Celtic 3-2 Rangers – Scottish Cup Final, 1904 – Jimmy Quinn our hat-trick hero

The Celtic Star

·16 gennaio 2025

Celtic 3-2 Rangers – Scottish Cup Final, 1904 – Jimmy Quinn our hat-trick hero

Celtic face Kilmarnock on Saturday, as the Bhoys begin their defence of the Scottish Cup. Of all the Scottish Cups that Celtic have won, arguably none was more historically significant than the 1904 final…

Scottish Cup Final, 1904. Celtic 3-2 Rangers, 16 April 1904. Hampden Park Photo The Celtic Wiki.

As well as being a very dramatic game, it also involved a series of club firsts, with legacies that continue even to the modern day.

OneFootball Video

Season 1903-04 was an otherwise unsuccessful one for the Bhoys. They finished third in the title race, as well as falling to defeat in the Glasgow Cup and Charity Cup.

The season had started with one major change. Celtic’s history had involved different strips. The Bhoys first wore a white top before soon moving to a green-and-white striped jersey. But then for some unknown reason in August 1903, they decided to change, moving to the now world famous green-and-white hoops – or horizontal stripes as they were then described.

Cowardly Stanley

Celtic’s run to that season’s Scottish Cup Final had not been a conventional one. In the first round, they had been drawn to face Stanley, a small team from Perthshire. The match should have taken place in Glasgow but the visitors – fearing a large defeat – instead withdrew “for a consideration.” Celtic were in round two without even kicking a ball.

St Bernard’s beaten

The second round involved a journey and also a game this time. In February 1904, Celtic went to Edinburgh to play St Bernard’s. It proved to be an easy 4-0 victory for the Glasgow team.

For Round Three, Celtic faced a much tougher challenge. In February 1904, Dundee came to Parkhead; they had been league runners-up in the previous season so were formidable opponents. The Dens men showed their pedigree as Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw, necessitating a replay. Later that month, Celtic went to Dens Park, and this time there were no goals for either team.

Second reply thrashing for Dundee

In those days, extra time or penalties were not used and so this meant another trip to Celtic Park for a second replay. In March 1904, the Bhoys this time made no mistake as they hammered the visitors 5-0, to book a place in the semi-final against Third Lanark.

Semi-final fightback against Third Lanark

Another huge crowd of 40,000 came to Celtic Park for this. And for a long time, it looked as though the majority of fans would leave disappointed. Third Lanark took an early lead and it wasn’t until there were 15 minutes remaining that Celtic got an equaliser from Bobby Muir. Shortly afterwards, Jimmy Quinn scored the final goal of the match to give the Celts a victory.

Standing in front of Celtic and the Scottish Cup stood their old rivals, Rangers. The Ibrox men had been beaten both of Edinburgh’s big two teams – Hearts and Hibs – as well as overcoming St Mirren and Morton to reach the final.

A notable piece of Scottish football history

When that fixture came, it was a notable piece of Scottish football history.

There have been three grounds with the name Hampden Park, all of which Queen’s Park have called home. The third of these grounds – the modern day location – opened in 1903. In fact, Celtic were the first visitors to this ground. On Halloween 1903, the Celts had a scary Glasgow derby when they lost 1-0 to Queen’s Park in a league game that marked Hampden’s official opening.

First Scottish Cup Final at the current Hampden Park

Nowadays, the Scottish Cup Final almost always takes place at Hampden. However, the 1904 match was notable as the first occasion that the final took place at this ground.

In advance of this, many discussions took place about the relationship that existed between Celtic and Rangers. Although there were some disagreements and tensions, the sectarian divide between the two was not yet fully evident. In fact, it was widely believed that both clubs played up any rivalry as a business tool, thinking that this would attract more fans and make extra money.

Scottish Cup Final, 1904. Celtic 3-2 Rangers, 16 April 1904. Hampden Park Photo The Celtic Wiki.

The Old Firm

This was so much the case that one popular sports magazine, The Scottish Referee printed a cartoon ahead of the final which proclaimed ‘Patronise the Old Firm’, referring to Celtic and Rangers’ relationship.

Of course, this title would stick and be used for decades afterwards, including even today by some people who have fooled themselves into believing the events of 2012 did not happen and that theRangers are somehow the same one as the club that died disgracefully.

Scottish Cup Final, 1904. Celtic 3-2 Rangers, 16 April 1904. Hampden Park Photo The Celtic Wiki.

65,000 at the 1904 Scottish Cup Final

Eventually came the day of the final – 16 April 1904 – and fan excitement was significant. 40 turnstiles were open and almost 65,000 turned out to watch this maiden Hampden final; this was a then record crowd for such a fixture.

Finlay Speedie scored twice to put Rangers 2-0 up

At first, it seemed likely that only those people cheering the team in blue would have any cause to celebrate. Finlay Speedie of Rangers put his side two goals in front, and they now seemed to have one hand on the trophy.

Finlay Speedie is actually interesting as an example of Celtic and Rangers’ positive links. In 1906, he was granted a testimonial by Rangers, and it was Celtic who provided the opposition for this game, which was not an unusual occurrence in those days.

The strange Celtic story of Rangers keeper Tom Sinclair

Tom Sinclair, the Celtic goalkeeper on loan from Rangers with a remarkable clean-sheet record for Celtic in 1906. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Even stranger was that Celtic’s goalkeeper Davie Adams was injured in the benefit game – and so Rangers loaned goalkeeper Tom Sinclair to Celtic until Adams had recovered!

Back in the 1904 final, things looked grim for Celtic, until one man stepped up to firmly etch his name into club legend.

Jimmy Quinn

Jimmy Quinn, image by Celtic Curio

Jimmy Quinn was a very popular forward for the club, although also a very shy man who Willie Maley had struggled at first to persuade to sign for the Celts. Quinn was always already a renowned forward who had scored vital Celtic goals, but this final was to be his crowning achievement.

Quinn’s double made it 2-2 at the break

The Croy man grabbed a goal to halve Rangers’ advantage and by half-time had equalised for the Celts, meaning the scoreline at the break was 2-2.

Incredibly, Quinn had come close to not even playing. Celtic’s Alec Bennett was due to play in the match – but it was believed he was going to sign for Rangers so the club instead decided on Quinn.

When the second half got underway, it was all to play for. But Quinn was not finished with his contribution to the match. Celtic this time dominated from kick-off, and eventually took the lead. Once more the goalscorer was – of course – Jimmy Quinn, completing his hat-trick for the day.

Scottish Cup Final, 1904. Celtic 3-2 Rangers, 16 April 1904. Hampden Park Photo The Celtic Wiki.

Celtic’s first ever Scottish Cup Final hat-trick

This was Celtic’s first ever Scottish Cup Final hat-trick. In fact, only one other Celt has done this since, Dixie Deans getting three in the 1972 Scottish Final as Celtic beat Hibs 6-1.

Jimmy Quinn’s hat-trick had turned the 1904 final on its head. Celtic had come from two goals down to lead. Despite Rangers pressure, there were no further goals in the game, meaning the Celts had won their fourth Scottish Cup.

This was another notable historic moment as it was the first trophy won by the Celts whilst wearing the Hoops, something that has of course been repeated on multiple occasions since that day. Fans and players celebrated long into the night to mark the achievement.

A European Tour to Austria and Bohemia

And in fact, before the season had been fully completed, there was another piece of Celtic history. The club went on their first European tour, travelling to play games in Austria and Bohemia.

Some games are more significant than just the 90 minutes of effort and exertion. The 1904 Scottish Cup Final is one such example. It was full of Celtic and Scottish firsts, including the first Hampden final, first Celtic Scottish Cup Final hat-trick and the first trophy in the hoops.

The final “will be long remembered”

One post-match newspaper report said the final “will be long remembered.” To say the least, that’s very true and it still stands out as one of the Bhoys’ greatest days.

Matthew Marr

Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory

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Matthew Marr with his debut Celtic book, Glory to their name, which tells the story of Celtic’s first ever title win. Photo The Celtic Star

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