CELTIC step onto the Premiership tightrope again on Saturday when Neil Lennon takes his players to meet Hibs at Easter Road.
In the Hoops’ only game in Leith last season, they dropped two points in a 1-1 draw in September when the home side were presented with an early lead through an own goal from Kristoffer Ajer, but Ryan Christie saved his team-mate’s blushes with a brilliant headed equaliser before the interval.
And it wasn’t a happy hunting ground for the champions in the previous campaign when they lost 2-0 on December 16 2018 when Brendan Rodgers was in charge or on April 21 last year under his successor Lennon when the visitors had to settle for a goalless stalemate.
However, it is worth pointing out Easter Road is a ground where Celtic have claimed THREE of their 51 titles – as highlighted in the new book, ‘CELTIC: 50 Flags Plus One’, author Alex Gordon’s fifteenth book on the Parkhead club.
READ ALL ABOUT IT … ‘CELTIC: 50 Flags Plus One’ publication.
The remarkable hat-trick in Scotland’s capital kicked off in season 1953/54 when Jimmy McGrory was the manager, Jock Stein was the centre-half and captain and the Hoops claimed the trophy with a 3-0 victory as club great Neil Mochan hit a double and Johnny Higgins headed the other.
Alex told CQN: “This was a massive championship success for the club. They had last lifted the title in 1938 and, even taking the war years into consideration when the league was suspended for seven seasons, Celtic were poor also-rans in the eight subsequent years when the division was dominated by Rangers and Hibs. It was a long time in the wilderness for Celtic, but they won against the odds in 1954 for a welcome comeback to the pinnacle.”
Dixie Deans claimed two and Kenny Dalglish the other when Jock Stein’s team won their eighth of their record-breaking nine-in-a-row sequence with a 3-0 victory in Edinburgh in 1972/73.
And the Parkhead men were back on the title trail at Hibs’ ground four years later when Joe Craig scored the only goal of the encounter to give the club their 30th crown and their tenth and last under the iconic Jock Stein.
If Neil Lennon is looking for a good omen at the weekend, he only has to look into the history books.
YOU can be one of the first to relive the dramatic memories of every single one of the most glorious years in the club’s history in ‘CELTIC: 50 Flags Plus One’, author Alex Gordon’s new book on the champions. It’s Alex’s fifteenth Celtic publication and it is due to be published on Monday, November 23. You can pre-order a copy today at the CQN bookstore – the ONLY place to buy the tribute book at the moment. It is available at £20. Enjoy a wonderful and breathtaking trip through Celtic’s most successful years..
