What former Celtic player Tom Rogic means to Tony Haggerty

Scottish football history was being made in the 2017 Scottish Cup final as Celtic faced Aberdeen. Celtic under new boss Brendan Rodgers were on the brink of the domestic treble. The match was evenly poised at 1-1 two minutes into stoppage time.

That's when the 'Wizard of Oz' - Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic - decided to take matters into his own hands...or twinkle-toed feet would be a much better description. The Hoops midfielder suddenly picked up the ball on the halfway line. He slalomed his way through the Dons defence and somehow squeezed a shot past Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis. 2-1 to Celtic. Cue utter bedlam in the stands as well as lightning in the sky.

Tom Rogic's strike was no ordinary goal. It would forever become known as the 'Invincible' goal. It was arguably the most fitting climax to an incredible season. Celtic became the first team in Scottish football history to win the domestic treble without losing a single game.The Northern Irishman's team played 47 games in all competitions. The Hoops won 43 matches, drew four and lost NONE. It was a goal like no other. In a season like no other.

It all seemed so apt for Celtic when you consider the Hoops market themselves as 'A club like no other'.

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That fateful and historic day at Hampden Park, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic had attempted to do something that no other Scottish football club had achieved. To go a whole campaign undefeated.

With the notable exceptions of Tommy Gemmill's and Stevie Chalmers strikes in the 1967 European Cup final against Inter Milan in Lisbon no Celtic goal has ever been celebrated with so much gusto than Tom Rogic's 'Invincible' goal.

I should know. I was there alongside my dad and my nephew Matthew. The unconfined joy etched on every Celtic supporter’s face during the wild goal celebrations at the national stadium told their own story.

As a sports journalist, I am usually very reserved on such occasions even when watching my team because of the nature of my profession. In the sodding rain at Hampden, I just thought ‘sod it’. All thoughts of neutrality went out the window and I just lost it. Think the Tasmanian devil meets Yosemite Sam and you would still not even be remotely close as to how mental my reaction was to Tom Rogic’s goal.

It felt wonderful to act like a proper football fan for the first time in nearly two decades of writing about the ‘beautiful game’ from the relative sanity of the press box.

It is a special football moment that I treasure and will live with me forever. Although in the midst of all the happiness. I also remember being struck by an overwhelming wave of sadness.

I was totally ecstatic...yes. I was there with my dad and my nephew and it was magic to share the experience with them both.It was a wonderful achievement and one that will never be done again. Yet I felt as though there was something missing. There was.

It was my brother Danny. We had grown up watching Celtic together with my dad since we were kids. We had dreamed of days like this. We had been through so many football experiences together growing up. Whenever I shut my eyes and think of my happy place it inevitably involves football, my dad, my brother and Celtic of course.

The next generation of the family (Matthew) was already following in our footsteps. Work commitments had prevented my brother from being at Hampden on that fateful and historic football day. It pains me that I did not share it with my brother and best pal. Danny would have loved this moment. I should have bought him a ticket and demanded that he travel up from down south to be there with us. It remains a real regret of mine to this day.

My brother has a saying: ‘Life’s Great Innit!’ Life did feel great when Tom Rogic pulled the trigger and scored that goal. For a fleeting moment though, there was a bout of emptiness.

Only Lisbon in 1967 can compare to the emotion and euphoria felt by every Celtic supporter of my generation that day. I am 47 years old. In season 2016/17, Celtic set a new Scottish Premiership record points total of 106. The Hoops scored an incredible 106 goals, which was another record.

They also set a new record for the most league wins in a campaign by winning 34 of their 38 matches. Celtic even eclipsed the famous Lisbon Lions' 50-year record after going 27 matches unbeaten from the start of the season. The Lions' run was halted at 26.

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Tom Rogic's goal stands out like a green and white beacon in the club's most recent and illustrious history. For every Celtic supporter, the 'Invincible' strike is certainly up there.

It falls just short of being comparable with the two goals scored by Jock Stein’s side in the Estadio Nacional Stadium in Lisbon on the 25th of May 1967. Although with one swish of the right boot, the Australian had made sure that he etched his name into Scottish football and Celtic folklore. Tom Rogic had carved an indelible mark in the hearts of every member of the Celtic family.

Just like the Lisbon Lions before them, Brendan Rodgers ‘Invincibles’ squad of 2016/17 will now similarly be revered. Current Celtic manager Neil Lennon once famously spoke of bringing back the 'Thunder' during his first stint at the Hoops helm. Ironically under Brendan Rodgers it was Tom Rogic who brought forth the 'Lightning'.

Incidentally, my brother was 50 years old this year.I thought nothing could ever make up for the fact that Danny missed Celtic’s ‘Invincible’ match and Tom Rogic’s ‘Invincible’ goal.

I know now that Danny should have been at Hampden Park standing shoulder to shoulder with his dad, his brother and his nephew cheering on his boyhood idols. I got married in December 2019. My brother was my best man. What do you get a guy who is happy and content with his whole lot in life?

It suddenly came to me in a blinding flash. I got my redemption shot for not forcing the issue and getting my brother a ticket for the 2017 Scottish Cup final.

On the morning of my wedding, I took Danny for a run in my car. We drove to Celtic Park. We both walked up the Celtic Way past the wonderful statue of big Billy McNeill proudly holding aloft the European Cup. Third batch. Row four. 11 in from the right. We both looked down. In grey slate was the Celtic crest.

Inscribed were the words. ‘To Big Dan, Life’s Great Innit!’ It was my wedding gift to him. Tears and snotters followed.

It may be twisted ‘Rogic’ and whilst my brother is not an ‘Invincible’ at least his stone on the Celtic Way makes him an immortal. I can live with that.

*This is a chapter from Tony Haggerty's first book entitled: "Gonna Gie's A Kick O' Yer Ba' Mister?", it is available from Amazon.