The young team generation of Celtic fans may not believe this but there was a time when Rangers were once challenging us for the title and on their day, were a match for most teams in Europe.
Many early teenage fans of Celtic will be spoiled nowadays, with at least one trophy a season and nine times out of ten enjoying seeing us skoosh opponents while playing in first gear , but it didn’t always used to be this easy.
At the risk of sounding like I’ve already fought in two world wars, I’m only 31, but I don’t think we will see a return of that 2002-2003 season for a long time. Maybe, ever again. In a way, that’s a sad indictment of how Scottish fitba has went in the last ten years or so but it also makes me feel very fortunate to have been living in an era that spawned the Seville season.
Now, without being misty eyed and revisionist, I hate all that defeatist patter. I cannot fucking abide glorious failure and I would rather be an ugly winner than a loser with glitter sparkles. That said, the exception was the 02/03 campaign and despite ending the season with nothing – we made up for it the following year, and it made us stronger as a team, as fans we were united as one and what’s more, there was a true belief again that Celtic were truly back from the dead of the horrible 90’s and there to make a mark in European football again.
One of the games that was a tremendous advert for that season in Scottish fitba was this very game, that took place on this day fourteen years ago.
Let’s get the most mental fact out the way first – it was scorching hot. In October. I remember wearing that yellow NTL top we had at my seat, short sleeves and all that. It felt like I was still in Mallorca! I had only just been back a couple of days earlier and after hearing a lot of my family members shagging the majority of the nights away, I was only too happy to swap that for some bile in the stadium.
Unlike today, these games used to be shown on BBC1 or BBC2, the council telly channels hosted the Glasgow showpiece event, and the panel that day were tipping Rangers as favourites, even as the visitors. They had been on some winning streak of six games right enough, and hadn’t conceded either. Meanwhile, we had been dumped out of the CL by Basle, Motherwell beat us at Fir Park after that and amazingly Henrik Larsson was being slated for being out of form, even though a couple of weeks earlier he had scored a glorious goal in a 1-0 win at Dens Park. Celtic were apparently not scoring enough, while Rangers were scoring for fun – but that suited us fine.
Celtic line up to start : Rab Douglas, Momo Sylla, Joos Valgaeren, Ulrik Laursen, Bobo Balde, Paul Lambert, Alan Thompson, Neil Lennon, Stillian Petrov, Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson. A team capable of bullying anyone without even getting out of the dressing room.
59,027 fans would be lucky to witness the spectacle that lay ahead. There was everything, except a red card! We had bookings, tunnel rammys, sublime skill, horror challenges, goalkeeping nightmares, showmanship, and one truly stunning goal.
Rangers took the lead when Arteta’s passback was horrendously allowed to go under Douglas, who would go onto have a nightmare of a day. The equaliser came through Henrik Larsson, who collected a Sylla cross, held off Craig Moore and in one movement rattled a left foot volley past Stefan Klos. It was even more amazing considering he was off form as well, because Keith Jackson and Dougie Donnelly said so of course. Larsson would go on to score again after half time when he glanced a header in from a Petrov corner. We went mental, the Celtic fans jumped all over the stands like we were recreating some Scooter video only to be silenced in rather humiliating fashion (halfway through a ‘Can you hear the Rangers sing’ chant) when Momo Sylla slipped like an eejit and let Neil ‘Darren’ McCann get a cross in, which Douglas came for, then stopped midway through and Ronald De Boer said TYB for the gift wrapped present to make it two each. A hat trick of gaffes from our goalie was complete when he spilled a tame Numan shot, which Arveladze tapped in. It looked all over but Celtic rescued a point through Chris Sutton and his banana feet, poking the ball past Klos from 6 yards out.
We all know what went onto happen that season, but regardless, this game truly was one of the last Glasgow derby classics, up until the revitalised hatred of 2010-2011 when it produced some crackers!
