After the match, Jimmy Quinn faced problems connected to his ordering-off. Despite the Rangers defender Alec Craig writing a letter to the Scottish FA saying that Quinn had not deliberately kicked him, the Celt was still banned for a month.
Quinn also ended up going to court. The Glasgow Evening News claimed he had “savagely kicked Alec Craig” so the Celtic forward sued them and was eventually awarded damages for this false report.
In April, the Ibrox side went on to meet Third Lanark in the final, with the Warriors claiming victory. This was the last time that the Cathkin Park men won the Scottish Cup.
When 6 May 1905 came around, it was time for Celtic to face Rangers in the League playoff match. In order to ensure a fair encounter, different steps were taken. For one thing, it was to be played at the neutral venue of Hampden Park.
In addition, an outside referee was brought in for the match. Given concerns about the impartiality of Scottish officials, an English referee was chosen for this occasion. Fred Kirkham refereed English and international games, and also had a year-long spell as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
30,000 fans turned up at Hampden for the game, which kicked off at 3.30pm. It was a dry day although also very cold, and there was a noticeable wind too. After winning the coin toss, Rangers chose to play into this breeze in the first half.
David Potter’s book on Jimmy McMenemy
The opening 45 minutes of the game were relatively even. There were various attacks from both teams; Rangers came closest to scoring through Robert McColl. He was better known as RS McColl, and gave his name to the famous chain of newsagents. At the other end, Jimmy McMenemy went close for the Hoops.
It was 0-0 at the interval, and Rangers now had the backing of the wind. However, it did not help give them any obvious advantage. Instead, almost halfway through the second period, it was the Celts that first had cause to celebrate.
In the words of one newspaper, the Bhoys “moved with more unison forward” and, twenty minutes after the re-start, they took the lead. A soft shot from Jimmy McMenemy crept past Tom Sinclair in the Rangers goal. Sinclair would later have a Celtic connection; the Ibrox side loaned him to Celtic at the start of the 1906-07 season, and he went on to set a League shutout record for the Bhoys.
David Hamilton. Celtic FC. Photo The Celtic Wiki
As the Celtic fans cheered and the Rangers players tried to regroup, there was almost immediately another goal to celebrate. Straight from kick-off, Celtic went back up towards the Rangers goal. They won a corner and after this was taken, a shot from David Hamilton sneaked into the goal, doubling the Celts’ advantage.
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