| Match Pictures | Matches: 1958 – 1959 | 1958-59 Pictures |
Trivia
- Duncan Mackay and Bobby Evans were in the Scotland side beaten 1-0 by England at Wembley on the 11th April.
- Celtic's Jim Conway was admitted to the Royal Opthalmic Hospital on the Thursday prior to the game to have a metal splinter removed from his eye. He received the injury whilst at his daytime job as a fitter in Wishaw. Conway would be out for the rest of the season.
- Last league game of the season. MacKay and Evans back from international duty reclaimed their starting places. Eric Smith moved forward to outside right w Malky Slater dropping out, and Alec |Byrne replaced Ian Lochhead at centre forward.
- Rangers won the league on this day despite losing to Aberdeen at Ibrox.
- Effectively Celtic helped Rangers win the league. If Hearts had won and Rangers lost, then Hearts would have won the league. Rangers lost, but Celtic won.
Review
This was set up to be an exciting game. Celtic wanted the win to extract something from a poor season and Hearts HAD to win to have any chance of displacing Rangers and taking the League title. Rangers were two points in front and had to lose against Aberdeen at Ibrox. This, allied to a Hearts win at Parkhead, would give the Gorgie men the title.
Hearts started well and put the Celts defence under pressure which they managed to cope with. The game was played as a game should be – fast and on the deck. Celtic forwards played well and combined to give a number of chances. Auld in particular caused some worrying moments for the Hearts defenders. Rankine was the danger man up front for Hearts but he was being adequately policed by MacKay. When the goal came for Hearts it was from a remarkable 25 yard shot from Rankine which beat Haffey. This gave Hearts added spirit and they peppered the Celtic goal for the next 10 minutes. Celtic got back into it and had a shiout for a penalty but at half time Hearts still had the upper hand by the single goal.
Hearts again started well though for all their attack there was something missing in the way they went about the ball. Evans effectively marshalled the defense and 9 minutes into the half MacKay laid on a perfect pass for Auld to walk the ball into the net. Hearts came back and Haffey pulled off a wonder save to keep it even and with that, Hearts began to drop. In the 68th minute Celtic went in front. Colrain took the ball to the line and fired over a low cross which Eric Smith stooped for and headed past Marshall. After that it was all Celtic.
News came through from Ibrox that Aberdeen had won 2-1 and this left Hearts devasted and Celtic fans annoyed. Hearts had nothing but themselves to blame for throwing away a championship and the Bhoys deserved their victory. Over at Ibrox news came through of Celtic's win and there were muted celebrations at Ibrox.
So ended the 1959 – 60 League season with Rangers taking the title and Celtic ending up in 6th position.
Teams
Celtic:
Haffey; Donnelly, Mochan; MacKay, Evans, Peacock; Smith, McVittie, Byrne, Colrain, Auld.
Scorers: Auld (53), Smith (67)
Hearts:
Marshall; McIntosh, Lough; Thomson, Milne, Cumming; Blackwood, Murray, Young, Rankin, Hamilton.
Scorers: Rankin (25)
Referee: S Crossley (Motherwell)
Attendance: 19,500
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
almost certainly taken before the 2-1 game against Hearts 18-04-59
From David Potters book on Charlie Gallagher
