On this day in 1993 – Frank Connor leads Celtic to an unlikely win at Ibrox

On this day 33 years ago Celtic headed to Ibrox and were seen by most as the proverbial lambs to the slaughter, but pulled off a major shock to give the large travelling support in the free Broomloan a day to remember in an era of great uncertainty…

Going into the game the Hoops had only managed to win one solitary domestic game in the month of October, and that was a slender 2-1 home win over Dundee.

The side however were unbeaten during the guidance of caretaker manager Frank Connor who had taken the reins after the resignation of Liam Brady just three weeks earlier, those being the aforementioned win against Dundee, an away draw at Hibs, and an impressive home win over Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA cup second round first leg.

Connor had made way for new permanent manager Lou Macari who’s first task as Celtic manager was to lead the side into battle in the cauldron of Ibrox, but he allowed the stepping aside Connor to pick and prepare the side for the Derby showdown.

Despite a decent display by the Hoops, it was the Ibrox side who opened the scoring in the 67th minute thanks to an Ally McCoist goal, with what many believed to be the winning goal.

Celtic had other ideas though, and just three minutes later Ibrox goalkeeper Ally Maxwell blundered by failing to keep hold of a routine ball and John Collins made no mistake as he stroked the ball into the back of the net to level the game much to the delight of the packed Broomloan Road stand.

Collins goal had looked likely to earn the hoops a hard earned and well deserved point, however deep into injury time that man Collins swung in a terrific corner and Maxwell in the Rangers goal yet again looked unconvincing as Hoops substitute Brian O’Neil who had only entered proceedings as an 88th minute substitute for Charlie Nicholas, headed home from close range to send the Celtic supporters in the Broomloan stand just directly behind the goals into a state of euphoria.

The final whistle sounded seconds later, allowing the Celtic players and supporters to celebrate a Derby victory behind enemy lines, one that even the most optimistic of Celtic fans would never ever have visualised.

What a delightful, if unexpected, Celtic victory at Ibrox.