"THERE is something of a fairytale about this club."
Those words were famously said by the former Celtic manager, Lisbon Lion and legendary club skipper Billy McNeill.
They were uttered at Hampden in 1988 as the Hoops came from behind to beat Dundee United and secure the League and Scottish Cup double in their centenary year.
The phrase struck a chord with the faithful then. It still resonates to this day.
It just happened to come racing back into every Celtic's supporters psyche on Wednesday night in Dingwall.
There was a touch of the Roy of the Rovers comic book stuff as Anthony Ralston headed home a 97th-minute winner for 10-man Celtic against Ross County to ensure a priceless Scottish Premiership win.
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That was the modus operandi of McNeill's centenary side.
They were so adept at it that Billy Connolly once did a sketch inside the old Jungle at Paradise where he was talking to William McIlvanney, explaining the indomitable spirit that engulfed McNeill and his squad of players during that year.
Connolly jokingly said: "There were guys at Celtic Park that season saying 'settle down as there is still a minute-and-a-half to go. We'll still win this.'
"It is the manifestation of...don't let go."
There is nothing like the euphoria of an injury-time winning goal. There is nothing like the elation of an injury-time winning goal. There is nothing like the excitement of an injury-time winning goal.
It's a genuine rush for any football supporter.
A sort of adrenaline shot that lasts right through to the next day and sometimes the day after that.
Ironically Celtic have released a DVD in time for Christmas aptly named "Last Minute Heroes".
Sadly for Ralston, he will not have made the cut for this edition.
But his progress has been immense this season and that is reward enough. Twenty-nine matches, five goals, five assists and a Scotland debut as well as playing in a defence that has conceded the fewest amount of goals in the Premiership testifies to that.
That's why Ralston's goal will linger long in the memory of supporters just as though who are old enough to remember the centenary season still talk about Mark McGhee and Andy Walker's two goals in the last four minutes against Hearts in the 1988 Scottish Cup semi-final.
Or Frank McAvennie's last-minute winner against Dundee United in the 1988 Scottish Cup final, Joe Miller's last gasp counter against the same opposition at Tannadice on Boxing Day or Paul McStay's piledriver of an equaliser against Hearts at Celtic Park that rescued a precious point as the Hoops stormed back from 0-2 down.
The recurring theme here is that Celtic always seem to achieve such stunning triumphs and high moments in their history against all the odds.
McNeill was up against a Rangers team who were in the midst of their big-spending spree and Scottish football revolution under Graeme Souness.
Celtic's ragtag and bob-tail side was not supposed to waltz off with Scottish football's two biggest prizes - but they did.
Fast forward to the class of 2021-22 and Ange Postecoglou, similarly to McNeill, has cobbled together a team that is up against the current champions.
The Aussie must have arrived in a DeLorean because to all intents and purposes we really are going Back to the Future with this Celtic side.
Rather like the centenary team, the Postecoglou mantra of 'we don't stop' is well and truly in swing.
That was a victory that owed more to heart, character and desire and settling for nothing less than a win. Nobody embodied that more than Ralston.
Nobody wanted to head that ball into the net more than Ralston. He wanted it and he got it.
Ralston is the epitome and a fantastic example of how working hard can reap its own rewards.
"The stuff of dreams", the self-confessed Celtic fan said as he sprinted off to celebrate with his adoring public.
READ MORE: Tony Ralston's Celtic interview in full as hero admits last gasp goal was 'stuff of dreams'
Even the memes were quick on social media.
There was even a humorous festive one that said: "Every time Tony Ralston scores, an apprentice brickie gets a pay rise."
It's a cracking pastiche of the memorable line: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings."
It's a Wonderful Life indeed...if you are a Celtic supporter that is!
Because this team just keep playing until they scored a winner even with 10 men.
They may have been fuelled by a sense of injustice owing to Carl Starfelt's highly contestable sending off for two bookable offences.
Yet the Celtic players trusted their manager and trusted the process even when all hope seemed to evaporate and just as it looked like they were going to slip six points behind Rangers in the title race.
Even Owen Moffat who made his debut appearance got the memo. There was no have-a-go hero in him at the end as the clock ticked down.
Moffat's simple but effective square pass to skipper Callum McGregor cannot be underestimated.
McGregor's shunt to Tom Rogic and his twinkle-toes and cross which he dug out is utterly sublime.
It was the hallmark of a team as the Big Yin said: "Never giving up, never letting go."
Like McNeill's Celtic's side of 1988, the current crop just keeps rising to every challenge and meeting them head-on.
Ralston's goal in Dingwall may yet prove to be the catalyst for Postecoglou's men to go on to even greater glory this season.
If he needs any proof or convincing that his goal was significant then he only has to rewind back to 1988 and ask Messrs McGhee, Walker, McAvennie, Miller and McStay all about that particular feeling.
Celtic already have the League Cup final at Hampden Park on Sunday against Hibs to look forward to.
The Aussie's first silverware in the bag would be an ideal stocking filler for every supporter six days before Christmas.
"It feels amazing to score a last-minute winner," Ralston said after the game. "It's the first time for me so it's a pretty unique feeling."
A unique feeling for Ralston but certainly not for Celtic.
A fairytale? You better believe it.
Roy of the Rovers comic book hero stuff? The character does exist you know.
He just happens to have a new moniker these days: Ralston of the Celtic.
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