The international break invariably slows down the Celtic news cycle, which allows us the opportunity to spotlight less obvious stories.

And you'll (hopefully) forgive the above, admittedly shoehorned, pun when we tell you today marks the 65th anniversary of Celtic Park's first-ever floodlights.

Whether or not you choose to celebrate this milestone with us is up to you, but with so many huge generation-spanning moments in the club's history having taken place under the Paradise lights – not least last month's history-making 5-1 Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava – the occasion feels worthy of a trip down memory lane. Maybe. Whose bright idea was this? 


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As per the indomitable Celtic Wiki, the friendly match that took place on October 12, 1959 to christen the new floodlights saw then English champions Wolverhampton overcome the home side 2-0, in front of ~40,000 officially reported fans.

From the goalkeeper forward, Celtic's XI was: Fallon, MacKay, Mochan, Smith, Evans, Peacock, Chalmers, McVittie, Lochhead, Divers and Auld; and it was the wife of chairman Robert Kelly who flicked the switch on the floodlights before the match.

"As each bank of floodlights was switched on a tremendous roar went up from the crowd, each level of brilliance being matched by increasing volume," reads an account on the Celtic Wiki. "This was a new experience for Celtic fans and they had waited a long time for the club to finally install the lights.

"Unfortunately the lights were to be the only thing that could be called brilliant as far as Celtic were concerned because they were no match for Wolves."

Fast forward 35 years, and these floodlights would still be in place in 1994 – right up until Celtic Park was renovated and turned into the all-seater stadium that exists today.

As per the header image above, Celtic's state of the art 'disco lights' were first rolled out in a UEFA Europa League tie with RB Salzburg at Celtic Park in December, 2018, adding a new dimension to the thrilling atmosphere at Paradise during European competition.