THERE are few more impressive sights than a Scotsman on the make,
according to JM Barrie. He obviously did not witness Celtic supporters
determined to party.

The stories of the conquering of Seville by several zillion Celtic fans
are all true, and it would be virtually impossible to exaggerate the
extraordinary events of last week in the Spanish city.

But was there any significance to this happening, any lesson to be drawn
from these events, or was it simply just a giant hooped jamboree? It
certainly was the latter, but there was also a serious demonstration by
fans stating their mass manifesto for the future of football.

The evidence was there in an extraordinary moment after a
viscerally-exciting UEFA Cup final played in an atmosphere that even the
most cynical hack had to admit was special. As the Porto fans
celebrated, they were drowned out by a chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone
the like of which had not been heard in Spain, or Parkhead.

It was a spine-tingling, lump-in-throat, tear-evoking moment, and the
Portuguese supporters were struck dumb at this display of loyalty by the
Celtic supporters. As the anthem reached a crescendo, the Porto fans
burst into spontaneous applause in recognition of the loyalty and
passion of the Celtic fans, and the love for club and football which
they share.

For a few seconds, it was the Beautiful Game again. More importantly,
the fans inside and outside the stadium had made a point to those who
would turn soccer into a corporate conglomerate enjoyed only by the rich
and the freebooters.

"This is our game," they were saying. "This is the People’s Game, and it
will always be ours. We’re the people who count, and no-one must ever
forget that."

Overwhelmingly, it was the Celtic support in Seville who reclaimed the
game for the people. They did it with high good humour, though that was
sorely tested by the fact that Seville was simply not capable of coping
with an invasion of this magnitude.

When local transport ceases meaningful existence long before midnight,
questions have to be asked about whether the infrastructure was there to
deal with a major cup final in a stadium on the outskirts.

Among the fans, many friendships were rekindled: I bumped into a school
chum I had not seen for 30 years, and Ronnie Burns has weathered the
years better than I.

Some fans did get a bit confused, not surprisingly in the oppressive
heat. One hastily-scrawled banner paid tribute to the Sevillians, except
that it was spelt "Sevillains".

Some of the visits to Seville were fleeting indeed. Two men flew from
Glasgow into Madrid on Wednesday morning, hired a car at the airport,
managed to get lost in the Spanish capital, and eventually made it to
Seville less than an hour before the game. The two ticketless fans
joined the party in the city centre until 11.45pm, spending less than
four hours in Seville before returning to Madrid to catch the red-eye
special back home at 6am on Thursday.

All true - one of the deadly duo was my brother, Stevie.

Cambuslang Travel were among tour operators who pulled out all the stops
to get the fans to Spain and back. My colleagues and I travelled with a
DC10-load of supporters who occupied a four-star hotel in the resort of
Punta Umbria. The poor Spanish waiters had never seen anything like it:
they ran out of lager in less than two hours.

With the party was a supporter from Cumbernauld, who has visited most
grounds in Scotland with Celtic, though he is wheelchair-bound. The UEFA
Cup final was his first trip abroad to follow the Bhoys, and like
everyone else, he loved the occasion, but hated the result.

Mick Cannon from West Dunbartonshire was one of the party, and enjoyed
his 41st birthday on the day before the match. Cannon is a substantial
citizen, and four men could not manage to throw him into the pool, so he
solve their problem - by hurling himself, fully clothed, into the deep
end.

If Seville on match day was overheated and overrun, the Estadio Olimpico
was simply magnificent.

Inside the press box were some weird sights. One ‘hack’ - we shall call
him Eric Hughes - was wearing the nametag of a fictitious Irish
newspaper. He rather gave the game away that he was not actually a
reporter by wearing a full Celtic rig- out, including hooped jersey.

He had also managed to acquire an incredible souvenir - the mock-up
cheque for 10,000 presented to man of the match, Derlei.

There was cause for celebration among the Scottish football writers
though, despite the result. Rodger Baillie, of The Sun, doyen of the
football press corps and father of our former Scotland on Sunday
colleague, Andrew, became a grandfather during the match.

His daughter-in-law, Leyanne, gave birth to Nina Beth Baillie back in
Scotland around about the time that Porto opened the scoring.

In the end, the Portuguese were the better team, but Celtic and their
supporters did not deserve to lose. Nearly all the supporters will be
home by now, still nursing sore heads, light wallets, and heavy hearts
at the defeat of their heroes.

In Seville, Celtic and Porto fans alike did something magnificent.

They remembered that, after all, it is just a game, and celebrated their
love for football which, in the care of the people, will always be quite
beautiful.