St Johnstone 2-3 Celtic, May 1991 – European football secured, attendance 9486

The Celtic Star

·28 September 2024

St Johnstone 2-3 Celtic, May 1991 – European football secured, attendance 9486

An important win at McDiarmid Park 1991 as we qualified for Europe with a little help from an ex Celt…

Later today Celtic are at McDiarmid Park to take on St Johnstone on league duty. Like all games these days it’s a must win, but back in May 1991 we headed to Perth for another must win game, but in very much different circumstances.

I don’t need to go into detail about that era, as mostly all of you will know the facts surrounding it. This was the last game of the season, and unlike today when we would be battling for a title, back then we were battling for third place and a spot in European competition.

OneFootball Videos

Billy McNeill was the manager in what turned out to be his last ever match in charge of the club, and after a disappointing season we needed to secure a victory whilst also hoping that Dunfermline did us a favour by beating third place Dundee United at East End Park.

We had missed out on European competition the season before and two years without playing in Europe wasn’t a good look for a club of Celtic’s stature, diminished as it was at that time. Today the Celtic star shines much brighter but in the early 1990s it was a very different story for Celtic.

So the odds were stacked against us as it was completely out of our hands as Dundee United only needed a point at eighth place Dunfermline to qualify ahead of The Hoops.

Things didn’t start as planned as St Johnstone took the lead in the first minute and immediately we were on the back foot, but Charlie Nicholas fired us back on level terms sixteen minutes later, and the European dream was still very much a possibility.

We headed into the break on level terms and over at East End Park it was goalless, so it was very much as you were and Celtic would miss out.

Disaster struck just after the restart as St Johnstone regained the lead. If we were to win the game then we would have to do it the hard way. We were soon back in it yet again as just after the hour mark Mike Galloway grabbed the equaliser and it was game on once again.

Celtic went on the attack looking for the winner, but St Johnstone despite having nothing to play for were as equally determined to finish their own season on a high. The game at East End Park still remained goalless and we were looking at a fourth place finish and no European spot for the second year in succession.

Then with eleven minutes remaining Celtic were awarded a spot kick and our top scorer that campaign Tommy Coyne made no mistake and placed the ball into the net with such calmness and assurance to give us a vital lead.

We still needed a turn from Dunfermline as we were still looking at a fourth place finish, and then with time running out Dunfermline took the lead in the last minute against Dundee United and the scorer was none other than ex-Celt Davie Moyes!

The final whistle sounded at both grounds and Celtic had done what they set out to do and qualify for Europe with a little help from an old friend. There was no hysterical celebrations, but it was still a pleasing result in a time of despair.

As you can see from the press cutting above the office attendance was 9486, which more than likely will be higher that the attendance this evening, because of the the decisions clubs like St Johnstone have in preferring empty seats to paying customers. Celtic supporters were allocated the stand opposite the main stand at McDiarmid Park in those days and basically everyone who wanted a ticket got one.

This evening Celtic are in a much better position, heading to Dortmund after the match for a match in the Champions League. We go into today’s game full of confidence with a perfect record this season and having won our opening Champions League match 5-1.

It’s all very different to the way things were for Celtic back in 1991.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy