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THIS DAY IN CELTIC HISTORY – APRIL 25TH
1868 At Newry Barracks in Ireland, Mary Maley, wife of Sergeant Thomas Maley of the Royal North British Fusileers, gives birth to a boy. He will be called William.
1908 Willie Maley celebrates his 40th birthday by seeing his team secure the Scottish League for the fourth year in a row by beating Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox. In spite of the deliberate crocking of Jimmy Quinn and severe treatment dished out to Davie Hamilton, Jimmy McMenemy and Jimmy Hay, Rangers have no answer to Alec Bennett who tears past the left back to score the only goal of the game. "Rarely have I seen the Celtic so swift of foot" says the Glasgow Herald. A week previously, Celtic had won the Scottish Cup and having already won the Glasgow Cup, all that remains for a clean sweep is the Glasgow Charity Cup.
1910 Maley celebrates his 42nd birthday by seeing his team secure the Scottish League for the sixth year in a row. This is a Monday afternoon fixture against Hibs, drawn 0-0 in a poor game at Parkhead in front of a paltry crowd of about 3,000. The winning of the League has been a foregone conclusion for some time, and there is an air of anti-climax, but six League Championships in a row is a mighty achievement.
1936 Maley celebrates his 68th birthday by seeing his team secure the Scottish League for the 18th time and the first time for 10 years as Celtic win 3-1 against Partick Thistle at Firhill. 50-goal Jimmy McGrory is out injured, but his deputy Willie Fagan scores twice and Willie Lyon scores the other goal with a penalty. The rejoicing is long and intense, for this is a fine Celtic team.
1981 Champions Celtic are presented with the Scottish League Championship trophy before their game with Kilmarnock at Parkhead this cold, unseasonal, snowy Saturday more like January than April. The 23,200 crowd are disappointed also as the game finishes in a 1-1 draw, after Davie Provan had given Celtic the lead.
1998 Celtic disappoint their fans and lose ground at the top of the SPL by only drawing 0-0 with Hibs at Parkhead in a feckless performance. One or two penalty claims look reasonable, but in truth this is a bad day for the 49,398 fans whose mood is not helped by the news that Rangers have beaten Hearts 3-0. Hearts have now "blown up", and the Championship race is a two horse one. Two games remain, and Celtic still have a one point advantage.
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