9. LINCOLN RED IMPS 1-0 CELTIC – 12 July 2016
A new wave of hope came over Celtic in the summer of 2016. Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club, intent on taking the Bhoys to the next level. He was to face a Rangers team in their first year in the top league since liquidation and was a genuine ‘big name’.
His first competitive match was little more than a friendly. Playing in a Champions League qualifier, he was away to Gibraltar side Lincoln Red Imps. Their ground looked like a Junior pitch and it was surely only a matter of ‘how many?’ for Celtic. And then came the game.
As the minutes went on, it was difficult to tell who were the part-timers and which side was representing former Kings of Europe. Celtic struggled to create meaningful chances and when the home side took the lead in the second half, it was not a shock based on how the match had been going.
A 1-0 loss to a team including a taxi driver and fireman was up there with Celtic’s most embarrassing moments. But of course it proved to be irrelevant as Celtic won the second leg 3-0, and Rodgers’ team delivered an Invincibles season.
Continued on the next page for the last match in our Halloween horror show…
5-1 defeat at Ibrox in 1988. We went there as champions and took the lead then Andrews decided to become Dracula. The match started there 9 in a row. Can’t get any worse than that.
4-0 at St Mirren in March 2010. Tony Mowbray’s last game. Watching him sitting on the bench, totally passive and unable to do anything about what was happening, you knew it was the end for him, and you got the feeling that he knew it too. A good man, but the job was just too big for him.
Losing to the new Ibrox club in the Scottish Cup semi final of 2016 was one of the most horrible days of my supporting life and I’ve been attending since 1973. However, 2 plus points came out of it. Like the ICT defeat in 2000, the board got their finger out and gave us Brendan for the first time. The other was it allowed the David Gray last minute winner in the cup final. I’ve never celebrated or laughed so much at a non Celtic/Roma/Italy goal in my life.