Can You Feel The Fours?

James Forrest made a little bit of history in Sundays game by netting four goals

JAMES Forrest’s first-half four-goal haul in Sunday’s 6-0 win over St Johnstone was a timely reminder that these goals bursts don’t happen very often.

Indeed, it’s the first time in 62 years that a Celtic player has scored four goals in the first-half of a match, with John Higgins the last to do so in 1956.

Here we take a look at some other four-goal scoring achievements from Celtic’s history down through the decades.

THE FIRST FOUR

Clyde (H) Scottish Cup round five December 8, 1888 Willie Groves

The first recorded instance of a Celt netting four goals in one game was in the club’s very first season as the Bhoys took part in the Scottish Cup of 1888/89. The Celts kicked off with a 5-1 win over Shettleston, but the scorers from that game weren’t recorded for posterity. In the next round, an 8-0 win over Cowlairs saw Mick Dunbar become the first Celt to net a hat-trick in a competitive game. It was two games later, though, against Clyde at Celtic Park that Willie Groves battered in four in a 9-2 win in front of 8,000 fans with Tom Maley netting a hat-trick and the other goals coming from Jimmy McLaren and Neilly McCallum. With 10 goals scored in Celtic’s eight Scottish Cup games that term, Groves was the club’s first ever top scorer for a season.

THE FIRST LEAGUE QUADRUPLE

Abercorn (A) October 25, 1890 Peter Dowds