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Date:Wednesday September 27 1989
Venue: Celtic Park
Match: Celtic v Partizan Belgrade – European Cup Winners Cup
Occasion: It's the second leg of the ECWC first round. Celtic welcome the Yugoslavs to Glasgow after grabbing what was thought a vital away goal in a 2-1 first-leg defeat.
Result: 5-4 (Agg: 6-6 Partizan qualify on away goals)
Attendance: 49,500
Celtic Team: Bonner, Grant, Rogan, Aitken, Elliott, Whyte, Galloway, McStay, Dziekanowski, Walker, Miller
In The Big Wide World: Just five days before the game an IRA bomb at the Deal Barracks in Kent, home of the RAF School of Music, kills 11. F.W. de Klerk is sworn in as the President of South Africa.
A Bit of Culture: Composer Irving Berlin passed away on September 22nd. In the charts were Black Box with 'Ride on Time', Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers with 'Swing The Mood' and Tears For Fears with 'Sowing The Seeds of Love'
Who Was There: paddygarcia
By the late 1980s the European glory days of Celtic were but a fading memory. Despite season after season of early exits the European games still proved to be huge crowd pullers. What was the attraction of European games at Parkhead during this era?
I was in my mid-teens around the time of this game, although still going to CP with my brother. The allure for me centered around a mix of things; The walk up Shettleston Road and seeing the floodlights shine like a beacon of hope, the smells of cigar smoke, how bright the Hoops look under floodlights, the atmosphere for some reason being better at night, the excitement of seeing players you knew nothing about (there was nowhere near the wall to wall coverage of European football we have now), and the way these teams and players played was different to what we were used to seeing in Scotland. All this made it an experience totally foreign to a normal league game.
In the run up to the match Celtic had gone five games without a win. But with an away goal bagged in a 2-1 first-leg defeat in Mostar what were your expectations for the 90 minutes ahead? The team at the time was Celtic: Bonner, Grant, Rogan, Aitken, Elliot, White, Galloway, McStay, Dzeikanowski, Walker, Miller. That was a decent, but not great side and although I didn’t know – or perhaps I had let myself forget – that we hadn’t won in 5 games. I think the feeling was that we could win any game but more than likely would struggle in any given game. The first leg was moved from Belgrade due to crowd trouble and the away goal was a godsend. I think, although we knew little about Partizan, we were a bit wary of any European team coming to CP back then, as we still played a typically ‘British’ game. I am generally pessimistic regarding Celtic games and that night was no different.
So how did you spend the hours leading up to kick-off?
I had been off school that day with a sore head, which lasted until around one minute past nine, when I started working on a way to convince my mum I was well enough to go to the game! All day I tried and tried to get her to let me go and she was adamant I wasn’t going. My brother came in from work and convinced her that I would be at school the next day no matter what and she relented. Thank God for big brothers!
My brother usually drove in and parked just down from the Prince Charlie pub but that night we got the supporter’s bus in. The songs, banter and smoke-filled bus all added to the excitement and as we set off I was starting to get butterflies in my stomach. As usual, my brother ducked into the Charlie for a quick pint and left me outside with a packet of crisps, and I watched the trickle of fans grow into a stream and eventually a torrent as kick-off approached. He came out – eventually – and we headed for the lights.
What’s your memories of arriving at the ground on the night?
We arrived in good time and as usual went in the Rangers end (The LL Stand now) which was traditionally the least populated area of the old CP. I actually have a picture of the ground with ‘our’ barrier in the foreground. If I remember correctly it was a cold night but when you’re in the middle of a huge crowd with your scarf on and singing your heart out you don’t feel it. We made our way down to the front, almost to the fence which separated that end from The Jungle, and to my surprise, the six foot eight guy who usually stood in front of me at 1 minute to kick-off didn’t appear, so I had a good view. The atmosphere was electric as was the norm for these nights, and expectation levels grew as we neared kick-off.
Partizan had been ordered to play their ‘home’ leg away from Belgrade due to a history of crowd trouble. Was there any sign of trouble at Parkhead?
I can’t recall there being many Partizan fans there, although there may have been a few hundred in the Main Stand. There were fifty-odd thousand partizan fans there though.
Back to matters on the pitch. Partizan are attacking the Celtic End. A corner is swung in from from the main stand side. An almost statuesque Celtic defence allow a Partizan defender to stroll into the box and head home the opener. How are you feeling?
We’re out. Simple as that. I thought we would crumble and concede more. I can remember clear as day one guy not far behind us shouting at Bonner. The guy headed it in from the 18 yard line and he’s blaming Bonner for not coming for it. 
How did the crowd and players respond to this set-back?
The equalizer was as straightforward as they come. A free kick by McStay to the back post, an Aitken header back across goal and Jacki flicked it in. Simple. The crowd were lifted but still kind of subdued. For all the superlatives he gathered after the game – and rightly so – I can’t recall Jacki standing out too much in that first half.
So at the break its 1-1 and Celtic are still very much in the tie. Was confidence high on the terraces?
My natural pessimism seemed to reflect the general mood. There was – there always is with Celtic – that sliver of hope but my brother seemed to be of the mind that if we did score again, they could very well score also. Mystic Meg or what?!
Nowadays we’re used to big money prize-draws, guest celebrities, big screen entertainment, singers on the pitch etc. But what constituted half-time entertainment in season 1989-90?
There was none of that back then. There was normally a good sing-song if we were doing well but I think apart from the usual tunes, there was little in the way of singing. If you wanted a pie you had to go down to the front of the terracing and buy one (can’t recall how much they were but they weren’t worth it) from a wee guy who walked around the pitch with his wares in a box strung around his neck, or there used to be a few guys who would walk up and down the stairwells of the terracing who would sell macaroon bars and chewing gum. A varied and delicious diet, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The match resumed and Celtic Park was soon rocking when Jacki pounced on an error from the keeper to put us 2-1 up on the night and level the tie. What do you recall of that moment?
Again, this was at the other end but I had a good view of a lovely lay-off from Andy Walker into Peter Grant’s path. Pedro then angled his shot perfectly to come back off the ‘keeper’s arms and into Jacki’s run, and about 8 yards out all he had to do was roll it into the net. Which he did. Despite my gloomy outlook at half time, in that split second all your thoughts change and going through now seems not only possible, but probable. Bedlam all around and you are pushed and pulled and hugged whilst the celebrations erupt around you. Magic! Now, what’s the score on aggregate? 3-3 and level on away goals. We can do this!
What happened next had to be seen to be believed. Can you talk us through the emotions of arguably the most amazing half at football witnessed at Parkhead?
Their next goal was a sickener. Someone, it may have been the Sunbed Kid (AKA Derek Whyte), tried to beat someone about 30 yards from our goal, was possessed, sorry, that should read dispossessed – maybe – and they broke, passed it once and scored. I recall the guy celebrating in front of us and shouting a sweary word at him, hoping I didn’t receive a clip round the wear from my brother. 3-4 and we’re out again.
Then a decent move between those three silky players Galloway, Elliot and Aitken set up Jacki to score again and the game is back in the balance. All around us calculations are made and debates are raging as folk try to work out the aggregate score (4-4 in case, like me that night you can’t keep up) and the game picks up pace.
Their keeper then horses it up the park where our defence used to be and another quick pass through the back line lets them in to round Packie Bonner and score their 3rd. Or 4th. Is it their 5th? At this point I was really confused and honestly had no idea of the overall score until the general consensus around us was agreed upon; it’s 4-5 overall and we need to score twice to go through.
Jacki, who by this time seemed to be playing them himself, turns the full back on the edge of the box and drills it low across the six yard line where Andy Walker slides in and pokes it over the line. 4-3 on the night, 5-5 on aggregate and we only need one more. The fans crank it up to 11 and roar on our every attack. By this time it’s desperate stuff and we all try to blow it towards the Celtic End. A corner is swung over, half-cleared and then comes back in from the Main Stand side, again into the six yard box. Jacki gets a flick on it and beats the ‘keeper. It’s 5-3 on the night, 6-5 on aggregate and we’re going through!!! Madness like you wouldn’t believe all around and 3 songs starting every minute as the crowd will us on towards the final whistle, which now seems an eternity away. I can honestly say I was buzzing – my heart was going like the clappers and I thought I was going to cry. Or laugh. Or go mad. It was, as they say, mental.
With four goals to his name and with Celtic a minute away from the next round of the ECWC and a famous victory, did you think that you had seen in Dziekanowski a striking performance from a future Celtic legend?
Like all foreigners who come to Celtic, Jacki was elevated to cult hero before anyone had seen him play. He was foreign, Polish and a bit of a playboy. What’s not to love? Once we’d seen him a few times his hero status moved up a notch as he obviously had barrowloads of talent. As I say, in the first half he was OK, but in the second he was everywhere. Scoring, working back, bringing others into the game. He was brilliant that night. If he could have played at half that level for every other Celtic game we couldn’t have held onto him for long. Sadly he couldn’t, and only showed sporadic flashes of the talent he had. A shame, but he’ll always be remembered for that night.
A minute to go and 5-3 up. The second round so close you could touch it. It would take a special kind of ineptitude to throw away victory at this stage. But that is what we did. How painful was Partizan’s fourth goal?
We won a throw-in and although the Celtic way is to attack, we should have held onto it a bit longer and organized better. I think it was Peter Grant who got the ball and saw a quick throw was on. He threw it to them, a quick break, a long ball to the back post, a header back and with our defence nowhere the Partizan player just had to direct it towards goal. From our viewpoint it looked as though Bonner had saved it and I think I started to jump and cheer the save when I realized it had gone in off the bar. Someone pressed the mute button on the volume control and you could feel the disbelief echo throughout the ground. The phrase ‘I couldn’t believe it’ should be apt here but to tell you the truth, I think we all could believe it. After all that had gone before it was more than believable that we were going out this way.
Can you describe the scene at the final whistle?
Stunned amazement. Stunned by the way the game had see-sawed back and forth and amazement that it had ended the way it had. I can remember trying to convince myself that there had been some mistake in the counting of the score and that somehow we would go through but as we walked out I knew we wouldn’t and we wouldn’t see a European night for at least another year. Grant was getting it in the neck from some fans but mostly the muted talk was of what an extraordinary game we had just witnessed.
What was the mood as the fans trudged away from the park?
We knew straight away that this would be talked about for years to come. One player scoring 4 in a European tie is special enough but the way the game had gone had exhausted everyone’s emotions. My brother sometimes went for a pint after the game (again leaving me outside with crisps and a can of coke) but that night we just headed straight for the bus home, and everyone else did too, so we were away from the ground pretty quickly. As is usual wherever more than two Celtic fans gather there was a huge debate as to whose fault it was and who had played well or poorly but my abiding memory was, and to this day still is, of their scorer doing a wee somersault in front of us after scoring. Funny how theses small things stick with you. An amazing game and one I’m glad I can say of…I was there.
And There's More…..
Another KDS regular, Cartuja, was also at the game and it wasn't just Celtic's defending that had him bitting his nails:
"My wife and I were both at the game and also my son. My son won't remember for reasons that will become clear.
I was sitting in a different part of the ground from my wife and I was not in my usual place surrounded by the familiar faces that you have a bit of banter with before, during and after the game. Before the game I was as nervous as I have ever been before a big game, if not more. If I had been in my usual seat, the people aound me would have detected my nerves through my silent disposition.
The reason that my wife wasn't beside me was that she was a guest in the Executive Club that night. Now this bit is where I may be mixing up games but as far as a recall there was a lights failure in the area she was in before the game (or may have been half time) and she, along will several hundred others, were led out of the ground to stand outside while the lights problem was resolved. I wasn't aware of this at the time (pre-mobile phone days!) but I had more than that to give me concerns about my wife's welfare as the game progressed. You see, my wife was 9 months pregnant! (2 days short of her due date!).
As the game gathered momentum, I started to come out of my nervous silence. With each goal and each perceived injustice on the park I started to tell the total strangers (or anyone who would listen) around me about my wife being on the brink of presenting, to the world, a new baby bhoy or ghirl! Anyone who can recall the ebb and flow of the game and imagine the emotions of elation, desparation and dejection which were compacted into that one game can multiply that by ten and you'll get an idea what I was going through. With every Jacki goal I was thinking 'Aw, Jeez, what about my wife". I didn't stop at thinking that. I was actually shouting it as everyone else was screaming with joy.
By the time Celtic's 4th goal went in the people around me were stopping their celebrations short to encourage me to speak to a steward and make my way to the Executive Club area to make sure my wife hadn't gone into labour. Is it bad that I ignored their advice? After all, I was sitting with my new friends, enjoy what could potentially be the best Celtic game/result I had ever witnessed! That, and I could getting fleeting glimpses of where she was sitting so I knew, at least, that she was still in the ground!
Strangely, as Partizan's 4th goal went in, my 'predicament' had offered enough of a distraction to the people around me that despite the crushing disappointment, those who had been within earshot of me quickly turned there thoughts away from the implications of the result and were genuinely concerned about my wife's welfare. I left the game accepting encouraging pats on the back accompanied by wellwishing comments about my impending fatherhood. I like to think I was offering a public service! It did, kind of, shield me from the utter despondency that I was aware of throughout the stadium.
Having been caught up in the excitement of the push for glory, it wasn't until well after the game that it occured to me the big Billy had also got caught up in this and, ultimately, that lost us the game.
My new baby? Well, my wife went two weeks over her term. But I like to think our son got his first taste of what it is like to be a Celtic fan right there and then. All the highs and lows that comes with the territory were contained in that one game. It has stood him in good stead. He's now a card-carrying member of KDS and follows the Bhoys home and away. My work on this earth is done!!"