Match Reports 2007-2008

Celtic v Motherwell

Sunday 25th May 2008

Phil O'Donnell Tribute - The Legends

The Celtic supporters remember their lost heroes O'Donnell and Burns tributes

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A DAY of legends and glorious sunshine provided a fitting tribute to former Celtic and Motherwell midfielder, Phil O’Donnell, with Wim Jansen’s title-winning team of 1998 beating the Motherwell Scottish Cup-winning side of 1991.

The score finished 5-1 in Celtic’s favour, with Morten Wieghorst, Henrik Larsson, Harald Brattbakk and Darren Jackson on the scoresheet, but this was a day in where O’Donnell’s former team-mates, friends, family and supporters of both clubs paid their respects and honoured his life and achievements.

Tributes to the former midfielder hung in every corner of the ground, with the crowd’s emotions only heightened by the recent passing of Celtic great Tommy Burns.

One giant banner showing Burns the manager with his arm wrapped around a young O’Donnell stretched across the upper reaches of the Jock Stein Stand, alongside the legend: ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, while career highlights were broadcast at half-time.

The game was also an opportunity for the supporters of both clubs to see some of their former heroes in action, most notably Celtic’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, Henrik Larsson.

The evergreen Swede is still playing for Helsingborgs in his homeland and recently won an international recall for this summer’s European Championships, but within seconds of kick-off he had taken a heavy knock in an accidental clash of heads with Chris McCart and was heading up the tunnel for stitches.

Play resumed at a leisurely, some might even say pedestrian pace, with one of the other star turns of the afternoon, Birmingham City and Scotland striker, James McFadden the next of the still-active players to make an early exit.

One of the retired, Morten Wieghorst, was at the heart of much of Celtic’s early play though, firing the first chance of the match wide after a Harald Brattbakk cut-back and then opening the scoring in the 10th minute.

The former midfielder’s shot was driven in low from the edge of the box, catching Motherwell keeper and current Celtic coach, Stevie Woods unsighted and fizzing into his bottom right corner.

Five minutes later another loud cheer was ringing around the stands as Henrik Larsson emerged looking none the worse after the head knock, coming on for charity auction winner, Steve McKenna, who had paid to play in the game and had initially replaced him.

Even at 36, the Swede remains a sublime talent and after sending one chance over the bar, he gave the supporters what they wanted, leaning back and hitting an acrobatic volley on the turn that bounced past Woods.

Without being cruel to the Fir Park stars, the Celtic team’s relative youth and fitness was showing by this stage and they edged further ahead thanks to two Harald Brattbakk strikes inside six minutes.

Both were scored from neat cutbacks from the byline, the first of which came from Wieghorst and the next from Larsson, but by now the scoreline was irrelevant, with the fans simply happy to hail their heroes.

There were loud cheers for the likes of Enrico Annoni, who bowed to all four corners of the stadium on his way off and Larsson, while winger Regi Blinker engaged in a bit of banter on the touchline as he waited to come on.

All that was missing was a goal for the visiting Motherwell supporters to cheer and that fittingly came from David Clarkson, Phil O’Donnell’s nephew and current Motherwell forward.

Beating the offside trap, Clarkson walked the ball past Gordon Marshall and cheekily tapped it over the line before turning to embrace the laughing Celtic keeper.

There were still highlights left in this match though, including some lovely touches from Blinker and the elegant man of the match Wieghorst, the appearance of Tom Boyd on the Motherwell side and a rather meaty challenge involving Jamie Dolan and Tosh McKinlay.

This was a game played in good humour, though, and to their credit, the capacity crowd remained until the final whistle, lapping up every minute of the match and applauding the players for their efforts.

The fans were also treated to a 90th-minute goal from Darren Jackson, a superb diving header that proved to be the final flourish in this enjoyable afternoon.

Banners for O'Donnell and Tommy Burns had been unveiled before the match and a 60ft banner depicting both together was unfurled at half-time.

It showed former Celtic player, manager and coach Burns in a suit with his arm round his player in a Celtic strip.

Burns, who died 10 days ago aged 51, signed O'Donnell from Motherwell in 1994 for £1.75million. A montage of clips of Burns in his playing and coaching days was played on big screens to the strains of Mack The Knife, his song of choice.

Clarkson got Motherwell off the mark midway through the second half when he rounded Gordon Marshall and walked the ball into the net. Darren Jackson completed the scoring in the last minute by heading home a Brian McLaughlin cross.

Current Celtic skipper Stephen McManus came on to the field after the match along with several team-mates to parade the Clydesdale Bank Premier League trophy, which they won with victory at Dundee United on Thursday.

But the defender also paid tribute to O'Donnell.

"It's a great occasion for the family," he said. "It shows what type of a man he was when you see the amount of people out to support it."

Larsson, meanwhile, said: "It was very important for me to come back.

"As soon as I heard about this tribute game, I spoke with Murdo MacLeod and said I would be there.

"It was before I even decided to go back with the Swedish national team. I got the question two weeks ago from the Swedish national coach (Lars Lagerback) to go back. I said 'Yes, I would love to, but on the 25th I need to be away'.

"It's a sad occasion but it's a great tribute to him and his family." Larsson was delighted to be able to show his gratitude to O'Donnell, for his help when he first joined Celtic, and to the club itself.

"You always have talkers in the dressing room and people who are a little bit more calm," Larsson said of O'Donnell.

"He was a little bit more calm but he was a great guy. I always remember coming as a foreigner. There was always someone you could trust if you asked a question.

"I wouldn't ask Darren Jackson a question, because you wouldn't get a proper answer. He was not only important for me but a lot of the foreigners.

"It's a sad occasion but at the same time it's a kind of celebration for everything. I haven't been back since Jackie McNamara's testimonial three years ago."

The former Barcelona and Manchester United striker, now at Helsingborgs, added: "This is the club for me. This is where I made myself as a player, this is where everybody got to know me.

"This is the club I am going to be eternally grateful to for giving me that opportunity, when other clubs didn't believe in me.

"This is where I got back into the Swedish national team, playing in European Championships and World Cups, delivering for Sweden. I couldn't have done that without Celtic."

Larsson, who played around an hour of the game, also turned his thoughts to former coach Tommy Burns, who died of cancer 10 days ago. An emotional Larsson said: "I spoke a lot with him when he was here and even when I wasn't here, so it's very sad."

As the players made their way round the park on a lap of honour, with a song honouring O’Donnell ringing around the stands, it stood as a memorable and fitting tribute to a player who will never be forgotten.

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Morten Weighorst

CELTIC LEGENDS (4-4-2) Gould (Kerr 41, Marshall 62); Boyd (McNamara 62), Reiper (MacKay 36), Annoni (Reiper 51, McLaughlin 56), Johnson (McKinlay 46); McNamara (Donnelly 36, Brattbakk 75), Burley, Lambert (McKenna 67, Johnson 82)), Weighorst; Larsson (McKenna 7), Brattbakk (Jackson 36).

MOTHERWELL LEGENDS (4-4-2) Woods (Dijkstra 30); Griffin (Wishart 10, O’Neill 62, Boyd 70), McCart (Martin 3), McKinnon (Angus 84); Clarkson (Leitch 46), Angus (Dolan 38), Patterson (Philliben 15, Patterson 25), Nijholt (Balmer 56, O’Donnell 67, Ferguson 82), McFadden (O’Donnell 6, Kirk 28); Arnott (Coyne 30, Clarkson 67, Kirk 82), Ferguson (McGrillen 34, Arnott 73).

Dundee United v Celtic

Thursday 22nd May 2008

Celtic are champions for three in a Row

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