Sports Poets Society

Dundee’s historic home victory over stuttering champions delivers big boost to Mcinnes’ league leaders ahead of Sunday’s Tynecastle showdown 20 Oct 2025 - The Scotsman Matthew Elder at Dens Park It had been 37 long years since Dundee last beat Celtic at home and – after this history-making 2-0 victory – that might not be the only long-standing Scottish football record that tumbles this season. Not since Aberdeen in 1985 has a team outside the Old Firm lifted the top flight title but the eyes of Derek Mcinnes will have been lighting up as events unfolded at Dens Park yesterday. His high-flying Hearts side – confidence soaring after an impressive 3-0 win at Kilmarnock on Saturday – will host the stuttering champions at Tynecastle next weekend knowing that a victory will send them eight points clear at the top of the table. While it is still early in the season, it feels like there may never be a better chance for a seismic changing of the guard within Scottish football than now. While it...

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers at full-time  after  his side’s 2-0 defeat to Dundee at Dens Park "I’ll always look at myself first and  analyse myself and where I can be better"    - Brendan Rodgers 20 Oct 2025 - The Scotsman Matthew Elder - matthew.elder@scotsman.com Brendan Rodgers has accepted that the spotlight will fall on him after Celtic lost at Dens Park for the first time in 37 years to fall five points behind Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Yesterday’s match was delayed by several minutes as Celtic fans continued their ongoing protest against the board by throwing dozens of balls onto the pitch straight after kick-off, but the boos were directed towards Rodgers and his players at fulltime after a Clark Robertson header and a Cameron Carter-vickers own goal handed Dundee a 2-0 win and first home victory over the Hoops since September 1988. Celtic now face two crucial upcoming fixtures with Sturm Graz next up in the Europa League at Parkhead...

Lisbon Lion John Fallon pictured in 2019 when  he  was reunited with his European Cup winners’ medal 14 - The number of years John Fallon played for Celtic 23 Jul 2025 - The Scotsman Matthew Elder matthew.elder@scotsman.com Former Celtic goalkeeper and Lisbon Lion, John Fallon, has died at the age of 84.  Fallon joined Celtic in 1958 and made almost 200 appearancesfor the club over a 14- year period . An unsung member of the squad which defeated Inter Milan in the 1967 European Cup final , Fallon was an unused substitute during the historic 2-1 victory over the Italian side. Though he was the only member of the squad not to take to the field in Lisbon’ se stádio Nacional, he was given a medal by the late Billy McNeill at a post-match dinner. But what should have been a keepsake for Fallon and his family was taken away from him in controversial circumstances. According to his autobiography, published in 2015, the club’s manager, Jock Stein, asked for his medal back. Fall...