Manager in goal, the Famous Five, Miller's double, and Martin's treble - How Hibs have fared on league duty at Celtic since 1895

Eighteen times, out of 150 league visits. Or 12 per cent, if you prefer to look at it that way. It’s fair to say that Hibs’ win record against Celtic in Glasgow isn’t particularly impressive. Even the first match, on October 5 1895, finished in a 3-1 victory for the hosts.

The Evening News of Monday, October 7 1895 described the action thus: “Over 16,000 people, largely taken from the Irish population of Glasgow and neighbourhood, turned out on a disagreeable afternoon to see the crack Scoto-Irish teams play a match which was expected to prove one of the events of the Parkhead season, and what did they see? At most 30 minutes’ decent football out of 90 minutes’ play, and an hour’s game which was monotonous to a degree. On Saturday’s form neither the Celtic nor the Hibernians deserve their places on the League table, and the Hibernians especially must improve vastly to regain the reputation they so recently enjoyed.”

Alexander Howie netted 17 times in 28 appearances but couldn’t breach the Celtic backline; William Smith managed 42 in 79 but also drew a blank, as did the devastatingly effective wing pairing of Pat Murray and John Kennedy – a combined 88 goals in 231 games – with Joseph Murphy scoring for Hibs.

September 1898 brought Hibs’ first victory in Glasgow, the side repeating the 2-1 scoreline from earlier in the season in Edinburgh with Andrew McGuigan and Peter Burns on target. Dan McMichael led the side to an emphatic 4-0 win on January 2 1903 with James Buchan, Billy McCartney, David Reid, and Patrick Callaghan on the scoresheet. Hibs had also beaten Celtic at their own stadium to win the Scottish Cup in 1902.

Gareth Evans, foreground, and Keith Wright were on target in a 3-2 win for Hibs at Celtic Park in the early nineties. Picture: TSPL

As Celtic found their rhythm, successful trips for Hibs to Glasgow’s east end became more scarce. In March 1915 they lost 5-1; a game on October 11, 1919 ended 7-3. By the 1920s games between the two clubs had returned to a more even keel with draws and matches decided by one goal, although the 1925/26 season produced a 4-4 draw in Edinburgh, and a 5-0 Celtic win in Glasgow.

The following season Hibs won their first away game against the Hoops since 1903; Jimmy Dunn, Jackie Bradley, and Johnny Halligan on target in a 3-2 victory, mirroring the Easter Road meeting earlier in the campaign. Manager Bobby Templeton deputised for goalkeeper Willie Robb who was sidelined with the flu and the Welshman guided Hibs to a 4-1 win in Glasgow on April 13 1929 with goals from Edward Gilfeather, Henry Brown, Jimmy McColl and an own goal.

On August 23 1930 Celtic ran out 6-0 victors in a season when Hibs also lost 6-0 away to Motherwell, 7-0 at Aberdeen, and 5-4 to Morton at Cappielow. Hibs’ performances that season resulted in relegation so they spent two seasons without a trip to Parkhead.

Another 5-1 defeat followed in season 1936/37, and a 5-4 loss in December 1938. After World War II, in 1946/47, Hibs resumed trips to Parkhead with a 4-1 defeat – not their first in recent years.

The Hibs team of 1895/96 - the first to face Celtic in a league game in Glasgow - fell to a 3-1 defeat

An emphatic 4-2 win thanks to a double apiece from Eddie Turnbull and Alex Linwood in April 1948 helped Hibs on their way to the league flag, and they managed a 2-1 win with goals from Gordon Smith and Angus Plumb on February 12 1949. Turnbull was on target again in a 1-0 win at Celtic in February 1951 as Hibs cantered to the league title once again. They won 3-1 at Parkhead in March 1953, with Bobby Johnstone helping himself to a brace and Lawrie Reilly also on target.

Smith and John Fraser helped record a 2-1 win in April 1955 after a 5-0 drubbing at Easter Road earlier in the season and Reilly scored a treble in a 3-0 game at Parkhead on a Wednesday in April 1956. As the Famous Five forward line was broken up, so the pattern of positive results in Glasgow did too.

In March 1965 a Neil Martin hat-trick and an own goal by Ian Young secured a 4-2 victory in Glasgow. In September 1969 a Jimmy Johnstone opener was cancelled out by Johnny Hamilton with Pat Stanton netting a long-range winner seven minutes from time. They had to wait nearly ten years before their next win in Glasgow, a 1-0 victory near the start of the 1978/79 season thanks to Willie Temperley’s first-half goal. In March 1985 they won by the same scoreline with Paul Kane scoring the winner on 21 minutes.

Pat McGinlay and an own goal secured a 2-1 win on the final day of the 1991/92 season, while Darren Jackson, a Keith Wright penalty, and a goal from substitute Gareth Evans resulted in a 3-2 win a few months later in September. The next win didn’t come until April 2005, Scott Brown, Garry O’Connor, and Ivan Sproule on target in a 3-1 win, and the 2-1 victory on January 27 2010 remains the last time Hibs won at Celtic Park on league duty.

Celtic and Hibs in action at Celtic Park in December 1965. Picture: TSPL

Hugh Shaw’s successful team of the late 1940s and early 1950s enjoyed the most success in terms of wins at Parkhead but since then victories have been few and far between, with just four in the last 35 years.

Better Hibs teams have played poorer Celtic teams in Glasgow and still not won but the current squad has a chance to write themselves into club folklore if they can somehow extract a result on Saturday. Odd results here and there over the years suggest that the underdog does sometimes have his day, but with Celtic unbeaten at home in the league under Ange Postecoglou, the task looks all the more daunting. Hibs might not be ready as a squad under Lee Johnson to really challenge Celtic, but in the context of this season, they need to at least put in a better showing than their previous meetings with the Hoops.