Just a beautiful thing to behold. A man for all seasons and a man for all people.Would love tae hear this sung in tribute to the great man at our next game!
Would love tae hear this sung in tribute to the great man at our next game!
Wonderful. Tears for an exceptional manJust a beautiful thing to behold. A man for all seasons and a man for all people.
I can't help but feel sorry for myself, but that's two great men we've lost this year that I never had the privilege to meet in person.
I guess we've all had more than our fair share to cope with these last two years, but Bertie's final act might yet be his greatest gift to Celtic, for if one man can unite the entire Celtic family - then that man could only be Bertie Auld.
Just a beautiful thing to behold. A man for all seasons and a man for all people.
I can't help but feel sorry for myself, but that's two great men we've lost this year that I never had the privilege to meet in person.
I guess we've all had more than our fair share to cope with these last two years, but Bertie's final act might yet be his greatest gift to Celtic, for if one man can unite the entire Celtic family - then that man could only be Bertie Auld.
Love the Thai Timโs Love Reamonn Gormley in tears fur Bertie.I'm no crying!! You're crying!!
Just a beautiful thing to behold. A man for all seasons and a man for all people.
I can't help but feel sorry for myself, but that's two great men we've lost this year that I never had the privilege to meet in person.
I guess we've all had more than our fair share to cope with these last two years, but Bertie's final act might yet be his greatest gift to Celtic, for if one man can unite the entire Celtic family - then that man could only be Bertie Auld.
Got sent this video just about ended me!Would love tae hear this sung in tribute to the great man at our next game!
Been so upset with the sad news of Bertie Auld and this video has just blown me away altogether.Would love tae hear this sung in tribute to the great man at our next game!
There is a belief that the division between the younger generation and those in their golden years is a gap too wide to span.JamSam67 messaged me asking if I could post Niall's tribute to Bertie which is up on The Celtic Star. Here it is...
They say kids are intuitive, donโt they? And I think that is true.
I spent today travelling north from London, before meeting a good friend who himself had lost a friend today and tried at least to keep his mind off his loss. However temporarily.
I then headed home, watched and reported on a Celtic team who made a Cup Final for the Celtic Star, before running a bath for my six-year-old and preparing for another ordinary Sunday night, in preparation for another run of the mill Monday morning.
It was then the phone rumbled with that first text message from that same friend, telling me of the passing of Bertie Auld.
Perhaps my mood changed, perhaps my heart sank, and perhaps the front you are taught to portray slipped for a moment. But my six-year-old sensed it. He asked me if I was okay and I told him a Celtic player had died. He asked me who it was, and I knew heโd be worried it would be the player he calls Mr McGregor, so I explained it was an old Celtic player, one of the Lisbon Lions. โYou mean one form the photograph on the wall?โ Yes, one of those I saidโ. Another one I thought.
With every passing year, one by one, those famous men pass on. Such is the passing of time and the close proximity of their ages, I guess the inevitability of it being a regular occurrence now rings true. But they say legends live on in the passing of their stories. So, after towelling my lad down and drying his hair, he asked me to show him which player it was.
It was already therapeutic to talk about Bertie out loud, explain he was the effervescent character in a team of individuals who blended into the greatest football team in Scottish football history, never mind the legends of Celtic as a football club alone.
So, I explained for my own sake as much as his, why Bertie Auld was the fan with the shirt, the man with the stories to tell and the one who wore his heart on his sleeve.
But my lad just wanted to see the face on that picture, wanted to put an image to the story of the man he probably, even now as he lies on the couch beside me as I type this, has little idea of the significance of the manโs place in Celtic folklore and history. Not only as one of our most influential players, but also as one of our most everlasting supporters.
And just like you, me, and the lad lying beside me right now could claim to be a fan, Bertie can claim that first and foremost, but could also claim that place as one of the greatest legends ever to grace the Hoops.
Yet I wonder if he ever thought that honour was anything more than fortitude, an opportunity handed to him which other Celtic supporters may not have achieved, yet an opportunity and experience he simply wished to share with every supporter he came across from then until now.
Was he honoured to be a Lisbon Lion? You bet he was. But was he honoured to be a Celtic supporter who achieved that legendary and immortal status? I canโt answer that but I have a fair inkling as to the answer.
So now he has gone and with him another brick in the wall of Celticโs immortal Lisbon Lions. Yet Bertie Auld lives on. He lives on with every intuitive kid who asks you tonight who Bertie Auld was and why you are sad. And when you show him that image on your wall and explain he was that man, the one with the shirt who sang in Lisbon and regaled us all with the stories for years to come, it doesnโt stop there.
Instead, you pass it on and your intuitive and inquisitive kid will soak it up, take the image and the stories to his heart and when you too are gone will pick up the baton and pass it on again.
Because that is the Celtic Song, the words Bertie Auld sang in Lisbon, and did so ever so proudly.
โFor its a grand old team to play forโ, as it is to support. And when it comes to Bertie Auld, I doubt he differentiated between the two. It was just as much an honour to follow as it was to play for Celtic, and that is worth passing on tonight.
Niall J
JamSam67 messaged me asking if I could post Niall's tribute to Bertie which is up on The Celtic Star. Here it is...
They say kids are intuitive, donโt they? And I think that is true.
I spent today travelling north from London, before meeting a good friend who himself had lost a friend today and tried at least to keep his mind off his loss. However temporarily.
I then headed home, watched and reported on a Celtic team who made a Cup Final for the Celtic Star, before running a bath for my six-year-old and preparing for another ordinary Sunday night, in preparation for another run of the mill Monday morning.
It was then the phone rumbled with that first text message from that same friend, telling me of the passing of Bertie Auld.
Perhaps my mood changed, perhaps my heart sank, and perhaps the front you are taught to portray slipped for a moment. But my six-year-old sensed it. He asked me if I was okay and I told him a Celtic player had died. He asked me who it was, and I knew heโd be worried it would be the player he calls Mr McGregor, so I explained it was an old Celtic player, one of the Lisbon Lions. โYou mean one form the photograph on the wall?โ Yes, one of those I saidโ. Another one I thought.
With every passing year, one by one, those famous men pass on. Such is the passing of time and the close proximity of their ages, I guess the inevitability of it being a regular occurrence now rings true. But they say legends live on in the passing of their stories. So, after towelling my lad down and drying his hair, he asked me to show him which player it was.
It was already therapeutic to talk about Bertie out loud, explain he was the effervescent character in a team of individuals who blended into the greatest football team in Scottish football history, never mind the legends of Celtic as a football club alone.
So, I explained for my own sake as much as his, why Bertie Auld was the fan with the shirt, the man with the stories to tell and the one who wore his heart on his sleeve.
But my lad just wanted to see the face on that picture, wanted to put an image to the story of the man he probably, even now as he lies on the couch beside me as I type this, has little idea of the significance of the manโs place in Celtic folklore and history. Not only as one of our most influential players, but also as one of our most everlasting supporters.
And just like you, me, and the lad lying beside me right now could claim to be a fan, Bertie can claim that first and foremost, but could also claim that place as one of the greatest legends ever to grace the Hoops.
Yet I wonder if he ever thought that honour was anything more than fortitude, an opportunity handed to him which other Celtic supporters may not have achieved, yet an opportunity and experience he simply wished to share with every supporter he came across from then until now.
Was he honoured to be a Lisbon Lion? You bet he was. But was he honoured to be a Celtic supporter who achieved that legendary and immortal status? I canโt answer that but I have a fair inkling as to the answer.
So now he has gone and with him another brick in the wall of Celticโs immortal Lisbon Lions. Yet Bertie Auld lives on. He lives on with every intuitive kid who asks you tonight who Bertie Auld was and why you are sad. And when you show him that image on your wall and explain he was that man, the one with the shirt who sang in Lisbon and regaled us all with the stories for years to come, it doesnโt stop there.
Instead, you pass it on and your intuitive and inquisitive kid will soak it up, take the image and the stories to his heart and when you too are gone will pick up the baton and pass it on again.
Because that is the Celtic Song, the words Bertie Auld sang in Lisbon, and did so ever so proudly.
โFor its a grand old team to play forโ, as it is to support. And when it comes to Bertie Auld, I doubt he differentiated between the two. It was just as much an honour to follow as it was to play for Celtic, and that is worth passing on tonight.
Niall J
The night before the 2017 Scottish Cup Final I'd organised a night down at the Greenock Celtic Supporters club. On the stage were Willie Wallace, John Hughes, Charlie Gallagher and John Fallon. Jim Craig was scheduled to have been there too but got called away at the last night to do a favour for Celtic.
There was one other guest coming along but no-one else knew except me. He wasn't going to be there as the start or indeed for most of the night but he told me he'd be there. The night was brilliant, the questions and the answers were being enjoyed by everyone - the supporters and the Lisbon Lions, a 10/10 night for everyone, except me who was anxiously awaiting the mystery man's later arrival.
Then true to his word he arrived. Told me I owed him a tenner for his petrol and then instructed me to go in, the tell compere up on the stage to ask for everyone's attention...the place was mobbed, buzzing with the Lions there and the anticipation of the cup final the next day, so I reckoned that was a tough ask...
But it worked and for about 5 seconds the noise subsided and all eyes were on the stage waiting for something to be said, for about 2 seconds anyway. Because at the back of the hall at the far right hand corner a human tornado entered the room holding aloft a replica of the cup he first lifted 50 years before and he roared at the top of his voice HAIL HAIL THE CELTS ARE, WHAT THE HELL DO WE CARE NOW...FOR IT'S A GRAND OLD TEAM TO PLAY FOR....
Every head turned around in surprise then delight and Bertie's personality flooded into the hall. Supporters weren't on their feet they were up on the tables going as crazy as they would be the next afternoon when Tom Rogic scored that fairytale winner.
Bertie Auld then went up onto the stage and held court, loving every second just as much as the rest of us. What a man Bertie was, a gentlemen, the funniest guy you could ever hope to meet, loved the club and loved the support. He was Mr Celtic and was loved by every single one of us. God bless you Bertie, God bless you. YNWA.
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Well said the Jam ManJust saw the start of Strictly they did Walk on mind was on Bertie and all the Lions weโve lost Thatโs some Team Jock has up there. Was watching Bertie and Bobby talking with Jeff Stelling then singing
For its a Grand AULD team to play for.
Wiping water from my eyes but these tears are for a Diamond in a Team of Pearls
Cheers Mr Auld
HH