Anchored by Foundation

The sun shone, McStay’s Maestro’s ‘Celtic’ won from being two goals down and 25,000 people contributed to War Child, Unicef and the Rio Ferdinand Foundation.  Yesterday was another defining yardstick on the Celtic journey.

Getting the balance of these games right, in order to provide an actual ‘match’, is difficult, but the two sides managed it.  There were fewer Directioners there to see Louis Tomlinson than last year, but their contribution to the causes was still welcome.

Frank McAvennie scored a classic Macca goal.  Hollywood A-lister James McAvoy converted a penalty kick and looked as happy as you or I would in the circumstances.  We’re going to struggle when Tom Boyd retired from the Legends game.  Simon Donnelly and Bobby Petta looked like they could still do a job in the pro game, but special mention has to go to Gary Tank Commander (Greg McHugh).  The words “Nice, Lubo”, left my lips as I mistook Greg for someone else after a deft piece of skill.  Don’t ask me to explain.

It wasn’t football as you know it, but it was Celtic supporters doing what they do best – helping those in need.

All this came a day after the Paradise to Cardenden Cycle 2014, when a group of fans cycled from Celtic Park to John Thomson’s grave for the Celtic FC Foundation.

The Foundation is not the club, it is you, me and thousands like us who believe Celtic is something greater.  It works in four arenas:

Health
Equality
Learning
Poverty

There’s no obligation for Celtic fans to get involved, or to cherish any of the above, but I know many of us get a whole lot more out of Celtic by anchoring to these principles.

There’s a sense that we’ll see a new Celtic on Saturday.  Looking forward to it immensely.

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