Hampden is burning
Season
1908-09 was a good one for Willie Maley’s Celtic as they battled with a very
useful Dundee side for the championship and secured it on the last day of the
league season at Hamilton. It was their fifth straight title and no one it
seemed could break the stranglehold this fine side had on the Scottish league.
The Scottish cup offered another chance though for Celtic’s rivals to knock
them off their perch and some were determined to stop Maley’s side completing a
memorable double. The Hoops battled past teams long consigned to the history
books as far as senior Scottish football is concerned to reach the final at
Hampden. Leith Athletic were beaten 4-2 in Edinburgh before Port Glasgow
Athletic were soundly defeated at Celtic Park. Airdrie were despatched in the
Quarter Finals before Celtic beat a stubborn Clyde side in the semi-final. They
were through to the final and the possibility of a glorious double. Waiting for
them in the final were Glasgow rivals Rangers.
Relations
between Celtic and Rangers supporters in that era were reasonably cordial although
the press spoke of ‘bad blood’ between fans after a particularly vicious brawl
at a match between the clubs in 1896. One Newspaper described the fans involved
as, ‘The scum of the city, drunken and
brutal in their behaviour and language.’ Further trouble occurred in 1905
when Jimmy Quinn of Celtic was sent off for allegedly kicking Rangers’ defender
Albert Craig. Celtic fans invaded the field and the Referee was assaulted,
according to reports of the time, with an iron paling. There was a rivalry
between the clubs but that visceral edge was to heighten considerably in the
years ahead.
Rangers
had yet to adopt their sectarian signing policy in full. That was to change
when Sir John Ure Primrose, Mason, Orangeman and unionist Politician, became
Chairman and saw not only the political but financial benefits of a Rangers becoming
exclusively Protestant in nature. He dedicated Rangers to the ‘Masonic cause’ in 1912 and at the height
of the Irish home rule crisis of the era could be found sharing a platform with
Sir Edward Carson. The Irish Barrister leading the anti-home rule faction in
Ireland. According to books such as ‘Floodlights and Touchline; A history of
Spectator Sport’ he was also spouting the sort of anti-Catholic invective which
might appeal to those of limited intellect.
However,
that was all in the future as Celtic lined up to face Rangers in the Scottish
cup final in April 1909. The crowd of around 70,000 was the highest yet seen
for the Cup Final and they saw an entertaining game in which Celtic, led by
their talismanic striker Jimmy Quinn, battled back from 2 goals down to secure
a draw amid great cheering. The replay again had old Hampden busting at the
scenes and after a bruising encounter, in which Quinn had again scored, the
teams stood at 1-1. Some of the players left the field while others lingered as
if expecting extra-time to be played before they too headed for the changing
room. Some of the crowd began to jeer and whistle feeling that the draw had
been contrived to get more money out of them in a second replay. The mood
turned ugly and press reports of the time testify to the ferocity of the
violence which then erupted. One newspaper reported…
‘Keen
dissatisfaction prevailed among the crowd, and protests were heard on many
hands, culminating in threats and an outbreak of disorder among the more rowdy
elements. The first overt action which resulted in the lamentable scone of the
day was the invasion of the playing pitch by a number of the dissatisfied
onlookers, their evident intention being to proceed to the dressing-rooms,
whither the players had retired. A considerable force of police was, of course,
on the ground, and they naturally endeavoured to keep the crowd in order, and
to induce them to leave the field peacefully. What actually first led to a
collision between the police and the civilians is at present matter of the most
conflicting opinion. Soon, however, the mob wore venting their rage on the
police force, who were subjected to a fusillade of stones, bottles, brickbats,
and every conceivable missile of which the roughs could become possessed.
Overwhelmed and swept aside by superior numbers, the police rallied, and
endeavoured to cope with their assailants. To this end they were forced to use
their batons, and shortly they were engaged in a hand to hand conflict. The
gravity of the situation became apparent when a number of the policemen were
seen to have sustained such injuries that they were rendered prostrate, and had
to be carried off the field.’ (The Scotsman, April 1909)
‘Maddened by
excitement, and relying on their overwhelming numbers, the rioters now
proceeded to the extremest limits. The goal-posts were attacked, and uprooted,
the nets torn to pieces, and the woodwork around the enclosure broken down to
be used as weapons, against the police. Acting with commendable patience and
restraint, the police force, who were shortly reinforced by the arrival of
reserves from almost every district in the city, persevered in their attempt to
clear the ground. A number of mounted Policemen were found to be of great
assistance; but the mob took a. malicious delight in surrounding the horsemen,
and endeavouring to force them to dismount. They beat man and horse most
unmercifully, and in some cases the man was pulled to the ground. Not only had
the police to persist in their own work of overcoming the mob, but, they had to
protect, and rescue each other. Where a solitary policeman was trapped he was
dealt with in the most outrageous manner, and it is little wonder that rumour
had it that several of them had been killed.‘
When
the mob started burning the pay boxes, the arriving fire Brigade were greeted
with stones and violence too. As they attempted to control the fires, their
hoses were cut and one fireman had several ribs broken in the attack. It took
200 Policemen and 16 mounted officers to eventually restore order, but the
injury toll was high and the hospitals of Glasgow working flat out to deal with
casualties. It was at the time the most serious riot in the history of Scottish
football. Both clubs were ordered to pay Queen’s Park £150 towards the damage
to their stadium and the SFA paid them an additional £500.
The
question of a second replay was raised but both Celtic and Rangers were against
the idea and petitioned the SFA to abandon the competition of that year. The
press stated…
‘Mr Maley,
representing the Celtic, and Mr Mackenzie, representing the Rangers, were
recalled and questioned by the Chairman as to a letter appearing in several
newspapers of that morning purporting to be a petition to the Association, to
abandon the match. Mr Mackenzie said that as regarded the Rangers they accepted
responsibility, and the Celtic, who had also agreed, to the document, had a
copy of it in their possession.
With
that, the 1909 Scottish cup was withheld and for the first time in peace time
there was no winner of the country’s major cup competition. It was a remarkable
display of unity by the wilder elements of the Celtic and Rangers support who undoubtedly
acted together to bring destruction and violence to the cup final. As the
divisions between the clubs widened in the years to follow, it remains unlikely
we’ll ever see such joint action again. One press report put the scene at
Hampden on that day of rage in almost poetic terms...
‘The South Side of
Glasgow trembled to the noise of emergency vehicles, the groans of the injured
and to the clamour of the rioters. Above all this hung a pall of smoke. Hampden
is burning.’
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