Twenty-five years ago to the very day, April 7, 2001, Tommy Johnson's solitary strike against St Mirren sealed Martin O'Neill's first league title as Celtic manager.
It was a defining moment and one that ushered in a golden era under O'Neill.
And now, a quarter of a century later, he's on the cusp of once again repeating that feat.
With just six league games remaining, Celtic find themselves in the thick of a title race that feels as much about belief and determination as it does about performances and pretty football.
But if you ask any fan in the race who they'd rather have at the helm between Martin O'Neill, Derek McInnes and Danny Rohl, then there's only one credible answer.
Many have asked where Celtic would be this season without all of our late winners, or without the 19 goals that Benjamin Nygren has scored
Both very valid questions.
But the real question is – where would we be without Martin O'Neill?
A man – now at the age of 74 – who has stepped in not once, but twice to answer the call when Celtic needed him most.
And let's be clear, this isn't a move that he had to make at all.
This isn't a job Martin O'Neill absolutely needed, and he was perfectly happy in semi-retirement, whiling away the days making various media appearances, featuring on the after-dinner circuit, chairing the League Managers Association and taking in the odd game here and there.
Following a lifetime in the game, he had nothing left to prove.
But it's a move he made for two reasons.
Firstly, because he still has that hunger, that fire in his belly, that will to win – after all these years. That desire has never gone away.
And secondly, because he believed he could make a difference. Because he backs himself. And always has done since first landing in Glasgow back in the summer of 2000.
And of course, it's not all been plain sailing since his return, far from it.
There has been some choppy waters to navigate, and while there's been some big highs in there – putting Rangers out of two cups, European away wins against Feyenoord and in Stuttgart, as well as a draw in Bologna, plus dramatic late winners against the likes of St Mirren, Livingston, Kilmarnock and Dundee – there has also been some lows. Or setbacks as O'Neill has referenced them.
Most recently, the league losses to Hibs and to Dundee United.
But despite all of that, his Celtic side, the Martin O'Neill Celtic of 2025-26, for all its faults and failings, for all the ups and downs across the whole campaign, are still in there fighting, and will be until the very last day.
And no one sold the O'Neill return on a promise of pretty football, or of "pure, beautiful, inventive football" – to quote Jock Stein
He doesn't have to play beautiful football this time around – he just has to win.
But if you're looking for someone who has the presence of a Jock Stein, the charisma of the great man, and the character to take on a challenge and to overcome it against all odds like Stein famously did, then O'Neill is absolutely your man for that.
And though his name was already firmly etched in Celtic history for what he achieved at the turn of the century – with just six league games to go, and possibly two Scottish Cup games as well – the historians now have their pens at the ready, to write one final, incredible chapter in the Martin O'Neill Celtic story.
Tino can be found at The Celtic Exchange
