Late Eighties Decline – Celtic v Werder Bremen, 1988

At the virtually same time, the exhibition of Celtic memorabilia at the People’s Palace in Glasgow attracted around 200,000 visitors during its run. Celtic fans could also enjoy the club’s floral display at the Glasgow Garden Festival, with Celtic the only football club represented.

The performances of the Republic of Ireland in the Finals of the 1988 Euros which were being held in West Germany were also a source of great joy for most Celtic supporters. Ireland, making their first appearance in the finals of a major competition, had Celtic’s Pat Bonner, Chris Morris and Mick McCarthy in the team for all three matches.

Most Celtic fans had a natural affinity towards Ireland and were only too happy to give them their support. The feeling was mutual, with one of the most striking sights at every Ireland match being the huge number of Irish fans wearing Celtic’s green and white hoops. Ireland performed extremely well, defeating England 1-0, drawing 1-1 with the Soviet Union and narrowly losing 0-1 to the eventual winners, the Netherlands.

In August 1988, the new season was therefore anticipated with a sense of buoyant optimism. Celtic had been unbeaten for most of the previous season and, at long last, appeared to have finally sorted out their long-standing defensive frailties. The success had been underpinned by an incredible team spirit, shown by the number of decisive goals scored in the final minutes of crucial matches. Surely, Celtic could enjoy continued domestic success in the new season and perhaps even make a long-overdue impact in Europe?

Incredibly, and completely unexpectedly, Celtic made an abysmal start to the season, with five defeats in the first nine league matches. One of these was a disastrous 1-5 loss at Ibrox on 27 August.

As David Potter described it in Celtic in the Eighties: “There were no bad luck stories about this one. We were lucky to get off with five.” New goalkeeper Ian “Eamonn” Andrews had a nightmare, as did his entire back four. Paul McStay and the midfield were barely seen in the match, whilst the indomitable team spirit of only three months before was embarrassingly absent.

In the League Cup, a 7-2 win over Hamilton was followed by a 0-2 defeat to Dundee United which saw Celtic eliminated from the tournament.

The European Cup, anticipated with great excitement only weeks earlier, was now an additional source of anxiety. Celtic met Honved of Budapest in the first round. The Hungarian club had been highly successful in the 1950s, winning the league five times, but had never made much impression on the European stage.

In the first leg, Celtic went down to a 0-1 defeat in Budapest. The goal was thanks to another blunder by goalkeeper Andrews, who somehow managed to let a 30-yard free kick from Fodor slip under his body at his left-hand post. Honved went on to create several more chances for their main strikers Kovas and Gregor but, luckily for Celtic, none of these were taken. Celtic were dreadful and created only one chance in the entire match.

Before the return game in Glasgow, Celtic’s inconsistent form continued, losing three of their four matches. None of these results inspired any confidence for the second leg. However, Celtic chose the European match to turn in one of their best performances of that season so far. Roared on from the start by a crowd of 42,763, Celtic launched into attack and scored after only 14 minutes. A header from McCarthy across the goal was nodded over the line, being claimed by both Stark and McAvennie.

The tie was now level on aggregate. Celtic continued to pile on the pressure and became frustrated before scoring their second in 73 minutes. A high free kick into the penalty area was cleverly nodded down by Aitken to Walker, who finished with a fine left footed volley.

The job was not over yet, as a goal from Honved would see them through on away goals. However, all the momentum was with Celtic and six minutes later McAvennie scored with a superb lob over the goalkeeper. Mark McGhee’s goal in 89 minutes completed the rout.

For the second year in succession, Celtic were drawn against West German opposition, this time in the second round and against Werder Bremen. The first leg was in Glasgow and Celtic managed to win their three league games before facing the Germans. Like Celtic, Werder play in green and white so for the first leg they wore an all-red outfit. They were known for being a strong, talented side, well-organised in defence.

Before the match, Billy McNeill had asked his players to give the fans the fire and the passion which had won the Double. If they did that, he claimed, the Germans would not be able to withstand it. The team responded positively, and for the first 15 minutes launched a series of frenetic charges but without creating any clear-cut chances. Werder weathered the storm and settled into their own game and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. Celtic’s performance was high on energy but lacking in any real creativity.

Celtic started the second half attacking greater control and discipline than they had shown in the first half. Despite this more cautious approach, Bremen scored the decisive goal in 58 minutes, again as Celtic had been pressing forward. A long diagonal pass across the field from the left found Wolter in plenty of space. He ran through on goal and scored with a fierce shot past Bonner.

This suited the Germans perfectly. “Bremen entrenched comfortably to protect their lead” is how The Times put it and, in truth, Celtic never looked like scoring despite piling on further pressure. The closest Celtic came to scoring was when McGhee crossed a low ball into the box which McAvennie flicked intuitively against the post.

The match ended in a 0-1 defeat for Celtic and, as Archie MacPherson said in his TV commentary of the game, the Germans “looked quite invulnerable and impregnable in their lead”.

Celtic’s domestic form before the return match in Bremen continued to be erratic. A 2-3 loss at home to Dundee was followed by a 2-2 draw at Pittodrie and then an 8-0 victory over Hamilton.

Over the years, many adjectives have been used to describe German football sides, both at club and international level. Professional, disciplined, organised and methodical are among the most common of these.  All of these were used to describe Werder’s performance in the second leg, along with a few others like cynical and pragmatic.

Knowing that the one goal lead from the first leg was already enough to see them qualify, Werder opted for a safety-first approach. Although the Germans were “able to manufacture menace at will” (Roddy Forsyth, The Times), they opted instead to contain Celtic with spoiling tactics, heavy challenges, play-acting and time-wasting. They were assisted on the night by an inconsistent Italian referee whose control of the game was weak and who allowed Werder’s cynicism to go unpunished.

None of this is an excuse for Celtic’s failure to score, nor for their failure to create many clear chances. The two best efforts came late in the second half, when McGhee came close with a long shot which dipped just over the bar, and then McStay had a powerful close-range shot saved by the goalkeeper.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw, with Celtic the better side on the night but lacking the invention the seriously trouble the Germans: “Celtic lacked the guile necessary to overcome opponents who last night sacrificed the skills displayed in Scotland for a cynical performance of time-wasting”, reported Roddy Forsyth in The Times.

In short, Celtic had played bravely in both matches but again simply lacked the quality to win against a side of Bremen’s calibre. Tom Campbell and Pat Woods were even more blunt in their assessment in Dreams and Songs to Sing: “Only those with eyes closed to the reality of the modern game could fail to see that more and more Celtic were losing touch with those heady days when they could compete regularly with the very best in football’s most testing arena”.

Werder would go on to be eliminated in the quarter finals by eventual winners, AC Milan, with only a Marco van Basten penalty separating the sides over the two legs. As for Celtic, season 1988/89 would continue to be a roller coaster ride, ending on a high with a 1-0 victory over Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final. It would prove to be Celtic’s last domestic trophy for SIX years.

As for Europe, Celtic’s decline was about to enter its terminal phase…

James McDevitt

And a quick reminder…

It’s the last few days of the Half Price January sale at Celtic Star Books. Every book ordered is now just £10 and p&p is only charged on the first book at £4.50. So ordering three books will cost a total of £34.50 and given you a £30 saving. Order at celticstarbooks.com/shop

All Books Now Half Price in the Celtic Star Books January Sale…

Please note that p&p is priced at £4.50 is only charged on ONE book so you can buy as many of our books as you like and the postage cost will remain the same. Why not expand your Celtic library today?