Celtic on this Day – John Hartson knocks Rangers out of the Scottish Cup

The Celtic Star

·9 January 2025

Celtic on this Day – John Hartson knocks Rangers out of the Scottish Cup

Celtic on this Day – John Hartson knocks Rangers out of the Scottish Cup…

John Hartson scores the winner for Celtic against Rangers at Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup on 9th January 2005. Photo The Celtic Wiki

9 January 2005

Celtic 2-1 Rangers. John Hartson’s winner was poignant given the big Welshman had signed a new contract with the club days earlier. When watching the highlights back in preparation for this piece, strangely, Celtic were shooting into the now Lisbon Lions stand in the second half rather than the traditional ‘Celtic end’ for the second 45. It had now been five years since Rangers had defeated Celtic at Paradise – Martin O’Neill most definitely had the edge over his rivals. This Scottish Cup tie paved the way for more silverware under the Irishman. The Hoops would go onto triumph the Scottish Cup in season 2004/2005 beating Dundee United 1-0 in the final courtesy of Alan Thompson’s strike.

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9 January 2011

Dan Majstorovic scores in the Scottish Cup. Berwick Rangers v Celtic, 9th January 2011. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Berwick Rangers 0-2 Celtic. Continuing the theme of early round Scottish Cup victories, 13 years ago today Celtic breezed by Third Division opponents in sub-zero conditions at Sheffield Park. Freddie Ljungberg made his long-awaited Celtic debut. An unexciting match for the ex-Arsenal hero and his new teammates, but the Hoops completed their job professionally thanks to Dan Majstorovic and Scott Brown goals. Neil Lennon’s men would of course go onto clinch the Scottish Cup trophy in the 2010/2011 campaign — defeating Rangers over two games along the way, and then Motherwell convincingly on a rainy day in May at the national stadium.

Green Brigade at Berwick Rangers v Celtic, 9th January 2011. Photo The Celtic Wiki

9 January 2014

Trabzonspor 1-3 Celtic, Friendly. 9th January 2013. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Trabzonspor 1-3 Celtic. Forget trips to Dubai, Neil Lennon and his team visited Turkey for their ‘warm’ weather winter training camp in 2014. It was an Antalya Cup competition held in Turkey. There had been no local backing, and crowds were sparse with Celtic playing in virtually empty stadiums. The meaningless victory over Trabzonspor set up a final with Turkish giants Galatasaray. Star performers in the two games were Teemu Pukki and Amido Balde who had made little impact in Scotland, but shined across these friendly matches. There was an anticipation that they could replicate their form for the second half of the season, but sadly this did not happen for the duo.

9 January 1988

Chris Morris sees the ball over the line. St Mirren v Celtic, 9 January 1988. Photo The Celtic Wiki

St Mirren 1-1 Celtic. The centenary season was special, but it did offer up a lot of draws for Billy McNeill’s side — this was one of them at Love Street. Regular starters Pat Bonner, Mick McCarthy, Peter Grant, Billy Stark and Andy Walker were all absent. There was a sickness bug that had affected the squad on the lead up to the game. Celtic passed up several opportunities, and their goal came courtesy of a comical error by the usually imperious St Mirren goalkeeper Campbell Money. Celtic couldn’t find the winner and thus it was viewed as a vital point dropped in the title race allowing Hearts and Rangers to close the gap.

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Kasper Schmeichel acknowledges the fans following the Scottishl Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 08, 2025 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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