1973-01-20: Ayr United 1-3 Celtic, League Division 1

Match Pictures | Matches: 19721973 | 70's Pictures

Trivia

  • The draw was made for the 3rd Round of the Scottish Cup with Celtic drawn at home to East Fife.
  • On the 17th January it was reported that Liverpool had signed Lou Macari for an alleged £200,000. He had certainly travelled down to Liverpool with Sean Fallon and been impressed with the setup. But the following day he definitively signed for Manchester Utd for £200,000. The signing took place in a Glasgow hotel.
  • Davie Hay was the only first team squad member with injury problems. He was training but still recovering fitness from a leg strain picked up against Rangers. This meant that the team was in fact unchanged from the one that had faced Dundee the previous weekend. Included in the pool for the game were Donald Watt and Jim Davidson out of the Reserves.
  • Blizzard conditions hit Scotland on the Friday night / Saturday morning . The pitch was covered in snow makes conditions difficult. Again Jock Stein was a spectator from the stand.

Review

Ayr make it hard for Celts in freezing conditions but Dalglish's two late goals clinch the points.
As was becoming usual Celtic went behind to the first goal of the game through a defensive lapse. That kicked them into gear and, with the snow beginning to lie, started to dominate proceedings. However Ayr were not without threat and the defense had to look lively on more than one occasion. Deans got the equaliser in a move started by Jimmy Johnstone which produced a scrambled goal.
In the second half the hustle and bustle continued with Celtic gradually coming out on top. A Connelly free kick was headed on for the second (see below) and Dalglish made it 3-1 from a deft pass from Murdoch that beat the offside trap just before the end.

Arguments over Celtic's second as Dalglish claims he headed in Connelly's chipped shot but most onlookers thought it went straight in from Connelly. Dalglish is credited with the goal.


Teams

Ayr Utd:
Stewart, Wells, Murphy, McAnespie, Fleming, Fillipi, Doyle, Graham, Ingram, McLean, McCulloch Sub:- Mitchell
Goal:- Graham (9)

Celtic:
Williams, McGrain, Brogan, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Johnstone (Lennox), Deans, Dalglish, Callaghan, Hood.
Goals:- Deans (36), Dalglish 2 (79, 85)

Referee: E Thomson (Edinburgh)
Attendance: 11,500

Articles

  • Match Report (see below)

Pictures

Articles

1973 Ayr 1-3 Celtic report