| Match Pictures | Matches:1953 – 1954 | 1953-54 pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic were due to play Hamilton Academicals on the Saturday before and Stein would have been out injured with McIlroy coming in. The game was postponed due to fog. The players went out instead and practised for an hour with the new white football.
- Following action after the last Glasgow derby the magistrates had sought for legislation to license all football grounds. They had also accepted an undertaking to transfer all those arrested for acts of football related hooliganism to be transferred to the Sherriffs Court where higher penalties would be handed down.
- When asked about floodlighting at Celtic Park the directors replied that there would be no floodlighting until the uncovered areas of the ground were covered. Many clubs in England and Scotland were in the process of trialling and installing floodlights. Ibrox had installed them as had Kilmarnock (in a sort of way). Celtic had played two floodlight Friendlies this season against Wolves and Manchester City. It would take till 1959 to install floodlights at Celtic Park.
- John McDonald was transferred to St Mirren on the 15th December.
- Jimmy Walsh was out along with McPhail who was still injured or ill; Collins moved over to inside left and John Higgins came in for a game, Jock Stein had recovered from injury and played.
- There was a transport strike on the Saturday of the game. Not only that, it poured with rain.
Review
A white ball was used for the game and when the toss was made the coin got lost in the mud! The pitch was muddy and heavy and cut up as soon as play started. For once Celtic shot hard, and accurately, and often! Celtic had some lucky escapes in the early stages of the game. Stein got booked in the first half. Murphy and Meechan were also booked in the second. In the first quarter of an hour Clyde had the ascendancy but failed to put away chances or were thwarted by superior defending and goalkeeping. Mochan opened the scoring from a pass from Hemple. Celtic were now quicker, better and stronger in every position on the field, and particularly in the forwards. Everyone shot and shot accurately. Hemple got the second, and almost straight from the restart, Higgins got the third.
The second half was all one way traffic. Higgins got his second; Mochan his second and Collins scored two at the end. Clyde did get a consolation goal before Collins' two. Collins also missed a penalty.
This was a performance of power in bad conditions by Celtic. Collins and Fernie were outstanding. Evans was inexhaustible and Stein utterly dominating. It must be said that Clyde too played in the spirit of the game and did not in the least fall off but continued to play as best they could nor did they resort to fouling. Unfortunately they just did not have the players to keep a side like this down when they were on form.
Teams
Clyde:
Wilson; Murphy, Haddock; Campbell, Anderson, Baird; Hill, Robertson, Buchanan, Carr, Ring.
Scorers: Carr (80)
Celtic:
Bonnar; Haughney, Meechan; Evans, Stein, Peacock; Higgins, Fernie, Hemple, Collins, Mochan.
Scorers: Mochan 2 (31, 79), Hemple (43), Higgins 2 (44, 62), Collins 2 (81, 86)
Referee: D McKerchar (Stanley)
Attendance: 21,500
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
