The day the Old Firm rioted — together — how the 1909 Scottish Cup final forever changed the game in Glasgow.
Celtic and Rangers hate each other, that’s a given, and there are times when that simmering hatred boils over into unsavoury scenes — such as the 1980 riot following the Scottish Cup final that everyone uses as the reason to never allow alcohol back into the Scottish game.
Indeed, while alcohol was banned following those awful scenes, a game seventy-one years earlier resulted in a largely forgotten but perhaps even more shameful scene when the actual trophy was withheld due to violence from both fans.
However, instead of fighting with one another like in 1980, the ire in 1909 was directed towards the powers that be in the Scottish game as they believed the matches between Celtic and Rangers for the oldest trophy in the Scottish game were being fixed to line the blazer’s pockets at the expense of the punters and as a result Hampden Park burned amidst a scene of unprecedented fury and vitriol.
What is important to remember is that football in 1909 is much different to how it was in 1980, never mind 2019.
While the game was radically different in how it was played, a time before even the use of substitutes, numbered shirts, dugouts and when the title of ‘manager’ was in it’s infancy, the dominance of Celtic and Rangers we’ve become accustomed to over time was really coming to the fore here.
By 1909, Celtic had just won their ninth Scottish title in just over thirty years of existence while the Parkhead side were in their seventh Scottish Cup final, having won each of their last six appearances in it in 1892, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1907 and 1908.
Rangers, meanwhile had the inaugural shared title of 1891 as well as further league triumphs in 1899, in which they won all 18 of their matches, a record likely to never be surpassed, as well as in 1900, 1901 and in 1902.
Unlike now where Rangers hold the sway over league titles, they were very much behind Celtic at this stage — and would remain so until the 1920’s and 30’s when Bill Struth was in charge. The 1909 final was Rangers ninth final but they had only left as champions on four occasions in 1894, 1897, 1898 and 1903.
The 1904 final was an important one not just for Celtic but also for Scottish football as Jimmy Quinn scored the first-ever Scottish Cup final hat-trick for Celtic as they came from 2–0 down to snatch the cup from Rangers, the reason for the significance of this final in particular? Because of a satirical image circulated in The Scottish Referee which depicted a dishevelled man smoking a pipe and holding a placard bearing the caption “Patronise the Old Firm” and from there, the clashes between the two sides had their nom de guerre.
Back to the 1909 tournament and Celtic’s run to the final began with a victory at Leith Atletic by four goals to two while Rangers won 3–0 at St. Johnstone.
The following round saw Celtic score four once again, this time at home to Port Glasgow Athletic while Rangers needed a replay at Ibrox to see off Dundee 1–0 following a goalless draw at Dens Park.
In the quarter finals Rangers edged out Queen’s Park at Ibrox by a goal to nil while Celtic defeated Airdrieonians 3–1.
And to cap off the routes for both sides to final, Rangers beat Falkirk on the day by a goal to nil while Celtic needed a replay against Clyde which was one by two goals to nil.
The stage was set for a showdown between two of Scotland’s most successful football teams, not the most successful as Queen’s Park were still widely renowned and the last of their ten Scottish Cup wins had come in 1893.
Celtic were bidding for an unprecedented third successive league and cup double while Rangers were looking to end their rival’s dominance and win the famous trophy for the first time since 1903 when they defeated Hearts after a replay, something that would be an omen for the events to unfold.
Onto the final itself and Celtic lined up with David Adams in goal, Alec McNair, James Weir, James Young, Joseph Dodds, James Hay, Daniel Munro, Jimmy McMenemy, Jimmy Quinn, Peter Somers and David Hamilton
Rangers manager William Wilton made two changes for the initial final from their previous match, a goalless draw against Hearts. That side was Henry Rennie in goal followed by George Law, Alec Craig, John May, James Stark, James Galt, Alex Bennett, Tom Gilchrist, R.G. Campbell, William McPherson and Alec Smith.
The first match, played on April 10th 1909, finished 2–2 — two goals in three minutes for Rangers through Gilchrist and then Bennett looked to be sealing the cup for Rangers after their scourge from the 1904 final, Jimmy Quinn, had struck to give Celtic the lead but an own goal at the death from Henry Rennie meant that a replay would be needed to crown the winners.
The replay was a disaster for Celtic who were in the midst of a run of fixtures to finish their league season in which they trailed Dundee.
The stage was set for Hampden once again on April 17th — both sides had league games on the 12th — there were no such things as breaks back in 1909. Celtic drew 1–1 with Third Lanark at Cathkin Park while Rangers also failed to win, drawing 2–2 with Clyde at Ibrox.
The seeds for what was to unfold were sown when Willie Maley requested, that in the event of a draw, extra time would be played as his side had a congested fixture list.
While Maley’s request was widely heard and supported publicly by Celtic fans but, crucially, the refusal by both the SFA and Rangers to it, was not.
At the time, the SFA rules permitted extra time to be played only in the event of a second replay being drawn.
And so began the spiral to the most shameful day in Scottish football’s history.
Once again, Jimmy Quinn found the net for Celtic against Rangers, equalising this time after Jimmy Gordon opened the scoring for Rangers in the twentieth minute.
The match ended in a draw, the crowd expected extra time, they were confused, why were the players walking off the pitch? What was going on? There were rumours afoot in the stands of a conspiracy. Not by one side over the other — but by Celtic and Rangers together.
The fans believed that they were being gipped, that the “Old Firm” as they were so-called were attempting, along with the SFA to line their pockets with the punter’s cash with a second replay.
Fans came onto the pitch, the Glasgow Herald’s correspondent noted that this was in curiosity and mischief rather than any violent intentions but it became violent when a young man, described as being “half-intoxicated” was knocked to the ground by a policeman after “performing a dance”.
In seeing what was unfolding, Tom Maley, brother of the Celtic manager Willie, seized the trophy and also the takings and ran into the grandstand, he was right to do so.
When the fans realised that no play was to follow, when the groundsman removed the corner flags, they charged the Hampden dressing rooms.
Bottles and stones flew like bullets as the disgruntled fans were repelled from reaching the players in the dressing rooms and turned their attention elsewhere and began to dismantle and burn the national stadium, barriers were set alight, the goalposts were broken apart and the police were unable to deter the rioters as the Hampden slopes made baton charges and mounted police attempts futile.
In addition to these futile attempts by mounted policeman, the mob surrounded those on horses and forcibly dismantled them before beating not just the officers but also the horses in a display of barbarian violence.
The entrances to Hampden Park on Somerville Drive were set alight by the baying mob, the national stadium was a ruin, fans were injured, police officers were injured as were firemen as they attempted to end the horrible scenes, the Ibrox disaster that had shocked Glasgow and Scotland as a whole had only happened seven years previous and journalists were quick to recall as such with the Scotsman mentioning Glasgow’s unfortunate history with football disasters, saying that it “Held the record”
The violence was such that the Scotsman in the same report calling Glasgow referred to it being a Second Langside, a reference to the battle between Regent Moray forces of William Kirkaldy of Grange, representing James Stewart, the 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland and Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyle representing the then recently-abdicated Mary Queen of Scots which occurred in 1568, the monument to which was erected in 1887 and very near to where the stadium is located.
Despite everything that went on, all of the destruction, the maiming, the injuries, the damage to reputations, only one man was ever arrested for the events.
The inquest came quickly, held on the Monday after the match concluded.
At which, both captains, James Hay of Celtic and James Stark of Rangers testified that there had been no instruction from the referee of any extra time to be played.
Both clubs were defiant, after the appalling scenes, compared by the Glasgow Herald to a different historic event, the 1848 Bread Riots.
However, there was to be no second replay.
A joint statement from Celtic and Rangers read: “Although it was mooted that during the week that extra time might be played in the event of a draw, it was found that competition rules prevented this. On account of the regrettable events of Saturday, both clubs agree to petition the association that the final tie be abandoned”.
The SFA did not immediately come to the decision of abandonment, a proposal floated that the final be played outside of Glasgow was rejected with both sides saying that they would scratch rather than play another match for the trophy.
But, eventually, the SFA relented and decided on withholding the trophy and medals for the 1909 Scottish Cup.
Remarkably, amidst all this, both clubs still had league seasons to finish. Rangers were affected badly and would go on to lose three successive matches, the first of which [0–1 at Hibs] came on April 19th, the day of the aforementioned inquest into the riot.
Celtic, who had been affected by a backlog of fixtures towards the end of the campaign, not helped by the final going to an initial replay, and now being denied the possibility of winning both of the major national honours for the third successive season, had to play nine matches in the 11 days from the final, they would go on to win seven of them and drew one, the only loss being to Hibs on the penultimate weekend, but a victory on the final day at Hamilton was enough to give Celtic the title by one point from a Dundee side who would go on to claim their first national trophy the following season when they won the Scottish Cup.
This final was another in which Rangers failed to win and was ultimately their longest run without victory in the tournament as they would not win the Scottish Cup until 1928, losing in the final in 1921 to Partick Thistle and in 1922 to Morton.
