SWEET RELIEF

Van Hooijdonk recalls day when emotional Celtic shed tears of joy

WHILE claiming the last seven major trophies in Scotland, the only danger of damp faces for Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering Celtic players and their supporters will have come from the spraying of celebratory champagne.

Almost a quarter of a century ago, by contrast, the club’s fans were more likely to be shedding tears of anguish than joy as their team toiled in the shadow of a Rangers side in the middle of their nine-in-arow pomp.

Indeed, the scenes of triumph which are now a regular occurrence at Parkhead were alien to those who made their way nervously to Hampden for the Scottish Cup final against Airdrie in 1995.

Pierre van Hooijdonk, who emerged as the matchwinner that day with the only goal in a famous 1-0 victory, still remembers the wave of raw emotion that greeted the end of six long years without a trophy.

For club stalwarts like Peter Grant and Paul McStay, the tears began to tumble at the final whistle while boss Tommy Burns roared towards the heavens, releasing years of pent-up frustration.

‘There was a lot of pressure on that Scottish Cup final,’ recalled van Hooijdonk yesterday. ‘You only have to see the reaction after the game with players crying.

‘You don’t ever see a Celtic player in tears when they win a cup now. It’s now normal to get a trophy.

‘In fact, I don’t think players have ever cried after winning a cup for Celtic — apart from that day.

‘That says it all about how big a moment it was for the club.

‘The team had just lost the League Cup final to Raith Rovers.

‘That was before I arrived but we were now facing another First Division team in a final.

‘It was the same situation — everybody expected Celtic to win.

‘But there was a lot of pressure. Not so much on me, because I’d only been there for four months, but on the manager and other players.

‘Celtic had won a lot of trophies up until 1989 but then it stopped all of a sudden.

‘Guys like McStay and Grant had been there during those six years when there was nothing. That created the feeling and atmosphere after that final whistle.

‘The Celtic through-andthrough guys were very emotional.

‘I can’t remember seeing Tommy Burns after the game but when I look back at the photos, you can see his emotion.

‘He’s hugging Peter and Paul and it’s like he is saying: “F ****** finally!”.

‘That was my first final and I was just so happy to win — and that nobody scored to make it 2-0.’

Fast forward to 2019 and the roles are now well and truly reversed in Glasgow.

Celtic are dreaming of ten titles in a row while Rangers haven’t had a major piece of silverware to cherish since their League Cup win in 2011.

However, with the teams level on points at the turn of the year, Celtic now have the added pressure of their city rivals snapping at their heels once more.

But van Hooijdonk believes the Ibrox side will also be feeling the strain of being expected to mount a title challenge again.

‘They haven’t won a (major) trophy for eight years and you’ll see the same reaction when they do it as we had in 1995,’ he said.

‘There will be players, staff and club officials at Ibrox who were there in the good times and want to experience that again.

‘But when you are really close, there is more pressure.

‘When I first arrived at Celtic, Rangers had almost won the league already. You could feel our team would never be able to stop Rangers. There was still pressure but it wasn’t realistic that we would win the league.

‘But the year after, it was realistic and pressure grows when you are closer and you lose even one game.

‘This is the first time (in recent years) that Rangers have been level on points at this stage of the season and fans will start to demand the title.

‘The Rangers players must deal with the pressure of being realistic challengers. Some players live with that but others go into their shell.’

Van Hooijdonk admits to being taken aback by the impressive performance of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers side in their 1-0 Old Firm win at Ibrox on December 29. He hopes it serves as a wake-up call to his former club and that Gerrard falls short in his bid to win the title.

‘I must give Steven Gerrard credit because there’s been a big gap in Old Firm games in recent years,’ said the Dutchman.

‘I was surprised that Rangers were all over Celtic until the last 15 minutes. And even then they were not really in trouble. I was impressed with their performance.

‘Rangers will now have the belief they can do it this year — but at least Celtic’s eyes have been opened.

‘Gerrard was involved in that slipup against Chelsea when Liverpool were going for the title under Brendan Rodgers a few years ago.

‘Now he’s getting close with Rangers. But I hope it ends up as it did for him at Liverpool by missing out.’

lPremier Sports will screen live and exclusive coverage of Cowdenbeath v Rangers (Fri, Jan 18) and Celtic v Airdrieonians (Sat, Jan 19) in the Scottish Cup. Available on Sky, Virgin Media and via the Premier Player, new subscribers can get their first month free. Visit www. premiersports.com for details.