Celtic’s Four Trebles – Four Days Before Christmas Four Years Ago

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The Celtic Star

·21 December 2024

Celtic’s Four Trebles – Four Days Before Christmas Four Years Ago

On the Saturday before Christmas four years ago today we completed a magnificent quadruple treble, but it didn’t feel right due to that dreadful pandemic as we celebrated in our living rooms…

Leigh Griffiths with the Scottish Cup which completed the Quadruple Treble. Photo Celtic FC

When you think of Scottish Cup finals, naturally your mind pictures a sunny spring day in mid to late May.

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But four years ago today we played Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final four days before Christmas on a dark and depressing afternoon. That of course was due to the global Covid pandemic which turned the world upside down including the beautiful game, it even turned serial losers into winners and not just in Scotland.

Still sends a shiver down the spine

Not only were we playing in Scottish football’s showpiece trophy four days before Christmas, we were going through a difficult spell in which our football left plenty to be desired. The memory of that season still sends a shiver down the spine of Celtic Supporters everywhere .

Moi Elyounoussi and Kristoffer Ajer with the cup. Photo Celtic FC

With the league title out of our grasp, this was a chance for some success in a bleak period on and off the park, and to record an incredible achievement that would be mighty impressive, an achievement that will unlikely ever be equalled never mind beaten anywhere in world football.

The eerie surroundings of an empty national stadium

The game itself started brightly in the eerie surroundings of an empty national stadium as we raced into a two nil lead against the then Championship side thanks to a fine Ryan Christie goal and a deft spot kick from Odsonne Edouard.

Cruising two nil at the break the trophy looked in the bag, but with this Celtic side you just never knew and that prove to be the case as Hearts pulled a goal back a few minutes after the restart before equalising twenty minutes later. The game was now in the balance and as usual it was all our own doing.

Odsonne Edouard celebrates. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Extra time beckoned and just on the stroke of half time in the extended period Leigh Griffiths put us in front with what looked like the winning goal, but no, as yet again we let Hearts back into it as the Gorgie side levelled five minutes into the second period.

Spot kicks to settle it

It remained a stalemate and it went to the lottery that is spot kicks to settle the outcome of the Scottish Cup, and our chances of a historic achievement was on the line.

Our last spot kick shoot out in this very competition was of course against Aberdeen in 1990 in which we lost a dramatic shoot out 9-8, while Hearts had won their last one in the same competition against Gretna in 2006, so history wasn’t certainly on our side.

Ryan Christie missed our third penalty after Leigh Griffiths and Callum McGregor had scored our first two and it looked ominous, but young Connor Hazard saved the next Hearts effort before Mikey Johnston made it all square again.

Hazard would be the hero yet again as he saved Hearts next effort meaning that Kristopher Ajer was the man tasked with winning a historic quadruple treble. Big Kris struck his effort like a seasoned striker and the players and management team celebrated as we achieved a historic victory.

Make do with celebrating in our living rooms

As good as it was it still felt a bit anti-climactic celebrating in an empty national stadium as the life and soul of the beautiful game, who are of course the supporters were absent and had to make do with celebrating in our living rooms.