A familiar feeling

 

A familiar feeling

Football is the most fluent, unpredictable and often controversial sport of them all. So much of what happens on the field can be decided by an odd bounce of the ball or a referee making a split second decision as play rages at high speed. The difference between winning and losing is often wafer thin and for some fans it can be hard to take when the referee’s call doesn’t go your way.

As a Celtic supporter of many years I have seen my share of mystifying decisions from referees. The 1970 Scottish Cup Final for instance saw Celtic lose 3-1 to Aberdeen in the most frustrating manner. Three big decisions went against Celtic that day and cost them the cup. Firstly a point blank cross from McKay struck Bobby Murdoch on the upper arm and despite having is arms by his side the Referee gave a penalty. Then Bobby Clark the Aberdeen goalkeeper dropped the ball as he was about to kick it from hand and Lennox rolled it into the net. The referee  awarded a foul to Aberdeen despite there being no contact between the players. Then as Lennox raced clear into the box, Martin Buchan scythed him to the ground and Mr Davidson waved play on much to the fury of the huge Celtic support in the 108,000 crowd. Jock Stein’s withering comments to the official after the game made it clear what he thought of his performance that day. Jock was no fool, he experienced in his own career and life the sort of hatred that some held towards Celtic and was never slow to defend the club. Bias against Celtic from certain officials was a reality in those times.

Most Celtic fans could give you a large list of games lost in which the officials made calls which were to say the least dubious and directly affected the outcome. In recent years controversial refereeing decisions in the Scottish Semi-final with Hearts and the League Cup Final with Kilmarnock come to mind. When you strip away the layers of disappointment, the searching for a scapegoat and perhaps a lingering folk memory of unfair treatment meted out to Celtic and its community over the decades, what remains? Are we seriously trying to tell the sporting world that there are dark forces working against Celtic? Of course the age old cry of ‘Paranoia’ will resurface as will the ‘it’ll level itself out over the season’ argument.

The performance of referee, Steven McLean and his assistants at Hampden Park this afternoon was to say the least poor. The match turned on a decision he made just before half time when Griffiths goal bound header was deliberately punched clear by Meekings. The reaction of the Celtic players in the box was instantaneous as they roared ‘hand ball’ in unison. To their utter dismay the referee waved play on. With Caley a goal down at that point, losing a player and a penalty could have been fatal to their chances. The referee was in perfect position to call it, the assistant referee was 2 yards away from the incident and yet they didn’t see the hand ball? When you think that the linesman also had a view of the incident are we really to believe that 3 individuals with a triangulation of views didn’t see Meekings punch the ball? The feeling of injustice was compounded after the break when Craig Gordon was harshly but, given the current rules, rightly sent off. As one fan near me commented, ‘Aye, ye saw that wan ya bastard.’  We should recognise that Celtic did not play well today and the plaudits should go to Caley for an organised and determined display but as the Celtic fans left Hampden there was a familiar feeling of injustice.

No doubt the radio phone in shows and press will be full of Celtic fans complaining about today’s refereeing blunder but none of the pundits will ever admit that Celtic get a raw deal from officialdom. Far less will they admit that the mainstream media has been less than even handed in its dealings with Celtic. We’ll be told that we’re over reacting to a poor display or that officials are human and make mistakes. However, we live in a society where referees have been forced to resign for lying about decisions made in Celtic matches. We also saw Mr Dallas leave after sending an anti-Catholic image in an email. We’ve seen Mr Farry hold up the registration of Jorge Cadete for 6 weeks at a crucial point in the season when sending the fax required to clear him to play would have taken 10 minutes. More tellingly, 2 internal inquiries cleared Farry before Fergus McCann brought in his QC and destroyed their case in 5 minutes. We’ve seen a Celtic player banned for diving while others are ignored. Neil Lennon was banned for swearing when it’s audible from players and managers at most games every week. We also see organised deafness from the SFA when thousands sing the Famine song and Billy Boys at matches. We live in a society where a retired referee said at a Rangers function that he was proud to say Rangers never lost a match he officiated at. This is Scotland where a player choosing to play football for Ireland results in him being abused all over the country. In this atmosphere it’s easy to think that some just don’t like Celtic and all it represents but can we say this affects the decisions of referees on the field of play?

In a fluent, fast football match the referee is the arbiter of the rules. His decisions are the only ones which matter and his interpretation of what occurred on the field at a given point are the only one which counts. He makes split second decisions in the heat of the moment and without the benefit of replays from various angles and it is not an easy job. One slip of concentration can mean missing an important incident. Today the referee was perfectly placed to call the Meekings’ hand ball and I remain mystified about why he failed to award the penalty and send Meekings off as the rules stipulate. There are three possible explanations for the referee’s decision to wave play on…

·        He judged the ball struck Meekings on the head or body

·        He judged that the contact was ‘ball to hand’ (although that is unlikely given Meekings arm movement towards the ball)  

·        He saw it and didn’t award the penalty for reasons known to him.

 If the latter was the case then we might as well give up on the game right now. These recurring ‘honest mistakes’ suggest the training of our referees isn’t all it could be. In an age where most matches are covered by a plethora of cameras it would be highly difficult to deliberately give important calls against a certain club but in those 50-50 calls in key games could an individual lean one way or another? Few sensible people doubt that Celtic has been on the wrong end of some very dubious treatment in the past and the feeling that certain factions within Scottish football detested the club and all it represented was justifiable. It is sad that the echo of those less enlightened times is still heard when the calls go against the club. After today’s events, the so called ‘Paranoia’ will lead some to conclude the anti-Celtic bias still goes on. A 30 second break for an official to look at TV pictures would have seen justice done today but that is too sensible for Scottish football which blunders on.  The football authorities should also let their officials explain themselves and if necessary say, ‘Yeh, hands up I got that one wrong.’ Failing to do so just leads to the sort of suspicion and dark mutterings we are hearing now.

Scotland is rightly being praised currently for its political awakening and the openness of its citizens but in terms of transparency in football, it remains in the dark ages.

 

A shot at redemption

 A shot at redemption

In Greek Mythology, the legend of Achilles has it that he was dipped into the river Styx by his mother Thetis in order to make him invulnerable. His heel wasn't covered by the water and he was later killed by an arrow wound to his heel. In modern terms the phrase ‘Achilles heel’ is used as a metaphor for a deadly weakness which in spite of overall strength can lead to a person’s downfall.

This week we saw a blistering performance from Leigh Griffiths which blew away a solid, if unimaginative, Kilmarnock side. Until his arrival on the field Celtic were struggling to overcome a defence which relied on numbers and muscle to keep the Hoops at bay. Celtic didn’t help their cause by over-elaboration and an unwillingness to shoot at goal. On one occasion in the first half the cumbersome John Guidetti had a clear chance to shoot but instead chose to hesitate and dribble the ball away from goal much to the frustration of the crowd. We all like to see beautiful and intricate goals but at the business end of the season the main job is to win matches. Kilmarnock’s opening goal owed much to a wicked deflection and was scarcely deserved given their defensive intentions. A few fans were worried that Celtic would struggle to win a game they had, in terms of possession (73%) controlled from start to finish. In terms of goal attempts it was 18-2 in Celtic’s favour. However, as Barcelona found out in 2012 the only statistic that matters is the final score.

Leigh Griffiths arrival on the hour saw Celtic become a much more purposeful and pacey side. He was a blur of movement at times and the Kilmarnock defence was being pulled all over the place. His three goals were technically excellent and his positioning very impressive. Things are looking good for the striker on the field although his off field behaviour remains problematic at times. During his time at Hibs he was banned for gesturing at opposition supporters and more recently he has made unwise comments on social media. He is also currently being tried under the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act for events in a pub before a Hearts v Hibs game. Chanting about ‘Hearts going bust’ is standard football banter although as a professional player he should be more sensible. More serious though is the allegation of chanting ‘Rudi Skacel is a f*cking refugee’ in a bar full of Hibs fans. In the age of video technology any involvement in such things is simply asking for trouble. It should be noted that Griffiths denies the allegation and others have noted that the inference that such chanting was ‘likely to incite public disorder’ in a pub full of Hibs fans was unlikely.

Playing his first senior game at just 16 for Livingston has meant that he has had to take a lot on board at a young age. The praise and adoration of his own club’s fans is balanced by the vitriol and abuse he gets from others. He needs to rise above it and not engage with the less cerebral elements who abuse him in stadiums and online. Griffiths was most unwise when he reacted to a jibe on twitter by posting a message saying 'F*ck off back to your own country ya clown.' He could learn from Irish international player, James MacLean, who gave up on twitter after being drawn into disputes with the loyalist fringe over his decision not to wear a poppy on his Sunderland shirt. Such trolls are not interesting in hearing about another perspective but merely want to abuse those with a different world view from theirs. As MacLean learned, you cannot reason with unreasonable people.

Leigh is 24 now and entering his peak years as a player and it is time he demonstrated maturity and a willingness to learn from past mistakes. He is a Celtic player and the club rightly demands high standards from those who wear the Hoops. As a club initially founded by refugees and rightly proud of our open and inclusive ethos, Celtic no doubt made it clear to Leigh that he should think very carefully about his public actions. If he wants to know what sort of club Celtic is he only had to look down the Celtic Way after the Kilmarnock game and see the generosity of spirit among the club’s supporters.

I hope Leigh goes on to score many goals for Celtic and that he manages to cut out his more foolish off field antics. Some Celtic supporters expressed their concerns when he signed for the club but I’m of the opinion that we are all due a shot at redemption. He is undoubtedly a very good footballer on his day and we were all guilty of some youthful indiscretions in our time but he can’t allow events off the field to become his Achilles heel. I think he knows that now.

Many heroes but few legends

 

Many heroes but few legends

Big Hutchy was troubled as the mini bus sped up the M6 towards Scotland. Those not asleep talked in low tones about the events of the night before. Losing a match was one thing but the violence which occurred after it was little short of disgraceful. There was a muffled cheer as they sped past the sign on the M74 which read ‘Welcome to Scotland.’  Hutchy shouted to the driver, ‘Stop at the next service station, will ye pal?’ The driver nodded, ‘No problem mate as long as it’s not for drink. The cops are still checking buses.’ Hutchy nodded, ‘Naw it’s no fur bevy mate.’ A few miles further on they pulled in to one of those nondescript service stations which dot the UK motorway system and specialise in ripping off drivers with extortionate prices. Hutchy disappeared from the mini bus for a few minutes as his fellow fans waited impatiently. ‘Where’s he off tae?’ asked one fan. ‘Nae idea but he better move his arse, I want tae get up the road.’ said another. Eventually big Hutchy reappeared holding a huge bunch of flowers and clambered back onto the mini bus. ‘You got a burd waiting fur ye?’ grinned a sleepy eyed fellow fan. ‘Naw,’ another butted in, ‘he never asked his burd for her permission tae go tae the match and that’s his apology.’ Hutchy shook his head and replied in a loud voice which stirred the sleeping fans, ’Listen up, this is something ah want yeez aw tae hear…’

Two hours later the mini bus slowed and stopped on the London Road at the corner of Kerrydale Street. There were already hundreds of people milling about in front of Celtic Park in the bright evening sunshine. Hutchy had discussed who was coming with him as they neared Glasgow and the three volunteers stepped from the mini bus, blinking in the sunshine. Heads turned in the direction of the four friends who made their way up Kerrydale Street towards the stadium. Hutchy held the flowers in front of him and made his way to the huge display of football strips, flowers and scarves which had grown around the front of the stadium. They stopped near the statue of Brother Walfrid and Hutchy laid the flowers with care on the ground beside a large picture of the man these tributes had been laid out for. Hutchy stood and closed his eyes for a few seconds as his friends looked on, feeling a little awkward. One of them took off his scarf and tied it to the barrier in front of him. He glanced around and saw that there were literally thousands of tributes around the front of the stadium which formed a huge green and white arc. ‘Jeez, I’ve never seen anything like this,’ he mumbled.

Hutchy opened his eyes and bowed briefly in respect before saying, ‘Right lads, let’s head back tae the bus.’ as he led his three friends back down Kerrydale Street there was a smattering of applause. Hutchy glanced around wondering if some Celtic players or celebrity had shown up but quickly realised that the applause was for him and his friends. An older man reached across and shook his hand, ‘Good on ye lads,’  Hutchy nodded, ‘Tommy was one of the best.’ Another fan, a bearded young man bedecked in the Hoops, patted his back, ‘Respect, mate.’ he said. They reached the bus where twenty other fans sat in silence. ‘Right driver, hit the road,’ said Hutchy. They pulled off into the light traffic and headed west towards Bridgeton. One finally spoke, ‘I wasn’t sure about this Hutchy but ye were right mate. Some things are bigger than fitbaw.’

You will have deduced by now those supporters who laid their tributes to Tommy Burns in the spring of 2008 were Rangers fans returning from the crushing disappointment of losing the UEFA cup final in riot torn Manchester. They walked through hundreds of grieving Celtic supporters in their Rangers shirts to show their respect for one of the good guys. It is a mark of how Tommy Burns was perceived and respected throughout the Scottish game that they stopped off on their way home to pay their tributes.

In the polarised and often bitter world of Scottish football we are all guilty at times of stereotyping our adversaries and such acts of humanity remind us that no support has a monopoly of decency. The passing of a transparently good man like Tommy Burns was of course marked with the respect and grief one would expect from the Celtic family. Such though was Tommy’s character and personality, fans of just about every club in the land also paid tribute to a good man taken from his family far too soon. Tales of many acts of kindness, great and small, are still told, particularly in the east end of Glasgow and I have recounted some on this blog on occasion. No one who met Tommy could be mistaken for a moment that he was anything other than a thoroughly decent human being. Often he needed no words as he led by example. Consider what some of those who knew him best said about him…

“I loved Tommy Burns. You meet some people and you like them, but Tommy was someone that I loved. I got to realise that during the early 1980s, although I wouldn’t have told him that. But he was just one of those people that you just can’t help but love’’.  (Danny McGrain)

Tommy and I came into the team at the same time and played for all those years together. That team during the 1970s and ‘80s had great bonds. We were fans on the pitch as much as anything else and as far as Celtic Football Club was concerned, Tommy wore his heart on his sleeve. He played for the jersey and you could not find a more committed player. (Roy Aitken)

"I was a Celtic supporter growing up. My first appointment was by Tommy Burns. As a human being he was incredible & I learnt a lot from him."
(Brendan Rodgers)

“HE lived the dream of supporting Celtic, playing for them, coaching them and ultimately managing them and I suspect that if I asked any Celtic fan of a certain vintage what brand of football they have enjoyed most in the past 30 years, the majority would answer the type played under Tam. Tam going into management was a natural progression but he was never the type who craved a flamboyant lifestyle, out on the town eating in flash restaurants and being noticed. That was never his way. Tam would rather be at home with his wife and his family.’’ (Gerry Collins)

Men like Tommy Burns don’t come along too often and he epitomised all that was best about Celtic Football Club. Yes, he had a temper when he thought his team were being wronged and saw the red card on a few occasions as a player but he played with a fire and commitment to Celtic and the fans loved him for that. His Celtic team in the mid-1990s played some of the best attacking football since the Stein era and he would not compromise what he saw as the ‘Celtic way’ of playing even when more street wise operators like Walter Smith mugged his team for the points. But Tommy was more than a player and a Manager at Celtic. He was symbol of what the club aspired to be: passionate and committed but also sporting, open and charitable. It was important to him that the club continued to be a force for good in an increasingly selfish world.

His legacy at Celtic Park is secure but I’m sure he is most pleased that his memory lives on in the hearts and minds of thousands of ordinary Celtic fans. Any discussion about the most important figures in Celtic history will always see Walfrid, Maley, Stein or McCann mentioned. Any discussion on the most revered figures at the club will always start with Tommy because he truly was a fan on the field who fought for Celtic till he had no more to give. We have had many heroes down the years but few legends. Tommy is one of the select few to join that latter group.

I’ll leave the last words with the man himself who said on the occasion of his last game for Celtic in 1989….

‘'I wanted to go out with a smile on my face and not a tear in my eye, so I got all of my crying out of the way during the warm-up. I ran about the pitch for 20 minutes with tears running down my cheeks because I knew I would never wear a Celtic jersey again.'’

That’s what it meant to men like Tommy Burns and that’s why we loved him.

Rest in peace Tam, you were one in a million.

 

Never easy but always worthwhile

 

Never easy but always worthwhile

It was the spring of 2003 and for Celtic fans all things seemed possible. The team’s success in Europe had seen people sit up and take notice of Martin O’Neil’s team. Teams of real quality were sent tumbling out of Europe by a Celtic team playing with vigour and style. Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo, Stuttgart and Liverpool had been dispatched by a Celtic side which seemed to fear no one. The disappointment of losing the League Cup Final when a Hartson penalty miss and another ‘honest mistake’ cost Celtic the game was put behind the team as they faced up to Boavista Oporto. The stodgy, defensive Portuguese made no friends at Celtic Park with a display of play acting and time wasting. Nerves seemed to get to Celtic who missed a penalty and scored an own goal as tense game ended 1-1. The return game in Portugal was seen as a very difficult one for Celtic to win given the events at Celtic Park.

Celtic set off for Portugal on the back of a 1-2 defeat at Tynecastle in which the team looked tired. Perhaps the fixture congestion and tension of a tight league run in and European demands were taking their toll. 3000 Celtic fans were present in the small Boavista stadium with hundreds of thousands watching on TV screens around the world. This game was possibly the most important Celtic match since the European Cup Final of 1970. Celtic were within touching distance of a European final for the first time in 33 years. The task facing them was daunting as Boavista were a tidy but essentially negative team. They didn’t need to score at home and this would make any chance Celtic had of scoring the away goal they required all the more difficult.

The streets of Glasgow were eerily quiet on that bright April night in 2003 as most of the country settled in front of their TV sets to watch the drama unfold. . The game got underway and in homes and Bars all over the world Celtic fans were put through an emotional mixer as Boavista settled into their defensive shell. The play acting and time wasting resumed and as the first half wore on it appeared to many that Celtic were not playing with the energy and zest they had exhibited throughout their impressive European run. . The Portuguese side did try to counter attack Celtic but not requiring a goal meant they seldom pushed many players forward. Half time arrived with nails bitten and nerves frayed among Celtic fans all over the world.

The second half saw more urgency from Celtic but the constant breaks in play as the Portuguese fell over at the slightest contact disrupted their flow. Some Celtic fans have told me they were feeling tremendous stress and frustration as the game reached those dramatic final stages. Just one goal would put Celtic into a European final and re-establish their reputation as a credible European team again after decades in the wilderness…and then in happened.

Those of you who watched that game will still recall the explosion of pent up emotion which occurred in the 83^rd minute. Larsson played a pass towards John Hartson on the edge of the Boavista box. Defender Filipe Anunciacao saw the danger and slid in to intercept the pass. To his horror the ball rebounded back towards Larsson who got away one of his less impressive shots of a season which saw him hit over 40 goals. As we watch open mouthed the ball spun up and over the despairing hands of Goalkeeper Riccardo and into the net. I could hear the roars of joy and relief from houses around mine as Celtic fans shouted their heads off.  My own crowded living room was a scene of joyous chaos as we realised that Celtic were close, so close. We then had to endure a further ten minutes of play as Boavista finally realised that their time wasting was now working against them. A friend said to me later that it was all too much for him at that point and he left the house and paced the garden waiting on the final whistle. He missed the only scary moment when Agathe tackled a Boavista attacker in the box who proceeded to fall as if he had been shot. The Russian referee had obviously seen enough of their play acting and was unimpressed. He waved play on as we breathed a sigh of relief. Those last few seconds ticked away as we urged the Referee to end it and put us out of our misery. Then he blew for time and the dam broke, a flood of joy, emotion and pride poured over Celtic supporters all over the world. They had done it! They had finally reached another European Final and the players embraced with as much joy as any fan as what they had achieved sunk in.

That match in Portugal 12 years ago this month was perhaps the most tense football game I have ever witnessed. Celtic fans don’t just invest their time and money in the club, they invest their emotions and that match was absolute torture until the Referee blew his whistle to end it. It set up the legendary trip to Seville with all its bitter-sweet memories and Celtic fans displayed again that warmth and sportsmanship which marks them out.

Celtic achievements in that 2002-03 season are not recorded in the history books as significant. They gave so much at home and abroad and ended up empty handed. The League cup was lost after a linesman flagged a good John Hartson goal offside. The League was lost by a single goal on that gut wrenching final day at Rugby Park. However Celtic fans entered the summer of 2003 in buoyant mood as they knew that the team had been so close and given so much. Martin O’Neil promised to win their title back in 2004 and he did. A goalless start at Dunfermline was followed by an astonishing run of 25 consecutive victories in the SPL which saw them blast all opposition away.

But that sultry night in Porto remains for me one of those iconic moments as a Celtic fan when the team saw the prize before them and simply refused to give up. The fans who went through an emotional roller coaster that evening were finally rewarded when Larsson broke the Portuguese with his timely goal. As Fergus McCann once said…

‘It’s never easy being a Celt but it’s always worthwhile.’

 

My last love...

 

My last love

As I joined in the thunderous chorus of ‘You’ll never walk alone’ with around 60,000 other Celts at the home game with Juventus in 2013, I couldn’t help notice the variety of images and symbols modern Celtic fans utilise. There was a smattering of Scottish, Irish, Basque, Antifa and Palestinian flags as well as a variety of Celtic banners. Within my line of view there were scarves exhibiting everything from Jimmy Johnstone and James Connolly to Che Guevara. The vast majority though were simply the green and white bar scarves of Celtic. A young man in front of me held up a flag showing Pope Benedict and emblazoned with the words ‘Our God Reigns.’ Not something I would take to a football game but that’s his choice.

Identity is a complicated and multi layered concept and no one can deny that Celtic Football Club has its roots in the Catholic community resident in the west of Scotland in the late Victorian era. The club was of course founded by a Marist Brother to help raise funds to feed the impoverished children he saw around him every day in the areas streets and schools. Not all of those Catholics resident in Glasgow’s east end were of Irish extraction, indeed the Bridgeton area, often associated today with Orangeism, was one of the settlement areas for displaced Catholic Highlanders and many of the children attending Walfrid’s Sacred Heart Primary School would have been the offspring of these Highlanders. From 1872-1918 Faith schools such as the Sacred Heart remained outside the state system as the 1872 Education Act prescribed Religious instruction which was interpreted as being Protestant in nature. The Catholic population thus paid rates for over 45 years which helped fund schools which their conscience would not let them use. This injustice continued until the 1918 Education Act finally brought the Catholic schools into the state sector.

It is to Celtic’s credit in the polarised world of the late 19^th Century that the club decided from earliest times not to become an exclusive organisation such as Hibernian FC with its strong links to the temperance movement and the Catholic Young Men’s Society. Hibs faced the same sort of prejudice which Celtic would later encounter and on one occasion were denied entry to the Scottish League on the grounds that they were an Irish club and not a Scottish one. Celtic naturally looked within its own community to put together that first team which took the field in May 1888. In the days before professionalism, players were enticed away from clubs such as Hibs and Renton by the use of what were clearly illegal inducements given the amateur status of the game in those days. If Walfrid is the club’s spiritual father, John Glass was the club’s midwife who ensured it was born safely and thrived in its infancy. He had the skills and contacts to ensure the best players made their way to Celtic Park to throw their lot in with the new club. That new club was pragmatic enough to know that they would be stuck in a limiting ghetto if they didn’t open the doors to any who had the skills and personality to wear their colours.

According to the excellent book ‘The Celtic, Glasgow Irish and the Great War: The Gathering Storms,’ Celtic tried to sign a non-Catholic player in September 1888. This is a clear indication that even in the stuffy religious atmosphere of 1880s Scotland Celtic would be a club open to all. Willie Maley who served Celtic for over 50 years from its inception was never ashamed of the club’s Catholic roots but was equally proud of the fact that the club unlike others was not judging players on their religious affiliations. He said in his book, ‘The Story of Celtic’ (1939)…

"Much has been made in certain quarters about our religion, but for forty-eight years we have played a mixed team, and some of the greatest Celts we have had did not agree with us in our religious beliefs, although we have never at any time hidden what these are. Men of the type of McNair, Hay, Lyon, Buchan, Cringan, the Thomspons, or Paterson soon found out that broadmindedness which is the real stamp of the good Christian existed to its fullest at Celtic Park, where a man was judged by his football alone."

Personally, I could not envisage a Celtic which was not open to players of all faiths and none. From John Thomson to Kenny Dalglish, from Jock Stein to Danny McGrain we have seen club legends who have come to Celtic from all sorts of backgrounds and grown as Celts. In many cases they came to develop a real affinity and love for the club. Jock Stein, perhaps one of the greatest Celts of all, once famously said…

“Unlike many other Celts, I cannot claim that Celtic was my first love … but I can say that it will be my last love.”

This willingness to embrace players from all walks of life led to Celtic’s support becoming more mixed and cosmopolitan. Some came to support Celtic because they liked the style of football or were influenced by the friendliness of many Celtic fans. Others, such as a few friends I know from the Scottish-Asian community, follow Celtic because they identified with a club founded itself by immigrants. My maternal grandfather came from a staunch Orange family and would actually be beaten up by his brothers for following Celtic. He told that they once found his Celtic scarf hidden in the wardrobe and burned it on the coal fire as he watched. He would climb out of the window and make his way to Celtic Park to watch McGrory and John Thomson play.

It irks me somewhat when people describe Celtic as the ‘Catholic club’ of Glasgow when the club has clearly been playing mixed teams from its earliest years. Such a description denies the fact that the club knowingly chose not to embrace exclusivity as some others did. Such lazy labels are also used by some to ‘sectarianize’ Celtic and drag it into the bigoted mire which others wallow in. Yes, the majority of the club’s support is drawn from that founding Scottish-Irish community which was at least culturally Catholic. Today though as the influence of all the main churches wanes, fans are drawn from all walks of life and the vast majority would not want to see Celtic as anything other than the open, inclusive club it is today.

The Irish Folk Band, the Wolfe Tones once wrote a song celebration the Protestants who fought and often died for Irish freedom.  It contains the lyric…

So here's to those brave Protestant Men,

who gave their lives to free our land,

All the people they sang their praises then

for the brave United Irishmen…’

When I hear that song I often think of the many splendid Celts who played their hearts out for the club from its earliest years. Many of them didn’t come from Celtic backgrounds or have any connection at all to the club before walking up Kerrydale Street to wear the green. They served the club with distinction and pride and created legends which are talked of to this day. Not only did we see fantastic players from a wide variety of backgrounds wear the Hoops with pride, but over the past 127 years we have also witnessed more and more supporters join our ranks from all walks of life. The club has grown way beyond the narrow confines of its birth and has been immeasurably enriched and strengthened by the variety of people who have followed the team or worn those famous hooped shirts.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of game are we running here?

What kind of game are we running here?

Scottish football lost one of its characters with the passing of Raith Rovers Honorary President, Turnbull Hutton. He is rightly credited with leading a boardroom which brought financial stability to the Kircaldy club in challenging financial times. He also took great delight in seeing the club  lift the Ramsdens Cup against all expectations when Rovers beat Rangers at Easter Road in the final. Hutton was a big man physically as well as being a big personality and few challenges daunted him.

He is best remembered by Celtic fans for standing up to the machinations of the football authorities who wanted to fast track the new Rangers club into the first division. For him it was a simple matter of integrity; a new club should begin life in the bottom tier of the leagues and not receive any special treatment from the SPL, SFL or SFA. The offer of financial incentives failed to move him and he became an unwitting figure head for the majority in Scottish football who saw the injustice of a club leaving millions unpaid to creditors and then looking to jump the leagues as if nothing happened. Tabloid scare stories about 6 clubs being dead within four months if Rangers weren’t fast tracked were treated with the contempt they deserved. He had the courage to speak to the media about the concerns he had regarding the attempted fast tracking of the new club up the leagues and this made him a target for the more unhinged of the Ibrox club’s followers. He said at the time…

“This is the same Rangers whose supporters threatened to torch our stadium and whose manager demanded one of our directors was named over his involvement with an SFA judicial panel. That resulted in TV cameras camping outside his door and threats being made by various outlandish factions. We also had Sandy Jardine publicly calling for repercussions for those clubs who have not supported Rangers. Given that, how could I be expected to roll over and have my tummy tickled by some inducement to allow Rangers to come into the First Division. I gave my opinion to the board on Monday night and the board had a position which was not in any way different from my own.  That does not mean a vote will go the way we want it to go. I imagine some clubs will see some short-term advantage. But if long-term you cheese off your season ticket-holders and supporters and backers is it worth it?  Do you sell your position for 30 pieces of silver for some short-term advantage or take the moral high ground?”

It took considerable courage to expose himself to the ire of the more Neanderthal among the Ibrox support but he remained true to his principles and reflected the wishes of his own club’s support who told him clearly that allowing the newco to begin life in the First Division would be grossly unfair and unsporting. Many refused to renew their season books until it became clear that the club was not going to be bought or bullied into accepting that Rangers were a special case deserving of special treatment. They were in fact responsible for the biggest scandal in Scottish football history and left creditors large and small out of pocket to the tune of millions. Most clubs in Scotland were taking a similar view to Raith Rovers and the tawdry actions of those in positions of authority in Scottish Football still rankles with many. We were warned laughably of ‘Civil unrest’ and clubs going bankrupt within months without Rangers in the top Division or at least Division 1.

A meeting at Hampden in that febrile summer of 2012 saw the football authorities outline the pros and cons of each possible scenario involving the new Rangers. There was again talk of ‘Complete financial meltdown’ and the loss of over £16m from the game if the new club wasn’t accommodated in Division 1.’ It was then suggested that the SPL might start an ‘SPL 2’ and not invite clubs voting against fast tracking Rangers to join. Following a meeting with the SPL and SFA, a furious Turnbull Hutton stood on the steps of Hampden and let the footballing authorities have both barrels…

‘We are being bullied, railroaded and lied to. We are being lied to by the Scottish FA and the SPL. We are being threatened and bullied. It is not football as I know it. It was a ridiculous document which came out last week whereby the threat was there that if you don’t vote for an acceptance into the First Division, a breakaway SPL2 will come along and those who didn’t vote wouldn’t be invited. What kind of game are we running here? It is corrupt.’

He was then asked if he agreed with the assertion that Scottish football faced financial meltdown without Rangers and replied simply, ‘I don’t believe that.’ In the wake of this the 30 SFL clubs voted not to allow Rangers into the First Division and the new club began life in the lowest tier of Scottish football. Turnbull Hutton spoke for many from Annan to Aberdeen in those troubled days and much of his assertions have been proven correct. There was no financial implosion in Scottish football when the new club was refused special treatment. No clubs went bankrupt. Indeed many are now in a healthier financial position than they were before the Rangers collapse.

Scottish football owes a debt to Mr Hutton. He spoke up when others were silent. It rankles with many Celtic supporters that our own club was conspicuous by its silence in those tumultuous day but perhaps the Celtic board have at least some mitigating circumstances given the club’s historic rivalry with Rangers. If Peter Lawwell had been speaking in the open, honest manner Turnbull Hutton did then it may have poisoned relations between Celtic and the new club for a generation. I’m sure some at Celtic Park agreed with every word Mr Hutton said but politics deemed it necessary to keep their council.

Any who believes in sporting integrity in our national game will recognise the debt owed to Mr Hutton. We send his family and all Raith Rovers fans our condolences.

 

He spoke up when others wouldn’t and that took courage.

 

RIP

 

 

 

 

 

Crash and Burn

 

Crash and Burn

Like many Celtic fans I enjoy a good read about the club and the many issues which surround it. The internet has been very liberating and democratising in that context as it has given a platform and a voice to many ordinary Celts who reflect on all things Celtic on a variety of sites. For the more mature Celtic fan, who traditionally relied on the mainstream media or the rather bland Celtic View for information, the new technological advances have been a breath of fresh air. When one considers that Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006, it really must be astonishing to the younger generation, so enmeshed in the web, to imagine that a mere 20 years ago all of this was the stuff of science fiction. Of course all is not rosy in the cyber world as the internet has also allowed some more unsavoury sorts to vent their bile to a wider audience but intelligent people soon sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out who talks sense.

Consider the role the internet played in discussing the looming financial crisis at Rangers in the years before their demise. Sites such as Phil McGiollabhain, Rangers Tax Case and Thoughts on Scots Law were well ahead of the mainstream media in warning of the consequences of the fiscal madness going on at Ibrox and the likely outcome. Such sites were branded the domain of ‘Internet Bampots’ who clearly had an agenda. If they did have an agenda, it was to seek the truth as the MSM were clearly failing to pursue the developing crisis at Ibrox with any vigour. It wasn’t that some of them didn’t know what was going on rather many chose to ignore it in the ‘succulent lamb’ atmosphere of the time. You simply didn’t write negative stories about Rangers lightly in those days as Mr Murray would soon cut off the supply of pro Rangers ‘scoops’ which filled the tabloids at the time. From Superstar signings and the Super-Casino to Hover pitches and master plans to dominate Europe, we were fed a diet of utter tripe and only the financial crisis in 2008 when the banks started asking for their money back did the whole edifice begin to crumble. Only then did we see that the whole Rangers Empire was built on a bubble of unsustainable debt and bluster. After the arrogance and hubris of the Murray years came an inescapable nemesis in the shape of an utterly humiliating liquidation. Of course the media had no choice but to go with the story once it was staring them in the face but few will forget their dereliction of duty as the Ibrox edifice began to totter. It was as if they thought Rangers, the establishment club controlled by a ‘financial wizard’ was too big to fail. History has demonstrated that it wasn’t and the reverberations of the collapse of Rangers are still being heard.

Many clued up Celtic supporters led the way in exposing the goings on at Ibrox. I recently read Stephen O’Donnell’s book ‘Scotball’ which cleverly uses the character of media savvy ‘Peter Fitzpatrick’ to explore not just the world of Scottish Football but also the wider webs of media manipulation which snare the unwary. O’Donnell’s character ‘Fitzy’ could be a cipher for any one of us who wants to get at the truth. Fitzy returns from living abroad to find Scotland in a fevered state with the independence referendum imminent. He also encounters the turbulent aftermath of the death of Rangers FC and the media inconsistencies which surround it. He gets a break and hosts a topical football discussion show and in this section of the book he cleverly demonstrates the inconsistencies, agendas and lies surrounding the demise of Rangers FC. In return his bosses make it clear that he must tow the party line or face the consequences.

O’Donnell’s book is not simply another sneering dig at Rangers FC, although it does satirise and expose the manipulation of the media by vested interests. The allusions are clear when he talks of ‘Radio Kelvin’ or Specific ‘Quay’ but crucially his main character ‘Fitzy’ is given scope to be intelligent and enquiring. He says at one point… “I’m aware that it’s all too easy for someone in my position to fall into the trap of the lazy-minded, who’s thinking on any relevant subject amounts to little more than Celtic good, Rangers bad.” The book doesn’t fall into that trap and is both very readable and plausible. In some sense it may have been born out of frustration at the lamentable levels investigative journalism has fallen too in Scotland. This after all is the land where a sports ‘journalist’ once said that investigating Rangers financial affairs was ‘above my pay grade.’ The biggest story in the history of Scottish football and he couldn’t be bothered to lift a phone and get some advice on the goings on at Ibrox?

Stephen O’Donnell’s book is a well written exploration of the media culture surrounding aspects of Scottish football. It may well be a work of fiction but there can be truths in parables and O’Donnell asks us all to think for ourselves and not be led by media agendas. Such books allied to the many intelligent voices on the internet, has enabled a more balanced debate about what is happening in our national game. The new breed of Celtic oriented authors and bloggers have in the main done an excellent job in keeping the support informed and entertained. They also provoke thought and raise awareness of many important issues affecting Celtic and the support. We may not always be unanimous in our opinions but at least we now have forums to discuss them out-with the control of a largely discredited sports media in Scotland.

One section of ‘Scotball’ which had me nodding in agreement centered on Dougie Donnelly exhorting all of Scotland’s football fans to get behind Rangers in a Champions League Qualifying game, ‘Fitzy’ listens as his rather drunk friend Melly outlines why he could never lend his support to Rangers…

‘I’m no fuckin cheerin they cunts on, no matter who it is they’re playing!’ It pains me to admit it but strip away the drunken overstatement and partisan prejudices in Melly’s assertions then broadly speaking I must agree with much of what he’s saying. Which I suppose is a fairly damning indictment in itself on just what a low ebb Donnelly and many of his colleagues in the mainstream media have come to…and if Rangers lack of success on the European front has an added effect of putting a check on their recklessness and overweening arrogance then that might be an added benefit for the Scottish game as well. Who knows it might even persuade the media to start taking their responsibilities more seriously and adopt a more even handed approach on issues such as impartiality, although I’ll not be holding my breath on that score.’

History will look at the early years of Scottish Football in the new millennium and come to the conclusion that most clubs realized the ‘borrow and spend’ model was unsustainable. That one club failed to see this and continued on a reckless course until it crashed and burned will also be judged as no one’s fault but their own. No doubt those intelligent and courageous authors and bloggers who exposed the sham will continue to be branded ‘obsessed’ or ‘Bampots’ by those too thick to get the point. The whole narrative wasn’t about kicking Rangers, it was about  attempting to lift the lid on some very murky goings on and the dereliction of duty by some who had forgotten the meaning and function of real Journalism.

 You can purchase Stephen O'Donnell's thought provoking book here...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scotball-Stephen-ODonnell/dp/1901514137