Celtic on this Day – Rampant Celtic score seven in European Cup tie

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The Celtic Star

·21 de octubre de 2024

Celtic on this Day – Rampant Celtic score seven in European Cup tie

On This Day 54 years ago, Celtic defeated Waterford 7-0 at Landsdowne Road in the European Cup 2nd round 1st leg…

Captains shake hands ahead of kick-off

Celtic, who had been beaten in the European Cup final five months previous in Milan were looking to replicate a similar run in the 1970/1971 campaign.

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Stein’s side had kicked off their European Cup adventure of that season with a 14-0 aggregate win over Finish minnows KPV Kokkolan Palloveikot in the 1st round. Celtic’s 9-0 victory in Glasgow’s East End versus the Finish champions remains the Hoops record score in European football.

Another kind draw awaited this formidable Celtic team who had started their league and cup campaigns in fine form. Sitting at the foot of the table coupled with reaching the Scottish League Cup final following a crazy 4-3 win over Dumbarton in the semi-final meant the Celts headed into their clash with Waterford when confidence was extremely high.

Rampant Celtic on the attack

The game itself was moved from Waterford’s traditional Kilochan Park to Landsdowne Road in Dublin to allow for a bigger crowd. Hoops supporters sold out their 10,000 ticket allocation as fans from all over Ireland and Scotland made the journey to see the famous green and white hoops.

As a result, 50,000 spectators flooded the gates for the 16:00 kick off which was due to Landsdowne Road having no floodlights, Waterford were estimated to earn over £25,000 from the game.

It was Shay Brennan, one of Manchester United’s greatest ever defenders, who was in the Waterford dugout that night.

For Celtic, Jimmy Johnstone, John Hughes, Jim Brogan and Tommy Gemmell were all absent from the travelling pack of 18.

Press cutting

The game itself was a masterclass in efficiency from Stein’s men. Willie Wallace, who scored a hat-trick on the night netted within 18 seconds of kick off. Celtic were 4 up at half-time.

At the break, Danish referee Kaj Rasmussen had to delay the restart of the second half until fighting which broke out amongst the Celtic supporters came to a halt. There were media reports circulating that Northern Ireland fans became embroiled with brawls amongst local supporters from Dublin. Bottles and cans had to be cleared from the pitch. The seriousness of the situation was amplified when the referee made an announcement over the tannoy threatening to postpone the match if the violence did not stop. Despite the trouble, the Garda cleared the pitch and no arrests were made.

Rampant Celtic

Irish outlet RTE revealed in future years when reflecting on that match that, “one of the Celtic fans brandished a flagpole and used it as a weapon. The crowd scattered in panic, with some football fans taking refuge on the pitch.”

Alongside Wallace taking the match ball home, Bobby Murdoch and Lou Macari secured a double each, sealing a comfortable afternoon in the Irish capital.

The return leg was a formality, but in fairness to Waterford it was slightly more respectable as Celtic came out narrow 3-2 winners. Stein’s men would have to wait five months to play their quarter-final tie against Ajax, who would go onto win the European Cup in 1971.