Many will be nostalgic for previous trips to the theater of dreams as they head to Manchester to see a legends side take on their Man Utd counterparts in a legends charity clash at Old Trafford. The Mark Hughes Testimonial was a memorable trip to Old Trafford in May 1994 and a rare Celtic triumph as “trialist” Chic Charnley reveled in wearing the Hoops.
One that comes to mind is a trip across the border in May of 1994. Under the direction of Lou Macari, a former Manchester United and Celtic player, Celtic traveled to the English double champions as part of Mark Hughes’ testimonial.
Of course, at the time, Celtic was, to put it gently, a club going through a transformation. It had not been long since Fergus McCann took over, and we were still suffering from a turbulent period that had seen us verge on bankruptcy. That did not occur because of the late, great John Keane’s intervention.
We were significantly poorer than the English powerhouses, who were only beginning a period of dominance under Alex Ferguson, player for player. Even though United had just defeated Chelsea 4-0 to win the FA Cup two days earlier, they still had a respectable team and would still be a tough opponent.
The starting lineup included players like Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, former Celtic Brian McClair, Steve Schmeichel, and the man of the moment, Mark Hughes, with the gifted Eric Cantona sitting on the bench.
While we had individuals such as Willie Falconer, Mark McNally, and Carl Muggleton. In addition, our best player Paul McStay was not in the starting lineup, but we still had the amazing John Collins in the middle of the park and Chic Charnley, a “trialist.” a well-known figure in Scottish football, a bit of a renegade, but a gifted athlete and ardent Celtic fan.
We also had 19-year-old Simon Donnelly, who was well-liked and made a big splash at the end of the season.
United was probably only winding down from a challenging but successful campaign when Celtic took the game to them, but this was a huge moment for the players and fans of Celtic.
Aiming for a new long-term contract, Simon Donnelly went all out and scored two goals in an amazing comeback triumph (3–1). Willie Falconer scores our other goal.
Chic In a hoops shirt, Charnley put on the show and relished every second of his ideal moment. At one point, he stopped the brilliant Eric Cantona from nutmegging him and grabbed the ball from the flamboyant Frenchman to get past him. Charnley would probably always treasure this occasion, even if it would turn out to be his one and only time wearing a Celtic shirt.
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