Why Celtic remain the unofficial British champions

Celtic, believe it or not, are still the unofficial champions of Britain.

During the time when English football clubs were banned from taking part in European football as a result of the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster, the governing bodies of both the FA and Scottish FA hit upon a bright idea.

They set up an annual match contested between the champions of the English and Scottish leagues.

It was a short-lived three-year venture but, rather like the Empire Exhibition and the Coronation Cup, the Dubai Super Cup still resides in the Parkhead trophy cabinet.

Celtic lost to Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 1986-87 before Rangers defeated Everton on penalties after a 2-2 draw a year later. The Hoops then gained revenge for that loss on spot-kicks by beating the Reds in another shoot-out in 1988-89.

Former midfielder Peter Grant played in both matches. On the 34th anniversaryof Celtic being crowned the unofficial champions of Britain, he lifted the lid on what it was like to go and play in what was basically a sparsely populated desert – and just where James Bond villain Jaws fits into it all.

"I wasn't really aware that Celtic can still be classed as the unofficial champions of Britain but that's the best way to put it, isn't it?” Grant told The Celtic Way. “We lost the first one in 1987 and won the second one in 1989. I've conveniently forgotten about the first match! Both games finished 1-1 and I scored a penalty in the two shootouts. That was a fantastic Liverpool side at the time, they were a terrific group of players.

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“They were excellent games to actually play in and they were actually always competitive. These Battle of Britain-type games always were. Neither the Celtic players nor Liverpool players wanted to lose. I was taught to play like that so it shouldn't have been a surprise. We were playing against top-quality players and if you didn't play to your best you were going to get your backside felt.

"Both games were fiercely competitive, really good games actually, but Dubai was quite a surreal place back then. Most of the boys had probably never even heard of it at that time. The hotels were beautiful and stunning but there were only about two of them and the rest of the place was all desert.

"There were security guards every 30 yards along the hall of the hotel where we were staying. I had never seen anything like it. It was maybe a bit different for Dubai back then to play host to some famous footballers. Nowadays Dubai is a haven and a playground for the rich and famous where actors, singers, celebrities and footballers all mingle together.

"And you’re never going to believe this but one of the security guards was Jaws out of the James Bond films. I kid you not. It was the big actor with the steel teeth [Richard Kiel]. We were all thinking at the time ‘is this for real?’

"The players all spoke to him and he was a great guy. We actually got him to chase one of the players as if he was re-enacting his role in the Bond movies for a photoshoot for the papers back home. It was all incredibly surreal.”

On the pitch Mark McGhee had given Celtic an early 12th-minute lead only for John Aldridge to equalise for a star-studded Liverpool line-up that contained the likes of Steve Nicol, Ronnie Whelan, Ray Houghton, Steve McMahon, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes in front of 15,000 spectators at the Al-Nasr Stadium.

It was then the Hoops who kept their cool in the desert to win 4-2 on penalties despite Mick McCarthy missing the opening kick.

Peter Grant, Tommy Coyne, Andy Walker and Billy Stark all converted and Pat Bonner made a wonderful save from McMahon before Steve Staunton hit the post and the trophy, as they say, ended up in Paradise.

"All three Dubai Super Cup matches went to penalties, didn't they?” Grant recalls. “We won and lost one and Rangers also beat Everton on penalties. They were just really good matches. Liverpool had a great mixture of players, I think Kenny Dalglish played a part in the first game because he was still player-manager at the time.

"These games were important because there was always a question mark as to whether Celtic or Rangers could do it elsewhere, Could they do it in the top English league? How would you fare against the best teams in England? Every time you played against them, whether it was testimonials or whatever, they were proper games.

"And Liverpool always wanted to be the best team – and they had the best player – so you had a real desire to put one over on them.

"The Scottish game was also scoffed at and treated poorly by people down south – it got battered from pillar to post so beating Liverpool was viewed as being highly prestigious and an achievement of sorts for Celtic back in 1989.

“That's why I have erased the first Dubai Super Cup game from my memory banks as nobody remembers runners-up. I'm not interested in that match as you have got to be first or you are a loser. The second Dubai Super Cup game in 1989 is an entirely different story."

Three ‘Battles of Britain’ were held in the Dubai Super Cup competition with the score standing at Scotland 2-1 England. So what about this unofficial title of British champions?

"That alone tells you that Scottish clubs were more than capable of competing,” Grant argues. “The players always wanted to prove that point. The game might be taking place at the other end of the world but once you pulled the jersey on you were always representing Celtic, you always wanted to prove that you were as good as the English teams.

“Individually you maybe weren't as good as them but you wanted to prove that as a team you could more than hold your own and knock that theory on its head.

"There is no doubt in my mind that if you play up here then you are more than competitive – we've always got that bit between our teeth to try to prove something. That was always the difference.

"One thing never changes though and that’s Celtic's thirst and desire to win trophies and be successful. We like to keep trophies at Celtic Park, we like to rack the silverware up and keep the trophy count high.

"So, unofficial or not, Celtic are still the British champions – the Dubai Super Cup resides in our trophy cabinet. I'm having that."

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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