1915-10-09: Celtic 2-1 Rangers, Glasgow Cup Final

Match Pictures | Matches: 1915 1916 | 1915 Pics1916 Pics

Trivia

  • Celtic & World War One
  • With half an hour to go the Rangers fans leave the ground in droves. See report below from Herald. LINK
  • The Scotsman, Monday 11 Oct. PRISONERS. Paris, October 9. “Some days ago,” says the Matin, it was announce that the Vatican had approached the belligerent Powers with a view to obtaining a precious boon for prisoners of war, and this step has been successful. By it all prisoners of war in the countries at war will be granted a Sunday’s rest.” – Reuter.
  • It is reported in Lisbon that Portugese authorities are making arrangements to take wounded British soldiers from the Dardanelles as hospital capacity is available.
  • Page 9 of The Glasgow Herald gives details of the week's casualty list of 209 officers and 4,000 men. LINK

Review

Teams

CELTIC:
Shaw, McNair, Dodds, Young, Johnstone ,McMaster, McAtee, Gallacher, McColl, McMenemy, Browning
Scorers: Gallacher, Browning

RANGERS:
Lock, Craig, Muir, Gordon, Pursell, Bowie, Duncan, Cunningham, Reid, Cairns, Paterson
Scorer: Paterson

Referee: A. Allan (Glasgow)
Attendance: 70,000

Articles

Glasgow Herald 11th October 1915

shug sludden

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Articles

The Glasgow Herald, Oct 11, 1915
A DISAPPOINTING FINAL

While the Celtic section of the 70,000 crowd must have felt pleased at the result of the City Cup final, it is questionable if unattached and presumably unbiased spectators derived much pleasure from the game. There can be no question as to how both game and result were viewed by the supporters of the defeated team. When thousands pass through the exit gates nearly half an hour before the finish it is plain that the game on which they have turned their backs has lost whatever attraction it may have at one time possessed. It was a dreary last half-hour to the impartial spectators who retained their places in the hope of witnessing and interesting finish; a period of travail and woe for the following of an eleven which could not put up the semblance of a fight. The reputation of the teams as keen Cup antagonists, their recent runs of unbroken successes, the atmospheric and ground conditions – all pointed to a splendidly contested game. Seldom do Celtic and Rangers fail to realise great expectations; never have the former so grievously disappointed as in their latest encounter. There was no excuse for defeat, no extenuating circumstances of unavailable or injured players, of goals unluckily lost and of others that ought to have been won.

CELTIC THE BETTER TEAM

Occasionally Cup finals are won by inferior teams, and by methods that commend themselves only to a partisan following. There was nothing of this at Hampden. The Celtic were the better all-round eleven, and their triumph was achieved by skilful methods, by a combination of individual and collective superiority. The winners were weak only at centre forward, then merely relatively weak, for if nervousness unmanned McColl to a certain extent he was still immeasurably superior to Reid. Bother clubs were badly served here, but the Parkhead wing forwards made light of a handicap that proved fatal to their opponents. There was nothing in the Rangers’ attack to approach McMenemy and Gallagher when it came to drawing in the defence or piercing it. The Celtic veteran did the manoeuvring, the younger players the thrusting, and all in a manner foreign to Cairns and Cunningham. Only at half-back and at goal were the teams evenly matched. In between occurred a hiatus in the Ibrox team that paved the way to defeat. In other words the losers were as weakly represented at full-back as at inside forward, and Muir and Craig will be asked to shoulder the blame for the defeat jointly with Cunningham, Reid and Cairns by those reluctant to give the winners the credit for victory, easily obtained, unsatisfactory only in that one goal did not represent the disparity between winners and losers.

The Scotsman, Monday 11th October 1915
GLASGOW CUP FINAL
Celtic 2………….Rangers 1………….

Rumour was prevalent in Glasgow that Dodds and McMenemy would be absent from the Celtic eleven in the Glasgow Cup final, but both these noted Internationalists duly appeared at Hampden Park. The Rangers decided to play Craig at back in preference to the young Irishman, Manderson. The game had an almost sensational opening, as Reid raced off at once and missed, as if by a miracle what seemed a sure goal. The Celts responded with spirit, and McColl practically repeated Reid’s exploit, also to miss the mark. Gallagher did better, holding the ball in seeming hesitancy, only to trick the defence at the right moment, and rush through and beat Lock, twelve minutes from the start. In ten minutes the Rangers got the equalising goal, the outcome of fine judgement and a good shot by Paterson. Celtic were cleverer for the rest of the half, and merited the leading goal, scored by Browning, half an hour from the start. The game decidedly deteriorated in the second half, the Rangers making little show of getting level, and the Celtic seeming to hold safe a narrow lead. Only Bowie, Gordon and Lock of the Rangers were comparable with their opponents, the Celtc as a team, giving an impression of superiority far beyond what the narrow margin of victory indicates. The attendance was fully 60,000 of whom it was computed quite 25,000 were soldiers and sailors, who were admitted free.