With the Double sealed by our current Celtic heroes on Saturday, it was the turn of Legends of the past to round off the season in style, as they defeated a Borussia Dortmund Legends side 4-2 in Celtic FC Foundation’s charity match, sponsored by Dafabet.
Thanks to the wonderful backing of the Celtic support, over 30,000 were in attendance at Celtic Park, helping to raise a magnificent net total in excess of £200K.
Paul Lambert, Tom Boyd and Tosh McKinlay took charge of the Celts from the dugout and Scott Brown was back to skipper the side, which also featured Artur Boruc, Michael McGovern, Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Darren O’Dea, Stephen McManus, Charlie Mulgrew, Efe Ambrose, Stiliyan Petrov, Joe Ledley, Barry Robson, Simon Donnelly, Shaun Maloney, Gary Hooper, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras.
Ahead of kick-off, Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers and James Forrest were welcomed to the acclaim of Paradise, as they paraded the SPFL trophy and the Scottish Cup.
The Legends squads then took to the pitch to a chorus of the iconic ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, an anthem synonymous with both clubs.
And it was a man who has also famously donned the green and white and the yellow and black, Murdo MacLeod, who took to the park to kick us off.
The Hoops forwards were on fire in the first half, as Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper rolled back the years to give the Bhoys a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.
David Odonkor pulled one back for Borussia Dortmund but a typically clinical Gary Hooper finish saw them restore a two-goal lead before half-time.
Paul Lambert came on for the visitors after the break, as the Celts dominated the early stages of the second half.
Dortmund reduced the deficit late on thanks to Kuba Blaszczykowski, but the Celts went up the other end almost immediately, with Charlie Mulgrew grabbing the final goal to end the game 4-2 and send supporters home happy.
Funds raised through the match will focus on feeding people in need of support, to reflect the heritage of the Club and respond to the current cost of living crisis, which is overwhelming so many families and individuals.
This will include continuation and development of Celtic FC Foundation’s Paradise Pit Stop project at Celtic Park.
In addition, we will look to secure new locations for food provision with local partners in Inverclyde and Lanarkshire, plus London and Ireland to complement our current delivery of key projects in those areas.
With Scott Brown having captained the side, we’re delighted to confirm that a donation of £25K will be made to Dundee Cancer Centre at Ninewells Hospital, in memory of his sister Fiona, who sadly passed away in 2008 aged just 21.
And a donation of €9,009 has also been made to support the work of the BVB Foundation.
Celtic FC Foundation would like to thank all of the Legends who participated, our opponents Borussia Dortmund, our match sponsor Dafabet, Brendan Rodgers, James Forrest, Murdo MacLeod, our colleagues at Celtic Football Club, all of those who have contributed or donated and each and every supporter who purchased a ticket.
Tony Hamilton, Foundation Chief Executive said: “Sunday’s Legends match was a massive success, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone behind the scenes who made this event happen.
“We’re also enormously thankful to all the ex-Celts who played a part, and our friends from Germany, Borussia Dortmund.
“The Celtic support turned out in great numbers, as they always do, to get behind the match, and thanks to their outstanding generosity, we can now push ahead with our plans to help even more people in our communities.”
For those who couldn’t make the match today, you can still offer your support by making a donation online HERE or by texting ‘CELTIC’ followed by ‘£1’, ‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70085*
*Texts will cost the donation amount, plus one standard rate message.
