The members of Celtic's ten in a row halting 1998 squad paid a fitting tribute to the memory of Phil O'Donnell in his tribute match this afternoon versus Phil's Motherwell teamates who triumphed in the 1991 Scottish Cup Final.
60,000 fans enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in which goals from Harald Brattbakk, Darren Jackson, Morten Wieghorst and the King of Kings saw the slightly younger Celtic squad prevail against their more senior counterparts.
It was a great day out, with many families enjoying the great weather and the chance to see great players such as Larsson, Lambert, Reiper stroll through the match whilst cult heroes such as Rico Annoni and Tommy Johnson acted up to the crowd with their hilarious clown antics.
The football, although played at a lesser pace than we were used to at Celtic Park was entertaining and it was worth the admission money to see the mercurial midfield talent of Paul Lambert and the world class ability of Henrik Larsson. The King of Kings topped a fine afternoons work with a classic overhead kick finish reminiscent of his first goal in the 2001 CIS Cup final. The fact that he managed this despite taking a nasty knock on the head in the early exchanges of the match made it all the more impressive.
A massive banner was unveiled at half time depicting Phil O Donnell and Tommy Burns that was applauded by all before if made the long and arduous trip from the Celtic end of the Upper stand all the way round to the Ranger's end.
Motherwell managed a goal in the second half through Phil O'Donnell's nephew David Clarkson, who was wearing his uncle's jersey with the number 10.
At the end of the match the old boys hobbled round the stadium in a lap of honour before the capacity crowd were treated to a display of the SPL trophy and Captain Stephen McManus spoke of the joy tinged with sadness of winning the Trophy but losing Tommy and Phil.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt