MARTIN O’NEILL was a treble success in his debut campaign as Celtic manager when he enjoyed a domestic clean sweep in season 2000/01.
It was a sensational introduction the team who had missed out on the title for two dismal years before he dismantled Dick Advocaat and Co at Ibrox.
The flamboyant Irishman put down a marker early in proceedings with a breathtaking 6-2 success over Rangers at Parkhead on August 27.
READ ALL ABOUT IT…how the leagues were won.
There were five games still to be played when St Mirren turned up in the east end of Glasgow with a crowd of 60,440 in attendance on a bright afternoon on April 7 2001. The championship was just one win away.
As anticipated, Celtic dominated the encounter and Johan Mjallby and Alan Thompson had already struck the woodwork before unlikely hero Tommy Johnson, playing in place of the suspended Chris Sutton, snatched the glory goal seven minutes from the interval.
The English striker, bought from Aston Villa by Tommy Burns for £2.4million in March 1997, recovered from a bad first touch from a Henrik Larsson pass to slot the ball away from outrushing keeper Ludovic Roy to send the fans into a frenzy.
JOY BHOYS…Henrik Larsson and Tommy Johnson celebrate the title-winner against St Mirren.
And how could blame them? The previous season, they had limped in 21 points behind Rangers.
Amazingly, Johnson, who had been plagued by injury during his time in Glasgow, played for THREE other Hoops managers – Wim Jansen, Jozef Venglos and John Barnes – as well as Kenny Dalglish during his caretaker stint before the arrival of O’Neill.
Scoring the championship winner was undoubtedly his high spot at Celtic where he played just 35 league games and netted 18 goals.
