| Match Pictures | Matches: 1952 – 1953 | 1952-53 Pictures |
Trivia
- Alec Boden was out again injured in the last game against Hearts; Mike Haughney as the regular right back cover came in; McPhail was oddly played at left half, a position he had played early in his career; Bobby Collins was back at outside right with Walsh moving in one and Fernie moving over to inside left. Bertie Peacock again missed out.
- This was an all-ticket game, the tickets going on sale with a rail ticket to the game at Buchanan Street. Police had limited the attendance to a record 23,100 (for Brockville) but there was more than likely more than that in the ground.
- John McPhail’s bankruptcy case continued. He contended that the pub had failed due to a lack of management from his partner and experience on his own part. He stated he had no money in a bank, no shares in Celtic, no life insurance and no furniture or property.
- Post-game there was a note saying that the CSA had refused it’s allocation of 2000 tickets as they had asked for 5000 and they boycotted the game. As such the tickets went on sale at other venues and supporters who were not affiliated to Supporters Clubs made up the bulk of the away fans. The ever-blue Alan Breck makes the point in the Evening Times of 23rd February that this was why there was the crush and the pitch invasions. Had Falkirk proceeded with the normal method of distribution of briefs then the crowd would no doubt have been more orderly.
- This game is often cited as ‘the game that Tully scored twice from the same corner kick’. If you read the match report you will see no mention of the first of the corners going in to the goal. It is clear though that he did score directly from the retaken second corner. It is also clear reading eye witness accounts, in particular Tom Campbell’s in his book on Charlie Tully, that Tully certainly scored twice with successive corners.
- The Evening Times’ ‘Olympic’ went even further
“How crude then was Meechan’s countering of Delaney’s grandiloquent style! The match itself will be readily forgotten, but these crush scenes will remain and indelible memory”
How wrong could he be!!! The game has passed into Celtic legend.
Review
In a tremendous Cup tie, Celtic produced a strong second half rally to win the game by the odd goal in five. Celtic were struggling in the League but defeat in this Cup tie would have been a shock. The game was played in wintery conditions on the narrow Brockville pitch on not so much icy but heavy ground.
Falkirk set off at a cracking pace and were two up in 18 minutes, their forward line passing the ball at will and leaving the Celtic defenders bemused. Their first goal came on five minutes when Weir was the first to react to a bouncing ball and he beat Bonnar to it to fire home. Campbell’s goal on 18 minutes came when the ball broke to him and he found himself unmarked, able to take the ball on and score at will. Falkirk were dominant throughout the first half winning every 50/50 ball and Celtic were booed off at the end of the first half.
But the team pulled itself together during the interval and levelled the game, and then McGrory got the winning goal on 66 minutes. After each Celtic goal there was a mini-pitch invasion from the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters that were packed onto the terraces. The invasion after the second goal was more dangerous and amblancemen had to help away women and children with play being held up. Just after this there was a tannoy for a doctor to come forward. When McGrory scored the winner there was a full blown invasion to congratulate the winner who was fair buried by the number of supporters to the extent that he needed treatment from the Celtic trainer Alec Dowdells.
In the first half Stein and Bonnar were particularly flat-footed. Tully scored direct from a twice-taken corner kick. Walsh, McGrory and Fernie passed and moved quickly and efficiently. Fernie got the equalising goal from 3 yards out on 59 minutes from a Tully cross and knock back by McGrory. McGrory got the winner when a shot from Fernie was pushed out and he hit a full blooded shot from 20 yards. This led to a serious pitch invasion and the Celtic players were concerned less the referee abandon the game or even worse, award it in forfeiture to Falkirk. The players urged the fans to leave the park and the speed that the pitch was cleared was an indication of the willfulness of the invasion.
Even so, at the end of the game the terraces were full of crushed and broken steel and concrete crush barriers that had failed to stand up against the jam packed swaying supporters.
Teams
Falkirk:
McFeat; McDonald, Rae; Gallacher, McKenzie, Hunter; Delaney, Dunlop, Weir, Campbell, J Brown
Scorers: Weir (5), Campbell (18)
Celtic: D Gerrard (Aberdeen)
Bonnar; Haughney, Meechan, Evans, Stein, McPhail; Collins, Walsh, McGrory, Fernie, Tully.
Scorers: Tully (53), Fernie (59), McGrory (66)
Referee: D Gerrard (Aberdeen)
Attendance: 23,100
Articles
- Report (see end of page below)
- The “Two-Goals-From-One-Corner” Incident with Charles Patrick Tully.
Pictures
Articles
Glasgow Herald 23rd February 1953
