Willo Flood played for Celtic for a brief and unhappy time between 2009 and 2010. What makes him remarkable however are the events on the eve of his arrival at the end of January 2009. It was 29 January, two days before the closing of the transfer window and Celtic were playing Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. It was an open secret that Willo Flood was on the verge of being transferred to Celtic, but that night at Hampden he was still playing for Dundee United.
It was a close game, 90 minutes came and went and no goals were scored. Extra time was similar although Celtic hit the woodwork on more than one occasion, and it came down to penalties. Willo took the first one for United and just as all the conspiracy theorists were planning their arguments for the next day… Willo scored. So that was that, then, wasn’t it? No. The teams still could not be separated. Both teams missed one each, but everyone else (goalkeepers Artur Boruc and Lukasz Zaluska included) scored and we had to start again! So Willo took another penalty… and this time he hit the bar and the ball went over. Scott McDonald then sunk a penalty and Celtic reached the final.
So was it all deliberate then on the part of Willo? Well no, actually, because he had deprived himself of the chance of a medal because he couldn’t play for Celtic in the final anyway, as he was cup-tied for Dundee United. Willo was just simply an unlucky player who missed a penalty.
And here’s another dramatic shoot-out, although it failed to produce a similar happy ending for Celtic against a right good Valencia side, who we should have beaten…
The penalties against Valencia, what a night that was, big Joos twice missed and we sang the team off the park. Noise during their penalties was incredible, stadium emptied so quick. https://t.co/SS84lyrt2I
— Rab (@bhoab) November 14, 2020
Special offer for @celticfc fans, get Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys plus a signed copy of Invincible for just £30 from https://t.co/YKYbGAHbaE @cfcliamk96 @Boola_vogue pic.twitter.com/WqmCdgAuyX
— The Celtic Star Editor – Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys (@CelticStarMag) November 14, 2020
