100 years and 2 days on, Celtic aim for another record

Fate intervenes in football regularly. Friday, 21 April, marks the 100th anniversary of Celtic’s UK record of 62 league games unbeaten finally ending. Willie Maley’s team won 49 of the 62 games, but took their eye off the ball on the second last game of a long season, at home to Kilmarnock.

The run stood as a European record for 70 years until the great Steaua Bucharest European Cup winning team eclipsed it.

While we will remember one of the early great Celtic teams, with Patsy Gallacher, Alec McNair and Jimmy McMenemy, thoughts inevitably turn to the tantalising prospect of an unbeaten record which would be just as incredible – that of an invincible domestic treble.

100 years and two days after Maley’s team’s great run came to an end, Brendan Rodgers’ team put their aspirations on the line in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. The weight of history will not burden Brendan or the players, but Sunday is a great opportunity to mark the passing of one incredible record by setting your sights on another.

Great records happen at Celtic. It’s time for another one.

I’ve no axe to grind with Dundee one way or another. Completely understood the decision to sack Paul Hartley. Whatever was going on, the prospect of relegation after losing a play-off against Dundee United was looming large, but good grief, appointing a rookie from the television!

Apart from saying, “Don’t take tax advice from an adult film producer”, I can’t imagine what else he will tell the players with any authority.

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