| Match Pictures | Matches: 1965 – 1966 | 1965-66 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic were forced to play Hearts in this League game at Tynecastle after arriving back from Tbilisi, Georgia, where we'd drawn 1-1 with Dynamo Kiev in the ECWC Quarter Final 2nd leg, on Wednesday 26th to go through to the semi 4-1 on aggregate. After a tortuous journey back via Sweden Celtic arrived in Glasgow late on the Friday night and the players were taken straight to Celtic Park at midnight for a loosening up training session by Jock Stein and Neilly Mochan. Part of the reason Celtic were so late back was because the Aer Lingus charter flight had had 2 aborted take-off attempts in Sweden because of the snow, and Bob Kelly, mindful of Man Utd in Munich, vetoed a third attempt. Celtic did not appeal for a postponement despite Jock Stein phoning the SFA from Stockholm during the delay.
- Tynecastle packed to the rafters with almost 46,000 in the ground.
- Billy McNeill played in unusual position of right back with Jim Craig out; .Lennox and Gallacher came back into the team.
- Hearts had also been in European action during the previous week drawing 2-2 with Real Zaragosa in the Fairs Cup.
- On the same day Celtic defeated Hearts 4-1 in a Reserve League match at Celtic Park. The Celtic team was Martin, Halpin, O'Neill, Cattanach, McCarron, Brogan, Connelly, H. Quinn, J. Quinn, Sweeney, Auld. The Celtic scorers were J. Quinn 3 and Sweeney.
Review
This was a tough game for Celtic coming after the travel disruptions after the game against Dynamo Kiev. More so it was a good win for Hearts as they played most of the game with 10 men when left half George Miller had to leave the field and go to hospital with concussion after colliding with a fellow Heart. Willie Wallace scored for Hearts in the first half. This was equalised by Hughes just after the restart. But Wallace added a second and Kerrigan a third before McBride pulled another back for Celtic with twelve minutes remaining. Despite an all out barrage by Celtic, Hearts held out to take a win in a hard fought game. Cushley was booked during the game for repeatedly fouling Wallace. And John Hughes was booked for dissent.
Rangers went back to the top of the League table equal on points but with a better goal average.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| Rangers | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 64 | 20 | 35 |
| Celtic | 21 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 68 | 23 | 35 |
| Dunfermiline | 21 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 60 | 28 | 31 |
| Kilmarnock | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 50 | 34 | 28 |
| Dundee Utd | 21 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 51 | 31 | 27 |
Teams
Hearts:
Cruikshank; Polland, Shevlane; Higgins, Anderson, Miller; Hamilton, Barry, Wallace, Kerrigan, Traynor.
Scorers: Wallace 2 (36, 61), Kerrigan (68)
Celtic:
Simpson; McNeill, Gemmell; Murdoch, Cushley, Clark; Johnstone, Gallacher, McBride, Lennox, Hughes
Scorers: Hughes (48), McBride (78)
Referee: R H Davidson (Airdrie)
Attendance: 45.965
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
