It's the opening game of the season in Scotland's top flight and a record-breaking crowd have gathered to witness a star-studded Celtic side defeat their Edinburgh rivals by three goals to nil.
Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary there, we hear you cry, but that's until you consider that neither Hearts or Hibs - the capital's traditional 'big two' - are playing that day. What's even more unusual is that the match is being held at Portobello.
With Hibs having been relegated the previous year, Edinburgh's two city representatives in Scottish League Division One for the 1931/32 season were Heart of Midlothian and Leith Athletic, and it was the latter who were playing Celtic on the opening day.
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Background
Since 1928, Leith Athletic had played their home matches at the Marine Gardens stadium in Portobello, which was also used to host speedway and greyhound racing. Opened in 1909, the Marine Gardens was a large entertainment complex made up of various attractions, including a ballroom, a circus, a zoo and ornamental gardens.
Leith's ground, which was nestled in a hollow at Seafield Road and King's Road, was of a simple bowl-shaped design with one large block of terracing facing the Firth of Forth. And although it was a multi-purpose stadium with a running track around the pitch, it was still one of the largest sporting venues in the capital at the time, and capable of accommodating massive crowds.
And a good thing that was too, as a crowd of 21,000 flocked to the Portobello stadium on August 8, 1931 for Leith's first match of the new league campaign against the previous season's runners up, Celtic. It would be a record attendance figure for both Leith Athletic and Marine Gardens.
Then as now, Celtic were a major force in Scottish football. Formed in 1888, the Glasgow side had been playing league football for as long as Leith Athletic, but had amassed many more trophies than their east coast counterparts, who had never won a major league title or cup.
This was also a Celtic team that happened to be include a man who remains the all-time leading goal scorer in top flight British football. Going on to finish his career with an astonishing 550 goals in 547 competitive games, legendary Celtic forward Jimmy McGrory dominated Scottish football's scoring charts in the inter-war years.
Leith Athletic were well aware of the threat McGrory faced. They had lost 3-0 to Celtic at Marine Gardens at the end of the 1930/31 season, with McGrory netting all three goals.
As they took to the field against the highly-fancied Celtic, the home side, who had finished near the bottom of the table the previous season, knew that keeping McGrory at bay was going to be a tall order - and so it proved. Jimmy McGrory grabbed a brace of goals in the 36th and 61st minutes, with Bertie Thomson securing yet another three-nil victory for the Celts.
'Celtic won comfortably'
The Mid-Lothian Journal reported: "Leith Athletic were fortunate in having the famous Glasgow Celtic provide the opposition at the Marine Gardens, Portobello, on Saturday as a start to the new season. As a strong attraction the match did not belie expectations, and a record crowd of twenty-one thousand people attended.
"Celtic won comfortably by three goals to nil, which was not unexpected either. What most people wished to see was how Leith would fare against such a strong team and weigh up their opponents accordingly. Well, they disappointed to a certain extent. Nevertheless, they are a slightly better Athletic than that of last season."
If Leith Athletic really were "slightly better" than the previous campaign, as the Mid-Lothian Journal suggested, it would not show in their subsequent results in the wake of the Celtic match.
The Leithers would be demoted to Scottish League Division Two, after ending the season at the foot of the table on just 16 points. It would be their final season at the top seat of Scottish football.
As a lower division side, Athletic would eventually vacate Marine Gardens for Meadowbank. The club folded in 1955 after years of turmoil and registration wrangles with the Scottish footballing authorities over league participation.
The Edwardian attractions that made up Marine Gardens did not survive the Second World War and the site was ultimately redeveloped as the Marine bus garage in the 1960s.
Leith Athletic FC would reform in 1996. They currently compete in the East of Scotland Football League and play their home matches at Peffermill 3G.
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