Wednesday 10 June 2020 16:53, UK
It's May 22, and the last day of the 2004/05 Scottish Premier League season. For the second time in three years, Scotland's two biggest clubs - Celtic and Rangers - battle it out for the title on the final day of the season.
Leaders Celtic have one hand on the trophy, all they need to do is win at Motherwell. The Hoops have the league's top scorer John Hartson in their ranks, and the title-clinching victory seems a foregone conclusion for Martin O'Neill's side.
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Arch-rivals Rangers, who sat in second place, two points adrift of the leaders ahead of their final-day assignment at Hibernian, are the only side who can crash Celtic's party, and a helicopter is on hand to ferry the trophy to the victors.
What transpired was a thrilling piece of footballing theatre. With minutes left on the clock, and both teams leading 1-0, Scott McDonald scores for Motherwell, and the chopper - headed for Fir Park - is forced to make an abrupt U-turn.
McDonald then doubles his tally as Motherwell complete the most dramatic of upsets. Celtic hearts are broken: the title is lost, lost to Rangers...
Hartson had enjoyed a remarkable 2004/05 Scottish Premiership campaign with Celtic. He was named Football Writers' Player of the Year, joint Scottish PFA Player of the Year and his 30 goals saw him finish the campaign as the leading marksman for Celtic and in the division.
However, after events at Fir Park on the final day, personal acclaim were scant consolation for Hartson as the Scottish Premiership title slipped away…
"It was a great season for me on a personal note, but the way the season ended [overshadows that]," he recalls. "We had a great opportunity to beat Motherwell, we needed to win the game and we were 1-0 up with three or four minutes to go.
"I can remember the game vividly; Chris Sutton put us in front, and we had chances to win the game, we could have two or three up because we dominated the play. I came off, Martin O'Neill substituted me for Craig Beattie with a quarter of an hour remaining, the clock was ticking down.
"My father had travelled from south Wales with a few of his friends, and I was standing by the dugout having been brought off. We were 1-0 up, had about three quarters of the ground in support and I was wondering what end I would run to when the referee blew his final whistle.
"I couldn't quite see my dad, I didn't know where he was in the stadium, so I didn't know which way I was going to run. The trophy was coming and that would have been the third league title of my time at Celtic.
"Then, all of a sudden, McDonald scores an equaliser and we are chasing for a winner. Then there are rumblings in the crowd that Rangers have gone in front at Hibs, and then McDonald scores the winner for Motherwell.
"I can remember it going from the highest of highs, with Celtic fans cheering with their hands in the air expecting a trophy at the end of another fantastic season, to it all being taken away in the blink of an eye."
In Scotland's top division, the league splits in two after gameweek 33, with the top six and bottom six playing off against each other for the final five games.
Celtic's first game after the split in 2004/05 was against title rivals Rangers at Ibrox, and a 2-1 victory saw them open up a five-point gap at the top of the table. With just four games remaining, the title looked set to remain at Celtic Park…
"Five points clear with four games to go is still a position from which things can be lost, but we were in great form," Hartson explains.
"One or two of the team may have thought the job was done, but that would have been naive because the job is never done until you've physically got your hands on the trophy.
"It was a nice lead, especially after beating Rangers, who were desperate to beat us. Going five points clear was a big feather in or cap, it was a decent advantage, but I wouldn't go as far as saying we thought the title was won."
Now-Celtic captain Scott Brown scored for Hibs as they stunned the leaders in their next outing to throw the title race wide open. With three games to play, Celtic's lead was down to just two points…
"That should have been a wake-up call," Hartson adds. "Straight away we had to get back on it mentally and winning the rest of our games. It was in our hands, very much in our own hands.
"As they say, things are never over until the fat lady sings, and we just didn't perform at Motherwell that afternoon. We had a big opportunity to go and win another title, but we didn't get the goals and we didn't do it.
"The helicopter was swarming around. One minute it was above Motherwell, the next it was in Edinburgh and then it had turned around.
"McDonald have an unbelievable five minutes of fame at the end of the game but, ultimately, we just weren't good enough on the day.
"It was as upsetting as I have ever felt coming off a football pitch because we had it in our hands, and it was snatched off us in a matter of minutes. It was really difficult to take, the dressing room that day was near enough silent."
With a squad boasting the likes of Neil Lennon, Stiliyan Petrov, Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton, Craig Bellamy, Paul Lambert, Shaun Maloney, Aiden McGeady and Hartson - the leading goalscorer in Scotland that season - Celtic's failure to get over the line remains a mystery for Hartson…
"We should have won. Absolutely," he says. "I scored 30 goals, the most I'd scored in a season. I was on fire, scoring for fun.
"To this day I don't think we played badly, we just didn't score. Gordon Marshall in the Motherwell goal did his job and saved them a few times.
"There is no explanation for it. After the match it was the most subdued dressing room I have ever been in, we just got showered, got on the bus and sat there in disbelief.
"What made matters worse was that on the way back to Celtic Park, driving through certain parts of Glasgow we saw the Rangers celebrations. That made things hurt even more."
Fifteen years on, the disappointment still resonates with Hartson. It always will, it's the one that got away.
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