A Fairytale Double for Celtic, our Magical Football Club

The Celtic Star

·14 May 2025

A Fairytale Double for Celtic, our Magical Football Club

37 years ago today happens to be one of the most memorable games I have experienced as a Celtic supporter and it’s one that has a very special place in my heart…

I was only eight years old and that season was the first I can really recall as age gets the better of me! And what a season it was. A cup double was clinched on the centenary year of the club’s formation.

Although I have to point out that Celtic is more than a football club, it’s a cliche yes, but it’s true. Celtic football club is more than just a sporting institution, it’s much bigger than that as our history suggests, and that history shows us to have achieved some wonderful feats on and off the park and in doing so making folks life all that bit better.

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One of those remarkable moments was on Saturday 14 May 1988 when a late Frank McAvennie brace won us the Scottish Cup against Dundee United in the searing heat of a packed Hampden.

That win clinched us a domestic double in our centenary season. Led by the man who twenty one years earlier skippered the side on the field to our greatest ever honour, the European Cup. The one and only Billy McNeill. It really was a fairytale moment for such a magical club, and be have been able to experience it is a moment I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

“I don’t think that I’ll be here in another 100 years time but I think these lads will be remembered. I’m delighted for them.” Billy McNeill said as Celtic sealed the Scottish Cup and league double in the centenary season on this day in 1988.

1988: Frank McAvennie of Celtic celebrates after the Scottish Cup Final match against Dundee United at Hampden . Celtic won the match 2-1. Photo: Allsport

“That’s what’s so special about them right there, Jim. Just right up there, that’s what’s so special about them. They’re there and they’re always there. And God bless every one of them,” Celtic star Tommy Burns said while being interviewed on the Hampden pitch after Celtic’s 2-1 win over Dundee United in the 1988 Scottish Cup Final.

More on this game to follow on The Celtic Star…

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A Fairytale Double for Celtic, our Magical Football Club | OneFootball