Hampden is ours!

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Scottish football was waning in 2016.  In the five years before then, Celtic won all league titles, while the Scottish and League Cups each saw five different winners – nine clubs won cups across both competitions.  The ‘neutrals’ raved at this and fair play to the likes of Ross County and Hibs, (especially Hibs), but there was something missing.

Brendan Rodgers arrival gave Scottish football a team who were not just champions, but imperious champions.  18 trophies have been awarded since, 14 to Celtic.  Those neutrals (yet to meet a neutral) bemoaned a lack of competition, but you and I know the truth.  The value in even the League Cup has never been higher.

Other teams want to win it because so few sides apart from Celtic get to win anything.  Celtic want to win it because we know the historic significance of these times.  We are living in a period that 100 years from now football fans will look back at the records and marvel.  This.  Is.  History!  You and I know it and we kicked every ball.

When I think back on highlights from those 14 trophies, that magnificently-horrible League Cup win in December 2019 jumps out first.  The thought of losing our run, history denied, was such, that the eventual relief was euphoric.

Next is the game we watched from home.  We knew the run that led to the Quadruple Treble was over before the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts in 2020.  An equally horrible performance before Kristoffer Ajer blasted his deciding penalty into the net brought a feeling no less joyful than beating Newco 5-0 to win the league.

When your status is as high as Celtic’s has been since 2016, historic significance is always on the line.  This is Celtic’s gift to the rest of Scottish football.  Every competition here has an importance other countries could only dream of, and I include the often-vaunted English game.  There, their top clubs use the League (and increasingly FA) Cup as a development opportunity.

Even the second strongest team in Scotland is not robust enough to do that.  They need the League Cup.  A loss there, while miles behind in the league, would be a disaster.  February is a bit early to have only the Scottish Cup to look forward to.  Can you imagine looking at the months stretching out between February and August and thinking, ‘at most, three games in the Scottish Cup”?  They cannot walk out of Hampden on Sunday muttering, “Bigger fish to fry”, it all goes on the line.

Celtic are playing so well, some of us are disconcertingly confident.  Hatate, Kyogo, Jota and Maeda are on fire.  The back line is rock solid, and Joe Hart looks ready for anything (except a back pass).  McGregor and Mooy will move, block and pass their way through the game, while Ange will make changes that reinvigorate the second half.

Five League Cups out of six, you know the script, Celtic, Hampden is ours!

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386 Comments

  1. Weebobbycollins on

    Tontine Tim…I was in the south-east curve of the Celtic end when wee Lennox scored that goal, so I was looking straight across the park, level with the penalty spot. That was my third league cup final. I saw big Yogi’s two penalties the year before as well as Tommy Gemmell clattering a daft hun invader at the end. My first was 1956 in the 3-0 replay versus Thistle. My dad let h The 7-1 game I missed but listened to it on the radio before running down to Ru’glen main street to watch the buses coming back. Quite a sight so it was! Lol

  2. G44 4QG

     

     

    -1 tonight, dyt clear, 3 degress from 8am, 9 degrees high at 3 tomorrow, no raon at all.

     

     

    pitch should be prefect,

     

     

    conditions for silky fast one touch football

     

     

    play our game celtic, it is ours.

  3. Weebobbycollins on

    That was supposed to say ‘my dad let me take the afternoon off school.’ I think it was a 2.30 kick off…

  4. I am probably in a minoroty of one for this

     

     

    but i have always loved going to Hampden.

     

     

    Celtics second home, how many matches in our history have been won there, in spite of all the shenanigins to stop us forever.

     

     

    How many celts in spite of selection commitees gave scotland thier best moments.

     

     

    James Kelly, Johnny Campbell, Jimmy McGrory, Jimmy Deleney, Jinky, Kenny, cALLUM.

     

     

    Hampden belongs to us.

     

     

    ———————————-

     

     

    Hampden Park’s record attendances in full (data sourced from the official Hampden website):

     

     

    Serie A

     

    STARTED!

     

    Lecce

     

    vs

     

    Sassuolo

     

    LECCE

     

    2.38

     

    DRAW

     

    3.25

     

    SASSUOLO

     

    3.00

     

    logo

     

    See more odds at bookmaker

     

    Please note that odds are subject to change. Always check odds are correct before placing bets with any bookmaker. 18+ | Play responsibly.

     

    1904: Scottish Cup Final 64,472

     

     

    First final at third Hampden Park.

     

     

    1906: Scotland V England 102,741

     

     

    First six-figure attendance for any game in Scotland.

     

     

    1908: Scotland V England 121,452

     

     

    World-record attendance at that time.

     

     

    Advertisement

     

     

    Hide Ad

     

    1912: Scotland V England 127,307

     

     

    World-record attendance at that time.

     

     

    1925: Celtic V Rangers (Scottish Cup Semi-Final) 101,714

     

     

    First six-figure crowd for a domestic club game in Scotland.

     

     

    1928: Celtic V Rangers (Scottish Cup Final) 118,115

     

     

    Record crowd for a domestic match in Scotland at that time.

     

     

    1930: Queen’s Park V Rangers 95,722

     

     

    World-record crowd for a match involving an amateur team.

     

     

    Advertisement

     

     

    Hide Ad

     

    1931: Scotland V England 129,810

     

     

    World-record attendance at that time.

     

     

    1933: Scotland V England 136,259

     

     

    World-record attendance at that time.

     

     

    1937: Celtic V Aberdeen (Scottish Cup Final) 147,365

     

     

    World-record attendance for a national cup final. Still the largest attendance for a domestic match in Europe.

     

     

    1937: Scotland V England 147,415

     

     

    All time record for a European international match.

     

     

    Advertisement

     

     

    Hide Ad

     

    1944: Scotland V England 133,000

     

     

    Record wartime attendance in the UK.

     

     

    1946: Scotland V England 139,468

     

     

    Record attendance for an unofficial international.

     

     

    1948: Rangers V Hibs (Scottish Cup Semi-Final) 143,750

     

     

    Record attendance for a non-final match.

     

     

    1948: Rangers V Morton (Scottish Cup Final & Replay) 129,176 & 133,570

     

     

    Largest combined attendance for a final plus replay.

     

     

    Advertisement

     

     

    Hide Ad

     

    1951: Petershill V Irvine Meadow (Scottish Junior Cup) 77,650

     

     

    British record attendance for a match between two junior sides.

     

     

    1954: Scotland V Hungary 113,056

     

     

    Largest crowd ever for a match involving Hungary.

     

     

    1960: Real Madrid V Eintracht Frankfurt 127,621

     

     

    Record attendance for a European Cup Final (Champions League)

     

     

    1963: Rangers V Morton (League Cup Final) 105,907

     

     

    First six-figure crowd for a League Cup Final.

     

     

    Advertisement

     

     

    Hide Ad

     

    1965: Celtic V Rangers (League Cup Final) 107,609

     

     

    All time record attendance for a British League Cup Final.

     

     

    1970: Celtic V Leeds United (European Cup Semi-Final) 136,505

     

     

    All time record attendance for a European Cup match.

     

     

    1973: Rangers V Celtic (Scottish Cup) 122,714

     

     

    Last 100,000+ crowd for any football match in the United Kingdom.

  5. MCGRORY AND THE HAMPDEN ROAR

     

     

     

    But putting all that aside, it seems that 1 April 1933 was the first time that the “Hampden Roar” was so called with housewives in the north of Glasgow affirming that they suddenly heard a mighty roar across the city at about 4.30 pm. that day. Stories that it wakened babies, disturbed the amorous activities of courting couples and even put “hens off the lay” are possibly exaggerated, but it was certainly by all accounts, loud and prolonged like a never ending roar of thunder.

     

     

    https://thecelticstar.com/how-celtic-beat-england-in-1933-jimmy-mcgrorys-winner-created-the-hampden-roar/

  6. St Stivs 7.59pm

     

     

    Not alone … I loved watching Celtic at Hampden, maybe because I have 100% record

     

     

    1980 – McGrain/McCluskey

     

    1985 – Davie Provan

     

    1989 – Joe Joe Super Joe

     

     

    Missed the Centenary season due to working on a Saturday in my brothers video shop for a tenner from 10am-8pm …

     

     

    to this day I can’t understand why, but funnily enough I was loaded back then and skint now :-)

     

     

    Tomorrow I will be stuck in the house … main reason being MissGFTB is buzzing and wants me to watch it with her than go to the boozer with my mates …

     

     

    Actually delighted to be “stuck in” with her :-)

  7. TIMBHOY163 on 25TH FEBRUARY 2023 8:20 PM

     

     

    All I want to say is I hope Celtic win tomorrow,

     

     

    *oh we all do but my wish is that we show up and play football the Glasgow Celtic way

  8. Hello again all you young rebels

     

     

    Very quiet on the blog last night, for me anyway.

     

    No sign of the usual banter before a big gemme, maybe a

     

    bit of apprehension.

     

    Don’t think there’s any worry about how we perform, more

     

    to do with the skullduggery from the mibs.

     

    I’m confident that we will overcome.

     

    Ladies gala day down our local football club, expecting a

     

    good crowd today all dressed in pink.

     

    Just waiting on wee Grace arriving with her pink Celtic top

     

    and pink boots.

     

    Expecting my heart to instantly melt when I see her ❤️ 🇮🇪

     

    H H. Mick

  9. MM

     

     

    Bored of all the crap the media is spouting

     

     

    We know we are the better team

     

     

    We have the better management

     

     

    But

     

     

    The refs and VAR

     

     

    Without them, we all know they are nothing

     

     

    Are we keeping out powder dry??

  10. GFTB @ 8:14

     

     

    Enjoy watching the game in the company of missGFTB. Nothing beats watching the Bhoys alongside the offspring whose love for our great club is in no small part down to their quality upbringing 😁

     

     

    I will be visiting my own son tomorrow to watch the game alongside him…at my suggestion. Nowhere I’d rather be tomorrow 😁

     

     

    HH

  11. A wee glass (bottle actually) of Argentinian Malbec for me tonight then onto Fitzgerald’s Celtic Bar in Liverpool tomorrow.

     

     

    Mon the hoops!

     

    Intake these dobbers!

     

     

    😂👍🏻🇮🇪🍀

  12. Went deep into darkest ayrshire to watch the game with my dad.

     

     

    Hope we give them a right good pumping

     

     

    A day to remember, for them a day to forget

     

     

    Mon the hoops

  13. My first i recall looking over to the enclosure,left side blue,right green,the sheer colour and the eruption of it after each goal.to my eye class in 1969 final. ;-)

     

     

    99-00 Celtic 2 Aberdeen 0

     

    https://youtu.be/Q_BTeF_P-dY

     

     

    HH

  14. MOD

     

     

    Being down under we don’t hear their crap, and I certainly

     

    don’t miss it, and you’re probably correct about our bhoys

     

    doing their talking on the pitch.

     

    H H. Mick

  15. Call Me Gerry 8.57pm

     

     

    Hope you have a great day 🍀

     

     

    Some fans might moan about the infamous 10@row season … for me it was magic … during the Brendan years MissGFTB more or less said what cup did we win this week … after losing the league (due to Covid not our Neil) she became so much more interested, sometimes losing can be a win :-)

     

     

    Always take any positive fae that one negative

     

     

    Am confident about tomorrow …that’s not saying too much as I was confident ever game against the EBT tax evading f’ers 🍀

  16. Excitement building in the Marspapa gaff….dogs getting prepared for tomorrow and my granddaughter in on it too.

     

    💚🤍💛

     

     

    Let’s make more history ……

  17. MARSAPA

     

     

    Interesting watching that vid, did Celtic not always go to

     

    Slaters for their suits ? is Slaters not in business now ?

     

    H H. Mick

  18. SAINT STIVS on 25TH FEBRUARY 2023 8:04 PM

     

    MCGRORY AND THE HAMPDEN ROAR

     

     

    But putting all that aside, it seems that 1 April 1933 was the first time that the “Hampden Roar” was so called with housewives in the north of Glasgow affirming that they suddenly heard a mighty roar across the city at about 4.30 pm. that day. Stories that it wakened babies, disturbed the amorous activities of courting couples and even put “hens off the lay” are possibly exaggerated, but it was certainly by all accounts, loud and prolonged like a never ending roar of thunder.

     

     

    *I recall both my mum and dad telling me that deidco player Bob McPhail told the selection committee if they didnae pick James Edward then not tae bother choosing him

  19. We have seen many teams try to press us high and kick us off the park in the first 15-20 mins of games

     

     

    Tomorrow will be no different

     

     

    When we get thru this we should have the pace and power to see them off

  20. If we don’t get to kick off the first half

     

     

    Does that mean they have kicked off before us again lol

  21. AN TEARMANN

     

     

    Luv that song, our big music mhan always sings it near the end

     

    of our Celtic Sundays, not a dry eye in the pub.

     

    H H. Mick

  22. MELBOURNE MICK on 25TH FEBRUARY 2023 9:10 PM

     

    MARSAPA

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Interesting watching that vid, did Celtic not always go to

     

     

     

     

    Slaters for their suits ? is Slaters not in business now ?

     

     

     

     

    H H. Mick

     

     

    —————–

     

     

    Don’t know Mick , I get my gear from PRIMARK !!☺️

     

     

    How good do they look , an absolute Credit to the club

  23. O.k bhoys, my wee Celtic princess has arrived ☘️

     

    Off down to our parks now, hoping I don’t have to

     

    ref any games today, some of these Sheila’s can

     

    be a bit vociferous during a game 🥰

     

    H H. Mick