In February 1992, New Zealand’s All Whites celebrated a 1-0 win against Scottish giants Celtic in a game that prompted plenty of off-field controversy.
Chris Zoricich, then playing for English club Leyton Orient, scored the only goal of the game to give the All Whites a confidence boost as they prepared for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
But the match, played at Celtic Park in Glasgow, became mired in criticism for the way Celtic went about the match.
The story is told in detail in The Celtic Star by editor Craig Stephen.
Celtic agreed to meet the touring New Zealand side in a friendly but the club’s board tried to get it played behind closed doors, giving it a Tuesday afternoon kick-off.
Pressure from Celtic fans forced the club to open the game to spectators and 7,300 turned up, despite the 2pm weekday start.
The New Zealand Football Association were left out of pocket, The Celtic Star says.
They had sought an evening game and even with a reduced ticket price, the game could have generated revenue of about £70,000, with the visitors taking about £25,000 as their half share after expenses.
Instead, they got nothing.
Worse, Celtic expected the New Zealanders to pick up their own transport costs for getting from Glasgow Airport to the ground.
The New Zealand Soccer Express called Celtic ‘skinflints’.
“Celtic’s bizarre behaviour over the friendly with the All Whites hardly smacked of traditional Scottish hospitality,” the paper said.
As for the game, the All Whites had star striker Wynton Rufer — then with Werner Bremen — up front, Fortuna Sittard’s Fred de Jong and Rotherham’s Michael Ridenton.
Celtic’s line-up included star names such as Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino, future English Premier League manager Tony Mowbray and Scottish international Charlie Nicholas.
Celtic’s line-up also included a young midfielder, Mark Donaghy, who played in New Zealand for Porirua Viard United (later to merge into Western Suburbs) before signing with the Scottish club.
Donaghy’s appearance against New Zealand was the closest he came to securing a first-team spot and he has since become a well-known football agent.
Result
Game played on Tuesday February 4, 1992
Celtic 0
New Zealand 1 (Chris Zoricich 58′)
Line-ups
Celtic
Pat Bonner (Stewart Kerr 78′), Billy Dolan (Raymond McStay 46′), Mike Galloway, Peter Grant, Tony Mowbray, Barry Smith, Martin Hayes, Mark Donaghy, Tony Cascarino, Charlie Nicholas [c], (Gerry Britton 46′), Steve Fulton.
New Zealand
Clint Gosling, Garry Lund, Michael Ridenton, Rodger Gray, Chris Riley (Carl Jorgenson 74′, Robbie Ironside, Michael McGarry, Chris Zoricich, Fred de Jong, Vaughan Coveny, Wynton Rufer.
Subs not used: Thomas Edge, Jason New, Harry Ngata, Michael Utting.
Officials
Referee: B, McGinlay (Balfron), assistant referees: W.S.G Young (Clarkston) & J.G Pearson (Bearsden).
Match programme
A one-page sheet served as the match programme for the game:
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