On This Day – March

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

March

1st 1964: Celtic Pools begins; over the years it was poorly managed by the clubs and so raised a fraction of what it potentially could have.

1977: Former Rangers winger Alfie Conn is signed for £65,000 from Tottenham.

2nd 1940: Billy McNeill born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

1994: Celtic 1-0 Kilmarnock; A fox somehow upstages players by running onto the pitch!

3rd 1962: Bobby Lennox makes his Celtic debut in a 2-1 home league win over Dundee.
4th 1951: Kenny Dalglish born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow.

1994: Celtic Takeover finally complete; Fergus McCann & Dempsey lead the Rebels to defeat the Biscuit Tin board

5th 1980: Celtic beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the European Cup quarter-final first leg at Celtic Park.

2011: Celtic unveiled a statue for the legendary Jock Stein in a fitting ceremony. 

6th 1956: Willie Loney (akaThe Obliterator) the Celtic centre half in the six-in-a-row team of 1905-1910 died at the age of 76.

1968: Davie Hay comes on as sub to make his Celtic debut in a 4-1 league defeat of Aberdeen at Parkhead.

7th 1964: Following the Hoops European Cup Winners Cup victory over Slovan Bratislava the Bhoys are applauded onto the pitch by the Rangers team at Ibrox prior to a Fourth Round Scottish Cup tie. The hosts show lest respect on the pitch though and win 2-0.
8th 1967:Celtic pull back a 1-0 deficit to beat Vojvodina 2-0 at Celtic Park to go through to the Semi-Final of The European Cup. Stevie Chalmers equalised on the hour mark and in the final minute Billy McNeill rose to head a Charlie Gallacher corner into the net just the same as the two of them had combined to do so in the Scottish Cup Final of 1965.
9th 1965:One of the most important days in Celtic’s history when Jock Stein officially took over as Celtic Manager from Jimmy McGrory.24 hours later Celtic were beating Airdrie 6-0.
10th 1965: Celtic cruise to a 6-0 league win at Airdrie in Jock Stein’s first game as Bhoys manager.Seven future Lisbons Lions in the team line-up – Gemmell, Clark, McNeill, Chalmers, Murdoch, Lennox, Auld. Bertie Auld scored 5 goals.

1973: Chris Sutton the Hunskelper born in Nottingham.

11th 1959: A Celtic/Rangers Select side play Caledonian FC at Telford Park, Inverness to mark the opening of the stadium’s new floodlights. As SFA regulations meant players could only turn out for one registered club Celtic’s Jim Kennedy, Charlie Tully, Pat Crerand, Jim Conway and Andrew Beattie had to ‘sign’ for Rangers for one day to play in the game
12th 1980: Frank McGarvey makes his Celtic debut 24 hours after his £250,000 Scottish transfer record move from Liverpool. The game finished Celtic 2-2 St Mirren.

1983: Celtic defeat Hearts 4-1 in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Parkhead.

13th 2006: Celtic great & Lisbon Lion Jimmy Johnstone passes away, RIP.

2020: Covid: Football suspended in Scotland.

14th 1964: Doubles from Bobby Murdoch and Steve Chalmers help the Bhoys defeat Hibernian 5-0 in a league match at Celtic Park. Three of the goals come in the last five minutes.
15th 1976: Celtic sign winger Johnny Doyle from Ayr United for a fee of £90,000

2018: OBFA Act: Scottish law banning ‘offensive behaviour’ at football matches repealed

16th 1891: Patsy Gallacher born in Ramelton, County Donegal.1969: Clyde forward Harry Hood signs for Celtic in a £40,000 deal.

1996: Celtic youth player Lawrence Haggart brutally murdered after a vicious brutal attack (to be clear this was not football related). RIP

2013: Green Brigade & other Celtic fans on a peaceful march are kettled by police in an over the top action which is much criticised.

17th 1979: Pat Bonner makes his Celtic debut in a 2-1 home victory over Motherwell.

1991: ‘St.Patrick’s day massacre Celtic 2-0 Rangers, Scottish Cup

2004: Henrik Larsson equalled Bobby Lennox‘s 167 league goals

18th 2001: Henrik Larsson hits a hat-trick as Celtic defeat Kilmarnock 3-0 to lift the League Cup.
19th 1980: Lee Naylor born, Walsall, England

2006: Celtic defeat Dunfermline 3-0 in the final of the CIS Cup at Hampden. The entire team wear the number 7 on their shorts in memory of Jimmy Johnstone who had passed away days earlier.

20th 1988: Paul McStay and Andy Walker score for the Bhoys as Celtic defeat Rangers 2-1 at Ibrox and take a significant step towards the league title.
21st 2004: Henrik Larsson hit two goals, in a 4-0 win at Easter Road, to become Celtic’s all-time third top scorer.
22nd 1986: An amazing league clash at Ibrox sees the 10 men of Celtic battle to a 4-4 draw with Rangers and claim what would prove to be a crucial point.
23rd 1938: Bertie Auld born in Maryhill, Glasgow.
24th 1979: The Rangers – Celtic clash at Hampden is controversially postponed. The game was moved due to Ibrox reconstruction and manager Billy McNeill felt the pitch was playable and not enough had been done to clear the uncovered terraces.

2010: A pathetic Celtic crash 4-0 at St.Mirren in the SPL. The shameful display outrages the support and heaps pressure on manager Tony Mowbray.

25th 1972: Phil O’Donnell born in Bellshill.

2004: Celtic draw with Barca away to win on aggregate 1-0 over two legs in UEFA Cup, for some the high point of the Martin O’Neill years.

2010: Following a humiliating 4-0 league defeat at St Mirren the previous evening Tony Mowbray is sacked as Celtic manager. Neil Lennon is placed in interim charge.

26th 1975: John Hartson born in Wales

1981: Massimo Donati born, Sedegliano, Italy.

1982: Andreas Hinkel born, Backnang, Germany

27th 1950: Sean Fallon signs for Celtic from Glenavon for £5,000.1963: Jimmy Johnstone makes his competitive debut in a 6-0 league defeat at Kilmarnock.John Cushley also made his First Team debut.Of the team that lost 6-0 Jimmy Johnstone and Stevie Chalmers were the only players who went on to become Lisbon Lions.
28th 1929: A fire destroys the pavillion at Celtic Park. Many of the club’s original records are lost in the blaze.
29th 1978: Roddie MacDonald scores Celtic’s 6000th league goal in a 4-0 win at Partick Thistle.

1980: Georgie Best plays for Hibs at Parkhead for the one and only time. Celtic won 4-0.

30th 1991: The Bhoys slump to a 2-1 league defeat at home to Motherwell
31st 2007: Shunsuke Nakamura scores a trademark free-kick as league leaders Celtic are held to a 1-1 draw at Dundee United after the hosts grab last gasp equaliser.