1972-03-27: Heart of Midlothian 0-1 Celtic, Scottish Cup Replay

Match Pictures | Matches: 1971 – 1972 | 1971-1972 Pictures

Trivia1972-03-27: Heart of Midlothian 0-1 Celtic, Scottish Cup Replay - The Celtic Wiki

  • This was an all ticket game.
  • Fierce terracing fights hold up Hearts cup-tie 10 minutes from the end of the game..
  • The game restarted after a five minute delay and Celtic ran out narrow winners on the night.
  • Estimated 16,000 Celtic fans travel through to Edinburgh amongst 40,000 crowd.
  • Celtic's ticket allocation was 16,000 and prices were centre stand 70p, wing stand 60p, enclosure 50p and terracing 30p.
  • Last time that Tynecastle ever held a 40,000 crowd inside it.
  • Celtic buses forced to park 2 miles from Gorgie Road.
  • Celtic fans call for a boycott of next game at Tynecastle in April.

Review

A goal in 35 minutes gave Celtic victory in a tight, tense encounter at Tynecastle which was played on a Monday evening due to Celtic's heavy commitments in the European Cup.

A crowd of 40,029 packed into Hearts' ground to see Hearts come at Celtic right from the start. Renton and Lynch looked sharp down the Hearts' left flank and Celtic had Evan Williams to save them on several occasions. Ex Ranger Wilson Wood was the game's most influential player during this spell as Hearts had Celtic on the back foot. David Hay was taken off injured in the first half with substitute Jimmy Quinn going in at left back and this appeared to affect Celtic's rhythm.

Celtic hadn't showed much in an attacking sense but they struck in 35 minutes. The lively Macari forced the Hearts' defence into conceding a corner. Hood swung over an excellent cross from the corner to Macari and despite his lack of inches the wee man sent a great header flying past Kenny Garland.

In the second half Hearts began to show signs of desperation and Lynch and Renton were booked by the referee. Celtic looked dangerous on the break through Lennox and Macari but seemed happy to contain Hearts without having to over exert themselves and Hearts never looked like breaching the Celtic defence where McNeill was immense, keeping the dangerous Donald Ford quiet.

Serious crowd trouble broke out in the covered enclosure with 10 minutes remaining and a large number of police were required to intervene to bring order and although the referee stopped play he declined to postpone the game.

The game restarted shortly after and Celtic ran out narrow winners on the night.

Teams

Hearts:
Garland,Sneddon (N Murray), Jeffries, Thomson, Anderson, Wood, T Murray, Brown, Ford, Renton, Lynch.
Scorers:

Celtic:
Williams, Craig, Hay (Quinn), Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Macari, Dalglish, Callaghan, Lennox
Scorer: Macari (35)

Referee:J. W. Paterson (Bothwell).
Attendance: 40,029

Articles

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Links

Articles

Front page, The Scotsman, Tuesday 28th March 1972.

Terracing fights hold up Hearts cup-tie

The Scottish Cup tie at Tynecastle in which Celtic beat Hearts 1-0, was interrupted last night when fighting broke out on the terracing and part of the crowd spilled on to the touchline. Three people were later taken to hos­pital but none of them is believed to be seriously injured. Seven men were arrested.

The fighting came ten minutes before the final whistle during the singing of sectarian songs on the terracing opposite the stand. Beer cans were thrown and a gap developed before the fighting started. Many spectators were pushed on to the pitch and players of both sides dashed to rescue children. The game was held up for six minutes.
.

Up to 100 policemen moved in to deal with the trouble.

Page 20 The Scotsman 28th March 1972


Celtic defence is too good for Hearts
By John Rafferty

Hearts 0, Celtic 1

A likely Scottish Cup-tie deteriorated to an unseemly scramble. A likely Hearts challenge descended to dis­order; and so Celtic, without having to play at all well, but merely competently in defence, progressed to the semi-final. Their win could be costly, in view of their European Cup-tie next week. Hay had to leave the field with a damaged muscle behind the knee and Hood limped badly. They must both be doubtful for Milan.

There had been, at least, exciting play in the first half when Hearts went at Celtic and had them pressed back on their goal. But it was pressure which did not produce precise chances and was routine work for the competent defence which McNeill organised with such mastery.
In that first half, the forcing work of Wood and the neat passing of Ford and Murray looked as if it might eventually pay off; but at the start of the second half, Hearts became physical and disorganised and were never so good.
In the last quarter of an hour, they found their method again and made a fair show of saving the tie; but they never did get the better of that Celtic defence.
Celtic lay back and tried to spring their runners on the break. Anderson and Thomson had to be alert for this, and in fact they were; and if the ball went beyond them, Garland was particularly watchful in coming out to pick it up.
It was such a game as Celtic might have been expected to play in an away European Cup-tie. Once again, it was worth noting that the smallest man in their team—Macari— headed the winning goal from a crowd in the goal mouth. One never ceases to wonder at haw these little fellows get away with it.
Hearts immediately signalled their aggressive intentions by rushing up-field from the kick-off and punching the ball hard into Celtic's goalmouth and punching it back again when it came out, to sustain heavy pressure that tempted a Celtic defensive mistake. No sign of one showed.
Celtic's first break from defence by Macari and Dalglish was much more precise and menacing. Hearts carried the bulk of the attacking through the first half, but it was mainly straight-forward driving, and there were solid obstacles to that in the head of McNeill, and the masterly positioning and cool clearing of Connelly.
When Ford did go clear once, he was forced to shoot from too far out, and Williams had time to get right behind the ball. There might have been a Celtic goal soon after­wards. Hood cutely lifted the ball over Wood’s head to open the whole goal, but then he missed his kick when it seemed he must score.
Celtic's tactics involved put­ting the ball beyond Thomson and Anderson for Macari and Dalglish to run at it, and a great struggle developed out on the stand wing where Lennox was in dashing run­ning form. Sneddon, however, played him magnificently, and more than held his own. His was an impressive performance.
As the first half stormed on, Murdoch and Callaghan gradu­ally began to exert some control in the mid-field; but in the 33rd minute, the sound Celtic defence was disturbed by an injury to Hay. He damaged a leg muscle and had treatment, but broke down again and was substituted for by Quinn. That was Celtic's third full back to be out of commission. A goal, two minutes later, helped them to forget their misfortune.
McNeill had been going up for the corner kicks and causing much trouble. He was up again for Hood's kick; but as the defence concentrated on him he allowed the ball to pass and it reached Macari, who headed a goal.
Hearts played even more furiously after this, and a sign of their exertions was Lynch's dissent when he was adjudged off-side. The referee cautioned him.
Two fouls at the start of the second half had Hood and then Macari having treatment from the Celtic trainer. Hood limped afterwards and had to go to a wing and Dalglish dropped back to the midfield to take his place. Hearts had a dreadful miss when McNeill allowed the ball to cross his goal Ford and Murray, apparently taken by surprise, missed.
With ten minutes to-go, there was an interruption to the play. There was trouble on the terracing—opposite the stand, and in an instant a whole section had cleared. The crowd spilled onto the touchline to interrupt play, and the police rushed to contain them and restore order.

Ambulances were brought, and the Celtic trainers went over to help, as injured lay on the side-line and were then carried to the pavilion by stretcher or in the arms of helpers. The game resumed after six minutes.

1972 Hearts 0-1 Celtic report