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Season 2011/12 has to go down as one of the most interesting in Celtic’s history. The Hoops won the league title, but missed out on a domestic treble after two defeats at Hampden Park, and had their closest title rivals Rangers go into administration during the season.
The Bhoys also managed to turn around a 12-point gap between themselves and Rangers in the league table, going top of the league with a win over Rangers at Celtic Park in December 2011, a game which will be discussed here.
Celtic’s 0-0 draw with Hibernian in October 2011 saw the Bhoys fall 12 points behind the Ibrox side in the league table, and it looked as if the Hoops’ hopes of winning the league title were all but over.
However, following that draw Neil Lennon’s side went on a winning run, which coupled with some poor results for Rangers saw the gap at the top of the league table reduced to one point, and a win for the Bhoys would have seen them climb to first place.
The game was played in dreadful conditions, as a swirling wind meant that both sides found it difficult to create chances.
The only real chance of note came early on, when Lee Wallace’s header was saved onto the post by Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Georgios Samaras had a goal disallowed but that was about it when it came to first-half chances.
The Bhoys started the second-half brightly and James Forrest’s shot was saved, before Joe Ledley made the difference. The midfielder showed power and strength to head the ball into the back of the net to give the Hoops the lead.
YouTube: Ledley Goal v Rangers
Celtic were fairly comfortable after taking the lead, and the Hoops managed to see out the win to go top of the Premiership table with a 1-0 victory.
The game might not be as memorable as other Celtic wins over Rangers – like the 6-2 win in August 2020, for example – but it was huge in the context of the 11/12 season.
The Hoops didn’t look back after the win over Rangers, and stayed top of the league until the end of the season, winning what would be the first of nine consecutive league titles. The win could be seen as one which helped build the platform for the almost decade long success that Celtic have had.
The fact that only two months before the game Celtic trailed Rangers by 12 points in the league shows that the match deserves to be remembered, as the win over the Ibrox side was the culmination of a turnaround in form that not many people would have seen coming, and credit for that has to go to manager Neil Lennon, who inspired his side to go on a winning run.
As for Joe Ledley, the header is the goal that he will be most remembered for by Celtic fans.
It was a big goal in a big game, one that went a long way towards securing a first league title in four years, and it is a moment in time that Hoops fans and possibly Ledley himself will always remember.
