| Match Pictures | Matches: 1976 – 1977 | 1976-1977 Pictures |
Trivia
In the period between the last game on the 27th November and this one on 18th December the Scottish sports programme was wiped out by the weather. Snow fell on the night of Friday 3rd December and all but two senior games were called off on the Saturday, including Celtic's game against Hibernian. The team decamped to Troon to beat the freeze in the city where they were unable to train to play down by the sea. The following Saturday, the 11th Celtic were due to play Partick Thistle. That game was called off with the pitch at Firhill frozen. Without a game for two weeks money, some clubs in Scotland dependent on match day revenue felt the pinch.
The weather began to ease and the team went to Largs for practise on the Monday.
- Celtic played in yellow shirts, green shorts and yellow socks.
- Johnny Gibson, just signed from St Mirren after they freed him, made his Celtic debut as a sub.
- Highlights were shown on Sportscene that night.
- At Ibrox a behind-the-scenes power struggle continued for boardroom control of Rangers.
Review
Celtic took to the freezing conditions much better than Ayr and it was noticable that many Celtic players played in training shoes with good grips for the treacherous icy surface. They played in yellow tops, green shorts and yellow socks.
John Doyle had a fine game against his old team and he took advantage of a mistake by Ayr keeper Andy Geoghegan to score the first goal.
Ayr started with Davie McCulloch playing in an unfamiliar sweeper role but after Wilson scored Celtic's second with an explosive shot Ayr pushed him into midfield to help them press forward. Dalglish scored the third with a fine shot on the turn and Celtic played out a comfortable second half.
Pat Stanton continued to earn rave reviews with his composed performances in the Celtic defence.
Johnny Gibson made his Celtic debut as a second half sub for Doyle.
Teams
| Celtic: Latchford, McGrain, Lynch, Stanton, MacDonald, Aitken, Doyle (Gibson), Glavin (Edvaldsson), Craig, Dalglish, Wilson. |
| Scorers: Doyle (10), Wilson (15), Dalglish (17) |
| Ayr Utd: Geoghegan, McCulloch, Welsh, Fleming, McAnespie, Murphy, McSherry, Fillipi, Cramond, McCall (Masterton), Robertson Sub: Ingram |
Referee: J R P Gordon (Newport-on-Tay)
Attendance: 18,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
