Lancing the boil

Lancing the boil

Some years ago I was in the Broomloan stand at Ibrox for a Rangers v Celtic match. My ticket took me to within a few rows of the home supporters in the Govan stand with only a thin yellow line of police and stewards separating the two supports. Celtic won the match that day with a goal from Maciej Zurawski but any other details of the game have dissipated from, my memory. What remains in my mind though is the relentless storm or visceral hatred directed at the Celtic supporters from grown men just a few yards away. Many of these men will have jobs, children, lives outside football but for a couple of hours they allow themselves to behave in a manner which is little short of disturbing. It was as if all the frustrations, disappointments and petty hatreds of their lives had been save up for just this moment and spat out at the Celtic supporters a few yards away.

You all know the sort of things which would have been shouted and chanted that day and that they had precious little to do with football. It wasn’t a pleasant way to spend an afternoon and you do start to wonder why such behaviour is tolerated in any society. No one wants the competitive and tribal edge taken out of football; it thrives on strong rivalries but some things cross the line and stray into a much darker place. I recall as a boy my old man saying, ‘We don’t like them much but they hate us.’ He wasn’t referring to the decent supporters of Rangers and they do exist but to that lumpen group whose lives are guided not by the things they love but by the things they hate. There is no reasoning with unreasonable people and if they are allowed to continue their medieval behaviour unchecked then it’ll go on forever.

American Psychologist Laurence Kohlberg described moral development in people in his famous ‘Theory of Moral development.’ Put simply he stated that as we grow and learn the moral choices we make in life are guided by the responses and reactions they often provoke. His model (greatly simplified) is akin to this…

·        Stage1: We do the right thing because we fear punishment or act out of self-interest to gain some reward

·        Stage 2: We do the right thing because it’s conventional and we judge that it helps create a better more ordered in society. We conform to the law and other norms.

·        Stage 3: We do the right thing according to deeply ingrained principles and ethics we hold even if it brings us into conflict with others or the law.

Now all of that might seem a bit odd in a football related article but the bigotry we see and hear at some Scottish football stadiums will only stop if the authorities and wider society says that’s enough. We may never get through to the minority in whom hatred is deeply ingrained but there is a continuum to such things ranging from those who despise the poison they hear around them, those who get caught up in the atmosphere and join in and those who revel in it. We need to get through to everyone that it won’t be tolerated and hope that the decent supporters withdraw their tacit support for the more bigoted element.

Now that UEFA has acted and demonstrated the sort of leadership that the gutless SFA has so obviously lacked for a century or more it’s becoming clearer to many supporters that it will hurt their club and fellow fans if the racism and bigotry continues. In Kohlberg’s terms, fear of punishment is driving the decisions of the more lumpen group thus we didn’t hear certain songs at the game with Legia Warsaw. Of course many supporters just want this nonsense to be dispensed with and get on with supporting their team. On Rangers forums there is now a more heated debate about what constitutes an appropriate song at a football match and it’s good to see the often silent voices of many supporters say enough is enough. UEFA don’t mince their words in their judgement of songs heard at Ibrox state starkly that…

‘The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body has decided to order a partial closure of the Rangers FC stadium during the next one (1) UEFA competition match in which Rangers FC will play as the host club, for the racist behaviour of its supporters. Rangers FC shall inform UEFA of the sector(s) to be closed, which shall at least comprehend 3,000 seats. The Scottish club is ordered to display a banner with the wording “#EqualGame”, with the UEFA logo on it.’

The inevitability of further sanctions means that even the most hard hearted bigot can be in no doubt of what will occur should such songs be reported to UEFA in the future. The European governing body’s code goes on to say…

‘The following disciplinary measures apply in the event of recidivism: a. a second offence is punished with one match played behind closed doors and a fine of € 50,000; b. any subsequent offence is punished with more than one match behind closed doors, a stadium closure, the forfeiting of a match, the deduction of points and/or disqualification from the competition.’

Any further offences may see stadium closures for more than one game, points deducted or offending teams being ejected from the competition. All of this is clearly spelled out on the UEFA website and leaves little room for saying ‘it’s our tradition’ because at the end of the day some ‘traditions’ are simply not worth keeping.

All big football clubs have their share of fools and knaves among their support and for the most part there is a self-policing aspect among fans which keeps them in check. Rangers problems are the historical hangover of pandering to a bigoted minority between the wars when new Chairman John Primrose Ure dedicated the Ibrox club to the ‘masonic cause’ and began the strict ‘no Catholics’ policy which continued for decades afterwards. In doing so the club attracted the worst elements of society to their support and now in more enlightened times those elements adhere to Rangers like barnacles on a ship.

For Celtic supporters too, the message from UEFA should resonate. There have been debates about the appropriateness of some singing Irish nationalist songs at Celtic matches and how these are perceived. Coming from an Irish background, I’ll never submit to any agenda which seeks to class such songs as sectarian because they simply aren’t but you can of course ask the legitimate question about why they’re sung at a Scottish football match. That debate is an ongoing one among the Celtic support is healthy and far from over.

UEFA’s actions have demonstrated that the SFA’s policy of doing very little to address the open sore of bigotry in Scottish football is untenable. The SFA is a members organisation and the clubs refuse to countenance strict liability for what goes on in their stadiums but perhaps there is a middle way where the SFA follow UEFA’s lead and lay out in plain terms what is and is not acceptable at a football match as well as the sanctions supporters can expect for transgressing the rules.

It remains a sad but true fact that it is hard to root out the bigots without hurting the decent fans too but that perhaps is a price worth paying for lancing the boil of bigotry. Then a new generation can grow up without being immersed in the sort of bile I experience in the Broomloan stand all those years ago.

 It is to be hoped that the fans of the future make the right choices but do so not out of fear of punishment but because it’s the right thing to do

The Road to God knows where

The Road to God knows where

The supporters’ bus rattled along the A80 towards Falkirk and a trip to the quaint little stadium the Bairns called home. It was September 1992 and Celtic was already having one of those Jekyll and Hyde seasons. They started the month beating St Johnstone at home before being mugged 3-2 by Hibs at Celtic Park and then travelling to Germany where a lacklustre Cologne side beat them 2-0. As usual a well-worn tape of the Wolfe Tones greatest hits accompanied us on our journey and there was a definite comradeship among the supporters on the bus which had been fostered by the hard times their club was facing. The glorious, sun drenched centenary season of four years earlier seemed like a distant dream as the team swung from occasional brilliance to baffling ineptitude. As we neared Brockville the songs got a little louder and the whole bus was singing…

‘We’re on the one road, sharing the one load

We’re on the road to God knows where

We’re on the one road; it may be the wrong road

But we’re together now who cares?

North men, south men comrades all

Dublin, Belfast, Cork or Donegal

We’re on the one road swinging along

Singing a Soldiers song….’

The thousands of Celtic fans crowding the turnstiles at the James Street Terrace may have wondered if the line ‘we’re on the road to God knows were’ was written for them and their club in those difficult years.  1992-93 Season would see the club draw 12 and lose 8 of their league matches to finish a distant third behind Rangers and Aberdeen. Celtic Park needed rebuilding, the team needed strengthening and the Board seemed clueless about how to do this and compete with a Rangers side which seemed to have unlimited funds. Our bus load of hopeful fans joined thousands of others on the terraces to back their team although most were unsure of which Celtic would show up. As it turned out we saw Celtic’s many faces that day.

After a tense and foul littered start, Pat Bonner came fully 16 yards from goal to punch the ball clear and only succeeded in knocking it to a Falkirk player who instantly chipped the stranded keeper. Tony Mowbray punched the goal bound shot off the line and was sent off. The penalty was converted and the Hoops were 0-1 down. It was such a typically bad goal to give away. The team fought back and goals from Wdowczyk and Creaney had the Bhoys back in front. More suicidal defending followed and Celtic’s 2-1 lead was a 4-2 deficit by the 70^th minute. It was unbelievable; Falkirk, a team who would be relegated that season, had hit four against Celtic. The stoics among the Celtic support hadn’t given up though and roared the team on. First Gerry Creaney scored with a fine header and then amid wild scenes Andy Payton equalised. In the very last minute with the game tied at 4-4 Celtic got a free kick about 22 yards from goal. We looked on as John Collins placed the ball. If anyone could curl it home he could! In the packed terrace behind the goal we watched and waited as he took his run up. Collins struck the ball well but it hit a defender in the wall. As a collective groan was about to emerge from thousands of throats, Collins raced onto the rebound and smashed an unstoppable shot into the net. The travelling support went wild. The team had fought back from 4-2 down to win the game and we trooped back to the buses happy.

In those times we really had hope after good performances that we might at last be turning a corner but in reality we were losing 4 goals to teams like Falkirk and were too inconsistent to challenge for the title. That late win at Falkirk sent us home happy though and we discussed our team on the road back to Glasgow. ‘Gillespie looks like he’s made of glass,’ someone said and indeed the former Liverpool player was so injury prone that he was known as the ‘Tampax.’ (In for one week then out for three) Collins and McStay were the match of any midfielders in the land but the defence was nicknamed the Sieve and it was a very apt moniker.

Celtic being Celtic, they lost the next match to an Aberdeen side containing Roy Aitken and then really hit a low point when Partick Thistle recorded a rare win at Celtic Park. Those two dreadful defeats came just before Cologne rolled into town for the return leg of their UEFA cup match with Celtic. The team roused themselves before a raucous Celtic Park crowd and smashed three goals past the stunned looking Germans to send them out of Europe. It was a scintillating display of attacking football and had us dreaming again that perhaps we could do something that season. Alas it was another false dawn.

Still, we rolled up to away grounds throughout the country and backed our team through thick and quite a lot of thin. There was the cup tie at Forfar where Celtic needed a late goal gave the team a 2-1 win. We arrived at Station Park to find joiners still working on the turnstiles. I spoke to a local who told me that winning the Forfarshire cup was the height of their ambition that season and that perhaps fans of big clubs didn’t appreciate the stoicism and loyalty of lower league fans who trudged along in all weathers with no hope of ever winning any major trophy. It put Celtic’s troubles into perspective. There was the Scottish Cup tie at Falkirk where we lost 2-0 as the Bairns defeated Celtic for the first ever time in a Scottish cup tie. It wasn’t pleasant losing such games but a sort of black humour was at play too and despite the team’s yoyo performances we still had a lot of laughs on the road. I recall Bryan Robson’s Testimonial in Manchester where over 12,000 Celtic fans headed south for a midweek match. Our bus stopped at the St Brendan’s Irish centre where the well-meaning locals had laid on a band. As hundreds of Celtic fans packed the room and started drinking the band began their set with Flower of Scotland. Nothing wrong with that fine song but one hooped fan waited until it was finished before whispering into the singer’s ear. His next song was the Fields of Athenry. We got home from that game at 4am and still made work at 8.

You needed a sense of humour in those times as Celtic’s league positions in the first 5 seasons of the 1990s were; 5^th, 3^rd, 3^rd, 3^rd & 4^th. It is perhaps a blessing that there was no social media them as it would imploded under the weight of Celtic fans’ anguish. The Fanzines were of course available to offer a forum for discussing the way forward and Not the View was always particularly witty and darkly funny. One edition had a picture of a depressing looking funeral on the front page with the heading saying ‘End of season party gets into full swing.’ In a strange way though, those years though did bond the fans closer together in a common purpose and that was of course to rebuild our club and see it become successful again. There was a hunger, a real desire to get the club back where we all thought it belonged but there would be no quick fix to the problems besetting Celtic in those days.

1994 began with a truly depressing match against Rangers. The Ibrox club were 2-0 up inside 3 minutes and led 3-0 at half time. The cold January rain matched the mood as Celtic eventually lost 4-2 and some fans vented their anger on the Celtic board. There was a dark comic twist when one Celtic director was hit with a Mars bar thrown by a disgruntled fan. One Fanzine commented, ‘He was hit by a Mars bar on the whole nut in front of a Galaxy or reporters. Police say there is a Bounty on the Bandit’s head.’ Things on the field were far from funny though as Celtic played 7 matches that January; lost four and drew 3; it was in many ways the month which effectively sealed the fate of the old board. The fans were in open rebellion and the writing was on the wall. Change was coming.

That change would be led by an unlikely and abrasive little man with a Canadian accent and a plan to revolutionise Celtic. He bought a controlling stake in Celtic for £9.5m. Celtic had been perilously close to bankruptcy. The supporters again dug deep to raise the millions of pounds required to rebuild Celtic Park and at last try to rebuild the team. The hungry years wandering in the wilderness were coming to an end although there would be more pain before Celtic could reclaim the title. One friend told me after a particularly dispiriting defeat at Tynecastle against a mediocre Hearts side, ‘It’s character building, and you’ll enjoy the good times more when you remember days like this.’ Perhaps there’s a grain of truth in that as there are young Celtic supporters who’ve grown up knowing nothing but success. A couple of defeats sends a minority into a frenzy of condemnation. Perhaps age and experience lends some perspective to such things.

I can’t say I enjoyed Celtic’s struggles in the 1990s but they were my team and like so many others I stuck with them through some dark times. The passion and hunger to see them successful again drove us on and in many ways laid the foundations for the good times we’re enjoying now.

Supporting Celtic is akin to falling in love; they exasperate you at times and you may squabble and bicker but you always come back for more because you know when the chips are down they’re the only one for you.

A bridge too far

A bridge too far

Celtic’s loss against Cluj was a severe blow to supporters who were keen for another crack at the Champions League. There was no doubting they were a competent side but Celtic, with vastly superior resources really should have defeated them. They were eminently beatable, of that there is no doubt but a variety of tactical and individual errors cost the side dearly. Of course a side with Celtic’s financial muscle should have been able to field a side with players suited to the positions they play and there are genuine questions about recruitment and team selection which need to be asked.

Celtic, in common with many big teams in smaller countries, find themselves in that frustrating situation where they are successful domestically but struggle to make an impact in Europe. The gulf is a hard one to bridge and the causes of it  are many. Football is essentially about players and there is no doubting that Celtic’s recruitment in the past decade has been only partially successful. There have been some gems unearthed like Wanyama and Van Dijk but too often we have seen players such as Pukki, Amido Balde and Dirk Boerichter arrive with high hopes and fail to make any impression at all in Scottish football. It is hugely frustrating for the fans to see millions paid for players and then watch the club tumble out of Europe to teams with far less resources. Of course football is about the team and not the bank balance but there is no doubting that Celtic is underachieving in European football when it comes to tackling the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. Losing to teams like AEK Athens, Maribor and Cluj in recent years

Europe is a good yardstick to measure a side’s capabilities. Celtic’s last three Group stage appearances in the Champions League have yielded just 2 wins (Anderlecht &  Ajax) with some absolute thumpings along the way. (Barcelona 6-1 & 7-0, PSG 5-0 & 7-1) We accept that football at the very highest level in Europe is a bridge too far for Celtic but just being among the elite of European football is enough to excite the fans and raise the profile of the club. The financial rewards are very important to a club like Celtic too operating as it does in a low income TV market. We should always aspire to getting there and then give our all to make an impression. That being said, fans aren’t stupid, they know when they watch teams like PSG pinging the ball about at Celtic Park that it is very difficult to compete with that but equally they know that we shouldn’t be losing 4 goals at home to teams like Cluj.

Supporter reaction to the club tumbling out of the Champions League was a mixture of frustration and anger. Some pointed at the board and its recruitment policy but in honesty millions of pounds have been spent on the team so it looks more like the identification and recruitment of suitable players is the problem. Celtic is a well-run club financially but the problem seems to be recruiting players who will translate that financial muscle into an improving team capable of reaching their potential in Europe. It isn’t helped by the bloated transfer market in England where over a billion pounds changed hands this summer.

The majority of Celtic supporters are rightly frustrated at the club’s underachievement and a series of recurring failures against sides they really should be beating suggest that it is more than an ‘off night’ which affects the side in Europe. Some suggest the lack of vigorous competition in Scottish football holds the team back as thrashing St Johnstone or Motherwell is hardly ideal preparation for playing in Europe. It is no coincidence that Scottish sides were at their peak in Europe when the domestic game was more competitive. We all know about Celtic’s glory years of the 1960s and 70s when they regularly performed well in Europe. Domestically they were pushed hard by a variety of sides in that era. This was a time when Dunfermline could knock Everton out of Europe and St Johnstone could master a very good Hamburg side. Of course Rangers, Hibs and Aberdeen could all give the hoops a real fight then and the competitive nature of the league drove standards up.

The undeniable improvement in Rangers under Steven Gerrard has not gone unnoticed and this should light a fire in the belly of Celtic players and officials. We are very close to breaking some long standing domestic records but if the team fails to perform then this once in a lifetime opportunity could be allowed to slip away. That would be unforgivable in the eyes of many supporters but as we have seen in Europe it is all about what you do on the pitch. Celtic supporters are a realistic bunch; they know that sometimes Europe is a bridge too far. A minority can’t accept this and demonstrate the kind of entitlement mentality we saw from fans of another club for years. There is no entitlement in football; you get what you fight for and earn and in my opinion you usually get what you deserve.

It is my hope that the increased competition Celtic face from Rangers and hopefully others will force the club to improve. There is no doubt that Celtic has superior players to any side in the league but good players can be bullied and harried out of their stride as we saw in our last two visits to Ibrox. A situation not helped by poor officiating but in truth the team got what they deserved there for being far too timid.

Celtic supporters have enjoyed a diet of unbroken success for eight years in Scotland. In football as in life nothing lasts forever; not success and not failure. The club is in a strong position to continue that success domestically but needs to be strong and sure in recruiting the right players and having the right management team to shape and motivate them into a winning side. One day the team will lose its domestic dominance but it should be because others have raised their standards enough to make it so not because Celtic has allowed theirs to drop.

The arguments and the angst among Celtic supporters at the moment are a sign that the supporters care deeply about their club. Football, like life, has its highs and its lows. Those supporters who have backed Celtic so well since the club’s birth are right to expect high standards and the club needs to steady the ship and give them a team to be proud of. We don’t expect to be in the later stages of the Champions League these days but we should expect to have a team capable of doing better against sides with a fraction of our resources.

This will be an interesting and pivotal season for those of us who follow the hoops. The club remains strong off the field but needs to translate this into a strong side on it. These early season disappointments may be painful but the business end of the season will hopefully see Celtic playing as we know they can and maintaining their place as Scotland’s premier club.

Quid Pro Quo

Quid Pro Quo

The emotional investment the average football supporter puts into his club often leads to some exaggerated reactions. The departure of Kieran Tierney to the riches of the English Premiership was a blow to those of us who want our club to retain the services of our best players and try to build a team to compete in Europe. Most wish Kieran well on the next stage of his career and thanked him for the effort, passion and skill he put into his Celtic career. Every time he wore that famous hooped shirt he was our representative on the pitch; the fan who got lucky, as Tommy Burns once said.

It doesn’t make Kieran any less of a Celtic fan that he wanted to test his mettle in one of the best leagues in the world. Nor is it wrong for a footballer to think of his future and to secure himself financially for the rest of his life. Arsenal’s reported £75,000 a week wage will do just that. It’s a short career and Kieran will no doubt have watched and conversed with the likes of Andy Robertson at Liverpool who has made a great success of his time in England. Most Celtic fans bear no ill will towards Kieran seeking a new challenge and wish him all the best. He was a fine player for Celtic who always had time for the fans and will hopefully show the ‘pub league’ brigade down south that Scotland can still produce good players.

Over the years watching Celtic we’ve had to deal with the reality that some of our favourite players will want to seek new challenges or more money in other leagues. Celtic was historically a relatively poor paying club compared to clubs of equal stature. Billy McNeill was once being paid less than the managers of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Rangers and St Mirren. David Hay tripled his wages when he joined Chelsea from Celtic in the early 1970s and others like Macari and Dalglish did likewise when they left Celtic. Players like McGrory, McGrain, McStay and Burns who stuck it out at Celtic Park may have sacrificed a lot financially but gained a status among the fans which will endure as long as Celtic exists.

Modern Celtic players are paid very well indeed compared to players in the past as finances in the game have changed so much. Fans are also paying much more to watch football than was the case and the commercial side of the game is now huge. Celtic’s top players will retire wealthy men so it isn’t all about chasing money in the modern era. Celtic fans have long known that being such a big club in such a small country holds back the development of the club overall. Relative revenues in Scotland and England mean mediocre teams in the lower reaches of the Premiership or even in the Championship in England can outspend a club like Celtic which has an average attendance of around 58,000. One report suggested that half the clubs in the English Premiership receive so much money from TV and other marketing schemes that they could survive with no fans whatsoever watching their matches!

The arrival of satellite TV and the financial bonanza it brought revolutionised English football and this coinciding with the Bosman ruling meant wages skyrocketed down south. Players at the end of their contracts could now simply leave and negotiate to join another club with no fee being paid to the club they were leaving. This probably cost Celtic a few million when Dedryk Boyata’s contract was allowed to run out last season and its one reason clubs like Celtic need to know when to sell players. Tierney was on a long term contract and didn’t need to be sold but if a player intimates that he wants to leave then it’s best to let him go and get the best possible deal done for Celtic.

Celtic will now face an expectant support who will rightly want much of the money received for Tierney to be invested in the team. Other clubs will no doubt inflate prices when the Hoops enquire about a given player but a bit of quality is required to meet challenges both at home and in Europe. Celtic’s policy in recent years has been to find talented young players and develop them with a view to selling at some point in the future but the club is in a unique position of financial strength at the moment and needs to capitalise on it. To the outside world the idea of Celtic reaching ten in a row is just another sign that there is a serious lack of competition in the SPFL. To Celtic fans sitting on 8 in a row this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-establish the club as record holders after Rangers equalled Jock Stein’s record in 1997. This is more than local bragging rights; this is Celtic regaining a piece of history.

The board would find the going very tough indeed if they did not invest from the position of strength they are currently in. It is absolutely imperative that they lay down a marker and state in concrete terms that they back Neil Lennon to deliver more success. Celtic has probably never held such a financial advantage over their competitors in Scotland and if they were to blow this opportunity of continuing their dominance in the domestic game then there would be repercussions. I remain hopeful those in charge of player recruitment at Celtic Park will see the need to replace quality with quality and give the fans a team to be even more proud of. The fans give their all for the club; they pay their hard earned money to watch the team, they get behind the Bhoys every game and many travel big distances each week to see the Celts play. All they ask for is quid pro quo; something in return. As another season gets under way Celtic hold all the aces; let’s hope they play them well.

Will Celtic miss Tierney? Well of course you will always miss a player of such boundless enthusiasm and skill. He was and remains a very good footballer but there is a school of thought that losing a left back, even a very good one, is less of a blow than losing a 30 goal a season striker or a natural leader like Scott Brown.

Players come and go but the fans remain and it is the fans that make Celtic great. They carp and complain sometimes but that’s just a symptom of how much they care about their team; it would be far worse if they quietly accepted mediocrity. They want the best for their club and will always make their voices heard on important issues. At the moment they expect significant investment in the first team and it is up to Celtic to deliver.

As for Kieran Tierney, he is a fan like the rest of us and will be no stranger to Celtic Park in the years ahead. The vast majority of Celtic fans wish him all the best and hope he succeeds in England. He was an excellent Celtic player and gave us some amazing memories.

Football is a fast changing game and the one club player is becoming rare. One aspect of Kieran Tierney leaving Celtic is a renewed appreciation of players like James Forrest who quietly go about their business and show no signs of wanting to jump ship. When the next match begins we’ll focus on the eleven players wearing those hoops and look to the future and not the past. It’s always about Celtic for us and it always will be.

The crest on the front of the shirt is always bigger than the name on the back.

     

The strange case of the Carfin Emeralds

The strange case of the Carfin Emeralds

Jack Gillen was born in May 1916 in Moville, Donegal but like many folk from that fine county life was to bring him over the Irish Sea to Scotland. For many it was the allure of work in the mines, factories or fields which drew them, but for Jack it was to work as a Priest among the Catholics of Scotland. It was said that the loves of Jack’s life were his faith, his family, his Parish in Glenboig and Celtic football club. Football played a major part in his life and he organised teams in just about every parish he worked in and would regale folk of the tale of the all-conquering Glenboig St Joseph’s team who had swept all before them in 1947. It transpired one of their players had been economical with the truth about his age and when the football authorities found out they stripped the team of their Scottish cup and banned them from competing in the Lanarkshire Cup Final just a few days later.

Like many an Irishman spending time working outside his native land, he kept in touch and visited as often as his duties allowed. His brother owned a hotel in Moville and by the mid-sixties had organised an annual football tournament for Junior clubs (non-Professional) which was to be called the Kennedy Cup. It was thought that a summer football tournament might attract more tourists to Donegal. The prize money built up as the years progressed until by 1964 the amount on offer was £2000. (£38,000 in today’s money) This of course sparked great interest in the tournament with teams entering from all over Ireland and the UK. It also meant that the Junior clubs involved were not above using ‘ringers’ to improve their squads and as it was played in the summer there were professional players around willing to earn a bit extra by turning out for club’s involved in the Kennedy cup.

Father Gillen was of course well aware of the prize money available to the winners of the Kennedy cup and got thinking of how it might be of great use in his working class parish back in Scotland. A seed was germinating in his brain and he had a host of connections throughout the church in central Scotland who might know of some decent Junior players who might be put together to form a decent team. The decision about what to call the team was perhaps swayed by Father Jack’s knowledge of the area around his church. His parish; St Teresa’s in Newarthill, was but a short walk from the grotto to Our Lady at Carfin built almost 100 years ago by unemployed miners and builders. So it was that the Carfin Emeralds was born and entered into the Kennedy cup in 1963. They did well but didn’t win the cup that year. Perhaps a higher grade of player was required to make them successful the following year?  

The Emeralds of 1964 was to be strengthened by  professional players who had been approached by Father Gillen’s contacts in various churches across Lanarkshire and Glasgow. There was however the problem of professionals being forbidden by their clubs from taking part in amateur football matches in the off season as the risk of injury was obvious. We can imagine the priest’s eyebrows rising when he saw the list of players willing to help him out and play for the Carfin Emeralds in Ireland. Some of the names on the list played for his beloved Celtic.

So it was that in the summer of 1964 one of the stranger episodes in the history of Celtic took place when some of their star players took to Bay Field Park in Moville, wearing a variety of disguises. It is said some wore false beards, wigs and even make up to allay suspicion but Donegal being Donegal there were Celtic supporters in the crowd who would have looked on knowingly. That little winger jinking past defenders looked familiar? In their first game against the Tonnage Dockers, a tough tackling team from Derry they drew 1-1 but the replay saw the Emeralds win 7-3 as they got more used to the conditions. None of the Emeralds’ players were mentioned in press reports of the games as the tournament unfolded by rumours were spreading and the crowds increasing.

A team called the Rosemounts were defeated next as the Emeralds swept into the semi-final where Foyle Rovers awaited. It was a tight game decided by a goal scored by Neil Mochan, by then playing for Raith Rovers and still a very fit and capable player. The Derry Journal had by now recognised some of the players and Haughney, Mochan and Haffey were mentioned by name. As The Carfin Emeralds Lined up to face Manchester Athletic in the final before a large and excitable crowd a photographer caught the moment the Emeralds were being introduced to local dignitaries. When the picture was printed in the paper it was captioned with the words...

“Members of the Carfin Emeralds team, most of whom wore false beards side-whiskers and make-up are introduced to Rev. H Gallagher C.C. Moville before the kick-off.”

The final itself was a triumph for the Scottish side who crashed seven goals past the Manchester side to win the cup. So it was that Father Gillen’s team won the cup and the prize money which was put to good use in his parish and beyond. The team lines of the Carfin Emeralds were conveniently ‘lost’ back in the mid-1960s and we may never be sure exactly which Celtic players took part in the tournament. We might guess the reaction of Jock Stein had he found out that some of his players were  injury by playing in the Kennedy cup.

As for Father Jack, he served several Parishes in Scotland, his last being St Columbkille’s in Rutherglen, before retiring to his beloved Donegal in 1992. He passed away in 1995 and perhaps only he knew the full extent of his use of Celtic players in his team. He may have bent the rules a little but it was for a good cause. Footballers were more closely involved in their local communities than perhaps they are today. In those times if a local Priest asked a player to help out in a charity match or suchlike few would refuse.

It would be hard to imagine a modern day Carfin Emeralds taking the Field with Tierney or McGregor in their ranks. Perhaps the 1960s were more innocent times.