Ahead of our visit to Tynecastle on Sunday I’m going to share this story with you. It was written by a Celtic fan, Arthur. Arthur wasn’t always a Celtic fan. In fact, he travelled with his grandfather to Rugby Park on the final day of the 1964-65 season with his fellow Hearts fans to see the title decider.
For Arthur, it wasn’t all about Hearts, though, his favourite player was their stop striker, Willie Wallace. When Willie left for Celtic Park in 1966, Arthur’s allegiance followed him. Neither of them would look back.
Williie was back from Australia a few years ago, when we did his autobiography. I was with him at a signing session at Waterstones in Stirling when this guy walked in with a carrier bag from the Celtic Superstore. Willie was busy holding court so I made my way towards the new visitor, Arthur, who told me his unique introduction to Celtic.
What a great moment seeing Arthur and Willie meet.
Some of us are born into Celtic but an increasing number of us make our own way to Celtic Park. Arthur’s story was brilliant. He chose Celtic, chose the Lisbon Lions, six months before they would become so, and almost half a century on the fire burns as brightly.
I love hearing stories of how people come to Celtic. One for another day, is the son of an African father and Scottish mother, who received copies of the Sunday Post in the mail, courtesy of his non-football affiliated Scottish grandfather.
The intention of sending the ‘Post was no doubt to inform a Scottish ex-pat of what was going on back home, but the lasting result was to spark excitement in an African man for Jock Stein’s Celtic, one which still burns in his son today.
That’s maybe a story for another day, but Arthur sat at his keyboard to recall a great Celtic league win, as well as a memorable family moment, here’s his story:
“My Dad. He was my best pal, a warm, likeable man with a great sense of humour. We shared a love of football in spite of me becoming a Celtic fan when Willie Wallace transferred to us. He’d shout for us on TV against Rangers or in European Cup games.
“But he was always a Hearts man, although not so much as years past. After seeing them lose the league title in 1965 on goal average, then the cup at Hampden in 1968 to Dunfermline, he used to think he was ‘a jinx’.
“Fast forward to the third of May 1986. Me, my wife and three kids, and my mum and dad head from Edinburgh to Loch Eck near Dunoon for a weekend in a caravan. My youngest daughter just two months old, made my Dad as happy as his other grandchildren.
“We listened as best we could to on the car radio to the Celtic game, but reception up round the Rest and Be Thankful was patchy! Eventually we reached the caravan, unpacked a few things, brewed a cup of tea, and got the telly on.
“By now late afternoon, Celtic had done all they could to snatch the title from Hearts, but it looked like it was heading to Tynecastle. In my heart a wee bit of me was happy for my Dad.
Then, to quote Archie McPherson, ‘WOOOSHH’! Albert Kidd scores for Dundee late in the game. ‘WOOOSH’ ! The wee man does it again. An ‘Archie Gemmill’ type goal, scored by Bobby Ball’s lookalike.
“As it does, the adrenalin hit me. Up I jumped, dancing round the wee caravan, tea cups getting bumped, alarmed kids wondering what’s up with me. My mum cheering as she was happy for me.
Then I looked at my Dad. Hadn’t seen him like that often. Thirty years on I don’t remember his exact words but by his expression, a bit like gathering thunder, I could see he was less than pleased.
“Embarrassed silence engulfed the caravan.
“Finally my mum broke the silence. ‘ I’ll put the kettle on’. I think I mumbled an apology to my Dad, like a wee boy. And you know what? He gave me one of his bear hugs and forgave me.
“Never forgave Albert Kidd though.”
Here we go………..
Many thanks to everyone who entered the raffle for tickets for Sunday, we raised £1298.73, which is already with Mary’s Meals. The winner has been informed, but has not responded to his email yet, so check! Thanks again to the guys at Intelligent Car Leasing.
It’s seven weeks until the cyclists set off from Celtic Park on The Road to Lisbon. This is an incredible Celtic fan project, read the update here and make sure you keep an eye on progress.
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Good Morning Bhoys from a very wet Central Scotland.It is great that we have Celtic to watch over the week-end.H.H.
BMCUW
Talking of cruel jokes, I hope ole young Davidopoulos isn’t setting himself up for a belter tomorrow!
Sinclair gave the team a different dimension this season, picking the ball up deep on the left and moving inside, opening up the space ahead for the rest of the team.Not been at his best in the last few games, but understandable, as he’s not used to the intensity of having to win every game.A great signing by Brendan.
Re tonights game, no question for me I want Aberdeen to win. If we were to fail to win on Sunday we then have 2 home games to wrap up the title. I mean there’s absolutely no doubt we will win it. So no reason to rely on our biggest challengers faltering – let them concentrate on going 11 points clear in 2nd.
Oh and get yer picks sent in! cqnpredictor@gmail.com
Any word on who won the raffle for the tickets here ? Might have missed it.
Hopefully they went to someone who deserved to have tickets for the game, but because of the small allocation, wasn’t successful. I’m sure there are a lot who fit into that category.
GREENPINATA- really hope the Sheep win so we can win it on the park on Sunday, tough game tonight as Dundee raise it against the top teams.
BEATBHOY
I hope his intended hasn’t put his good running shoes into the freezer!
That’s no cure for cold feet,btw(!)
I’m sure they’re both looking forward to it immensely. I wish them both every happiness.
HH
BMCUW
I’ll second that.
It’s all unfolding now…
https://johnjamessite.com
A sunny 23 -way down south .
Off oot to London for next week’s Jesus and Mary Chain gig in Shepherd’s Bush .
Start to the holiday shaping up nicely — a Rocksteady Saturday late niter in a shebeen in Harlesden followed by Celtic in a pal’s house in Kilburn and then a wee trip north for Arsenal v Manchester City .. Good times !!! .
2 before I go choons
7″ – the Poets -Wooden Spoon / in Your Tower ( Decca )
7″ -EPMD -Strictly Business ( Fresh ) -so good I played it twice !!
SOUTHOFTUNIS
Hope you have a great time at the gig. Not sure TGLFP will appreciate JAMC right enough.
You might have to buy her some new shoes to make up for it-which is definitely a good deal!
“…However sheep losing means we are champions and all those corporate ST holders , who never go to away games, but have taken up their allocation for this one don’t have a title party…”
—————————————–
i wonder if there will be loads of tickets available outside the ground on sunday as usual because the buses just hoover up as many tickets as they can get without knowing who they are going to give them to, so end up having spares which they cant sell because not enough people turned up on their bus, depsite the fact that there would have been hundreds of fans who would have gladly taken the tickets had they been offered them, as you can see by how quickly tickets get snapped up on CelticSpares Twitter site, so depriving fans of tickets for their own selfishness?
Na, don’t think so either
Cant have it both ways
67 Heaven
Johnjames is quite right to question why Martin Hannan thinks title-stripping should only start from 2004, given the earlier use of the DOS.
EBTs were also being used when we were cheated out of the 2002-2003 title, and, even if a warning letter from HMRC didn’t arrive till 2004, the concealed side-letters that went along with the EBTs meant that there should have been lots of 0-3 amended results against Rangers (1872-2012) with the fielding of all those ineligible players throughout the season.
Loved the SFA Hymn Number One gag too!
I am probably in a minority in that I want to win the title at home against Thistle, nothing to do with having a ticket for that game I must say ;-))
My friends in Celtic.
Totally understand the “dilemma “tonight’s game puts us in.
But it would be soooooo good to say we won the league in March.
HH.
SFTB,
The pitch hasn’t been right since the Commonwealth Games.
My brother and I noticed how poor it was when we stood pitch side about two or three years ago.
This was only a couple of months into the new season.
It makes sense that the problem has to be with the drainage, as, prior to that, we had a superior playing surface, with earned praise for the ground staff.
Therefore, if drainage is deemed to be the root of the problem, it would be a waste of time and money to relay the pitch without fixing the drainage.
BTW, Hampden looked very heavy and dead last Sunday and a few players, Armstrong included, pulled up with cramp.
I, for one, hope that Dundee win tonight.
If it is the case, I would play the likes of Gamboa and Izzaguire, Henderson and GMS at Tynecastle and give those who were away on International duty a wee rest and play our recognised best 11 against Thistle on Wednesday.
Short notice but myself and TTTT are looking for volunteers, 30 of us to distribute 10,000 Leaflets advertising the Wee Shay’s Green Army Raffle to be drawn on Thursday 25th May 2017 at Celtic Park. We are looking for people to be at Celtic Park on Wednesday 5th April 2017 between 17:30-18:00 to help us. Could you ask anyone interested to e-mail TTTT and Lennybhoy at walkwithshay@yahoo.com
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
GREENPINATA
Winner!
Back of my memory,we won one of our nine-a later one-in March. Maybe a statto can help with that.
Me,get the niceties out the way,title done and dusted,start resting players or even giving them an extended break.
Sure,the timing of the cup game(s) doesn’t help,nor do international commitments,but our close season isn’t even long enough for the ground staff to fix compacted soil and a few blockages. It’s certainly not long enough to refresh players
Yet our most important matches all fall before the end of August. They define what our manager will be able to plan for thereafter.
Backwater football,scrambling for scraps. It shouldn’t be like this but that’s reality for you. We can see our plans for 2018/19 wrecked before the top clubs have kicked a ball in anger in the 2017 season!
BMCUW
Thank you .!!1.
The woman from Padova wouldn’t be seen dead at a JAMC gig . . The trip to the west end for 42nd Street will be much more her thing … Shoes? -she pays for her shoes .. Apparently Kurt Geiger currently has some good enough for her tootsies . A shop with a chandelier made of shoes. .A hot perfumed space full of women . The ” free ” coffee will be crap.. I will be expected to express an opinion which will then be ignored . . I will endeavour to avoid being caught looking at all the other legs ..
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 31ST MARCH 2017 8:58 AM
Thanks for the feedback.
The stats I use are not available (they don’t invent themselves!) and I collect them myself – it is time consuming – but at the end of the day I am watching Celtic! As for how much fun it is I’ll let others decide but more than happy to discuss the stats over a beer and a laugh! Data needn’t be dull as no one said, ever.
As regards Brown, the data is clear, he is having to adapt his game. He has been injury free this season but as I showed he is slowing down in the last few games. Whether he likes it or not he will have to make tough choices as to what is best for him.
HH
BMCUW 9.14
Good story about the water filled boots, reminded me of one of my pals back in the 70,s . We played in the local darts team the matches were held every Monday at 8.15 pm. This particular Monday was a public holiday and one of our team a bachelor had a good afternoon in the boozer and left about 6pm well th worse for wear. His mother decided he was in no state to play darts that evening so hid all his shoes before she left for bingo and left him sleeping on the sofa. We were playing the golf club (snobby lot) and it looked like we were going to be a man short, at 8.12 pm the pub door burst open and in rolls the bould Owen wearing one slipper and one Wellington boot , the look on the faces of the of our opponents is a picture that will stay with me forever. Glad we are back in action this weekend. HH
SoT … how are you pal?
I hope you enjoy the JMC gig. I could not convince the good doc to come, so Liam in Toronto is the beneficiary of my extra ticket for their gig in TO. Let me know you enjoy it. the doc did agree to come to the Gregory Porter and Mavis staple shows…. but just when I think I have been a good influence, she says those four little words that strike fear into the hearts of music lovers all over the world: ‘wanna go see Coldplay?’….oh well… the things we do for love! :)
Off to the TFC home opener tonight. Should be fun.
I hope you bhoys have fun celebrating the title this weekend ( whenever/however it comes)!
Celtic by Numbers
Since we are talking about end of season voting, if I had a vote ( and if there actually even was a vote) you’d be getting my vote for CQN poster of the season.
Really enjoy your posts, and appreciate the time you obviously put in.
Cheers, and a cyber pint, mate.
Good to see Keith Jackson nailing it to the “conspiracy theorists”. If these things aren’t nipped in the bud they can get completely out of control. Think of some of the bizarre stuff they could come out with:
Craig Whyte isn’t really a billionaire.
There won’t be a moonbeams hotel and casino with a floating pitch.
HMRC won’t do a pennies in the pound deal with Rangers.
Barrie McKay isn’t going to Leipzig for £6m.
etc…….
PAPAJOE55
Priceless,indeed!
Glad it wisnae jooost Andy who got done up,in my past women stopped me going to the pub by inducements rather than coercion or subterfuge.
Then when I got wise to it and effed off anyway,that was another relationship ruined.
I couldnae understand it,still don’t. They met me in a pub,where did they expect me to spend my evenings?
Women…
BMCUW
28th March 1970.
Hearts 0-0 Celtic (Champions).
5-in-a-row!
SOUTHOFTUNIS
I suggest sunglasses for the shopping trip. One of the medical experts on here can give you a fine excuse for wearing them.
Good luck!
CELTICBYNUMBERS
Blinkin flip,all your own work?
Astounded of forehead,that’s dedication!
I’ll let you know about the late-summer Hootenanny. You can tell us whose round it is next!!
Oh,and you’ll have a ball. It will be a pleasure to meet you.
BEATBHOY
THANKS!!!!!
Hard to believe I was only six years old back then. And couldnae tell you what happened last week
(What happens in Oxford on a dayooooot stays in Oxford…)
Celtic by Numbers
I really enjoy your data facts too. Keep up the good work.
I just read somewhere else that only 3.2% of goals are scored from corners in the EPL and mentions that BR (and others) believes that the opposition are more vulnerable when they have a corner and so changes defending corners to counter-attack.
Would you have figures on how many we have scored from corners and from the opposition’s corners on the counter-attack?
BMCUWP
Sunglasses? glaucoma is a good excuse. .. and a few CQNErs will tell you that there is a certain herb that you smoke that is supposed to be good for glaucoma … and even if it doesn’t help the glaucoma, it might make the shopping more bearable
Got a wee bit news on the HMRC case.
Nieces friend works for HMRC and was in attendance.
Every justification offered by RFC was met and dismissed easily :)
Apparently the idea that the EBTs were loans has already been dealt with and the expectation was that RFC would be presenting improved arguments and justifications :)
MIKEINTORONTO
I want you probono any time I get done. A lawyer wi a ready excuse is the very fella for me.
Btw,re Coldplay. Detest them,frankly. But their early stuff seriously ripped off this.
https://m.youtube.com/#/playlist?list=PLshZGiYN-cExkmLtt5ftdgx_Oi-dGAEaW
CANAMALAR
Get one of the local prayer mats out just in case!
Hopefully this will end soon with justice done.
And seen to be done.
La la land tally restaraunt awarded Scottish tally restaraunt of the year so no chance of a reservation, booo
new article posted.
mike in toronto on 31st March 2017 11:45 am
Very kind feedback – thank you.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Well a bhoy should have a hobby! As regards attending the Hootenany – I am resident in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire and am unclear on our constitutional status as regards Brexit and a possible Indy2. If I cannot make it in person though I will send a spreadsheet to help you keep track of rounds!
HH