The Quadruple Treble Years: Ranked

The Quadruple Treble achievement seems a thing of the distant past as there has been so much change at the club since December 2020.

I remember watching on in my living room alongside my Dad as Kristoffer Ajer smashed the ball past former Celt Craig Gordon to create another piece of magical Celtic history.

This era of trebles has been absolutely sensational and I’m very fortunate that it occurred towards the end of my time at high school moving into university.

At the beginning of the journey, I remember the excitement at the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as Celtic manager in May 2016.

What would follow in the years ahead was remarkable as Celtic went on to win every domestic trophy available.

It’s a difficult task to try and rank each of these successes as they all have their own individual story attached.

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At the bottom of the list would be the most recent treble due to the fact we didn’t get to celebrate it properly. The League Cup final against Rangers when Jullien scored the winner was almost torturous at times but we managed to get it over the line.

With the league being curtailed due to outbreak of Covid across the world, we couldn’t meet up with friends and family to properly celebrate the achievement of winning the league or Scottish Cup which almost made the quadruple treble feel distant as a fan.

I’m sure had we been in Celtic Park or Hampden the grounds would be rocking but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

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Following on, is the Double Treble. For the first part of this season, Celtic were once again breaking records going 69 games unbeaten until a 4-0 drubbing at Tynecastle.

To do two trebles back-to-back was unthinkable for any Celtic supporter but once again we made history.

The reason why this treble is not ranked higher in the list is due to the position of strength which we found ourselves in at the time. We had a settled squad of players and a manager who was only just getting started. For the second season in a row we had also once again qualified for the Champions League which seen us drawn against PSG, Bayern Munich and Anderlecht.

Both cup finals against Motherwell were relatively comfortable but were great occasions defeating the Steelmen 2-0 on both instances.

The next two trebles were the most difficult to rank as they were both done under different circumstances.

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The runner up goes to the Treble Treble which was completed against Hearts on 25 May 2019. It had been a difficult month for the Celtic support as the club lost two of it’s greatest ever players in Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers

It was fitting that the treble was clinched on the 52nd anniversary of the Lisbon triumph with Celtic paying tribute to both men, having numbers 5 and 9 on the shorts. It was even more fitting that on the day, Celtic would go down 1-0 and would win the game late on.

Only months previous, Brendan Rodgers had departed the club for Leicester City with Neil Lennon being appointed in temporary charge less than 48 hours before a trip to Tynecastle.

It was a total whirlwind, and I must admit that the goal Odsonne Edouard scored before the whistle was blown for full time is right up there with one of the goals I’ve celebrated most. I couldn’t relax coming out the game however as already my mind was thinking about a trip back through to the capital on Saturday to take on Hibs at Easter Road which was a venue which hadn’t been too kind in recent times.

We went there and scored two terrific goals from Scott Brown and James Forrest which put us into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

Our performances in the league that season had by no means been exemplary but to lose your manager in late February could have really rocked the boat which is why this achievement ranks so highly.

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At the very top of the pile is the first treble I can remember. It had been 16 years since Celtic had last won a domestic treble under Martin O’Neill in his maiden season.

We entered season 2016/17 champions of Scotland for the fifth time in a row but had not qualified for the Champions League for two years.

The club needed a big appointment which we got in the form of Brendan Rodgers. At times, the football was utterly breathtaking with the standout results being the two 5-1 victories against Rangers at Celtic Park and Ibrox.

A very accomplished performance against Aberdeen in the League Cup final sealed the first trophy of the season with a 3-0 victory.

We continued to steamroll teams and finished the season as ‘Invincibles.’ A truly remarkable achievement.

The game which stands out above the rest was the Scottish Cup final that season. It coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions with there being numerous events held over the course of the weekend. As fans we became naturally more nervous when Jonny Hayes struck first to give the Dons an early lead. 

It wasn’t long before Stuart Armstrong got a sharp reply and put us level. As the game continued to wear on, it was the Reds who had the better of the chances.

However, just as it looked as though the game might be headed to extra-time up poppued Tom Rogic with his typical mazy run. He glided past a sea of red shirts and expertly put the ball into the back of net past Joe Lewis to send the Celtic faithful crazy.

As the great Frank Sinatra once sung, ‘They can’t take that away from me.’