A good story for 23rd December. Many years ago on Saturday 23rd December 1916, a football match was planned between Blantyre Vics and Croy Celtic.

However, following a spell of rain during that wartime weekend, Blantyre Vics took the decision that morning to cancel the game on account of the playing field at Castle Park being water logged.

A telegram was wired to Croy, but when it was received, it was found the team had already left for Blantyre. With no way on contacting them en route, the entire Croy team and many of their support found themselves standing in Castle Park with no opposing team to play against!

This was 2 days before Christmas, also a time when holidays and free time were scarce. Needless to say, Croy Celtic were pretty vocal when they realised nobody was there to meet them!

More Info: According to wikipedia, “Despite the small scale of the village, Croy has a series of remarkable high-profile links with Scottish football team, Celtic. At one stage there was a junior (non-league) football team in the village, known as Croy Celtic. The village had a pub named The Celtic Tavern and in the late 1990’s it featured prominently in matchday programmes. The village is almost exclusively populated with Celtic supporters and has a large Supporters Club (Croy CSC)”

Pictured is the Village of Croy, looking along the line of the Antonine Wall, North Lanarkshire.