St Patrick’s Day is coming up soon, a very important date for Irish folk or those of Irish extraction.

When I was a wee boy in Govan, that period of March was a great time of year. For some unusual reason – and it couldn’t be the name of my school, as I went to St Anthony’s – that day was a Holiday of Obligation, so thank you! St Patrick for that. When you take into account that we had another holiday two days later for St Joseph’s Day, then no wonder my two favourite saints were called Patrick and Joseph.

In the course of their history, Celtic FC has played around 30 matches on that day. Many were mundane league encounters, although even a few of these are remembered for one reason or another. In 1894, for instance, Celtic travelled eastwards to play Leith Athletic in the last match of the season. They had already been declared champions the previous week, a three-point lead giving them an unassailable position. Possibly, though, the celebrations had gone on too long that week, as the boys from Leith ran all over Celtic and won 5-0!

In another league match in 1926, this time against Dundee, outside-right Willie Malloy scored on his debut for Celtic, his only goal in 8 appearances for the club; and in a Premier Division match against Motherwell in 1979, Packy Bonner played the first of his 600-plus games.

On this particular day, there were also some good wins in league matches.  4-0 against Hibs at Parkhead in 1908; a resounding 6-0 thrashing of Airdrie at Broomfield in 1954; another 4-0, this time against Ayr at Celtic Park in 1957; and a going-over of the Steelmen from Motherwell by 4 goals to one in 1992, also at home.

8 years before, Motherwell had received another heavy defeat at Parkhead, this time by 6-0 in the Scottish Cup quarter-final; although at the same stage in 1937, at the same venue, the teams had drawn 4-4.

Possibly the worst moment on this day came in 1976, when Celtic went down 0-1 to a team from East Germany called Sachsenring Zwickau in the quarter-final of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup. The competition has started well for the Bhoys with victories over Valur from Iceland and Boavista in the first two rounds. A crowd of 40,000 turned up at Celtic Park for the first leg against the East Germans, which ended in a 1-1 draw; and another 40,000 were present for the return, when a 5-minute goal by outside-right Blank settled the tie.

There can be no doubt, however, about the most memorable match on St Patrick’s Day. In 1992, the Old Firm teams were drawn together in the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup, with Celtic’s name coming out of the hat first. As usual, the ground was packed for such an encounter and the Celtic fans were in full voice, displaying their wide repertoire of selections, including Hail! Glorious St Patrick, the words of which had been in the Celtic View the previous Wednesday.

Goals by Dariusz Wdowczyk and Gerry Creaney settled the tie in Celtic’s favour and the green- and- white end went home in a contented mood. Seven days later, at the same venue, they went into raptures once more, as their heroes completed a double over Rangers, this time in a league match by 3-0. Anton Rogan, Joe Miller and Tommy Coyne getting the goals.

So, all-in-all, St Patrick’s Day has been quite a good one when it comes to results for Celtic. Perhaps we should have played Artmedia on that date?