We’ve won more than our few share of prestigious honours in our illustrious history, from twice nine in a row champions, a quadruple treble, and of course the European cup. Honours that are unsurpassed and will never be beaten in the Scottish game.
One such trophy that sits proudly in the trophy cabinet is the Coronation cup, which was won on this day in 1953.
A competition in honour of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. The competition was made up of eight sides, four from Scotland and four from England. All sides were deemed to be the best in their respective countries.
Celtic however were in something of dire straits at the time and finished in 8th place that campaign and failed to win any of the domestic cups.
In fact there was much controversy over the decision to include Celtic ahead of other sides who were doing much better at that time.
But Celtic were picked on the basis of being unofficial ‘British champions’ after winning the empire exhibition fifteen years earlier.
Unsurprisingly we were rank outsiders for the trophy, even some Celtic supporters were very vocal in their criticism of the side taking part during to our woeful form.
With sides such as newly crowned English champions Arsenal, plus brilliant Spurs, Newcastle and Man United sides and a fantastic Hibs side in the competition, Celtic’s chances of winning were very slim indeed.
There was also the fact that our bitter rivals Rangers were determined to win the trophy, with their players reported to be on massive bonuses to lift the trophy in honour of their beloved Lizzie.
But against all odds Jimmy McGrory’s men swept aside English giants Arsenal and Manchester United before beating Hibs in the final at Ibrox in front of a sea of green and white.
Rangers exited at the first hurdle losing to Manchester United. They must have been seething as the hoops paraded the trophy that was in honour of their beloved Queen.
A bhoys blog 