Good afternoon, champions! If you enjoy your history……….
Yesterday, Celtic retained the league title, which has been a rare achievement for much of our history. We won six in a row during the first decade of the 20th century, then won four in a row (1914-17) during the Great War, but it would be another 50 years before Celtic retained the league title, on 6th May 1967.
Jock Stein re-wrote all the rules during his nine in a row era but after that ended in 1974, Billy McNeill retained the tile in 1982 and it would be another 20 years before Martin O’Neill retained it, the only time he did so.
Gordon Strachan then set about writing his own chapter in our history, retaining the league in 2007 and 2008, while becoming only the third manager in our history, after Willie Maley and Stein, to win three in a row (history awaits you, Neil).
Neil Lennon now joins a select band of Celtic managers, Maley, Stein, McNeill, O’Neill and Strachan, who have retained the league title.
In total Celtic have retained the league title 22 times but yesterday was only the fourth time since nine in a row. It was the sixth time in total we have won two in a row.
Remarkably, of the 13 times Celtic have retained the league since 1919, this is only the third time it has been achieved at Celtic Park, the other occasions being when we beat St Mirren in 1982 (remember unwelcome half time news from Pittodrie over the PA?), and Livingston, to win the 2002 title. Lazy journalism prevents me from confirming which of the pre-1920 titles were won at Celtic Park.
This is your history, I hope you enjoy the memories as much as I do.
The Andrea Kearney Fund, which supports women diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy, is holding its annual dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow on Saturday 1 June. The event is excellent value with a cracking line up of entertainment, including Ricky Ross, Michelle McManus and Lou Hickey. The fight against this disease goes on….
You can book a table here. Look forward to seeing you at the dinner.
Enjoying the incredulous Sevco 5088 events, more on that later.
Service notice:
Still some work planned on the mobile site.
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