Celtic have made trophy day a regular occurrence at Parkhead and got their hands on the Scottish Premiership title yesterday for the 12th time in 13 seasons.
Before the club cast their eye towards the Scottish Cup final, there is time to reflect on what became another momentous occasion at Parkhead.
On a stunning day in Glasgow’s east end, Celtic fans gathered in their thousands to celebrate yet another league triumph, which feels all the sweeter amid some of the difficulties Brendan Rodgers has needed to navigate this term.
Before kick-off, fan group BHOYS put on a brilliant display that read ‘The Glasgow Team That Reigns Supreme’ as their side continue to dominate the landscape of Scottish football, hopefully for many more years to come.
Of course, there was a game to play in amongst the joyous scenes, and St Mirren were an impressive force, taking the lead twice through Mark O’Hara, who cancelled out Matt O’Riley’s drilled strike before Kyogo Furuhashi levelled the scoring on 37 minutes.
Luis Palma’s late winner four minutes from time took Celtic up to 93 points for the Scottish Premiership season, capping a successful first year for Rodgers back north of the border, though there was far more at play yesterday than just another three points on the board.
Joe Hart, Celtic lifting the title and Santa’s hilarious appearance
Joe Hart’s fairytale ending at Celtic has been perfectly scripted. He’s gone from a man who openly admitted in his epic 17-minute interview with official club media earlier this week that, at one point, he didn’t feel like he had a home in football to winning six trophies in three years at Parkhead.
The former England international has the potential to win a seventh in the Scottish Cup final; regardless, on his final day at Parkhead, the Green Brigade laid on a stunning display in homage to the 37-year-old’s impact as he has become an iconic figure who is treasured by Hoops supporters.
It was hard not to get swept up in the emotion of his Parkhead goodbye as the home crowd erupted when Rodgers substituted the veteran stopper on 88 minutes, which yielded probably the loudest reaction of the season from fans one and all.
Fittingly, Hart and Callum McGregor lifted the trophy together following speeches from the duo and the manager, with Santa Claus making a surprise appearance to deliver Scottish football’s greatest prize. Kudos to whoever organised that internally; he certainly got his deserved reaction!
Despite some difficult moments this term, there was a brilliant atmosphere in the air yesterday after overcoming those adversities that continued long into the evening across Glasgow once fans made their way to the city centre and surrounding areas.
Brendan Rodgers in fine form once the celebrations were over
Post-match, James Forrest and Greg Taylor gave up some of their time to speak to myself and other fan media outlets, answering various questions. Brendan Rodgers also voluntarily gave his time up to do so despite having no obligation to.
Noticing we were standing pitchside, the Irishman made his way over and was happy to chat away with the group despite having a busy interview schedule throughout the day.
Referencing his famous promise to see the Celtic fans in May statement with the title won, Rodgers replied, when asked what his message for next season is by James Forrest of the Celtic Blog: “The message is: we’ll now see the real Celtic.”
The manager was in fine form yesterday alongside Taylor and Forrest. What a fantastic day it was for everyone involved with the club.