There’s no Celtic first team game this weekend – but Celtic FC Women are playing in the Champions League Round 1, Group 3 Final against Lithuanian Champions FC Gintra at their home ground.
That match has been previewed by Jessica Elliott on The Celtic Star and is available to watch via Celtic TV via PPV, with the game kicking off at 4pm.
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There is also a Manchester United v Celtic Legends match at Old Trafford in Manchester this afternoon, 110 years on from the Hoops’ first Old Trafford trip.
Manchester has been a big Celtic venue over the years, witness to numerous interesting club moments. There was even once a joint team with Rangers!
Celtic’s first visit to Manchester for a game came in 1891. On 28 March 1891, the Bhoys took on Ardwick (who later became Man City) at Hyde Road. It was an easy 7-2 win for Celtic, who played three other matches in an English tour.
Celtic faced Ardwick on different occasions – but in 1894, they first opposed Man City, who had only adopted that name earlier that year. On 1 December 1894, the green-and-white stripes again went south, this time drawing 0-0 with Man City.
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Celtic’s 1895 visit to Manchester was memorable, and included an historic Bhoys’ event.
Playing on Christmas Day versus Man City, the game kicked off at 11.30am, which appears to be Celtic’s joint earliest ever kick-off. The scoreline stood at 2-1 to Man City – until it was abandoned due to poor weather.
Despite later connections, Celtic did not play Manchester United until 1914, just months after the beginning of World War One. Another Christmas Day game – this time in 1914 – also saw the Celts’ first visit to Old Trafford. The Bhoys lost 2-1 to their hosts, with 6000 watching.
1925 witnessed a very unusual (though not unique) football event in Manchester – Celtic and Rangers played as a joint team! The five Celtic and six Rangers players combined in a testimonial for legendary City and United player Billy Meredith. Playing at Maine Road, it ended 2-2.
Celtic have played numerous friendlies in Manchester – but the first competitive game in the city came in 1984. In controversial circumstances, Celtic were forced to replay their Cup-Winners’ Cup tie v Rapid Vienna, following false claims that a bottle had hit a Rapid player in the Celtic Park leg.
Playing at the ‘neutral’ Old Trafford – where 40,000 were in attendance – Celtic lost 1-0, meaning they were knocked out the competition. In an eventual act of justice, Rapid lost the final to Everton.
The Bhoys played Man Utd multiple times in testimonials before eventually facing them in a competitive game.
On 13 September 2006, Celtic lost 3-2 at Old Trafford in a Champions League clash. Celtic took the lead before being undone by a very soft penalty.
But in November, the Bhoys had the last laugh, beating United in Glasgow in November, thanks to a stunning Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick – and a great late penalty save by Artur Boruc.
Celtic first met Man City in a competitive game in 2016. Drawn together in the Champions League, the two teams played out an exciting 3-3 draw in Glasgow on 28 September.
In the Manchester leg, there was then another draw (1-1) at the Etihad stadium in December. Patrick Roberts – on loan from City – scored Celtic’s goal.
Celtic friendlies in Manchester have been a great day out. One memorable 1990s moment even saw Eric Cantona don a Celtic jersey, and there have been other iconic moments when tens of thousands of Celts have descended on the city.
Hopefully the multitudes of Celts who are going to Manchester have a brilliant day as they watch earlier club legends in action.
C’mon the (old) Hoops and of course our Ghirls in Green!
It’s Legends Matchday! 🤩
Around 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Celts will pack out the away end as we get ready to take on Manchester United Legends at Old Trafford 🏟️@CelticFC | @MU_Foundation 🟢🔴 pic.twitter.com/VD1Gsz8ch1
— Celtic FC Foundation (@FoundationCFC) September 7, 2024
Matthew Marr
Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory
Manchester bound for the legends game. Reading material sorted. @hailhailhistory pic.twitter.com/QTtt6bSZEQ
— Manus G (@ManusGOK) September 7, 2024
Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.
