E reigned supreme in 2017
Championship table with 13 games left to play. With a further four points separating them from eighth-placed Raith Rovers, it seemed the best the Buddies could hope for was a place in the play-offs. It was such a shocking reality for a full-time club that had recently been plying its trade in the top flight.
Instead, they won seven and lost only three of their remaining fixtures, not only jumping over both Ayr United and Raith Rovers but also Dumbarton as well, finishing the campaign in seventh position. Survival was sealed with a final-day draw away to champions Hibs. Celtic’s unbeaten run was terrific. Never in the history of Scottish football had we seen anything like it, and as Brendan Rodgers says, we’ll probably never see anything like it again.
However, it had reached the point where the “Invincibles” tag was beginning to reflect badly on the rest of Scottish football, especially as most Celtic fans would agree that the team weren’t playing particularly well in 2017/18.
Some were convinced that Motherwell would end the run in one of the three successive games they faced the champions, others thought it destiny that Neil Lennon would be the one to halt the streak. Very few would have predicted Craig Levein’s Hearts.
The reason this makes it on to this list, and definitely why it places so high, is the nature of the victory. This Another year and another series of disappointing results in European football for our sides on the whole. However, at least Celtic were able to make it to the Champions League group stages for the second successive season, and while four of the six performances were rather disappointing, they did manage to record a terrific away victory in Brussels.
It’s easy to forget now, given recent results for the Parkhead side in Europe (and the league), but Celtic truly were awesome that night. They controlled the tempo of the game from the beginning and managed to cut through their hosts with some excellent passing.
Leigh Griffiths, Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair all got in on the act, and the one-sided margin of victory helped the side book their place in the Europa League knockout stages. Having three play-off spots in a ten-team league always throws up the possibility that something strange could happen, but even still, Brechin took it to new heights in 2017 as they made history with their ascension to the Championship.
No team had ever achieved promotion having lost more games than they’d won with a negative goal difference, and yet that’s what Darren Dods’ side somehow managed after they survived two penalty shoot-outs to dispose of both Raith Rovers and Alloa Athletic to reach the second tier.
What makes the achievement even more incredible is the fact that Brechin looked set to drop into League Two just 15 months prior. Marooned at the bottom of the third tier, they then managed to win eight of their final ten games to secure survival.
Sadly, with only three points from a possible 48 so far in the Championship, it’s unlikely that they’ll manage to repeat the feat this time around.