| Match Pictures | Matches: 1965 – 1966 | 1965-66 Pictures |
Trivia
- St Mirren made a firm cash offer to take the underemployed Jim Kennedy to Love Street. Jim had fallen from favour in the Celtic of Jock Stein having only the previous season been Celtic's left half or left back of choice, captain when McNeill was out injured as well as Scotland internationalist. Celtic refused to comment.
- Both Celtic and Hibs had protested at the choice of venue and both wanted Hampden but were over ruled by the Scottish League, despite the valid objections raised by the clubs.
- Celtic claimed the Hampden floodlights were superior to Ibrox and Hibs said their fans had easier access to Hampden from the East. Furthermore there were likely to be a repeat of the scenes from the Glasgow derby with plenty of late arrivals, this time in the dark trying to get in
- The game was played at Ibrox Park only five days before the final is due to be played at Hampden.Both sides played tight before the game and no team information was released before kick off. As it was the only change to Celtic was a fit again Ronnie Simp[son stepping back between the sticcks and Hibernian were unchanged from the side that had faced Rangers on the Saturday.
- Ex Celt John McNamee sent off for Hibs.
- Hibs forward and Scotland's top scorer Neil Martin was transferred to Sunderland after this game.
- Celtic announced after this match that LCF tickets would be sold at Celtic Park tomorrow from 2pm onwards
Review
Celtic were superior in every area and had the game won by half time. Celtic's movement and forward play was too much for Hibs team who were a shadow of what they had been in the first match.
Hibs' frustration showed when ex Celt John McNamee was ordered off with 10 minutes remaining.
McBride's opener was made by cool thinking and a perfect pass through the middle by Jimmy Johnstone which McBride had anticipated, so much so that Hibs appealed in vain for offside. Hughes got a second – if McBride and Lennox were looking like a Celtic double act then Hughes and Clark were doing their best to be the second double. In truth every one of the Celtic players was playing for the team.
The sending off was called for and smacked of retribution in the face of frustration. John Hughes chased a ball to the corner and a charging McNamee scythed has legs away. He was first booked but then continued to protest and in the end referee Davidson sent him off, booking him again for something he said. He wasn't finished though – McNamee wanted more words with the ref and in the end he had to be led away by Stanton and Cormack.
The rush is now on for tickets for Saturday's final against Rangers at Hampden.
Teams
Celtic:
Simpson; Young, Gemmell; Murdoch, McNeill, Clark; Johnstone, Gallacher, McBride, Lennox, Hughes.
Scorers: McBride (17), Hughes (21), Lennox (69), Murdoch (83)
Hibernian:
Wilson; Simpson, Davis; Stanton, McNamee, Baxter; Cormack, Quinn, Scott, Martin, Stevenson.
Scorers:
Referee: R H Davidson
Attendance: 51,423
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
