A few days ago I spent an hour or so flicking through one of those huge Celtic
club histories which I acquired some years ago. By far the most important
section to me was the club's origins. What after all is Celtic about? In these
days of "mission statements" and the 'need to explain', it seems
to me the origins of the club hold the key. I'm looking at photos of men taken
in the late 1880's resplendent in their handlebar moustaches, Irishmen in the
main captured for posterity when Victoria and her empire were at their zenith.
However, it seems every picture does not tell a story. John McLaughlin and
John Glass are the two men who feature prominently, Brother Walfrid is nowhere
to be seen though there are frequent reminders of his spiritual and temporal
role.
I just wonder if John Glass (the club's first chairman) and John McLaughlin
(Celtic's third chairman) realized what they had done when they helped form
Celtic. What we don't see in the pictures are those ordinary people who strove
literally to create the club that we all love. It was never just about founding
a football club, it was about something much more important. It was about
self-respect and pride. Hated and despised for what they were, it was virtually
impossible for those strangers to be assimilated into a hostile and resentful
society. Marked out by their speech, religion and customs the immigrant Irish
sought self help to overcome their lot. Those that were fortunate enough to have
any kind of job were grateful for their pittance, many more however were victims
of the systematic discrimination which flourished then and even today still
exists, albeit in a limited but much more subtle form
I'm thinking of how that community was able to gradually establish itself in the
city of Glasgow and beyond despite the formidable barriers which were placed in
its way down the generations. I see too a reflection of its progress in the
success and development of Celtic football club on and off the field.
I'm thinking of a report a few years ago which showed the voting patterns of
Scottish football supporters. The contrast between Celtic and Rangers could not
be greater. Rangers are broadly speaking on the right and Celtic on the left.
The left in this context is not the austere, empty rhetoric of Trotskyist
students but that of Old Labour. Social justice, solidarity and equality. Big
words maybe but true nonetheless. For example, I have never met a single Celtic
supporter espouse any understanding, never mind support for the ideas and
political philosophy of Margaret Thatcher. Celtic was never about winning at all
costs and the survival of the fittest. We leave mindless triumphalism to others,
Celtic is about the collective and solidarity.
However, statistics and voting patterns can only convey so much, for me the
human factor is the most important aspect of Celtic. I'm thinking of the
Scottish/Irish diaspora which has seen the establishment of many Celtic clubs
throughout the world.
I'm thinking of the time I was in Boston and was worried that I wouldn't find a
pub that was showing the game on television. As it transpired, I had the choice
of six different venues to watch the game. I opt for South Boston and a pub
called the Molly Darcy as it is the heart of the Irish community. It's the first
game of the season and we are playing Aberdeen away. It is also Celtic's first
competitive game under the Barnes/Dalglish duo and I am genuinely excited about
what promises to be a brave new world. The omens are good after all, two superb
ex-footballers with relative youth and energy on their side. I find the
pub after a leisurely stroll along Broad Street. Because the doors are closed
and I hear nothing and I fear that the place is empty. As I open the door to go
in, I am genuinely stunned by what I see. The pub is packed to the rafters with
every conceivable type of person on that August day. God knows where they had
all come from but it was remarkable to think that they had managed to assemble
in such numbers early on in a Sunday morning to watch a game from the other side
of the world.
I'm thinking too of the time when I stood behind the goals at Stuttgart and was
surrounded by Germans clad in Celtic scarves and colours. Puzzled, I ask one
huge German directly "Why are you here?". He is in his forties and
explains in fluent English that he is from Hamburg and is a fan of Sankt Pauli.
That doesn't answer my question so I ask him to expand which he does very
eloquently. Sankt Pauli are a "Volks" club and has its ground near the
notorious Reeperbahn district of Hamburg. Famous for its red light area and the
place where the Beatles came of age, he tells me that the Sankt Pauli district
has always been proud of its working class identity and refusal to
conform to the norm. Even under Hitler's Nazi regime, the dockers of Sankt Pauli
never ever embraced the perverse ideology which swept that country. I note too
that he has a badge which says "Sankt Pauli gegen racismus" (Sankt
Pauli against racism) So why Celtic? Contacts had been established between the
two clubs and both sets of fans saw something in each other that they admired.
The big guy explains that Celtic and their fans were somehow 'different' from
what they had come to expect from football supporters from Britain. What shone
through was their passion, devotion and sense of fun and fair play. None of the
mindless violence and xenophobia which characterized so many English supporters
when they travelled abroad..
I'm thinking too of the effect that Celtic and their supporters have had on all
those people who have come into contact with them. Take for example Jesús
López, a Celta Vigo fan who was awestruck when he entered Celtic Park to watch
the first leg. In his own words , "I was so staggered by what I saw and
above all by what I heard that I couldn't speak for five minutes. This huge wall
of green and white and the noise was something I will never forget for as long
as I live". Jesús López and a few hundred brave souls made the long haul
from Galicia to Glasgow with a certain amount of trepidation as he subsequently
confided to me in an e-mail. Like the Stuttgart fans and countless other foreign
visitors to Celtic Park, they were moved by the warmth of the reception they
received. Exchanging scarves, shaking hands and embracing the true spirit of
sportsmanship Jesús López and his fellow Celta supporters left Glasgow also
deeply touched by the spirit of Celtic.
By way of contrast, as somebody who lives very close to the city of Rotterdam I
had to explain to my neighbours very promptly that although I was from Scotland,
I was in no way connected with the 'Rangers of Glasgow', as they quaintly put
it. The Feyenoord-Rangers games more than anything demonstrated the essential
difference between the two Old Firm clubs.
Pitched battles broke out at Ibrox and Rotterdam stadium last season. Rangers
stuck in time, entrenched in the seventeenth century still literally fighting
battles against demons real or imagined. The contrast could not have been
greater. This too following on from events in Eindhoven a few years earlier when
a bus load of right wing extremists caused havoc in the city centre and required
the Dutch authorities to impose severe custodial sentences. Some of those
sentenced had absolutely no link whatsoever with Rangers football club, they had
however attached themselves to the main body of the support as they sensed the
potential to exploit the sympathies of many of its supporters.
I'm thinking of the Celtic worldwide family brought much closer together with
the advent of internet. The ability to communicate and share information
relating to all things Celtic with people from different parts of the globe,
literally within seconds. The sheer size and scope of the fan base is
breathtaking as are the lengths to which some people are prepared to go to
follow Celtic. I think of people like Tommy Donnelly and Jim McGinn from the New
York Celtic supporters club whom I have never personally met, yet I
consider friends because of the commitment they show to Celtic. Their club , the
Parlour Bar situated in Manhattan, could be any one of many in North America,
Europe or the Southern hemisphere. Their website shows an array of photographs,
statistics, anecdotes and charts the New York CSC's history from its foundation
in 1995. True to the spirit of Celtic, they are involved in charitable works in
their adopted homeland. I'm looking poignantly at a picture taken of Bobby
Murdoch three weeks before his death with a New York CSC member called Bill
Hendry.It was good to know that Bobby was surrounded by such people before he
was taken from us, far, far too young. Above all, I'm looking at the photographs
of the club members and I see the sort of people that you make you proud to be
associated with Celtic football club. Happy, smiling, good natured and well
adjusted people, the sort that you would want your own family to mingle with.
And so to Seville.
Much has already been written about what is going to happen there. As each day
passes we read and learn of the extraordinary lengths to which Celtic supporters
are prepared to go to make it to Seville. Literally thousands of people will
be going to Spain with absolutely no expectation whatsoever of seeing the game
itself. It is like some latter day mass pilgrimage where the mere fact that you
were there will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. This is of
course is not rational, but when were Celtic supporters ever rational? That is
perhaps their most endearing quality, a refusal to be treated like a consumer
and to behave like sheep. Celtic are not a product to be packaged and sold to a
greedy public, Celtic supporters wouldn't fall for such gimmicks. Manchester
United may call themselves the biggest club in the world and may 'target' the
Far East for their next commercial venture but Celtic they will never be. There
is no such thing as a "Real Tim" as some would have it, you either
feel an emotional attachment for the club or you don't. It is not incremental
and conditional.
In Seville we will see literally thousands of Celtic supporters descend upon
this beautiful city. I wonder what John McLaughlin and John Glass would make of
it all as they look down from above. The Celtic support is far broader than they
could have ever imagined. They come from all parts of the globe, they speak
different languages, have different religions and very different backgrounds.
What unites them is Celtic. Win , lose or draw they will celebrate the Celtic
way with fun and dignity. That after all is what sport is all about.
Martin