Sent: Thursday, January 03, 1980 9:13 PM
Subject: [Celtic] Just back from Stuttgart!


I've just arrived back from Stuttgart this minute and still buzzing at the
whole thing, a superb experience and one I would love to repeat again, again
and again.
First things first however, a HUGE thank you to Conor Leeson and the
Brussels CSC who performed magnificently in finding us lodgings, a bus to
Germany and in my case even a ticket. It's when you meet people like Conor
that it makes you proud to be a Celtic fan. As well as providing the above
he also brought us to the club's headquarters, the Sean O' Casey pub and
showed us other places of cultural interest ;)

We had to leave early, breakfast had even been laid on at the Sean O'Casey
with a full Irish breakfast on offer. We have a double decker bus with a bar
on board, this serves to keep us suitably refreshed as the bus hurtles south
deep into Germany. Those on board aren't restricted to members of the
Brussels CSC and we have people who have flown in from Ireland, Scotland,
England and wherever else.
It's great just blethering to people on the bus and the long journey is
broken up by having Celtic videos on show, and a weird quiz which seemed to
ask the most bizarre questions. We lost.

We arrive at Gottlieb Daimler stadium a little bit late and I try and help
an Irish group from the bus get their hands on some tickets. They've got two
youngsters with them and the wee bhoys really want to see the game. I go
into town on the metro with the boys' father to find the pub where a contact
will give him some tickets. He goes in to collect them and I then go for a
wee wander. The city centre is bouncing and the good citizens of Stuttgart
are wondering what exactly has just hit them! There are literally thousands
of tims in a big square in front of what looks like a museum or art gallery.
There is drink everywhere. The Germans who are going home from work are
loving it all. People often stereotype other races, but my experience of
Germans has always been positive. The Stuttgart fans and Celtic fans are
mingling easy and drinking with each other. The Germans are used to drinking
beer, the Celtic fans are used to drinking beer, therefore no problem. Also
the police. My first impression of the German police was not favourable,
simply because they looked so massive. But in their defence they were great,
they didn't panic and get waded in when things got boisterous. They just
stood back, occasionally laughed but most importantly let both supporters
know that they were around. Maybe the Vigo police could send some of their
officers up to Stuttgart for training.

I head back to the metro station and realize then that they have blocked it
off simply because there are too many people down on the platforms. I
eventually manage to fight my way onto a train, but we're like the
proverbial sardines. The atmosphere again is superb with both Stuttgart and
Celtic fans trying to out sing each other in the carriages. I manage to lay
my hands on a ticket which I had in reserve and gave it to the mother of the
bhoys, here face was priceless. I have been approached several times already
both my Celtic and Stuttgart fans for a ticket. This is one hell of a big
game.

I get inside the stadium and it is already packed, I am in the main Celtic
section directly behind the goals. Fortunately, I have managed to miss
Bonnie Tyler who was doing the pre-match entertainment.
Bonnie it seems is still big in Stuttgart. I am struck by the fact that most
of the guys around me clad in green and white are not speaking English. They
are in fact German, from Sankt Pauli, Hamburg to be exact. I get talking to
this huge blond German who explains that 800 Sankt Pauli fans are there
supporting Celtic! It is helped by the fact that the following day, Sankt
Pauli have a league game against nearby Mainz.
These guys are brand new, they know all the songs off by heart. I found it
amusing to hear a crowd of Hamburgers giving it laldy with the rebel songs.
Priceless, absolutely priceless. There is one wee Sankt Pauli guy who is
dressed up as a pirate and he's out of his box with drink , "Get intae the
orange bazzas", I kid you not. I also see a couple of Borussia Dormund
banners in our section as well as what seems to be a Croatian flag. The
stadium is excellent and Stuttgart have gone out of their way to accommodate
Celtic fans. Their fans are excellent and even when it's obvious they're
out, they still get behind them. I wish Stuttgart well for the future, they
deserve it.

As for the game,,,,,,,take a deep breath. The game was over after twenty
minutes. When the second goal went in, we knew that was it. As for
Stuttgart's 'comeback', well there wasn't one. Stuttgart scored the first
goal in the away tie and three at home and yet still deserved to go out on
the balance of the two legs. We're certainly not a great team but we are
hard to beat. Liverpool will not be looking forward to facing us. We have a
manager who has their measure as well as several key players who have played
in the EPL. Yes, it's nice to be the eternal underdog.


Martin