When Whitehill Welfare gave Celtic a scare: 25 years since East of Scotland side took on giants

Morten Weighorst set up Celtic's second and third goals

A second-round replay victory over Fraserburgh had provided the East of Scotland side with a glamour tie against the Gers’ bitter rivals as the Old Firm landed what looked like straightforward encounters.

Whitehill had been EoS champions three years running and would make it four just months after facing the Parkhead side. They were a dominant force in the lower levels of the Scottish game at the time, sweeping opponents aside in the league and in various cup competitions.

Just days before their Scottish Cup encounter they had seen a 42-game unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of north Edinburgh side Civil Service Strollers.

Goalkeeper Scott Cantley, centre, was named man of the match

Their eventual loss to Celtic was the first time in five years the Midlothian club had lost two consecutive matches and in the unusual setting of Hibs’ home stadium, they gave a good account of themselves against a team containing a Dutch internationalist, a Danish cap, and four Scotland stalwarts.

There were no national team players in the Rosewell side’s ranks but there were a handful of veterans with league experience and some of the most revered figures of the East Seniors.

Son of Easter Road legend and old pals

Football often produces strange coincidences and there were two in this match: Jamie O’Rourke, son of former Hibs forward Jimmy O’Rourke was on the bench for Whitehill while his team-mate Ross Middlemist – who had postponed a trip to Australia in order to play in the game – came up against former schoolboy colleague Jackie McNamara.

Whitehill Welfare salute their supporters after the match

Despite the 3-0 scoreline it was Whitehill Welfare goalkeeper Scott Cantley who was deservedly named man of the match. The postman kept the Hoops at bay for 39 minutes and pulled off a string of fine saves to frustrate the Celts – made all the more impressive by the fact Cantley was playing as an amateur and wasn't even being paid the £3 weekly wage his semi-professional team-mates collected to supplement their day jobs.

Recalling the match several years later he said: “In the early part of the game all I wanted was a touch of the ball or a routine save.

"It happened when Pierre van Hooijdonk had a shot from the edge of the penalty box, which I held comfortably. There was a huge roar of approval from our supporters and that boosted my confidence."

Hearts or Hibs?

There was understandably a large contingent from the village of Whitehill present at Easter Road, with their own Ferguson Park deemed unsuitable to stage such a huge tie.

Cantley explained: “The two venues talked about were Tynecastle and Easter Road. Hearts had a home tie [against Partick Thistle] that scuppered us using Tynecastle, so it ended up at Easter Road, a ground I hadn’t played at at the time. It was all just something to look forward to.”

The shot-stopper denied van Hooijdonk on several occasions as well as John Collins, John Hughes, Jackie McNamara, and Andy Walker, but he was finally beaten six minutes before the break as van Hooijdonk converted a Walker cross to break the deadlock.

Middlemist came close to a shock leveller when Celtic goalkeeper Gordon Marshall fluffed a back-pass from Tom Boyd on the hour mark but the ball was cleared for a corner. Substitute Ricky Smith, on for Middlemist, rattled the woodwork with a header from a John Bird cross which seemed to rouse Celtic into action and for the last 20 minutes or so they threw everything at the non-leaguers.

Simon Donnelly, who had replaced Walker early in the second half, hit the post himself before scrambling home Celtic’s second with a quarter of an hour to play and van Hooijdonk put a gloss on the result five minutes later as he headed home a Morten Wieghorst cross.

‘The game I’ll always be remembered for’

Cantley recalled: “At the end of the game I got a hug from van Hooijdonk who said that I had played very well.

“We were looking for us to overachieve and Celtic underachieve, which probably happened to a certain degree that day. Nobody was expecting us to get a 3-0, especially after Keith’s result.

"But it didn’t cross my mind that we might concede double figures. It wasn’t discussed: we knew it was something that wasn’t going to happen.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the best game I’ve ever had, but it’s the game I’ll always be remembered for. There were another thirteen players that day that put their point across as well and achieved what they did for the club. It was about the whole squad and management team.”

Whitehill later used the £40,000 they earned in gate money to renovate their Ferguson Park home.

‘Celtic had to work hard to score their goals’

Proud manager David Smith added: “The day before the game the team went to Easter Road to watch Hibs play Kilmarnock in their third-round tie.

"We also kept getting updates on the Keith-Rangers game and colleagues of mine at work were saying Whitehill would suffer a similar fate.

“But on the day we performed really well against a Celtic side which treated us with respect and they had to work hard to score their goals.

"During the game van Hooijdonk asked Ian Brown who was marking him if he was a full-time player. Bomber replied, 'yes, every Monday night for two hours!’

"My abiding memory is that at the end of the game our players walked towards our huge support and threw their strips to the crowd.

"All of our players, including the three substitutes, played to the peak of their performances.”

Whitehill Welfare: Cantley; Purves, Steel, Brown, Gowrie (Cameron 80); Sneddon, Bennett, Millar, Bird; Middlemist (Smith 62), Tulloch (O’Rourke 82).

Celtic: Marshall; McNamara, Boyd (O’Neil 82), Hughes, McKinlay; Wieghorst, McStay, Grant, Collins (McLaughlin 82), van Hooijdonk, Walker (Donnelly 57). Attendance: 13,100.

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