1955-01-01: Rangers 4-1 Celtic, League Division A

Match Pictures | Matches: 19541955 | 1954-55 pictures

Trivia

  • An unchanged team for Celtic. It was hoped that John Higgins would be fit for the game following the removal of the plater from his foot (broken toe). For Rangers, Bobby Brown their usual goalkeeper was out as was Willie Paton and Ian McColl.
  • An undersized crowd. This had been expected to be back to the 80,000 mark but never looked like being up to that level. There was no unrest at the game and no reported arrests.

Review

Rangers collectively outshone Celtic in team work and in Hubbard they had the man of the match. It was not a good day for Celtic. There was disagreeement over the penalty but referee Faultless had no doubt.
Both sides began the game nervously with the ball going astray regularly. In the 9th minute Stein sliced a clearance straight to Greirson who promptly fed Simpson to score. This clearly unsettled the centre half who had a mare of a game. Celtic had the majority of the play in the first half with Evans a stand out but they failed to capitalise until the 32nd minute when Walsh was brought down and Fernie curled the free kick up and over the wall and into the net. The first half was a far from engaging game but the second started at a cracking pace and continued with Hubbard and Simpson virtually unplayable by the Celtic defense. On 72 minutes Hubbard jinked past Haughney, Stein and Bell before walking the ball into the net. His second came after Simpson had beaten Stein and set up Hubbard with an accurate pass. Just before the end he scored from a penalty after Grierson had been bought down in the box.

Teams

Rangers:
Niven; Little, Cox; Pryde, Young, Rae; McCulloch, Prentice, Simpson, Greirson, Hubbard.
Scorers: Simpson (9), Hubbard 3 (72, 80, pen 89)

Celtic:
Bell; Haughney, Meechan; Evans, Stein, Peacock; Boden, Tully, Walsh, Fernie, Collins.
Scorers: Fernie (32)

Referee: C E Faultless (Glasgow)
Attendance: 65,000

Articles

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

Pictures

Articles

Glasgow Herald 3/1/55
Rangers v Celtic, League, 1955, Glasgow Herald 3/1/1955