Match Pictures | Matches: 1993 – 1994
Trivia
- Celtic Takeover and “Sack the Board” Days
- “The Mars Bar Game” as some have dubbed it – some idiot threw a Mars bar at the Celtic board members watching the match due to frustrations.
- Result killed off Celtic’s season, it was just the new year and the “Happy New Year” lasted till not very long after kick-off, with two very quick goals from Rangers.
- Rangers flop Oleg Kuznetsov scores his only goal for Rangers. Shows how bad Celtic were on the day.
- Sack The Board days, and frustrations grew with some in-fighting at points across the ground. Papers over-egged it all though.
- In many ways, in retrospect this became a pivotal match for Celtic in the club’s history. Following this defeat, the support finally fully united to work towards ousting of the old Celtic board. There was always a majority against the board but there were various different lines and little cohesion. It was the days before online forums etc made mass organisation & co-ordination easier. Fanzines (monthly), telephone calls (expensive), word of mouth (slow) were the main ways before the internet.
- This dire result in effect accelerated the demise of the old board, and in a strange way it’s possibly the one & only defeat to Rangers to have had a positive effect for Celtic, which without this result then a positive result could have prolonged the reign of the old board, but in truth their days were already numbered.
- The team needed a turnaround and talisman, but to highlight the lack of depth at the club, Wayne Biggins was brought on at the 60min mark, and it was a task that was way beyond him.
- Shay Given was the reserve goalkeeper that day, he went on to be a very successful goalkeeper but sadly not at Celtic.
Review
A difficult game that saw Rangers take two quick goals and end up sitting back. Rangers flop Oleg Kuznetsov scored his only goal for Rangers. Shows how bad Celtic were. Celtic couldn’t even look to the bench for inspiration and brought on the ineffectual Wayne Biggins on 61mins which was no use, and another sign of the of lack of class of the first team on the pitch.
Created a degree of in-fighting amongst the Celtic support who were chanting “Sack the Board” and those saying to delay it for this match. Rangers fans sang “Keep the board” as a retort.
Press had a field day and exaggerated with talk of massive trouble and horrid frightening atmosphere. One journalist spoke of it as the most afraid he’d been at a Celtic game, but some hyperbole there, but can’t hide the tense atmosphere and frustration within the Celtic support that day seeing the first team acquiesce without any fight.
Ironically, Celtic had been on a very good run in recent months, buoyed up by Frank Connor who had stemmed the damage left over by Liam Brady’s reign, but it was obvious to all that it wouldn’t last. New blood was needed, and there was none. In retrospect, it was incredible to see how such a mostly poor Celtic squad was generally doing fine for a while, mostly attributable to Frank Connor’s efforts.
Amongst all the events happening, abuse was directed at the board and then a Mars bar was thrown by a Celtic fan at the enclosure with the board members (only thing to hand we guess). Not acceptable but tensions were rising, and the dark atmosphere & frustrations were the only things the papers wanted to talk about. Better than discussing on-field for Celtic fans we guess too.
Hyperbole in the media the next few days really made this game out to be a near riot when it wasn’t. It wasn’t good, but no denying it was a grim atmosphere.
Shambolic day, and possibly the worst Celtic result and performance against Rangers in the decade (and there were some poor results back then). Celtic may have lost by more in some other games against Rangers, but this had more significance due to the Celtic Takeover issue. A poor day.
In retrospect, this match effectively accelerated the ‘Celtic Takeover’ issue and brought much to a head, and finally saw a more concerted effort by the Celtic support to oust the board. Prior there were different lines and views, with even a very small minority still in favour of the board, but this result changed all. This was all before the days of the internet forums and websites which have made mass organisation & co-ordination easier. Fanzines (monthly), telephone calls (expensive), word of mouth (slow) were the main ways before the internet. The efforts that fan organisers had to go to get support must be remembered and respected. A lot of hard work.
The old board dug their heels in, and there was still more pain to come. Another two months before they were ousted.
In the meantime, this match was a difficult one to take in, and only in reflection can the Celtic supporters now smile at how far the team have come since this nadir.
Teams
Celtic:-
Bonner;
Grant, Gillespie, Wdowczyk (Biggins, 61), Boyd;
Byrne, McGinlay, McStay, Collins;
Nicholas, O’Neil (McNally, 51).
Subs not used:- Given (gk).
Goals:- Collins 46, Nicholas 81.
Rangers:-
Maxwell; Pressley, Gough, Brown, Stevens; Steven, McCall, Murray (Kuznetsov, 70), Mikhailichenko; Durie (Huistra, 82), Hateley.
Subs not used:- Scott (gk).
Goals:- Hateley 1, Mikhailichenko 3, Mikhailichenko 28, Kuznetsov 76.
Ref:- D Syme (Rutherglen).
Att: [….]
Articles
- Match Report (The Independent [see below] )
Pictures
KStreet
- “The Mars Bar Game” by jim the tim (see below)
Articles
Match Report from the Independent
JAN 1st Premier League Celtic 2- 4 Rangers
Football: Celtic blame anticlimax for disorder: Rangers rampant amid unrest
DAVID MCKINNEY
Monday, 3 January 1994 Celtic . . .2 Rangers. . .4
CELTIC are likely to escape severe punishment following scenes of disorder at the Old Firm match at Celtic Park on Saturday which saw three supporters running on to the pitch and others in the main stand aiming vitriol and missiles at the directors’ box.
The fourth meeting of the season between the two rivals unleashed brutal passions not seen from either set of supporters since the infamous 1980 Scottish Cup final.
The most worrying incident from Celtic’s point of view was the supporter who had to be bundled to the ground by the collective efforts of John Brown, Richard Gough, the police and stewards as he ran towards Ally Maxwell, the Rangers goalkeeper.
The Scottish Football Association, which has options ranging from a fine to ground closure, awaits reports from the referee, David Syme, his supervisor, and David McLaren, the SFA security adviser, who also attended the match. But yesterday Jim Farry, the chief executive of the SFA, hinted that punishment could be lenient when he said: ‘The SFA will retain a sense of balance and perspective.’
There was a heavy police presence at the game and it is likely that the governing body will appreciate that the home club did everything within its power to obviate danger.
Kevin Kelly, the Celtic chairman, said: ‘It was bitterly disappointing both in terms of the result and the trouble but we hope to identify the culprits and ban them from the ground.
‘We will consider whether the stewards and police might have acted more quickly and will have our own information to present to the SFA. I feel the fans’ optimism then disappointment was the root of the trouble.’
Celtic were indeed victims of their own high expectations. The team had suffered just one defeat in 14 league matches and had not conceded a goal at home under Lou Macari. In contrast, Rangers have severe injury problems and have been stuttering since the start of the season, yet were three goals up within the first half hour.
Stuart McCall dissected the home defence to allow the imposing figure of Mark Hateley to run unchallenged for the first goal. A similar move saw Neil Murray burst clear and when his shot was saved Alexei Mikhailichenko followed up for a second goal with just three minutes on the clock.
The Ukrainian added a third for Rangers after 28 minutes and a fourth came in 76 minutes through Oleg Kuznetsov. John Collins raised Celtic hopes with a goal in the first minute of the second half but a second from Charlie Nicholas was no more than a consolation.
Goals: Hateley (1) 0-1; Mikhailichenko (3) 0-2; Mikhailichenko (28) 0-3; Collins (46) 1-3; Kuznetsov (76) 1-4; Nicholas (81) 2-4.
Celtic (4-4-2): Bonner; Grant, Gillespie, Wdowczyk (Biggins, 61), Boyd; Byrne, McGinlay, McStay, Collins; Nicholas, O’Neil (McNally, 51). Substitute not used: Given (gk).
Rangers (4-4-2): Maxwell; Pressley, Gough, Brown, Stevens; Steven, McCall, Murray (Kuznetsov, 70), Mikhailichenko; Durie (Huistra, 82), Hateley. Substitute not used: Scott (gk).
Referee: D Syme (Rutherglen).
KStreet
“The Mars Bar Game” by jim the tim
The Mars bar game.
The build up to the new year had been getting uglier and more vociferous as the angry fans had finally lost patience and the feeling was that the board had fleeced the support, but also spunked all the cash, celtic now had a crap team with no money to improve and huge debts.
The old jungle had to be seated and we had new scoreboards. That summed up the total investment in the old stadium.
I remember I was in the back section of the jungle but the front row. (terrible seats as everybody walked back and forth in front of you in the main walkway half way back in the jungle).
3 min gone and we are 2-0 down to our hated rivals. Guys were just getting in and going to their seats and the game was already finished. The guy next to me sat down, and pointed at the rangers end which was going mental with joy “WTF are they so happy about”. I told him we were 2-0 down and he said bollocks as the score hadn’t even came up on the new scoreboards yet. Just at that moment up it came. he said feck this and got up and walked out.
when the 3rd goal went in on 30 minutes, it turned ugly. Not in the usual way directing your anger at your opposition but instead the anger was directed at the Kelly / whyte / Grant family’s in the director boxes. Pies, Bovril, bottles , coins , mars bars rained down on the suits, one of the kellys ( kevin ?) got a mars bar right off the head and near knocked him out, hence the “Mars bar game”. Nobody was watching the game in the jungle, instead everybody was cheering on the fans as they tried to jump from the front of the main stand ,over the gap and into the directors box , but being pushed back by the police and stewards. Crazy stuff . it looked like the whole of the front main stand was trying to get over and into the back stand director area.the fans had enough of the board and it all kicked off that day. At half time the stand was filled with fighting and the old green doors had to be closed & locked to stop fans gaining access to the inside hospitality area where the directors were hiding. Absolute bedlam . the jungle was singing Sack the Board, and giving the fighters great support, Celtic scored right at the start of the 2nd half, calming the unrest for a short while as everyone started watching the football again, but the huns added a forth mid way through and celtic was in disarray.
This time some fans came onto the park from the celtic end / jungle corner and had a go at some of the nearest hated hun players. the police was really struggling the whole game to contain the crowd.
The protests afterwards were soon organized and even boycotts were done. in the end the club near went bust and Fergus :worthy: bailed us out.
But that day I believe was when the fans decided enough was enough and the “sack the board” movement gained momentum.
Six games that shook the Old Firm: triumph of people power at Parkhead that will chime across city today
Gary Keown
Thursday 29 January 2015
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/six-games-that-shook-the-old-firm-the-triumph-of-people-power-at-parkhead-that-will-c.117115009
A BOARD blamed for reckless mismanagement, financial meltdown beckoning, protests in the streets, fans turning against fans, a takeover bid in the offing and an Old Firm match against a dominant rival destined to crank up the pressure to breaking point.
The dark place in which Rangers find themselves as we settle into 2015 displays so many parallels with the sense of rebellion and discontentment that permeated every corner of an old and crumbling Celtic Park at the beginning of 1994.
The ‘Celts For Change’ movement, a supporters’ group set up to overthrow the board controlled over generations by the White and Kelly families and now honoured with a plaque outside the stadium, had rumbled into life earlier that season and was, quite evidently, gathering momentum.
Of course, it would not be until March, following organised boycotts and the club being threatened with receivership within 24 hours by the Bank of Scotland, that Fergus McCann would seize control of ‘The Biscuit Tin’ with a former director called Brian Dempsey informing a large crowd from the front steps of the stadium that “the rebels have won”.
If that was the jubilant arrival at the end point of the struggle, though, the anger born from five years without a trophy under directors patently lacking any kind of direction would show itself in the purest form during the derby match on New Year’s Day.
Rangers, as it turns out, were halfway towards their sixth consecutive championship, but they were not exactly playing well. Amid the off-field tumult, the Celtic manager, Lou Macari, was just about holding things together with his side having lost only one of 13 games ahead of the Old Firm derby following early slip-ups against Aberdeen, Hearts and St Johnstone.
Within three minutes of the kick-off, though, Celtic were two-down to goals from Mark Hateley and Alexei Mikhailitchenko. When Mikhailitchenko took advantage of some truly shambolic defending to make it 3-0 on 28 minutes, the wheels came off the bogey.
A handful of fans invaded the park, one of whom attempted to attack the Rangers goalkeeper, Ally Maxwell, before becoming embroiled in a wrestling match with John Brown. Missiles including Mars Bars would be thrown at the Directors’ Box in a quite iconic sign of less-than-peaceful protest.
Rangers went on to win 4-2 with Oleg Kuznetsov scoring from distance between two strikes from John Collins and Charlie Nicholas. Celtic’s campaign then unravelled dramatically with consecutive defeats at the hands of Partick Thistle and Motherwell leaving them trailing in fifth place in the table and serving as the prelude to a Scottish Cup exit at the hands of the Fir Park club later in the month.
Gary Gillespie was part of the side that fell apart against Rangers. He sees the fury that spilled over during the 90 minutes as a real catalyst for the drive that put McCann in power.
Naturally, he cannot help but consider the build-up to this Sunday’s League Cup semi-final between Celtic, seeking their fourth straight Premiership title, and a deeply-troubled Rangers and wonder what might happen should Kenny McDowall’s team suffer a similarly humbling defeat.
“When something iconic happens, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific moment that brought the change,” said Gillespie.
“The team had not been doing badly until that match, but the defeat might not have mattered quite so much had we been challenging hard. It probably did change the thinking of some Celtic supporters. You could say it was an iconic moment in the history of Celtic because anger came to a head and that eventually paved the way for the entire face of the club changing.
“I think that the movement demanding change within the fanbase, which had already been building, just got stronger and stronger from that point onwards.
“The team was struggling and there was no real investment. Celtic supporters had been patient for four or five years and the sense of dissatisfaction had just built up.
“If you looked at the same scenario in modern-day football, it would have reached a head within 18 months or so, but it had been going on for some time at Celtic. The same feeling existed even within the playing staff.
“Players are generally selfish. They focus on themselves and tend to block everything else out, but there were some voices of dissent within the dressing-room.
“Charlie Nicholas, I believe, was quite close to Brian Dempsey. He was clear about the fact he felt it was time for change at the club.
“It is funny that it seems to have gone full circle now. It is absolutely impossible to avoid what has been going at Rangers and it hasn’t done anyone any good. It certainly hasn’t done Scottish football any good.
“When you look back to those days, you do wonder how much of what was going on then is related to what has happened recently.
“Everyone can remember the kind of money that was being spent by Rangers and, of course, we are entering this upcoming match with their supporters now expressing their anger through protests and looking for their own boardroom to be cleared out.”
Gillespie would never excuse the disorder – not quite as widespread as some retrospective reports would have you believe – that broke out around the ground that afternoon. However, he admits he could understand the emotions of the support.
“I don’t know what triggered the actual confrontation when the supporter got on and ran towards Ally Maxwell, but I think questions would have to be asked about the response of the stewards and police,” he said.
“There was a running track round the pitch. It wasn’t as if you just had to hop over an advertising hoarding and you were on the field of play.
“It has been well-documented that things were being thrown into the Directors’ Box as well.
“Of course, you cannot condone that, but you could understand the frustrations of the supporters.
“From memory, there was already a lot of speculation about a potential takeover. Everything going off the field was certainly filtering its way down to the players. You try to blank that out and focus on your game, but a situation like that becomes impossible to ignore.
“Even from the time I joined in 1991, Celtic were always playing catch-up, really. Rangers had a redeveloped stadium and they could buy pretty much the players they wanted.
“Celtic Park clearly needed work done to it and the money was not available for that. I think, by the beginning of 1994, it had all come to a head.”
Gillespie had been signed from Liverpool, a club at which he had contributed to three league championship successes and sat on the bench during a European Cup final win over AS Roma. The reputations of both clubs were similar, but he quickly realised that Celtic were not operating at the same level behind the scenes.
“I know it was a different game back then, but the pitch wasn’t the best, there was a big running track round it and the stadium just felt antiquated,” he recalled. “We were also training up at Barrowfield and a club such as Celtic should have had higher standards than that.
“You are talking about the first British team to win the European Cup, after all. The infrastructure was all wrong and it needed someone to come in and set it off in the right direction.
“It was probably the wrong time to be there, but I don’t regret joining. It was a privilege and an honour to play for two clubs such as Celtic and Liverpool.
“I was swayed a little by the fact I was a Celtic supporter growing up in the 1960s with the Lisbon Lions, Bobby Lennox, Tommy Gemmell, Willie Wallace. Just having the chance to go to Parkhead was such a big thing for me.
“When I got to the club in 1991, though, I could already see how depressed things were and how far the club was behind Rangers. It was only when you got there that you started to understand it.
“Look, I know myself that I didn’t play my part thanks to being in and out through injury and I accept my performance level was not what it should have been.
“I can hardly sit here and pontificate about the failings of others, but Celtic are a great club and I am just pleased they got themselves back on the right track.”