| The Soul of Celtic | About Celtic | Games | Players | Managers | The Board |
(by TheHumanTorpedo)
The talent was there. Bobby Evans, Charlie Tully, Bertie Peacock, Bobby Collins, Willie Fernie, Neil Mochan and others meant that Celtic were never short of quality players or colourful characters. But the neglect of the war years was still taking its toll. Celtic were playing catch up and disorganisation and boardroom interference meant potential was frequently unfulfilled.
Rangers were much more consistent performers and were now well established as Scotland’s leading club. Strong, physical, organised and resilient they were ruthlessly effective rather than exciting. The polar opposite of the Celts in every sense. In clashes with their rivals Celtic would frequently enjoy the bulk of chances but would eventually be out fought and ground down by the more robust Rangers. The Ibrox club also seemed to enjoy more than their fair share of luck in these encounters. At times the Celtic support could be forgiven for wondering if the seemingly invincible Huns would ever be broken.
But on occasion Celtic would tease their support with a scintillating victory and a performance which would have the fans asking why they couldn’t produce such results week in and week out. One such occasion came at Ibrox on September 21st 1957 when the Bhoys defeated the Scottish champions 3-2. It was the Hoops first league victory over Rangers since September 1954 and their first at Ibrox since before the war.
It was against this background then that the two teams would walk on to a Hampden pitch blessed in autumn sunshine on October 19 1957 to compete in the final of the Scottish League Cup. Celtic had won the trophy for the first time the previous season as they claimed their first silverware since the Scottish Cup win of 1954.
Despite that recent win at Ibrox outside the ever faithful Celtic following few gave the Bhoys any hope of retaining the trophy. Celtic were about to prove the doubters wrong in the most emphatic of fashions.
Right from the first whistle the Celts charged forward. In the opening minutes they hit the woodwork twice. But the minutes ticked past and with 20 minutes gone the breakthrough had yet to come. However, unlike past encounters the Hoops were not to be frustrated this time. On 23 minutes Sammy Wilson fired home a first time shot after good work by Tully. With their noses in front the Bhoys stepped up the pressure against an increasingly desperate Rangers defence.
With half-time just a minute away Neil Mochan charged down the left flank After racing past Rangers’ full back Shearer, Mochan, from a tight angle, hammered a thunderous shot which rocketed into the Rangers net. Celtic were tearing their rivals apart.
Half-time offered a brief respite for the Huns but from the restart they were immediately pushed back again. On 53 minutes a delightful cross from Collins was glanced into the net by the head of Billy McPhail. The slopes of Hampden were now shaking with the noisy delirium of the Celtic support.
A Simpson header on 58 minutes pulled a goal back for Rangers but in truth such was the Hoops dominance it offered little hope of a comeback. Indeed if anything the goal appeared to only encourage Celtic to really turn on the style. Rangers tried desperately to re-organised and switched players in the hope of steming the tide. It was a tactic which failed miserably as Fernie, Mochan and Wilson were rampant.
Goal number four came on 68 minutes when McPhail followed up his parried volley to slot home from close range. Sensing a massacre the Celtic support were not now about to settle for a mere four goals. They roared their team forward, urging them to attack and attack. The Rangers fans were flooding for the exits. With 75 minutes on the clock Mochan netted his second goal of the game after a cross from Wilson and just five minutes later McPhail showed delightful skill as he flicked a long through ball over Rangers defender Valentine before coolly slipping the ball past the sorry figure of Niven.
While the joy of six had the Celtic fans in the throes of ecstasy the Rangers support were finding matters a little less fulfilling. Violence erupted among those Rangers fans still in the ground and they began to fight among themselves. The trouble briefly spilled on to the pitch but the police moved quickly to push the would-be rioters back. There was however nothing that could be done from stopping Celtic running riot on the pitch.
In the final minute McPhail was brought down in the box. Willie Fernie took the kick and made it seven. 7-1. It was the most astonishing annihilation. A brief but beautiful and unforgettable chapter in Celtic history had just been written.
Rather than signal a Celtic rebirth the final would prove to be the last hoorah for the talents of the 50s. But what a leaving present they left. The Huns humbled and humiliated in front of 80,000 supporters in a national cup final. The ultimate victory for the flair and attack of Celtic against the dour organisation and defence of their rivals. The result remains the most emphatic victory in a major British cup final. Unforgettable. ‘7-1’ – a scoreline to send shivers of joy down your spine.