Internationals at Celtic Park

Miscellaneous


Details

Ref: Scotland Matches Played at Celtic Park
First match: First in 1891 (Scotland 2-1 Ireland)
Number of Scotland games played at Celtic Park: 26 Scotland games
Games: 7 in the 1800s, 16 in the 1900s, 3 in the 2000s
Record: * W18, D2, L6, Scored 73, Conceded 22


Notes

  • Celtic has played host to a handful of national team matches. Hampden is not far off, so that is always going to be the home for the national side. However, Celtic Park has been an amenable host and has been rated higher than Hampden for these games.
  • There has also been a Scottish League v English League game played at Celtic Park, which used to be a regular fixture long back.
  • Notably: There was also a Scotland v England Ladies match played at Celtic in 1918, see: link.
  • Below is a summary of some of the more notable international games at Celtic Park.
  • In 1894, John Reynolds, an Irishman, played for England and scored against Scotland away at Celtic Park (the ground of the [then referred to] ‘Irish club‘). He later moved and played for Celtic.

Scotland matches played at Celtic Park

Year Date Opponent Scored Conceded Competition Note
1891 28 March 1891 Ireland 2 1 Home International Championship  
1893 25 March 1893 Ireland 6 1 Home International Championship  
1894 7 April 1894 England 2 2 Home International Championship  
1895 30 March 1895 Ireland 3 1 Home International Championship  
1896 4 April 1896 England 2 1 Home International Championship  
1898 2 April 1898 England 1 3 Home International Championship First defeat
1899 25 March 1899 Ireland 9 1 Home International Championship  
1900 7 April 1900 England 4 1 Home International Championship  
1901 23 February 1901 Ireland 11 0 Home International Championship  
1903 21 March 1903 Ireland 0 1 Home International Championship First defeat by Ireland
1904 9 April 1904 England 0 1 Home International Championship  
1905 18 March 1905 Ireland 4 0 Home International Championship  
1907 16 March 1907 Ireland 3 0 Home International Championship  
1911 18 March 1911 Ireland 2 0 Home International Championship  
1914 28 March 1914 Wales 0 0 Home International Championship  
1920 13 March 1920 Ireland 3 0 Home International Championship First match v Ireland (IFA) post War of Independence.
1922 4 March 1922 Ireland 2 1 Home International Championship  
1924 1 March 1924 Ireland 2 0 Home International Championship  
1930 22 February 1930 Ireland 3 1 Home International Championship  
1933 16 September 1933 Ireland 1 2 Home International Championship Irish Flag controversey
1997 2 April 1997 Austria 2 0 World Cup qualifier Hampden refurb
1997 11 October 1997 Latvia 2 0 World Cup qualifier Hampden refurb
1999 31 March 1999 Czech Republic 1 2 European Championship qualifier Hampden refurb
2006 2 September 2006 Faroe Islands 6 0 European Championship qualifier  
2014 14 November 2014 Ireland (Republic) 1 0 European Championship qualifier Hampden out of use due to Commonwealth Games; Managers were both ex-Celtic managers (Martin O’Neill & Gordon Strachan)
2014 18 November 2014 England 1 3 Friendly Hampden out of use due to Commonwealth Games; 

1891

Details To be added: 1891 (Scotland 2-1 Ireland)


1893

1) The English League side who beat a Scottish League side that year by 4 goals to 3 at Celtic Park, Glasgow.

(top l-r) William McGregor (Founder of the Football League), Thomas Clare, John J. Bentley (Chairman of the Football League Division one, later President of the Football League), John Southworth, Charles Perry, R Molyneux, William Rowley and Harry Lockett (Football League Secretary).
(middle row l-r) William Bassett, Fred Geary, Robert Howarth, Harry Wood and Joseph Schofield.
(front l-r) John Reynolds and Ernest Needham
English League Team 1893

Note: John Reynolds of England (who scored in the above match) later went on to play for Celtic.
 

2) Celtic 6-1 Ireland (IFA)

British Championships 1893

Sat 25th March 1893

Parkhead, Glasgow (H)

Att: 12,000

Four Celtic players James Kelly, McMahon, John Campbell and Willie Maley playing for Scotland.Renton’s goalkeeper John Lindsay was also playing for Scotland which could help in part to additionally explain the heavy scoreline in Celtic’s favour as the Celtic First Team played Renton on same day winning 6-1.

Internationals at Celtic Park - The Celtic Wiki
This is possibly the oldest sketch of Celtic Park currently known.
See: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/celtic_graves/very-early-cartoon-image-scotland-v-ireland-25th-m-t1575.html

However not all were enamoured by the new club with a writer in 1893 in the North Britain Daily Mail derogatorily stating his unequivocal opposition to those of Irish heritage & pointedly at Celtic to be permitted to play for the national team:

“The Scottish Football Association was misrepresenting Scotland by allowing Irish, or Celtic players in a Scottish representative team. With all due deference to the Celtic men’s ability, I hold an accident of birth don’t make them Scotchmen. They, as a team, are banded together for Irish purposes”.

1893 The North Britain Daily Mail on Celtic, the Irish and playing for Scotland:

1893 Daily Mail on Irish


1894

7 April 1894 – Scotland 2 England 2 [1-1]
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Att: 45,107
Scotland 2 England 2 [1-1]
Saturday, 7 April 1894Home International Championship 1893-94

  • Three Celts: Alex McMahon, James Blessington, Dan Doyle
  • Jack Reynolds, later short stint at Celtic, played for England. He was thus an Irishman playing for England to score against Scotland away at the ground of the [then referred to] ‘Irish club’ Celtic (whom he later played for).
  • Interesting note is that at the Scotland v England match, this match has the oldest picture of Celtic Park, and there is a huge Union Jack flying in the background on the ground. Some history: this was the new League Title Flag and was unfurled for the first time at this match. The flag was in GREEN! The Union Jack in green!

Pictures courtesy of Jamie Fox (posted on social media), posting that :
“Not only is it the first photograph of Celtic Park but the first photograph of any International: Scotland 2 England 2”
Celtic Park 1894 - Scotland v England - thanks to jamie Fox

Celtic Park 1894 - Scotland v England - thanks to jamie Fox


1895

Scotland 3-1 Ireland,
30 March 1895
Score 3-1 to Scotland
Competition British Home Championship
Venue Parkhead, Glasgow Attendance 21,000

Scotland
Starting lineup:
Defender/Forward John McPherson
Left back Daniel Doyle
Centre half Jack Taylor
Forward William Lambie
John Drummond (captain)
Neil Gibson
Daniel McArthur
David Russell
James Simpson
Thomas Waddell
John Walker I
Goals:
William Lambie G
John Walker I G
John Walker I G

Ireland
Starting lineup:
Thomas E Alexander
James H Barron
William K Gibson
Thomas McClatchey
Hymie McKie
Thomas Morrison
John Ponsonby
Lewis Irwin Scott
Thomas Scott
William Sherrard
Olphert Martin Stanfield (captain)
Goals:
William Sherrard

Pic says International Rugby but actually was for football match between Scotland v Ireland 30 March 1895.

1896

4 April 1896 – Scotland 2 England 1 [2-0]
Celtic Park, Glasgow

Saturday, 4 April 1896 Home International Championship 1895-96

Celtic Park, Kerrydale Street, Parkhead, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Official Attendance: 51,345 but attendance most likely 56,500 (a new-world record attendance).

Receipts: £3640-£3744; Kick-off 3.55pm GMTScotland – William Lambie (‘Raikes threw the ball out, Lambie at once got the ball, and gave the goalkeeper no chance’ 25), Jack Bell (‘King kicked across the goalmouth, Bell got up and close in, kicked a goal’ 30).England – Billy Bassett (‘Goodall passed out to Bassett, who steadied the ball, and with a swinging shot, scored’ 75)

The mass attendance was not without its problems, many scaled fences and obtained entry without ticket. A number upwards of 60,000 present could be considered. The spectators stood right up to the touchline throughout and naturally handicapped the wing men.

Just one Celtic player in Scotland side, James Blessington.

Internationals at Celtic Park - The Celtic Wiki

1898-03-12: Sheffield Utd 1-0 Celtic, Friendly


1898

2 April 1898 – Scotland 1 England 3 [0-2]
Celtic Park, Glasgow
Att: 40,000

Celtic Park, Kerrydale Street, Parkhead, Glasgow, LanarkshireAttendance: ‘close upon’ 40,000 receipts: £3229 10s 6d; Kick-off 4.00pm GMT;England – Fred Wheldon (‘shot the ball through following a scrimmage’ 3), Steve Bloomer (‘a high shot’ 23, ‘a Spikesley centre gave Bloomer what was practically an open goal’ 70)Scotland – James Millar (‘after missing one shot, sent home another’ 46)

Two Celts: Dan Doyle, John Campbell

Provisions were made to accommodate 60,000. The Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders not only provided the pre-match entertainment, but also added as extra security to assist the large staff of policemen already assembled.
Crushing in the south-west corner occurred an hour before kick-off. There were no casualties


1900

7 April 1900 – Scotland 4 England 1 [4-1]
at: Celtic Park, Glasgow
Att: 63,000
Only 1 Celtic player in that whole team (J Bell), five Rangers players.
Internationals at Celtic Park - The Celtic Wiki

“Celtic Park furnished a great display of Lord Rosebery’s racing colours, which the Scottish eleven also wore as a mark of their appreciation of his visit…”

Receipts £4,387 9s. 6d.;
Kick-off 3.30pm GMT
Scotland – Bob McColl (‘from a throw-in, the ball was turned over to McColl, who easily beat his defenders and scored with a wonderful shot’ 1, ‘Smith and Campbell got through to make an opening for McColl’ 30, ‘a fine piece of combination by the forwards ended in a McColl goal’ [England’s 100th goal conceded] 44), John Bell (‘got the ball and dribbled it through’ 6)
England – Steve Bloomer (‘Athersmith’s pass, Bloomer’s faultess shot’ 35)
Celtic Park 1900


1904

9 April 1904 – Scotland 0 England 1 [0-0]Celtic Park, Glasgow
Att: 40,000

Celtic Park, Kerrydale Street, Parkhead, Glasgow, LanarkshireAttendance: 40,000; Receipts £1900 (gate) £600 (stands); Kick-off 3.32pm GMTGlasgow Herald states 45,000, whilst The Mirror states ‘just short of 50,000.England – Steve Bloomer (‘Blackburn received from Harris. The former tried to pass across, and Watson to clear, but he missed his kick, and the ball came to Bloomer, who found the net with a high shot’ 64)

No Celtic players
Goalkeeper McBride replaced the original choice, Hibernian FC’s Harry Rennie, who had injured his ankle in the inter-league match. Other changes include Tom Jackson replacing Newcastle United’s Andrew McCombie at right-back. In the forward-line, Sandy Brown replaced Rangers FC’s Bob Hamilton in the centre and Ronald Orr replaced Manchester City FC’s Livingstone on the left.


1915

Scottish League 1-4 English League


Four Celtic greats line up for the Scots against the English at Celtic Park
By Matt Corr 16 April, 2025 No Comments

Four Celtic greats line up for the Scots against the English at Celtic Park

Four Celtic greats line up for the Scots against the English at Celtic Park…

So Ruth Rendell CSC is back on the case with another fabulous photo from the collection of Steven Quinn, the great-grandson of former Celtic and Scotland Trainer Will Quinn.
This time the location is unmistakeable

At least this time the location is unmistakeable, as one of the distinctive facades of the old north enclosure at Celtic Park is clearly visible on the left. From memory, those were erected around 1907/08, so we now have an earliest date to work on.

Some familiar faces jump out from the pages of history. Celtic legends Alec ‘Icicle’ McNair and Jimmy ‘Napoleon’ McMenemy are standing together in the back row, whilst teammate Joe Dodds is seated front and centre with the ball, indicating that he is the team captain. Andy McAtee is sitting on the left of the group and Will Quinn himself is standing extreme left.
The paler jersey and mixed socks suggest to me that this will be a Scottish League match rather than a full international, although I know Alec McNair played for both at Celtic Park, and so it transpires.
The combination of location, period and the four Celts playing together makes this task quite straightforward

The combination of location, period and the four Celts playing together makes this task quite straightforward. This photo is taken before the match between the Scottish League and the English League at Celtic Park on Saturday, 20 March 1915, some eight months after the First World War had commenced.

As a consequence of that horrific conflict there were no full internationals played that season. Willie ‘Sodjer’ Wilson of Hearts, who was making his representative debut, was the only Scottish player to have signed up for the army at that point. The 21-year-old winger was one of 16 Hearts players who made up the famous McRae’s Battalion in November 1914. He was wounded in the Battle of Arras three years later, another gruesome event which claimed the life of current Celtic star Peter Johnstone.

The Scottish League team that afternoon at a wet and windy Celtic Park was as follows.

Jimmy Brownlie (Third Lanark);
Alec McNair & Joe Dodds (both Celtic);
Jimmy Gordon (Rangers), John Wright (Morton) & Peter Nellies (Hearts);
Andy McAtee (Celtic), James Bowie, Willie Reid (both Rangers), Jimmy McMenemy (Celtic) & Willie Wilson (Hearts).

The English League team lined up as follows.

Walter Smith (Manchester City);
Ephraim Longworth (Liverpool) & Jack English (Sheffield United);
Tom Fleetwood (Everton), Charlie Roberts (Oldham Athletic) & Bobby McNeal (West Bromwich Albion);
Sam Chedgzoy (Everton), Charlie Buchan (Sunderland), George Elliott (Middlesbrough), Eddie Latheron (Blackburn Rovers) & Harry Martin (Sunderland).
Two names jump out

Two names jump out at me from that line-up. Charles Buchan produced many great football books when I was a kid, one of which I still have to this day, whilst Sam Chedgzoy has come up before in my research for the Celtic in the Thirties books, both available at Celtic Star Books in hardback and on Amazon for Kindle.
Sam played for Montreal Carsteel against Celtic on that historic tour of the ‘New World’ in the spring of 1931, by which time he was 42 years old. That was the famous match where Celtic’s Peter Scarff scored five goals in a 7-0 win whilst wearing a green dress shirt borrowed from a spectator!
Chedgzoy best remembered for forcing a change in the laws of the game

Chedgzoy played his final match for Carsteel in the Canadian Cup final in 1939, having passed his 50th birthday, but is perhaps best remembered for forcing a change in the laws of the game. Whilst with Everton in 1926, he famously dribbled the ball directly from a corner-kick to have a shot at goal, then argued successfully with the referee that what he had attempted was perfectly legal. The rules were subsequently amended to reflect that a player taking a corner kick could have only one touch before another player made contact with the ball.

Former Manchester United skipper Charlie Roberts of Oldham Athletic captained England at Celtic Park and was the best player on the field. And if some of the English clubs listed seem unfashionable by today’s standards, then it may help to note that Oldham were favourites for the First Division title that season, one point behind leaders Manchester City but with two games in hand, whilst Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Everton and Sunderland made up the top six at that time. Everton would eventually pip Oldham to the title by a single point.
The Scots were seeking a third successive victory in the fixture

The Scots were seeking a third successive victory in the fixture, but it was not to be, England two goals to the good by the interval despite playing against the wind. Eddie Latheron crashed a shot past Jimmy Brownlie off an upright midway through the first half to give the English League a lead which was doubled within three minutes by Harry Martin’s wonderful solo effort.

George Elliott put the English 3-0 up on the 70-minute mark before Joe Dodds reduced the deficit two minutes later with a penalty kick, his second and final goal at that level, after Tom Fleetwood had handled in the box. Sam Chedgzoy ended the scoring at 4-1 with nine minutes remaining to send most of the 45,000 spectators home disappointed.
As a sad footnote to that English League team, first goalscorer Eddie Latheron was another tragic victim of war. He was killed in the Battle of Passchendale near Ypres in north-west Belgium on 14 October 1917, just 29 years old.

A bit of further detective work has now enabled me to identify each Scottish League player in the photograph, although as always, I’m happy to be corrected.
Back row; John Wright, Willie Wilson, Willie Reid, Alec McNair, Jimmy McMenemy & Jimmy Brownlie; Front row; Andy McAtee, Jimmy Gordon, Joe Dodds, Peter Nellies & James Bowie.

As an aside, Annie Nellies, the sister of Hearts’ wing-half Peter, married Celtic captain Willie Cringan in 1916, and the two men played together in the half-back line for the Scottish League in a 3-1 defeat to the English League at St Andrew’s, home of Birmingham City, on Saturday, 22 February 1919. Alec McNair also featured in that match, but Celtic’s home League fixture against Partick Thistle went ahead the same afternoon, goals from legends Patsy Gallacher and Adam McLean earning the Hoops a 2-1 win.
Back on that Saturday in March 1915

Back on that Saturday in March 1915, the Celtic contingent chosen by the Scottish League meant that the scheduled domestic fixture was deferred. Hearts took advantage of that by beating Partick Thistle 3-1 at Tynecastle to move four points clear at the top of the table, albeit the Celts had two games in hand.

Willie Maley’s men would recover to clinch the second of four successive League title by four points from the Gorgie men. A Celtic side was in action that day though, the Hoops losing a two-goal interval lead to go down 5-3 at Second Division Clydebank in a friendly. That was the first season in senior football for the Clydeholm-based club who would provide a development platform for the teenage Jimmy McGrory in 1923/24.

Hail, Hail!

Matt Corr

Follow Matt on X – @Boola-vogue

Photo courtesy of Steven Quinn.

1920

The Scottish national team at Celtic Park on 13/3/1920 for a match against Ireland. Goalkeeper has less of a bunnet and more of a service cap on! The attempt at “Céad míle fáilte” must have put Ireland off as the lost 3-0


1921

1921 Junior International Ireland 1 Scotland 0

1922

Scotland 2-1 Ireland,
4 March 1922

Ireland v Scotland at Celtic Park
Tournament: British Home Championships

Scotland Goals: Andrew Wilson 61′, 83′
Ireland Goal: Billy Gillespie 43′

Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Arthur Ward (England)

The 1921-22 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1921–22 season between the British Home Nations. Scotland were victorious as part of a string of seven victories during the 1920s. England and Wales came joint second with Ireland coming last.

Frank Collins was capped for Ireland whilst a Celtic reserve, and played for Ireland v Scotland in this game.


1933

Scotland 1-2 Ireland, 16 September 1933

att: 27,135, Celtic Park Glasgow

Created controversy from the IFA (i.e. Belfast based FA) who complained about the presence of the Irish flag being flown at Celtic Park for this match (see link). Last Scotland game played at Celtic Park until 1997, possibly the protest was the reason (in whole or in part) for this, as future Scotland Ireland games were played elsewhere in later years. Note also, that  Scotland had a dire Home Nations Championships this season (1933/34), coming fourth, when generally they were always challenging for the title. So possibly attributed the defeat at Celtic Park in part on this.

Scotland
Starting lineup:
Wing half Alex Massie
Outside right Jimmy Boyd
Andrew Anderson
John Harkness
James King
Alexander ‘Toby’ Low
Peter William McGonagle (captain)
James McGrory
Robert McPhail
William Telfer
Alexander Venters
Goals:
Robert McPhail

Ireland
Starting lineup:
Bertie Fulton Defender
Alex Stevenson Inside forward
Hugh Blair
John ‘Jackie’ Coulter
Jack Jones
John ‘Jackie’ Mahood
David Kirker ‘Boy’ Martin
Johnny McMahon
Billy Mitchell
Elisha Scott
Goals:
David Kirker ‘Boy’ Martin (x2)


1997-99

Three Scotland games played at Celtic Park in the late 1990s: 2-0 v Austria, April 1997 2-0 v Latvia, October 1997 1-2 v Czech Republic, March 1999

TBC


14 Nov 2014

Scotland 1-0 IrelandInternationals at Celtic Park - The Celtic Wiki

Celtic v Celtic – Battle of the Celtic Managers

Back in 2014, Glasgow was host to the Commonwealth Games and put together an incredibly well done event that really brought all together and helped to heal some of the past issues from the fractious independence referendum. This led to the problem that Hampden was thus out of use for a period of time as it was refitted following the games, and Celtic Park was picked as the venue for important European Championship Qualifiers v Ireland. Both sides needed this win as the group was the closest of any going in the tournament, defeat for Scotland likely would have killed off any chances of automatic qualification before the half-way stage.

Additionally, there was added spice for the Celtic fans. If you ever read back to the old match threads, reports and reviews by Celtic fans from the 2000’s, a common argument was “MoN v WGS“, as who was the better manager: Martin O’Neill or Gordon Strachan? The comparisons were difficult, and the arguments at times nauseating, but in 2014 both Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan were made the new Ireland and Scotland managers respectively, and were drawn to face each other in competitive matches for the Euro Championships. Add in ex-Celt Roy Keane being MoN’s assistant, and it was a tasty showdown, but nobody was going to truly believe this would settle any old arguments. Time had passed by for the old debaters, and both managers were respected for their time at Celtic.

We don’t need to explain on this site on the interesting historical aspects to this showdown. Celtic (a club with Scottish & Irish roots) playing host to the Republic of Ireland v Scotland at our own homeground, so who exactly was it a home match for?

The weird aspect was for the Scotland-supporting Celtic fans supporting a team in blue against a team in green at Celtic Park. The Irish were noisy as hell and more than made their own felt despite being outnumbered at Celtic Park.

The FAI and SFA ended up in a spat after the SFA only gave 3000 tickets to the Irish fans, although there were plenty of Celtic fans supporting Ireland dotted around the place. The FAI had actually messed up and the arguments can be left for elsewhere.

The great thing about the match was the lack of TheRangers involvement. No Sevco players in the starting team, although ex-Rangers OldCo player Naismith was playing. The backbone of the team turned out to be Celtic players current & former: Marshall, Brown, Mulgrew and Maloney. The Celtic contingent ran the game, and it was a wonderful goal by ex-Celt Maloney with an assist by Celtic captain Scott Brown which won the game for Scotland. There was also a Celtic contingent in the Irish squad too, including ex-Celt Robbie Keane (subbed on) who whinged afterwards as he was not given a starting place in their First XI for the first time in ten years or so.

WGS went home happy, and MoN was left frustrated at the end. He admitted it was the first time he’d ever been in the away dressing room at Celtic Park too. Ireland, Scotland and Germany were now all in second place on 7pts, with Poland top on 10pts.

A great night for Scotland with no trouble. Notably, various commentators were stating that Celtic Park was far superior to Hampden, including Scott Brown (Scotland Captain), Davie Provan and even ex-Scotland manager Craig Brown.

“Hampden, we should find a new use for. It’s a waste of space.”
Davie Provan

The match was tarred as certain of the tabloids tried to stoke up tensions due to ex-Celt Aiden McGeady playing for Ireland instead of his country of birth (Scotland). It didn’t reflect well on the Scottish support for the level of booing & even abuse he was receiving from them during the match.

On a sadder note, one Scotland supporter died in an accident on the stairs as the crowd was dispersing (there were no suspicious circumstances), and to his family our sincere condolences.

Scotland:
Marshall, Whittaker, R Martin, Hanley, Robertson, Maloney, Mulgrew (D Fletcher 88), Brown, Anya, Naismith, S Fletcher (C Martin 55).
Subs not used: Gordon, Berra, Dorrans, Greer, Bannan, Burke, Russell, May, Gilks.
Booked: Hanley, Robertson.
Goals: Maloney, 74.

Rep. of Ireland:
Forde, Coleman, Keogh, O’Shea, Ward, McGeafy, Hendrick (Keane 78), Gibson (Quinn 69), McClean, Walters, Long (Brady 68).
Subs not used: Randolph, Clark, Christie, Meyler, Pilkington, Given, Murphy, Pearce.
Booked: Coleman, McGeady, Hendrick.

Ref: M Mazic (SER)
Attendance
: 59,239.


17 Nov 2014[Untitled]

Scotland 1-3 England – Friendly

In 2014, Scotland was going through quite an eventful time. The Scottish Independence Referendum became a major concern for everyone, but the result saw the status quo remain yet nothing was to remain the same.

Following only a few days after the impressive win against Ireland, Celtic Park was to again host Scotland but against the Auld Enemy England in a needless friendly.

The match followed not too long after the divisive independence referendum, and for some tensions were still high outwith the ground. Still, it was a friendly and it was hoped to go without any problems.

The match itself was one sided as England swept easily over Scotland despite a late ray of light with a Scottish consolation goal. Two goals from Wayne Rooney sealed the win which saw neither side really move out of the low gears to make a maths things. Many fans were angry at the fare on show when compared to the extort price for the tickets. For Rooney it was a proud moment as being a sympathiser to Celtic he had finally got to score at Paradise…and the England players did a Celtic huddle!

The main talking point ended up with that on the terraces. Obvious banter between the two sets of supporters was inevitable, however a large contingent of England fans began taunting the home support with anti-Irish and anti-IRA chants. Misplaced they were but it was disgusting and showed that England still had that hardcore scum element who saw a grand opportunity at Celtic Park to belt out the Hunnish tunes.

Following the match, the English FA apologised for a small number of fans who took part in anti-IRA singing. It emerged the FA had contacted the England supporters’ band at half-time to stop playing when it inadvertently provided background music to the chanting. Manager Roy Hodgson said: “I didn’t have a clue what they were chanting. If anyone was offended, I’m sure the FA would like to apologise to them.” Respect to them for that as in Scotland, nothing would happen.

Anyhow, at the end of the day Scotland lost, match easily forgotten and the world didn’t budge from its axis. So all still in order, and for many a thankful end to the international games for the moment.

Scotland 4-2-3-1:
Marshall 7 (Gordon 46, 6), Whittaker 5.5, R Martin 6.5, Hanley 5 (May 66, 6), Robertson 7, Maloney 6.5 (Russell 81), Mulgrew 7.5, Brown 6 (D Fletcher 46, 6.5), Anya 5.5 (Bannan 61, 6), C Martin 6 (Morrison 46, 6), Naismith 7.
Subs not used: Bryson, Berra, Dorrans, Greer, Burke, Macleod, Forsyth, Paterson, Gilks.
Goal: Robertson 83.
Booked: Mulgrew.
Manager – Gordon Strachan:

England 4-4-2:
Forster 7, Clyne 7.5, Cahill 6.5 (Jagielka 46, 6.5), Smalling 6, Shaw 6.5 (Gibbs 66, 6), Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 (Lambert 80), Milner 7, Wilshere 7.5 (Barkley 87), Downing 6 (Lallana 46, 6.5), Rooney 8, Welbeck 6.5 (Sterling 46, 6.5).
Subs not used: Foster, Chambers, Henderson, Walcott, Berahino.
Goals: Oxlade-Chamberlain 32, Rooney 47, 85
Manager – Roy Hodgson

Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)


Scotland v England game at Celtic Park

From this book on Edinburgh http://access.bl.uk/item/pdf/lsidyv3c40e0b3

The book is dated 1899, so it’s probably the 1898 match, although could be 1896.
Scotland v England game at Celtic Park.