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Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
I was discussing this story with the news editor of the Irish Post this week. As ever when journalist and editor discuss a piece the question from the editor is always “what is the peg?”
I didn’t have to think too much about that one.
I immediately said: “Groundhog day at Celtic Park!”
That was my initial feeling.
It felt like the first few days of September last year when I had reported on the singing, by Rangers fans, of the now infamous “Famine song” at Celtic Park.
Most of you will know that following on from that soccer match in Glasgow.
The “Famine Song” controversy became a matter of inter-governmental communication between the Republic of Ireland and the devolved assembly in Edinburgh.
I thought we had all heard the last of the “Famine Song.”
I was wrong.
(full article can be viewed at:
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.com/?p=111 )
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28-01-09 09:14 AM |
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Growing up as in the 1970s I expected Celtic to win the league every year. It was a major shock to me as a 9 year old when the huns won the Scottish Cup with a goal that even Tom Forsyth never expected in a million years. I can still see his fat face with the look of total bewilderment at scoring a goal.
After that, they came slowly back, Jock Stein was involved in a serious road accident and thing started to go a bit awry. They won the treble in 1976 and again in 1978. We were no longer the force we once were.
The early 1980s saw us having a limited amount of success, but the big hitters were Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. Alex Ferguson had put Aberdeen in a position where it was expected they would win all, or most of the trophies, a sad scenario for a Celtic fans...however much worse was about to descend.
Ferguson left for Manchester in 1986 and this was the cue for the huns to step in and make a move to dominate Scottish football. Make no mistake, they had one aim, and one aim only, to brush aside every other team with their spending power. Holmes appointed Souness who in turn appointed various English internationalists ( who saw Scotland as both a way of obtaining easy money and playing in Europe as English teams were banned due to Heysel )
The huns ran over everyone. We won the double in 1988, but it was a false dawn. One more trophy followed the next year, then that was it. Nothing , zero, for SIX years.
Between 1990 and 1995 our main hope rested on the shoulders of Motherwell somehow wrestling the league away from the huns.
Now just sit for a second and digest what I just said....that’s right...you read it correctly.
In 1992 a number of fans decided that they had enough and started to round up the shareholders with a view to challenging White, Kelly et al to stop messing about and put up a credible challenge to the huns.
1993 saw us licking our lips in anticipation at the likes of Wayne Biggins. Now Wayne Biggins has become synonymous with failure, poor guy. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong name. He wasn’t any worse than some of the dross we had to put up with in those days. We craved a new regime, a new team and a new board.
An expat called Fergus McCann was sitting in the sidelines waiting for his chance.
McCann saw how things were going and decided he wanted to get involved. Personally speaking as a Celtic fan, thank God he did. He had tried to help out previously, but Kelly and White knocked him back.
McCann’s closest ally then was Brian Dempsey. Dempsey was a master showman. He had us eating out of his hand at the Celts for Change meetings. He was the public face when Fergus took charge “ The game is over, the rebels have won” he proclaimed.
Where did Brian Dempsey go when push came to shove ? Fergus McCann was the only guy who had the gumption to see it through.
After a few false starts, in March 1994, Fergus took control. It seemed that we had been given a second chance. We were stifled under the old board and we were going nowhere – apart from oblivion.
1995 saw us winning the Scottish Cup and I’m not too proud to say I shed a tear that day. To finally just win something after all those years was such a relief. We were on our way back. We all knew it would be a long process, but there was no doubt we were on the road to recovery.
In the background was the spectre of the huns continually winning the league. The holy grail of 10 in a row looked a distinct possibility. Every Celtic fan’s worst nightmare. Despite Tommy Burns philosophy of attacking football, the huns still managed to come away from Celtic Park with a win each time we played them. Smith seemed to know exactly what to do and how to get the points to overcome us.
Tommy made way and eventually in came a wee Dutch guy with , what looked like a dodgy 1978 perm. He told us he would do his best. Personally I was on the verge of despair as this was THE season. They could do 10 in a row.....With Fergus’ backing , Wim splashed out and bought Gould, Burley, Lambert, Rieper , oh and this guy called Larsson. Jansen rated him and it turned out to be possibly the best and most astute signing ever made in our history.
To cut a long story short, we stopped them and on 9 May 1998 we won the first league title since the days of Chris Morris and Mick McCarthy .
Would this have ever happened without Fergus ? In a word. ..No. The old board were dogmatic and rigid in their outlook. They were “custodians” , so they continually told us. They were caught like rabbits in the headlights in the late 80s when the harsh reality of the commercial world kicked in.
A few dodgy seasons followed our “ 1 in a row” , Fergus left and we had a brief reconciliation with Kenny Dalglish, but you can’t go back.
2000 saw the appointment of Martin O’ Neill and the rest....as they say...
So to get to the crux. Would MON have been our manager had Fergus never came on the scene?
Would we have stopped the huns winning 10 in a row had Fergus never appeared ?
Would we be enjoying the luxury today of winning titles, being in the last 16 of the CL and generally being the “benchmark” in Scotland if Fergus had not come to us in 1994 ? Its highly doubtful.
Had the old board still been in situ, in my opinion, we would be languishing with the likes of Hibs and Hearts. A team who once did good things, but their best days are behind them.
Look at us now, the dominant team in Scotland, the team to beat, the team the media cannot stand due to our success.
Would any of this happened without the input of Fergus McCann ?
It is highly unlikely. That is why we should be naming a stand in his honour. Think 1993 – think 2009.
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13-01-09 06:14 AM |
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The attendances at Celtic Park have been noticeably dwindling now for several years, but the 23,070 crowd for the Scottish Cup clash with Dundee was a new low. In reality over twenty three thousand paying fans for a match against lower league opposition just after Christmas and during tough economic conditions is actually pretty decent, and there are certainly not many football clubs in Europe who could have achieved this. Especially when you considering that Chelsea for a Champions League match against Rosenborg on match day 1 of the 2007/2008 season could only attract a crowd of 24,973. The attendance of 23,070 also compares well with other major clubs across Europe on Saturday and to illustrate this fact The Estadio da Luz was half empty as only 32,837 watched Benfica defeat S.C. Braga to go to the sumit top of the Portuguese Premier League. However, the attendance against Dundee is one of the lowest attendances for a competitive match at Celtic Park since the Jock Stein Stand was opened in 1998 and is a new low in what is a very worrying trend.
The official average attendance in the 1998/1999 season when the Jock Stein Stand first opened was 59,233. This figure is probably a little high due to the fact that season ticket seats are included in the official figures regardless of whether the seats are actually filled on any specific day. However the official figures certainly are indicative of the dwindling attendances at Celtic Park. Focussing on the Strachan era, attendances have fell from 58,149 in his first season, to 57,928 in 2006/2007 and then down to 56,676 last season. This figure is particularly disappointing considering the dramatic and tight title race with Rangers. Peter Lawwell has been very proactive in trying to prevent this decline. Children and OAPs could purchase tickets for the Dundee game for only a fiver and if this wasn’t the case the crowd could have been considerably lower.
This year adult season ticket prices were frozen and season tickets for minors were slashed. For children twelve and under the price of a season ticket is as little as £50 which works out at £2.63 per match. It is £100 for children aged 13-16 (£5.20 per match) and £150 for children aged 17-18 (£8 per match). It’s an old cliché that children are the future and will be the lifeblood of Celtic in years’ to come thus Lawwell’s actions must be commended, however it hasn’t prevented the attendances dwindling further. In fact, I took someone to the game against Inverness on the 29th of November who hadn’t been to Celtic Park before and although the official attendance was 55,117 there could not have been more than 40,000 at the game. When asked why this was the case I struggled to give a suffice answer. Top of the league, going for 4 in a row and enjoying our most successful spell of domestic dominance since the Jock Stein era. Was the poor crowd a result of complacency? I don’t think so.
Ask yourselves this question. When was the last time you got really excited at Celtic Park? It’s been a while that’s for sure. Performances such as the 3-0 drubbing of Benfica have been few and far between in recent years. This season I would say it was the second half against Falkirk in August for me. It was the game where Maloney made his first appearance on his return to the club and I could feel a sense of optimism around the stadium. We played some really good football that afternoon and saw Samaras score an excellent goal after great build-up play with Maloney. Crosas came on as a late substitute and impressed. We had the Rangers game the following week and the Champions League to look forward too. We all know how that went… Although the vast majority of performances at home haven’t exactly been vintage we have had our moments - the last minute winner against Aberdeen, an exciting win against Hibs and Skippy’s goal against Man Utd have been my highlights but generally I have left Celtic Park feeling pretty lethargic and in my opinion this is why the attendances have been dropping.
With the impending departure of Nakamura in the Summer and possible transfer of McGeady following his rift with Strachan, the few creative and exciting players that I look forward to seeing are ebbing away. With the credit crunch I can’t see us spending big money either to replace them. With the potential loss of two of our best players with cheap and cheerful replacements seemingly already in place – Mizono, McGinn and McCourt, I fear the overall standard and quality of our team will only get worse and this could easily result in attendances abating further. Games against Hamilton, St Mirren, Falkirk and Inverness don’t exactly set the juices flowing anyway so if our standard does drop it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to fill Celtic Park on such occasions.
Personally I know several people who are seriously considering not renewing their season tickets next season. Their opinions are ten a penny on Celtic Minded too. Essentially their bored. They aren’t enjoying going to the games as much as they did in the past. Some blame the atmosphere, or lack of while others impugn Strachan and his tactics. Are we as fans getting our moneys worth?
I was discussing the issue of attendances with one of my mates who is originally from Nerwy recently, and he informed me how the numbers in the supporters club he used to be in had dropped considerably in the past five years. The bus has went from being regularly full to at times last season not having enough numbers to make the journey to Celtic Park worthwhile. To be fair, getting up at some ridiculously early hour and travelling all day to watch us scrap a 1-0 win against Inverness Caley Thistle on a cold and damp November afternoon isn’t exactly very appealing and those who do this frequently should be commended. As money does get tighter however, those making the journey regularly from Ireland or from far afield will decline sharply.
Half season tickets were made available for £150 and should see a rise in attendances in the second half of the season. However, in the longer term with the country in a recession and money tighter for everyone I fear that attendances can only get worse. The fact that we struggled to sell all the Champions League packages this season is an indicator that there is a serious issue. It will be very interesting to see what the attendance is against either Peterhead or Queen’s Park in the forthcoming Scottish Cup tie. With the League Cup semi-final against Dundee Utd at Hampden on the Wednesday and a trip to Inverness on the Sunday which will probably set me back in the region of £60 before drink, another £18 for the Scottish Cup game couldn’t come at a worse time and these circumstances could quite possibly result in another embarrassingly low attendance. As the credit crunch bites the next few years will be tough for everyone with people having to tighten their belts. Attendances will suffer further as a result. Difficult times ahead.
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26-06-08 10:10 AM |
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dh1963 dh1963 is offline
In the footsteps of my team
Join Date: 29-07-2006
Posts: 4,843
Default Tims 5 points in front....
Speaking to a mhanky at work, and he is staying optimistic about the SPL.
His logic...
Celtic beat Motherwell tomorrow - gap down to 4 points
Celtic beat us - gap down to 1 point
Celtic beat Aberdeen while we don't have an SPL game - they go 2 in front
Celtic beat us again - they go 5 points in front
We'd have 3 games in hand, but a huge fixture pile-up, and loads o... [Read More]
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21-05-08 08:38 PM |
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I will start at lunchtime yesterday, I received a phone call from Mince asking me if I would be able to attend TBs funeral as the official representative of celticminded. Without a seconds hesitation he had my answer and i was frantically texting just about everyone in my phone log to tell them my news.
As the day wore on my nerves were under major stress, here was me to enter St Marys church on my own knowing there most likely wouldn't be a soul there that knew me. I hardly slept a wink last night worrying that I wouldn't let myself or celticminded down.
I was to arrive at the church at 11.40, but turned up 10 minutes early just as the players past and present were going in. Feeling like a celeb in my good suit I proudly walked in with Roy Keane by my side  (the things that Keano will do to get noticed). I entered the church and was directed to a section just behind the present day players.
Having turned up a good half hour before the mass began, it gave me the chance to look around and take in just what I was amongst. My head was spinning as I noticed the greats from my era, Bonner, Rogan, McGrain, Dalglish, McStay,provan, McAvenie, McgGarvie, Grant, Collins, McGhee, White, Morris, McCluskey and Walker. Then there was the managers Hay, McNeil, O'Neil and Strachan.
Then the coffin carrying TB came in to the congregation singing "Ave Maria".
The mass started and soon it was the turn of big Starky to start the tears flowing among the faithful.
Onto the homily from Monsignor Monaghan, a touching and fitting speech it was. By this stage in the proceedings I was only just holding myself together. How could I be feeling like this, for goodness sake it was only last week I buried my favourite Aunt and never felt this hurt.
Leaving the church I was sandwiched between Jim Jeffries and Billy Brown from kilmarnock, that along with the rangers management team carrying TB in, brought home to me just how much this man was respected and loved by everyone who had the pleasure of having met the man.
Finally I was to bump into someone that I knew (rab2inarow) but by that time I was among hundreds of friends.
Rest In Peace TB.
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