Playing for Celtic on Christmas Day? Unhappy families, nightmare dinner deadlines and going 7-0 up at half-time

A time for peace and goodwill to all men.

If you know you're history then Celtic supporters will be well aware that it was once a day for competitive football.

Christmas Day was an infrequent yet highly popular day for football to be played for more than 70 years.

In fact, it's 50 years ago today since the tradition of Christmas Day fixtures on the Scottish football calendar ended for Celtic.

It had a happy ending for the men from Glasgow's East End as Jock Stein's side triumphed 3-2 against Hearts in a festive five-goal thriller in front of an astonishing crowd of 34,000 inside Celtic Park.

READ MORE: How 'Three Kings' built Celtic, Liverpool and Manchester United - filmmaker Jonny Owen talks Jock Stein, Bill Shankly and Matt Busby

Between 1897 and 1971 Celtic played fifteen times in competitive matches on December 25th.

The club sports an incredible record on such occasions having won 13, drawn one and lost on a solitary occasion.

Celtic have also netted an incredible 58 goals on Christmas day and conceded a measly 13.

Indeed sides of yesteryear proved very good at dishing out dollops of Christmas cheer to their supporters.

The Celtic team were also "bah humbug and scrooge-like" when it came to losing on Christmas Day.

So what was it really like to play football when most of us are stuffed to the gills with pigs in blankets?

Lisbon Lion Jim Craig was involved in two Christmas Day fixtures with Celtic at Cappielow in 1965 when they defeated Morton 8-1 and against Hearts six years later.

Craig was on the substitutes bench for Celtic's last ever Christmas Day fixture when they defeated the Jambos.

The bumper crowd were in for a treat as both teams served up some great fare. Harry Hood opened the scoring in the first minute before the Edinburgh men equalised on the half-hour mark through Derek Renton.

Jimmy Johnstone put Celtic in front when he netted to make it 2-1 before Dixie Deans kept up his goal-a-game record by making it 3-1 to the hosts.

There was still time for James Brown to pull one nack for Hearts with 13 minutes to go but Celtic remained top of the table by a point from Aberdeen and seven ahead of third-placed Rangers.

Craig admits that he is glad the Christmas Day fixture has been consigned to history as it caused a lot of consternation in households up and down the country with many of the males leaving to attend the matches with women attending to children and cooking. It was indeed a very different time, with very different societal attitudes.

Craig said: "I was on the bench for the Hearts game on Christmas Day when we won 3-2.

"It really is incredible to think that 34,000 turned up for the 1971 game.

"There would have been no public transport and whilst there may have been taxis and supporters buses they were not as prevalent as they were today.

"I can only assume that many supporters would have walked to Celtic Park.

"I had only been married a couple of years and I had no children in 1971 so it was easier to cope with Christmas Day fixtures back then.

"Most of the guys would have been married with families and it must have been very difficult for them leaving their kids to play a football match.

"A lot of households would have been unhappy with their loved ones skiving off to the football and leaving the women to attend to the children, presents, cooking and all sorts.

"My wife Elizabeth wasn't very happy about the fact that I was having to play a football game but it was a tradition at that time that has since faded.

"New Year fixtures in football is the tradition that has continued.

"Christmas is a family time and it is the time of peace on earth and goodwill to all men but you don't get that at a football match!"

The 78-year-old also remembers vividly how six years previous a remarkable Christmas Day encounter saw Celtic pummel Greenock Morton 8-1 after being 7-0 up at half-time.

He insists that it was football business as usual for Celtic manager Jock Stein despite the time of the year.

Craig joked that he got into trouble with his mother for daring to be late for the traditional Christmas dinner at his grandma's house after busting a gut playing for Celtic.

Craig said: "Playing football for Celtic on Christmas Day was just something you accepted and never ever said anything about it.

"I was used to having to have a discussion with Jock Stein about most things but that was trivia so I wouldn't have bothered him with that.

"Jock's attitude was to always keep your eye on the game regardless of the time of the year.

"There would be jocularity around about the game beforehand but the football match itself was to be taken most seriously.

"Christmas Day 1965 was a special day for Celtic as we beat Morton 8-1.

"We were 7-0 up against Morton at Cappielow and 21,000 were packed into the ground that day which is an astonishing attendance if you ask me.

"That happens very seldom as teams never go 7-0 up at half-time but Celtic were that day.

"I was single at the time and living with my parents and before I left the house my mother said to me: "Listen, son, your grandma is making Christmas dinner and I want you there at 5 pm.

"I was playing for Celtic in a 3 pm kick-off in Greenock and my mother wanted me at my gran's house so soon after the final whistle.

"I arrived at my gran's house around 5:30 pm and what a glare I got from everybody."

Celtic reeled off an impressive run of three victories over the festive period in 1965 to overtake Rangers in the title race.

Stevie Chalmers would also net a hat-trick in the traditional New Year Derby in 1966 as Celtic hammered Rangers 5-1.

It was a feat that would not be equalled for 50 years until Celtic striker Moussa Dembele claimed a treble in a 5-1 Premiership victory for Brendan Rodgers men in September 2016.

Craig said: "It was an amazing time for Celtic as we beat Morton 8-1, then we beat Clyde 3-1 at Shawfield on New Years Day before demolishing Rangers 5-1 on January 3rd.

"Stevie Chalmers got a hat-trick and that record stood for 50 years until Moussa Dembele got a hat-trick against Rangers at Celtic Park in the league in September 2016.

"Back in 1966, that was a crucial game for Celtic as it put us ahead of Rangers in the league for the first time that season.

"Celtic treated Rangers as a team that we had to overcome to win things in order to be successful."

At least some traditions will never change in Scottish football.