Scotland clash at Wembley that weekend, as was Bobby Evans, his place taken by Billy McNeill. As the Scots were going down to a single-goal defeat to England, Celts were beating relegation-threatened Stirling Albion by the same score at Annfield, Matt netting his 13th and final goal for the club just before the break from Malky Slater’s free-kick. This was the fourth of Highlander Slater’s five games for Celtic.
Saturday, 18 April 1959 will go down as one of the more bizarre days in Celtic’s history, as they effectively won the League…for Rangers! The Hoops entertained defending champions Hearts, whilst Rangers hosted Aberdeen, the Ibrox side two points clear of the Gorgie men and with an identical goal average. Defeat for Rangers and a win for Hearts would see the flag remain at Tynecastle, and Aberdeen duly did their bit with a 2-1 victory in Govan, which removed the possibility of the cup-finalists being relegated.
Meanwhile, at Celtic Park, a Hearts side featuring Gordon Marshall senior in goals led 1-0 at the interval, just 45 minutes from the title, before goals early in the second half from Bertie Auld and Eric Smith won the match, directly handing the 1958/59 Scottish League Championship to bitter rivals Rangers!
Celtic’s list of released players at the end of April included John Higgins, John Jack and Frank Meechan, with Hampden in the Sun goalscorer Sammy Wilson perhaps the biggest surprise. Young winger Andy Murphy and defender Willie Gribben would also leave the club without making a first-team appearance.
The remaining task for those retained was the Charity Cup, Celts again drawn against Rangers at Ibrox just as they had been 12 months earlier. On that occasion, Rangers had progressed to the final on the toss of a coin following a 1-1 draw and in identical circumstances this time, Alec Byrne having equalised a Ralph Brand header, Bertie Peacock would call correctly. That set up a final with holders Clyde, who had added the Charity Cup to the Scottish Cup the previous summer with a 4-0 hammering of Rangers. On Saturday, 9 May 1959, Celtic would go one better with a 5-0 thrashing of Clyde at Hampden, a red-letter day for Matt McVittie as he won his only senior silverware at the club. Alec Byrne grabbed a hat-trick and by all accounts could have set a new Celtic scoring record on the day, whilst left-back Neil Mochan blasted two free-kicks past Tommy McCulloch in the Clyde goal, as the Hoops finally secured some tangible reward for their season’s efforts.
The team which won the Charity Cup at Hampden was as follows.
Frank Haffey; John Donnelly & Neil Mochan; Dunky MacKay, Bobby Evans & Bertie Peacock;
Eric Smith, Matt McVittie, Alec Byrne, John Colrain & John Divers.
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