“This was tenfold” – Alan Thompson recalls moment at Celtic that was worse than losing UEFA Cup Final

I remember the time that Celtic lost the league on the last day of the season.

Helicopter Sunday, as it was known, was a crushing day in the hearts of all Celtic fans.

It was a season full of ups and downs and incredible football under the then boss Martin O’Neill.  O’Neill took the Hoops to their first European final since 1970 that season, and hopes were high that they could bag the league title and the UEFA Cup in what would be seen as the most successful season since 1967.

But it wasn’t to be. Scott McDonald broke the Hoops hearts with two late goals at Fir Park handing the title to our biggest rivals and Jose Mourinho’s, Porto, took Celtic to extra time where a Derlei goal meant that the UEFA Cup was heading back to Portugal.

But it was the announcement that Martin O’Neill made telling the players he was leaving the club that topped off such a painful end to the domestic season.

Speaking in his book, Geordie Bhoy, [serialised by The Sun], former Celtic midfielder Alan Thompson, recalls when O’Neill told the players he would be leaving the club, “Back at Easter Road, Marvin Andrews said God was behind us losing the league in the last two minutes.

“I don’t know what God was playing at if that was true.

“It was stake through the heart of all of us on that pitch at Fir Park.

“I’m still heartbroken about it and it brings a bad feeling to my stomach.

“Now, 16 years on, I still can’t describe the feeling. If we thought losing in Seville and losing the league on the last day in 2003 was bad, this was tenfold.

“Martin O’Neill said after the game, ‘Listen lads, the cup final next week is going to be my last game.’“