| Match Pictures | Matches: 1978 – 1979 | 1978-79 Pictures |
Trivia
- Roddie MacDonald was again fit and came back in. But there were concerns over the fitness of Ronnie Glavin and Tommy Burns, both of whom had taken knocks at the weekend against St Mirren in the League.
- Celtic had already met Motherwell in the League this season and it was Peter of the Latchford clan of goalkeepers that claimed the bragging rights on that occasion with Celtic winning 5-1.
- The Motherwell players were under somewhat of a cloud with half a dozen players sanctioned after disciplinary infringements when the team was away in Denmark at the start of the season. Peter Marinello had requested a transfer and Pettigrew's was a constant case of his on-off transfer to somebody. They were currently bottom of the Premier League.
- Alfie Conn and Stewart McLaren sent off in a physical battle.
- Davie Provan literally had the jersey torn from his back by a Motherwell defender.
- The Latchford brothers keep goal for either side.
- Pat Stanton, now assistant manager to Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen, watched the game from the stands before reporting back to Pittodrie prior to the weekend clash with Aberdeen.
- Jock Stein, who had only recently been appointed manager of Leeds Utd, was offered the managership of Scotland. On the night of the game he confirmed that he would take the job and Leeds were left looking for another manager after 44 days – exactly the same as Brian Clough before him.
- Jimmy Johnstone joined Elgin City for a two month trial period.
Review
Desperate night for Celtic as a physical Motherwell side come away with an unlikely win. Celtic had all the pressure but couldn't break through.
Dave Latchford had a brilliant game in the Motherwell goal. Conn and McLaren were sent off middle of the second half for severe handbags-at-10-paces and five others were booked – Shanks, Boyd (for ripping the shirt off Provan's back), Filippi , MacDonald and Burns. The Motherwell goal came when Lynch was short with a pass back and Pettigrew nipped in.
Teams
Celtic:
Latchford, Filippi, Lynch, Aitken, MacDonald, Edvaldsson, Provan, Conroy (Glavin), McAdam (G McCluskey), Burns, Conn.
Motherwell:
Latchford, Shanks, Boyd, Capaldi (Larnach), McVie, Stevens, Marinello, Pettigrew, Clinging (MacLeod), McLaren, Lindsay.
Scorer: Pettigrew (68)
Referee: G R Smith (Edinburgh)
Attendance: 19,000
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
