I’ll kick off with mine.....
It was the 1st season I’d attended every home game with my younger 12 year old brother, I was in my late teens and had just passed my driving test and had bought my 1st car, only staying 10mins away in bellshill was easy to get to home games, back in the old stadium days you could just pay in at the gate, it was the centenary year, big billy McNeill had come back to (hopefully) lead us to the league trophy.
The crowd that day was immense, the official figures said 60 thousand but in reality it was closer 80 thousand, the old board had a much joked about counting system for the crowd (one, two, miss a few.....) plus you could lift the kids over the turnstiles for free entry and members of the clergy got in for free (never seen as many dog collars in side a football stadium as I did that day, tam shepherds joke shop must have been doing a roaring trade in them that day).
We got to the ground 1hr early, I knew it was going to be busy, the line for the turnstiles were already snaking round the ground, we eventually got in just before kick off, the traditional Celtic end just under the old electric pylon, it was wall to wall people, even the wee man selling the spearmint chewing gum and the macaroon bars could get through the throng of people, the atmosphere was electric, when Chris Morris scored in 3 mins with a 6 yard rocket it was bedlam, the tension had eased, the party had started, it was all “happy birthday Celtic” and “we’ll win the league again, fly the flag” from the elated hoop fans.
With Andy Walker scoring from a though ball from McAvennie in 75 mins the place erupted again, I like most people missed Walkers 2nd goal, coming only 45 seconds after the other I was still jumping up and down hugging my wee brother when the goal went in.
At the end of the game there was a pitch invasion we were too far up the terracing to get on, I remember hold my wee brother by the scruff of the neck to stop him, my maw would have killed me if I’d have lost him.
It took about 20min for the stewards to clear the pitch so the team could come back out for a lap of honour, not one person left the ground, everyone just waited singing our hearts out.
The dream had been achieved.....just the other Dundee team to beat in the Scottish cup final for a centenary double