My Celtic story

I'm sure like many of my fellow Noisers I can say I was there, Bridie. Definitely one of the stand out memories in my personal Celtic story.

I vividly remember Hugh Taylor's opening line in his newspaper column after beating Leeds on their own patch in the first game....."Oh to be in England now that April's there"... it's the first line in a Robert Browning poem.

I've already posted, quite some time ago, about my experience of the final in Milan; so I'll spare you good folk and just say sweet and sour comes to mind.

Thanks, Bridie.
 
My Auld man was to me the greatest Celtic supporter that ever lived.
A great fitba player himself who was a burley outside right who could score plenty goals.

He played with Gourock Juniors along side Tommy Bryceland his great friend of St Mirren fame, my dad would go on and play with Queen of the South in the late 50's and was invited by none other than Bill Shankley for a trial with Grimsby which he decided not to take up ...his dream of playing for Celtic was always close but never quite materialised.

He was at one time the president of the Port Hibs Celtic supporters club later joining the well known Greenock Celtic association so Celtic was always part of what was going on in our family....and I remember the Lisbon lions as if they where pals of my Auld man as many of them greeted him with a handshake and addressed him with his first name at many functions and sometimes whilst we where at Celtic Park.


My first game he took me to was actually the 6-1 Scottish cup final win over Hibs in 72 when Dixie scored a hatrick and did a roly poly.

I was delighted many years later to meet and have a few beers with Dixie at the 2013 Celtic convention in Las Vegas and tell him that was my first memory of attending a game....a great guy.

My love and obsession started with Celtic watching my Dad celebrating as I was growing up as a wee boy .....his passion, his celebrations and disappointments have been ingrained in me from an early age and it has never left me.

Anytime we beat the Rangers back in the 60's and 70's he made sure the whole street knew about it.
We stayed at the very top of a brae and as soon as he got off the bus at the bottom of the road on returning from the game he would belt out for its a grand old team to play for......making sure they all heard him.
It was magic for us as seven weans watching him roar it out as he waved his fist in the air.
Incidently he was tee-total.

I had to share the visits to paradise with my older brother but we had some brilliant memories going with my dad during the first 9 in a row and of course some amazing European nights.

At the age of 15 I was growing out of going with my dad so I became a junior member of the Greenock Shamrock " the shammy" ....I joined the travel club and paid extra weekly dues with my paper round wages to allow me to travel to away games in the days you could actually get a ticket.

From that moment on I effectively became what is equivalent to a season ticket holder today but with the bonus of going home and away.

I then became an Adult member and enjoyed the fact I could now take my auld man to the games ....

I did this for nearly 20 years hardly ever missing a game until my work dictated I couldn't guarantee getting the weekend off.

Still there was plenty of European trips for me to fulfil my need of going away to see the bhoys.
As the years moved on I took a few of my nephews to both Celtic Park and Europe having some memorable experiences along the way none more so than the pilgrimage to Lisbon and of course Seville two very contrasting outcomes but nevertheless both historic.

I don't have a season ticket these days but the legacy of my dad's love and passion live on with over 12 season tickets in the extended family and it is they who now invite myself for half a dozen games a season so I still get my fix of that feeling of still being part of something that's always been special to me at Celtic Park.

I thought as I got older I would calm down and be more measured in my thoughts of the glory of a win or the pain of a defeat that has always taken days even a week to leave me.
But no it has never left me ....only last Saturday when Hatate and CCV scored those belters I was out my chair roaring at the top of my voice with the street knowing we were winning just as my Auld man did all those years ago.

I'm sure my story is not too dissimilar to many as our common denominator is Celtic.
Hopefully I haven't bored you all too much here 😂💚🇮🇪💚
 
Magnificent 7 said:
My Auld man was to me the greatest Celtic supporter that ever lived.
A great fitba player himself who was a burley outside right who could score plenty goals.

He played with Gourock Juniors along side Tommy Bryceland his great friend of St Mirren fame, my dad would go on and play with Queen of the South in the late 50's and was invited by none other than Bill Shankley for a trial with Grimsby which he decided not to take up ...his dream of playing for Celtic was always close but never quite materialised.

He was at one time the president of the Port Hibs Celtic supporters club later joining the well known Greenock Celtic association so Celtic was always part of what was going on in our family....and I remember the Lisbon lions as if they where pals of my Auld man as many of them greeted him with a handshake and addressed him with his first name at many functions and sometimes whilst we where at Celtic Park.


My first game he took me to was actually the 6-1 Scottish cup final win over Hibs in 72 when Dixie scored a hatrick and did a roly poly.

I was delighted many years later to meet and have a few beers with Dixie at the 2013 Celtic convention in Las Vegas and tell him that was my first memory of attending a game....a great guy.

My love and obsession started with Celtic watching my Dad celebrating as I was growing up as a wee boy .....his passion, his celebrations and disappointments have been ingrained in me from an early age and it has never left me.

Anytime we beat the Rangers back in the 60's and 70's he made sure the whole street knew about it.
We stayed at the very top of a brae and as soon as he got off the bus at the bottom of the road on returning from the game he would belt out for its a grand old team to play for......making sure they all heard him.
It was magic for us as seven weans watching him roar it out as he waved his fist in the air.
Incidently he was tee-total.

I had to share the visits to paradise with my older brother but we had some brilliant memories going with my dad during the first 9 in a row and of course some amazing European nights.

At the age of 15 I was growing out of going with my dad so I became a junior member of the Greenock Shamrock " the shammy" ....I joined the travel club and paid extra weekly dues with my paper round wages to allow me to travel to away games in the days you could actually get a ticket.

From that moment on I effectively became what is equivalent to a season ticket holder today but with the bonus of going home and away.

I then became an Adult member and enjoyed the fact I could now take my auld man to the games ....

I did this for nearly 20 years hardly ever missing a game until my work dictated I couldn't guarantee getting the weekend off.

Still there was plenty of European trips for me to fulfil my need of going away to see the bhoys.
As the years moved on I took a few of my nephews to both Celtic Park and Europe having some memorable experiences along the way none more so than the pilgrimage to Lisbon and of course Seville two very contrasting outcomes but nevertheless both historic.

I don't have a season ticket these days but the legacy of my dad's love and passion live on with over 12 season tickets in the extended family and it is they who now invite myself for half a dozen games a season so I still get my fix of that feeling of still being part of something that's always been special to me at Celtic Park.

I thought as I got older I would calm down and be more measured in my thoughts of the glory of a win or the pain of a defeat that has always taken days even a week to leave me.
But no it has never left me ....only last Saturday when Hatate and CCV scored those belters I was out my chair roaring at the top of my voice with the street knowing we were winning just as my Auld man did all those years ago.

I'm sure my story is not too dissimilar to many as our common denominator is Celtic.
Hopefully I haven't bored you all too much here 😂💚🇮🇪💚
Click to expand...
Any chance you could ..'bore'... us a wee bit more, M7? A brilliant, and very recognisable story.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Frank Owen said:
I'm sure like many of my fellow Noisers I can say I was there, Bridie. Definitely one of the stand out memories in my personal Celtic story.

I vividly remember Hugh Taylor's opening line in his newspaper column after beating Leeds on their own patch in the first game....."Oh to be in England now that April's there"... it's the first line in a Robert Browning poem.

I've already posted, quite some time ago, about my experience of the final in Milan; so I'll spare you good folk and just say sweet and sour comes to mind.

Thanks, Bridie.
Click to expand...
I posted this back in 2019. I have a book with about 100 original match reports from the 1925 cup final through to Lisbon, Milan and Seville.

In the press box high above the stand the unbelieving faces of the English sporting corps- here to report another English triumph on Scottish soil- were a sight to see. They were drawn and sad. Such a Celtic spectacular was not in their script.
Leeds played for a time like a machine. Billy Bremner scored a goal which bent, curved and spiralled away from Evan Williams, who didn't really have a direct shot to deal with until the 76th minute. Celtic almost always played better than Leeds. There was a spell after the 14th minute when it looked as if they might totter but this idea was quickly corrected.
The Celts had shaken off their Scottish Cup Final disappointment and went professionally about the job of winning the most important match of their 83 year history. (Really? Surely the Final in Lisbon gets that title!)
Leeds were shown a thing or two about football they hadn't encountered before. It would be ungenerous to say they were outclassed, but off-hand I can think of no other word.
Celtic were a team inspired, invincibles on the night. It is rare to see a side in which every player is on his best form. This was Celtic last night.
Bertie Auld was the mastermind. Never a bad pass. Running and decoying.
After a tackle on Mick Jones, Billy Bremner gestured and argued with Auld while the centre was given treatment. It was a flashpoint moment. Auld kept his temper and went on superbly. David Hay, Jim Brogan, Jimmy Johnstone and Billy McNeil....they were all tremendous. John Hughes scored splendidly, then missed in the last seconds what would have been another magnificent goal. Bobby Murdochs second goal for Celtic brought out the greatest Hampden roar of all time.
In many ways it was sad to see a team of Leeds calibre being pulled apart this way. But it was being done by Celtic and every Scot loved it.
It was a game reminiscent of the great Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt final at Hampden. It had all the refinements and players as great as , Di Stefano, Puskas and Del Sol. It also had this marvellous crowd from all over Scotland who wanted only a Celtic victory. With a fine touch of irony in the last minutes of the game a chant for Jock Stein grew into a tremendous crescendo. And it all began in the end where the Rangers fans usually stand at Hampden.
The Celtic players did a lap of honour. It was the final icing on this delicious soccer cake.
Thursday April 16th 1970 written by Alex Cameron
 
Ma da was /is so anti Celtic/both Rangers to the point where he is almost bigoted about them I had a mate that was a jags fan so ma da was quite happy tae gee me some money to go to Firhill for a while plus a couple of ma uncles supported them as we were originally from Maryhill but I had another mate who was a Tim and ah went tae a Motherwell Celtic game at Motherwell on the supporters bus, I saw the light at that game and came hame wi a Celtic scarf ma old da wisny awffy happy he swears tae this day I just done it tae annoy him but ah was on the milk by then so had ma own money so ah diddny have tae ask him,later living in Aberdeenshire I did ma best tae indoctrinate my own kids the boys had a Celtic decorated bedroom when they were young they all had Celtic Taps all the usual stuff and not one of them is even in tae fitba let alone Celtic Ah think they were just trying to annoy me 😂
 
I was brought up in Duntocher. My dad wasn’t interested in football and I went to a very small private school in Yokermill Rd where the only 2 other pupils my age were girls, so football didn’t enter my life till I was about 10. First game I remember was 6-1 Hibs cup final in 72. Later that year, my uncle Mark, who had a season ticket for Clydebank took me to a game v Alloa. Watched the game from the Bankies Club behind the goals. However, the Hibs game was always in my mind and in April 73 my dad asked Cookie Harkness from Clydebank to take me to the Celtic v Dundee cup semi at Hampden. That was me hooked. Missed the kick off, up the stairs at the Celtic end and the first player I set eyes on was Bobby Murdoch. Never looked back after that though I still feel guilty at ditching the Bankies and not going with my uncle to their games anymore.
 
MarkSilvio said:
I was brought up in Duntocher. My dad wasn’t interested in football and I went to a very small private school in Yokermill Rd where the only 2 other pupils my age were girls, so football didn’t enter my life till I was about 10. First game I remember was 6-1 Hibs cup final in 72. Later that year, my uncle Mark, who had a season ticket for Clydebank took me to a game v Alloa. Watched the game from the Bankies Club behind the goals. However, the Hibs game was always in my mind and in April 73 my dad asked Cookie Harkness from Clydebank to take me to the Celtic v Dundee cup semi at Hampden. That was me hooked. Missed the kick off, up the stairs at the Celtic end and the first player I set eyes on was Bobby Murdoch. Never looked back after that though I still feel guilty at ditching the Bankies and not going with my uncle to their games anymore.
Click to expand...
Some things are just meant to be, Mark.
 
I was born in easterhouse but spent most of my life in Ayrshire in a town that back then was rangers and very orange my dad still stayed in glasgow so spent a lot of time in glasgow until he passed away
My family was split down the middle my old man was rangers (from barrowfield) my mums side was Celtic Easterhouse and my step dad that’s been in my life since the age of 2 was Celtic and from cranhill
I didn’t go to catholic school so my school life in the 90s was all rangers so it was a difficult time but I picked my mums and step dads side and went for Celtic but my older brother went with my dads and he went blue (I have brick at Celtic park and he has one at ibrox)
My first game was 1996 in the north stand and I’m sure my season book was in 1998/1999
My first memory was in 1995 when we won Scottish cup as I got a tape called we are on the road again and it was probably one of the only times at primary school a could celebrate 😂
Half of my friends growing up especially in this town became members of the orange walk (they have left it now) so that made me more of a rebel and spent loads of my life growing up thinking I was a rebel and going to rebel marches in Scotland and Ireland and my mum used to go mental 😂 especially when I would end up on YouTube 😂 remember they had a big orange parade and had union jacks in all the lamp posts and I put tri colour up in lamppost out side my house (bad mistake but you live and learn😂) I used to think been a rebel and Celtic fan went hand in hand 🍀
I never spent much time with my grand dad on my dads side I think he was bitter back in the 60s and 70s when Irish catholics got discriminated against in the west coast of Scotland (tbh I shouldn’t have even called him grand dad as you need to earn the right to be a grand dad)
My 2 sisters are Celtic and my brother is rangers but it’s all fun) but my family is split tho and I no longer think I’m a rebel I just love my club
I remember been at my grans and I ran over to Celtic park when we just signed annoni and he wouldn’t sign many signatures and I remember a older east end gran shouting we pay your fucking wages 😂😂😂I always remember that and I don’t know why
My family in easterhouse used to have a bar in gallowgate and after the games I would order a pint then it would be that busy I would get told to get to other side of bar to help out so I’ve probably served some of you pints in past 😂
 
tommybhoy8881 said:
I was born in easterhouse but spent most of my life in Ayrshire in a town that back then was rangers and very orange my dad still stayed in glasgow so spent a lot of time in glasgow until he passed away
My family was split down the middle my old man was rangers (from barrowfield) my mums side was Celtic Easterhouse and my step dad that’s been in my life since the age of 2 was Celtic and from cranhill
I didn’t go to catholic school so my school life in the 90s was all rangers so it was a difficult time but I picked my mums and step dads side and went for Celtic but my older brother went with my dads and he went blue (I have brick at Celtic park and he has one at ibrox)
My first game was 1996 in the north stand and I’m sure my season book was in 1998/1999
My first memory was in 1995 when we won Scottish cup as I got a tape called we are on the road again and it was probably one of the only times at primary school a could celebrate 😂
Half of my friends growing up especially in this town became members of the orange walk (they have left it now) so that made me more of a rebel and spent loads of my life growing up thinking I was a rebel and going to rebel marches in Scotland and Ireland and my mum used to go mental 😂 especially when I would end up on YouTube 😂 remember they had a big orange parade and had union jacks in all the lamp posts and I put tri colour up in lamppost out side my house (bad mistake but you live and learn😂) I used to think been a rebel and Celtic fan went hand in hand 🍀
I never spent much time with my grand dad on my dads side I think he was bitter back in the 60s and 70s when Irish catholics got discriminated against in the west coast of Scotland (tbh I shouldn’t have even called him grand dad as you need to earn the right to be a grand dad)
My 2 sisters are Celtic and my brother is rangers but it’s all fun) but my family is split tho and I no longer think I’m a rebel I just love my club
I remember been at my grans and I ran over to Celtic park when we just signed annoni and he wouldn’t sign many signatures and I remember a older east end gran shouting we pay your fucking wages 😂😂😂I always remember that and I don’t know why
My family in easterhouse used to have a bar in gallowgate and after the games I would order a pint then it would be that busy I would get told to get to other side of bar to help out so I’ve probably served some of you pints in past 😂
Click to expand...
Anyone from Glasgow knows that’s some combo tommy..E-HOOSE…barrafield.and cranhill😎😁…..got mates from all three areas!!!crackerjacks..
 
tommybhoy8881 said:
I was wardie road and eddlewood road in easterhouse ….my mum used to work in the The Dalriada if you remember that bar
Click to expand...
Drank in it from under age to adulthood till it closed. Used to go and see the band Scheme every Sunday night in it . I currently live around the corner from where it was. I think there was more hash smoked in it than alcohol drunk 😂😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 I knew a lot of people who lived in Wardie road 👍My sister in law worked in Richards grocery van if you remember that
 
Miktim said:
Drank in it from under age to adulthood till it closed. Used to go and see the band Scheme every Sunday night in it . I currently live around the corner from where it was. I think there was more hash smoked in it than alcohol drunk 😂😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 I knew a lot of people who lived in Wardie road 👍My sister in law worked in Richards grocery van if you remember that
Click to expand...
I think I've already posted this, Miktim, but my nephew, ( Desi ) was the drummer in Scheme. Passed away just over a year ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 78 (members: 3, guests: 75)

Latest posts

Share this page

Back
Top