Well here I am going to tell my wee tale. It’s not going to be the same as all you who got to go to Celtic Park but I’ve supported Celtic since I was a wee girl growing up in the 50’s. I have three brothers who all supported
Celtic and my husband who was a lifelong Celtic fan.
My mum was born in Maryhill and her dad my grandfather was a convert, but even before he converted he always loved the Celtic.
my dad was born in the Scotstoun building locally known as the Convicts Building. The majority of the families down there were from Irish Catholic decent. My dad worked as a ships plater in the shipyards all his life. And he said it could be hard in the yards in the 40’s and 50’s because many were Protestant and supported Rangers. But my dad had the most amazing sense of humour which got him through. He loved Celtic, and on a Saturday night he would come home having had one too many and would sing the John Thompson song and after that it was Kevin Barry. But he told us the story of John Thompson every Saturday night.
as my brothers became teenagers they started going to see Celtic during the sixties in the lead up to the European Cup. They would come home from the games and there me and my mum who also loved football got the rundown of the game.
for me the greatest day was watching Celtic win the European Cup on 25 May 1967. My brothers couldn’t afford to go to Lisbon but they were too young anyway, so we all packed up in the living room and the streets were deserted. not a bus or car in sight everybody was watching the game and on wee black and white TV’s.
It was nerve wracking as you all know inter Milan got a penalty first. But when we won we were all jumping about the living room. Then my dad and older brother went to the pub and me and my pals were all out dancing in the streets. Oh what a night that was.
The following year I met my husband to be called Patrick but Pat to all who knew him except his mum. He lived in Garthamlock as his parents had moved from the Gorbals to a nice house with an inside bathroom and toilet so they were delighted. Pat was 4 years old. By the time he was 8 in 1958 he would walk all the way with his pals to Parkhead and get lifted over the gates. He actually spent the rest his life in Parkhead watching Celtic over the years.
I noticed Khenny mentioned the Scottish cup final at Hamden in 1974 between Dundee United and Celtic, well that was our wedding day. It had to be booked well in advance so I didn’t know that was going to be the fixture date for the Scottish Cup. Anyway as we left the church and got into our wedding car the first thing Pat said was to the driver what was the score and thankfully we won so it was a great day and he was very happy even although he had to miss the game. I only got to one game with him and it was against Kilmarnock and it was freezing and I was chilled to the bone. So after that he was on his own which probably suited him better going with all his Celtic mates. But now looking back I so wish I had joined him more often at the Celtic games I feel I’ve missed so much.
Pat was a lifelong Celtic fan and had on many occasions run the gauntlet on the 89 bus going through Bridgeton cross but I’m sure there were many many stories he could have told you about had he been spared. There is a strange irony to his last outing to CP. both he and my older brother had season tickets and met up to go see Celtic most weekends. But on this one day our daughter needed his car so he said it’s ok I will walk it. So off he went but I thought he was going for the 89 bus but he didn’t he started to walk. He got lost and didn’t get to CP till half time my brother was worried and phoned me later that night to see if Pat was ok. My brother said Pat didn’t know where he was but had seen some guys with Celtic scarfs and and he followed them and that’s how he eventually got to the game. Pat was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 5and died aged 61. He was buried with his Celtic scarf and we played the song ‘Something inside so strong’ .
Apologies for the sad ending of this journey but I’m so glad I joined this forum it keeps me up to date with all things Celtic and Pats memory lives on.
I have got a brick with his name on at the North Stand and I was supposed to go with my younger brother on March 7th this year to see Celtic v St Mirren but the COVID had started and so I couldn’t make it through but I will get there once this is all over.