| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
Trivia
- Jock Brown had been absent from the club for a number of days around the time of the Aberdeen game and it was rumoured that he had been sacked or resigned. He returned to announce that he had been had in Italy trying to persuade a number of targets to sign. One was thought to be Hernan Crespo and the other Luis Olivera or Alen Boksic. Celtic were also being linked to a move for Kevin Gallacher the Blackburn Rovers striker
- Henrik Larsson and Harald Brattbakk were missing on international duty. Marc Rieper was out with an ankle injury. Stubbs failed a fitness test on his knee injury which had kept him out of the Aberdeen game. Mahe, O’Donnell and McKinlay came back into the team.
- Strewart Kerr put in a transfer request due to his lack of first team opportunity.
- This was Mark Burchill’s first team debut.
Review
Title holders lose the cup at the first challenge when Airdrie scored a penalty when Mahe tripped Moore in the box, and then fail to score in a bruising encounter. Booed off the park at half and full time.
Teams
Airdrie:
Martin, Stewart (Black ,71), Jack, Sandison, Farrell, Smith, Moore, Wilson, Cooper (McGrillen ,39), Taylor, McCann
Subs not used: Farrell
Scorer: Wilson (15)
Bookings: Farrell, Sandison, Smith, Taylor (Airdrie)
Celtic:
Gould, Boyd , Mahe, McNamara (Annoni ,46), MacKay, Lambert, O'Donnell (McKinlay ,71), Burley , Donnelly, Jackson, Blinker (Burchill ,46)
Bookings: Annoni, Blinker, Lambert (Celtic)
Referee: Hugh Dallas (Motherwell)
Attendance: 10,500
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Airdrie | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls | 26 | 12 |
| Shots on Target | 2 | 5 |
| Corners | 4 | 10 |
| Offside | 4 | 2 |
Holders Celtic knocked out by diamond strike
The Scotsman 20/08/1998
Airdrie1 Wilson (15)
Celtic 0
CELTIC surrendered their League Cup crown last night and became the first big-name scalps to be taken by Airdrie at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium.
So often the mastermind of giant-killing acts, manager Alex MacDonald had his players hyped up once again to take maximum advantage of Celtic's recent unease and outbattle the champions.
Marvyn Wilson was the hero in 15 minutes, punishing Jonathan Gould for his misfortune in failing to hold the Airdrie striker's poor penalty kick.
The Celtic support vented their fury in the closing minutes and at the final whistle, suggesting that patience with their on-strike stars will run out all the quicker in the current climate.
For all their second-half pressure, Jozef Venglos' side failed to create a genuine goal-scoring chance until Darren Jackson scampered clear of the Airdrie defence and onto Tosh McKinlay's through ball.
But, typical of his team's display on the night, Jackson screwed his effort wide of goalkeeper John Martin's left-hand post.
It is the second time in the decade that Celtic have fallen victim to Airdrie in this competition. In 1991, Liam Brady's side was dumped out at Broomfield.
But any thought of Airdrie shedding their intimidating image now that the Shyberry Excelsior is the club's new pristine home was shattered before kick off and further still in the first 15 minutes of action.
The public address system copied Aberdeen's playlist from Sunday and broadcast tunes such as Don't Speak and Silence Is Golden.
Then there were the unsettling tactics on the park. The skinny former Dunfermline winger Allan Moore does not normally fit the bill as a bruiser but it was his skidding challenge on Regi Blinker which began an early spate of bad tackles.
Austin McCann scraped some high studs off the body of Paul Lambert but the victim of that assault was the first player booked after going in late on Wilson.Then David Farrell followed Lambert into the bad books for a scything challenge from behind on Jackson.
Such events made the trip by Stephane Mahe on Moore inside the penalty box after 14 minutes appear rather tame, but it was enough to convince referee Hugh Dallas to point immediately to the spot despite the fact the winger was going away from goal at the time.
Wilson had obviously been watching Celtic's antics at Aberdeen over the weekend and promptly bashed his penalty too close to Gould. The keeper's save was not clean, however, and Wilson was able to steal ahead of Boyd and Mackay to score from the rebound.
Airdrie had already been unlucky with two efforts at Gould. A Stevie Cooper header flashed into the side netting from Wilson's free kick and Sandy Stewart's burst unmarked into the box was more impressive than his weak and wide finish from ten yards.
Celtic were now battling a fired-up crowd with a stout defence to match.
Donnelly was sent clean through on John Martin but Farrell battled back and the striker fluffed his shot under pressure.
Celtic's most eye-catching piece of play in the half came from Mahe, who dribbled at speed to the edge of the box and teed up Phil O'Donnell, who disappointed with a shot straight into Martin's arms.
Celtic were booed off at half-time by the travelling supporters who almost filled three-quarters of the ground and Venglos responded by making changes at the break.
The teenage striker Mark Burchill replaced Blinker and Enrico Annoni was brought on for Jackie McNamara.
As Celtic huffed and puffed you could be forgiven for wondering how they managed to defeat Croatia Zagreb in last week's European Cup tie. But this was a different team.
Away on international duty, Henrik Larsson's spark was missed while the heart of the defence – Alan Stubbs and Marc Rieper – had been ripped out by injury.
Credit, though, to Airdrie who never allowed the champions to find a rhythm.
Lambert was particularly disappointing and his long-range shooting was far less accurate than we witnessed last year.
To come back from the brink, Celtic would have to scrap for it and their supporters demanded a fight, with Donnelly singled out for most criticism.
Burley was spared flak for the greatest gaffe of the night by a terrible miss by goalscorer Wilson. The Celtic midfielder sliced a pass in the opposite direction for Paul McGrillen to chase.
He zipped past Annoni on the left and crossed low for Wilson, who was ahead of the chasing pack but scooped over the bar.
Such was Celtic's desperation with ten minutes remaining that substitute McKinlay did not throw the ball back to the opposition after Airdrie gave up possession to allow Moore treatment.
It was a sad end to the Parkhead side's defence of their trophy.
- Manager Interview
Dr Jo Venglos post Match
“Of course I am very disappointed by the result. We lost a little cohesion in the team. In the second half we improved the fighting spirit in the team, but we were not good enough to create chances or score a goal.
“A few players did not play because of international duty, and a few came back after injury, which meant they really needed more time to adapt to the pace and conditions.
“I think the opposition have worked hard and full credit to them. If you have a squad and some players are not playing then others have a chance, but I am not going to look for excuses for the result. The performance was simply not good enough.”