The Story of Celtic’s On-field Trophy Presentations
The Story of Celtic’s On-field Trophy Presentations The way that Celtic’s season has gone so far means that it’s still far from certain that the Bhoys will be lifting the league trophy. Winning our remaining five games should be enough to secure the title but there’s still an outside chance that we could still lose it on goal difference… Anthony Ralston celebrates during Celtic’s 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren at Hampden on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou If both Celtic and Hearts win their next four games the final day showdown at Celic Park will see Celtic trailing Hearts by three points, so a Celtic victory would mean the title being decided on goal difference.
That’s some Celtic should be mindful of starting this afternoon against Falkirk. 45 years since Celtic first had an on-field League trophy ceremony However, 45 years ago today (25 April 1981) was the first time that this happened for Celtic in an on-field presentation. When the Scottish League first began in 1890, there was no trophy given to the winners of the competition.
Instead, the title holders received a flag, a tradition which remains to this day. Thus, when Celtic won their first championship in 1893, their rewards were ‘badges’ (medals) for the players, and a flag for the club to be flown at Celtic Park. Flag days in that era were very different from now.
For one thing, they took place without fireworks and other displays, and sometimes they were not even held at Celtic games. For example, when the Bhoys won the 1896 title, the League flag was officially unveiled at a Scotland versus England game held at Celtic Park. This practice of only flags and medals for the title winners continued until after World War Two.
Then in October 1947, William MacAndrew – the long-term secretary of Scottish Football League – retired. Given his long-lasting role – he had held this position for just short of 50 years – there were notable tributes paid to him. As a parting gift, MacAndrew decided to leave two mementos: specifically, trophies to be presented to the winners of League Division A and League Division B.
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