Celtic on this Day – Skippy sent the Free Broomloan into raptures

The Celtic Star

·27 December 2024

Celtic on this Day – Skippy sent the Free Broomloan into raptures

Celtic on this Day – Skippy’s stunning volley sinks Rangers, the day Nicholas became Champagne Charlie…

Scott McDonald scored the winner for Celtic at Ibrox on 27 December 2008. Photo The Celtic Wiki

27 December 2008

Rangers 0-1 Celtic. Scott McDonald’s infamous half-volley strike in front of a jubilant travelling support at the Broomloan Road end is to this day an iconic Glasgow Derby goal. The victory moved Gordon Strachan’s side seven points clear in the league putting clear daylight between the two sides. Sadly, inconsistencies in the second half of the season troubled Celtic which saw us lose the league by four points. Skippy was gaining a reputation during this period for scoring many a goal against Rangers. Celtic’s 1-0 win at Ibrox was their first win on the road versus their bitter rivals for three years, and it was Rangers’ only defeat at home in the calendar year of 2008. Despite Aiden McGeady being unavailable due to Strachan imposing a two-game ban on the winger for a spat between the two and Shunsuke Nakamura being injured, Celtic secured all three points, and it looked like it would be crucial by the time May came around — sadly it was not to be.

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27 December 1999

27 December 1999: Eyal Berkovic of Celtic is watched by Lorenzo Amoruso of Rangers during the Scottish Premier League match at Celtic Park.. The game ended 1-1. Photo Michael Cooper /Allsport

Celtic 1-1 Rangers. A fitting way to end the 90s – knocked on the Rangers’ door for a large proportion of the game, but simply couldn’t find a way. The bar and post came to Dick Advocaat’s side’s rescue with Celtic hitting the woodwork on a miraculous three occasions whilst also having a goal harshly ruled out in the first half courtesy of Hugh Dallas. Mark Viduka’s cracking opener was quickly cancelled out through Billy Dodds’ equaliser which somehow Jonathan Gould didn’t keep out. A respectable result at the time due to the humiliation the Hoops suffered at Ibrox earlier on in the season, but the result should’ve been much more but summed up the John Barnes era.

27 December 1969

Willie Wallace scoring for Celtic against Partick Thistle on 27 December 1969. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic 8-1 Partick Thistle. This was Jock Stein’s domestically dominant side’s last outing of not only the year 1969, but the 60s with the second half of that decade being without doubt Celtic’s most successful period in the clubs history. Willie Wallace grabbed a double against a woeful Jags team who were languishing at the bottom of the table. Wallace’s spot-kick in this game marked his 100th goal in a Celtic jersey since arriving at Paradise in December 1966. A procession of goals followed with Yogi Hughes netting a hat-trick, Bertie Auld and Billy McNeill managing to find themselves on the scoresheet, a Willie Wallace double and an own goal. Celtic were top of the league heading into 1970, two points ahead of Rangers.

27 December 1982

Frank McGarvey, Charlie Nicholas and George McCluskey, Celtic v Morton, 27 December 1982.

Celtic 5-1 Morton. Dominated by Charlie Nicholas, the Hoops striker had now remarkably scored his 30th goal of the season and won a prize from the Daily Record for becoming the first Scottish player to reach 30 goals during the 1982/1983 campaign. With Nicholas’ contract set to expire in June 1983, speculation surrounding his future was rife. There were rumours that Liverpool and Manchester United were ready to step up their chase in pursuit of Champagne Charlie. On the game against Morton itself, Murdo MacLeod netted for both sides as Celtic recovered from a goal down to win the Scottish Premier Division encounter 5-1.