The Empire Exhibition Tournament was played in the pre-war summer of 1938 to mark the Empire Exhibition being held in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. Eight teams took part in the tournament held at Ibrox - Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Rangers represented Scotland and Brentford, Chelsea, Everton and Sunderland (Champions of England) for England.

Celtic played Sunderland in the first round and won a replay 3-1 after a 0-0 draw in the first match. Hearts were disposed of in the semi-final 1-0 through a Johnny Crum goal. Everton, destined to win the English championship in the following season, were Celtic's opponents in the final. They had beaten Rangers 2-0 and Aberdeen 3-2 to advance to the final and were the favourites to triumph. Once again, Johnny Crum scored the vital goal 5 minutes into extra time and Celtic won the match and the tournament.

Quarter Finals - 25th May

Celtic 0-0 Sunderland (53,976)
Aberdeen 4-1 Chelsea
Everton 2-0 Rangers (47,692)
Hearts 1-0 Brentford

Quarter Finals - Replay 26th May

Celtic 3-1 Sunderland

Semi-finals

Everton 3-2 Aberdeen
Celtic 1-0 Hearts

Final -10th June

Everton 0-1 Celtic (82,000)

Celtic FC: Kennaway, Hogg, Morrison, Geatons, Lyon, Paterson, Delaney, MacDonald, Crum, Divers, Murphy.
Everton FC: Sagar, Cook, Greenhalgh, Mercer, Jones, Thomson, Geldard, Cunliffe, Lawton, Stevenson, Boyes.

 

The Empire Exhibition Trophy and programme from the final between
Celtic and Everton