We have a combined book review/Mary’s Meals promotion today. Celtic fan and politician, Jim Murphy, has written an excellent book, The 10 Football Matches That Changed The World. It’s in my top three books on the game (as opposed to a player), and gives insight into the deadly intimidation which sparked the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry, how the game was rescued from oblivion, and England’s public schools, by a handful of communities in the 19th Century, Hillsborough, standpoints against racism in the UK and a whole lot more.
Romantics forever mourn that the great Hungarian team lost the 1954 World Cup Final, but that game changed for post-war West Germany. Then there’s Robben Island, apartheid’s most feared opponents were locked up for decades, denied all but a football. With that ball, teams were built, men were built.
Profits from sales of the book through the link at the bottom of the page go to our Mary’s Meals appeal. Here’s the interview:
Q. OK, Jim, you’ve written a fine book, but I have to open with a question as charged as anything in the world football could be. On meeting then-Rangers chairman, Craig Whyte, you opened with “When do you think Rangers first decided on a ‘No Catholics’ policy?” Did you appreciate the enormity, and rarity, of that question? Would Scotland benefit from being open about what happened inside the game here?
“Looking back it’s hard to believe that the country tolerated that old style sectarianism. Growing up in Glasgow it was treated by far too many as the norm when it was anything but normal. My one and only encounter with the ill-fated Craig Whyte, the calamitous and short-lived Rangers chairman took place in the most unlikely of places. It was in the board room at Celtic Park, at half-time in the infamous 2011 Scottish Cup match.
“As part of my research for the book I decided to ask him about the history of the Club that he would go on to cause so much harm to. I asked Mr Whyte, ‘When do you think Rangers first decided on a “No Catholics” policy?’ He took such a direct question surprisingly well. Perhaps because I was asking him about a Rangers from what now seems like another age. Pretty fairly, he couldn’t place a date on it.
“For decades, his club was probably the only team in the world where the question of which foot you kicked with was more important than how well you could kick. Only a few yards along the corridor, in the Rangers changing room, no one knew how many Catholics were sitting listening to the Rangers manager Ally McCoist’s half-time team-talk. More importantly, no one really cared.
“Thinking back its inexplicable why so many in the media, football, UEFA, politics and others had accepted such a policy for so long. It was from an era when there was little protection against discrimination against ethnic or religious minorities, the disabled or on the grounds of sexuality and even against women. None of those things were right and nor was any sectarianism wherever it came from or who it was aimed at.
“I spoke to some of the best Celtic and Rangers historians there are. Celtic’s origins are rightly and universally celebrated but for decades much less was spoken of Rangers earliest days. But the passions of the Club’s founders the canoeing McNeil brothers had nothing to do with other people’s subsequent prejudices. For years when Rangers had a free Saturday their players sometimes turned up to watch Celtic and were welcomed by the sound of Celtic fans’ applause rather than any boos.
“In 1909 both sets of supporters invaded and rioted on the Hampden pitch after a drawn final. Parts of Hampden were set alight, fans fought with the police and some fireman were set upon when they turned up to save the stadium. Astonishingly there’s no reports in any of the media of rival fans throwing even a single punch at one another.
“But by 1924 events including post First World War anti-Catholic sentiment and the opening of Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan helped contort Rangers. It was revealing to interview Graeme Souness, the manager who broke Celtic hearts by signing Mo Johnston and in so doing helped break a sixty year taboo. Talking to Billy McNeil about all of this was pretty enlightening.”
Q. Racism was rife in British football in the 70s and 80s and you give some inside into the tide turning after Chelsea fans booing their own black player on a day they won promotion in 1984, but if you look around Britain today, or even some football grounds, do you feel as though we have slid back after recent years or recession and shortage?
“Football has come a long way to challenge the racism that had been tolerated on the pitch and celebrated on the terraces; accepted in the boardroom and in far too many changing rooms. No Club was exempt from the racism, not even Celtic. I remember being at Celtic Park and how angry I felt about the treatment of Mark Walters. We’ve all come a long way since then.
“But there’s still racist and other attitudes to be challenged. Anti-gay sentiment is still considered acceptable by a lot of football people. And football isn’t immune from the anti-Muslim attitudes that survive in wider society.”
Q. The Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry is the most intense still alive in the game but its roots, and the roots of both clubs, as you explain, are difficult to pin to a single game. Do you think this is more about the struggle for Spain across the 20th century? Barcelona, as much as any club in the world, have a duty to live up to historical expectations. Do you think this is possible in the modern world?
“No other sporting rivals have been so trapped by the multiple and often tragic identities of their country. As a consequence of the brutality inflicted on Barca and Catalonia by Franco, Barcelona set themselves standards that they are finding it hard to live up to. The allegations on transfer kick-backs, tax problems and ties to Qatar 2022 are out of kilter with the often utopian ideals that Barca sometimes encourage. And now we have the signing of Suarez. I’m not sure the signing of this brilliant but troubled star is in keeping with the spirit of Gamper and Sunyol.
“For the unthinking many of course, there is a sense that Madrid the football club was founded by the forefathers of fascist neanderthals. In truth Real were formed by left-wingers. But at a time when Franco was a pariah, Real were world beaters. He simply sided with Spain’s greatest export. The Real Madrid of the late Di Stefano were transformed into his unofficial global ambassadors.
“In writing about Barca and Madrid I was spoilt for choice about which game cemented the political and cultural conflict that became the story of the two Clubs. The contenders are: 1925, when a British Royal Marine band came to play; 1943, with Madrid’s biggest ever victory; and, lastly, a sending-off in 1970 that never should have been. I opted for the cup semi-final of 1943. Barca were 3-0 up after the home leg and favourites to go through. But after a threatening pre-match visit to their changing room by the Director of State Security Barca managed to lose the return leg 11-1.
“To fathom what happened in 1943, you need to understand something about the one event in Spain’s history that has influenced politics, the nation’s football and culture for decades. For those who lost family it’s the heartbreak of modern Spain. For many football fans it’s the emotional backdrop to the Barca v Madrid rivalry. In his brilliant book ‘The Spanish Civil War’ Antony Beevor wrote of the conflict that, ‘It is perhaps the best example of a subject which becomes more confusing when it is simplified.’ Read his book to see what he means.
“In early 1936 Spain had a democratically elected left wing Popular Front government. It was rocked by an attempted military coup that summer by its right wing opponents. For three years Spain fought and with Hitler’s support Franco triumphed. Barca President Josep Sunyol was assassinated by fascists.
“Franco was vengeful against a defeated Catalonia and often defiant Barca. Its the memories of those horrors that live today for many in Spanish football.”
Q. Football and feelings of national image have had a mostly unfortunate relationship but you tell a different story for the 1954 World Cup Final, between the great Hungarian team and West Germany. Hungary were robbed of a deserved national highlight but you think Germany won more than just a football match?
“We’ve all just enjoyed a great World Cup with Germany winning for a fourth time. The one big surprise was that the hosts conceded more goals than any other nation. Its hard to say what the impact on Brazilian psyche is going to be. But there’s little doubt about the effect on the West Germany psyche of 1954 – the most important World Cup final ever played.
“That Bern final was played against the Puskas inspired unbeatable Hungarians. Franz Beckenbauer, the man who would go on to win the World Cup for West Germany, both as a player and manager, believes that, after their success, ‘suddenly Germany was somebody again’. And reflecting the experiences of his own childhood he knew how an eighty-fourth minute winner by Helmut Rahn changed Germany’s view of itself. ‘For anybody who grew up in the misery of the post-war years, Bern was an extraordinary inspiration. The entire country regained its self-esteem.’”
Q. Football is the sport of the people in South Africa, your childhood home, but the story of the role the game played in the lives of inmates – and future statesmen – on Robben Island in 1967, unfortunately, goes largely untold. How did this game reach into the hearts of Mandela, Zuma and their contemporaries, through such hardship?
“My family emigrated to South Africa in the early 1980’s and I lived there until the South African army came knocking on the door looking for me to serve two years national service. I’m neither a coward nor a pacifist but there was no way I was going to serve in an apartheid army.
“When I lived there Nelson Mandela and so many others were jailed on the former leper colony of Robben Island. Every morning I could see across to the Atlantic Island. There was very little news from the island. Like most people I had no idea about the Makana league that the prisoners had forced the regime to allow them to set up. It was inspired by British football. Aston Villa fan Tony Suze got it going.
“Many of the prisoners idolised Billy Bremner. A lot of the teams were named after British clubs. Current South African President Jacob Zuma was a tough tackling centre-back for a team called Rangers!
“One of the ANC’s former island political prisoners I interviewed Dikgang Moseneke was clear about how football helped keep hope alive. ‘It was the great escape from imprisonment. I don’t think the governor and wardens understood the full meaning of the football that they allowed us to play. Very few people came out of Robben Island broken, very few, And some went on to become leaders.’
Q. It is clear that you enjoyed writing the book but the final chapter, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, 1989; the Hillsborough Disaster is haunting. More than the sectarianism which through football was institutionalised in Scotland in 1924, or the Soccer War game, between El Salvador and Honduras, it reaches inside the reader to touch regret and sorrow, in particular with Trevor Hicks account. What was the Justice for the 96 campaign up against, as they set about trying to change the world?
“Put bluntly the ‘Justice for the ’96’ campaign was up against large section of the British establishment. With the official inquests going on at the moment I have to be careful about what I say. Back then a media that was willing to repeat lies, too many police complicit in a cover up, a government too quick to blame the innocent and a country where many were initially willing to believe the worst of Liverpool fans. But over time the lies unravelled. Celtic’s solidarity with the campaigners is well known. What is less well known is that it wasn’t until a UK Cabinet meeting in Glasgow in 2008 that the campaign got its much yearned for political breakthrough.
“When I wrote the book I decided I wasn’t going to stitch anyone up; and I didn’t. But there’s one person who it’s impossible not to be angry with – the odious then Sun editor, Kelvin Mackenzie. Even today he gives mediocre middle aged men the world over a bad reputation. His malevolence is matched only by his unjustified arrogance.
“But the fact that the campaigners have now got to the truth means that they might just be on the cusp of getting justice as well. Theirs is a story of working class solidarity and of a city that refused to give in. As one campaigner put it to me. ‘We always believed that the law and the establishment would always win. As The Clash would say, ” I fought the law and the law won”.’ But on this occasion, mercifully, it appears they haven’t.
Q. There is so much in the book I didn’t know about the game, specifically, including that in the early 19th century it had all-but disappeared, apart from outposts in Orkney, Shetland, Workington, Cornwall and Jedburgh, before it was colonised by Britain’s public schools and Army messes. 200 years ago, it was a game, but not a game of the people. Your story starts with how people reclaimed football and lived their lives through it. Is this the real story of football over the last two centuries?
“Football almost died. How it survived is a little known truth and is the secret that the sport rarely recognises. A single match helped rescue the sport, and, with one unexpected victory, it finally broke free from its ghettos in the nation’s public schools and British Army officers’ messes. The ailing game had been violent, with very few agreed rules. It was run by and for the elite and, in a nation with very few sports fields, had been banned from public streets. In England, the FA Cup (partly funded by Scotland’s Queens Park) was colonised by university, public school, and regimental teams.
“In the 1883 FA Cup final, the former pupils of Eton College lined up against Blackburn Olympic at the Oval cricket ground. The Lancashire team won in extra time and the trophy went home with them which was further north then ever before. It coincided with Britain’s second Industrial Revolution and meant that when people left these shores they took with them a newly proletarian sport with them.
“A new breed of football innovator was born. They were more in the image of Blackburn Olympic than Old Etonian. In South America, British railway workers helped introduce the sport to Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina. A school-teaching Scot, Alexander Watson Hutton, set up the Argentine FA. In Chile, British sailors, and in Venezuela, British miners were amongst the first to play. In Spain, Brazil and Italy, Britons also planted their working class footballing roots.
“This change in football came in time for the First World War. It meant that football was one of the few things that the working class soldiers and their public school educated officers fighting in the Western Front trenches had in common. It’s an integral part of the story of how the 1914 football Christmas Truce came about. But that’s a different story and is the one match in the book which didn’t change the world.”
If you order the book through this link, with the promotion code: CELTIC, all profits will go to Mary’s Meals.
551 Comments- Pages:
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Tom McLaughlin,
at 16.49
Careful,Pal… Careful whit ye say oan here..
Anywey.. Who Am Ah tae gie THAT kinda advice.. ???
Right?
Look, thur is a Multifude o’ Folk who Inhabit this Holiest o’ Spoats, oan the Internest,
Who Like tae Make Folk , whom they Disagree wi..
Feel Bad…
So that..well..
THEY, kin Feel GOOD!
No a Bad idea.. noo, when Ah think o’ it!
Howevahhhhhh..
Ah nevah evah thought o’ That, before… masel..
But, If it woiks Fur Them..
God Bless ’em!
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Tom McLaughlin
16:49 on
17 July, 2014
Just been reading back all the criticism of Jim Murphy. My God some of you are so precious and bloody sanctimonious.
Are we to judge every single person who has any sort of input to CQN, at any level, to the point of self-indulgent and self-congratulatory tedium?
Sorry, but I for one could never attain your lofty standards of perfection.
We are not worthy.
Aye right!
I for one have never made any claims to self perfection.
That does not prevent me from stating hard truths.
And one of these is, that Jim Murphy amongst them, politicians are politicians, are politicians.
Afternoon,
Just a wee repost from earlier in case anyone missed it.
The Guildford Four, Birmingham Six, Maguire Seven & the Hillsbourough 96 — Gov’t “Havering” In the name of the Law?
http://wp.me/p1G95H-1jS
MayanMan
Thanks fur The Response..
n..Ah wull Be Happy tae Agree.. Agin.. wi Thee
Broonie ,is a Hasher n a Basher..
Some guys oan here…like that sorta Attitude, in a Player..
Obviously, Baith You n Ah.. Don’t.
Brooniie,in Ma Opinion has Soitenly Improved..over the Years..
He diz some very good Things..
Which Ah like aloater.. it is the ITHER Things that He Diz.
of which Ah Heartily ..Dis-Appove.
Fur Example….Here ,is an Important case… in Point..
In C.L. Games.. Ah do no Trust The Man.. he is Far too Juvenile ,in his Thinking, Even at This Stage of His Life.
tae Get Yersel ordered aff..
Awe By Yersel..withoot Any Help..from the referee..
Is .well..
WHACKO!
Going a Man shoart, in th C.L. Is Tantamount tae Committing …well. Suicide!
Fitba’ is a MATURE Man’s Sport..
No a Wean’s.. Broonie, has shown … tae….Me..Anyway..
that He is Still Much o’ a Wean..
Ah didnae Miss Him.. agin the Icemen..
mebbe, his enablers oan here did.. but No Me.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
http://www.jimmurphymp.com/upload/images/General/154_5453%20(Custom).JPG
weebobbycollins
17:19 on 17 July, 2014
I think you’ll find similar photographs of many, many celebrity Celtic fans, and many, many former Celtic players.
They wear hun tops for charity games.
Shocking, isn’t it?
My Dear,Dear Fourth Cousin….Kojo
Jings..! Crivvens..! Holy Norman Finklesteins..!
If I’m Not Mistaken….
The ‘Beast Of Cambuslang’ Will Be Along Directly……
To Decry Gold Coast Tom…..
As A Holocaust DENIER….!!
~~~~~~~
——
Here’s One Philvis Told Me…
Last Time We Were Up In The ‘Nimble’ Balloon….
A CONSIDERATE LAWYER
————————————–
One afternoon a lawyer was
riding in his limousine when he
saw two men along the road-side
eating grass.
Disturbed, he ordered his driver
to stop and got out to investigate.
He asked one man, “Why are
you eating grass?”
“We don’t have any money for
food,” the poor man replied. “We
have to eat grass.”
“Well, then, you can come with
me to my house and I’ll feed
you,” the lawyer said.
“But sir, I have a wife and two
children with me. They are over
there, under that tree.
”
“Bring them along,” the lawyer replied
Turning to the other poor man
he stated, “You may come with
us, also.”
The second man, in a pitiful
voice, then said, “But sir, I also
have a wife and SIX children with
me!”
“Bring them all as well,”
the lawyer answered.
They all entered the car, which
was no easy task, even for a car
as large as the limousine was.
Once under way, one of the poor
fellows turned to the lawyer and
said, “Sir, you are too kind.
Thank you for taking all of us
with you.”
The lawyer replied, “Glad to do
it. You’ll really love my place.
The grass is almost a foot high.”
~~~
Up The HOOPS..!
—–
B.RTH
I have just finished your meticulously researched article. a great piece of work. This article appeared in the Sunday Business Post just after Gerry Conlon died.
The inside story of the secret campaign to free the guildford 4
http://www.businesspost.ie/#!story/Home/News%20Focus/…/id/5f30d13d…
Antepodean Red
at 17.01
Here, Here! tae that, Mister.
Yes, Let’s get Back tae the Fitba’..
Ronny n Johnny ur Daeing jis Fine.
n..Whitevah, Ronny or Johnny Said tae oor Bhoys.. at the Hauf-time. tea Break..
Musta Bin good..
Fur..
In the Second Hauf, agin the Icemen.. We Sure Turned oor Standard of Attacking Play.. well.. Up… a few Notches.
Oan anither day , at an Anither time..
We wid hiv hid.. Three or Four Mair Goals..
Howevahhhhhhhh..
Ah guess that The Big Occasion.. caused us tae Over- Enthuse..
Noo.. Enthusiasm ,is Good. but..
Over-Enthusiam, is well.. Self Defeatin..
N. we wur a Tate ..Over-Enthusiastic, in oor Approach tae Getting that Pesky FitBa’..intae the Ingin Bag!
Even,the Goal . .when it Came fur Us..
Wiz.. well.. A wee Bit Lucky..
A Deflected Shot..is always . ..a Crap Shoot..
But, Luckily , fur us.. The wee Mc Greegor’s Shot reach Hame,safely.( that reminds me… “The Wee McGreegor” ???pal.. Did ye evah read it.. It’s A Classic..ed) ( Sure, Ah did.. n.. “Joak Tamson, an awe.. Noo that . wiz A Classic!)
Yes.. Roony n Johnny ur daeing Jis Peachy..
Nice Chattin’ Pal.
Kojo
Still,Laughin.
My Dear Kojo…..
If Either Of Commons’ First Half Shots Had Gone In….
The Floodgates Would Have Opened….
Kris Will Have His ‘Eye In’
By The Next Time We Face The Icemen…
(4-1W)
The Singing Detective
Were you not told to GTF, ya racist HUN.
What are you doing on a Celtic blog?
TSD –
Me? Holocaust denier?
I think you have totally misunderstood my comment and the point behind it.
My dear,dear,dear,friend..The Singing Detective..
Hiya.. Palomine.. Nice tae greet Ye,wance agin..
Noo.. Ah enjoyed yer wee Excursion….intae…the Land o’ Leviteee..
Ah suppose ye know that Levity.. is next tae Cleanliness.. In the Eyes of God?
Ye Didnae?
Well.. Ah am no Surprised..
fur.
Ah jist Made THAT… UP!
Nice chatting.. Pall.. N.. Ah Also ,enjoyed yer Joke..
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
T88…
Lay Off The Brasso….
Why Dontcha..!
Ernie, I just don’t like the man’s style…that ok?
Bada Bing The other bad news is the emergency services can’t get to the place of plane crash. This territory is controlled by pro Russian terrorists.
My dear,dear,dear, friend..The Singing Detective..
Yes.. good Observation… If Common’s Shots had Gone hame.. Like Ye Hiv Said
the Game wid hiv turned intae.. a “Laugher”.
That’s an Ole baseball term.. but.. It sure is Descriptive..of an Easy Victory.
Howevahhhh..
Tae Quote ,anither Ole Saw..this time.. Wan fae the Fitba’ Handbook..of Sayin’s Wize n Trew..
“Goals, Chinge Games.”
Noo, That’s ..Profound..
Ah may hiv Loast a Few readers,in Makng that Quote. but..
C’est La vie!
Nice Chatting,pal.. as evah..
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
My Dear GCT…..
I’m Sure You’re Not ,Either…..
But SFTB Is The FINAL Arbiter…..
In The CQN ‘Edinburgh’ Court…..
Of ‘Clique Opinion’….
Norman Finkelstein,However…..
Sends The Wiesenthal Foundation Apoplectic….
With His Comments On The ‘Holocaust industry’..
Paul67
When it comes to drop-kicking Murphy, I’ll always want to be one of the first in line.
But if you’e telling me he’s written a football book about ten planet shaking games then I look forward to having a read of it sometime soon.
Sounds good.
Hope that’s ok with everyone.
Kojo
Personally, I think a moudou barrow is one with the big fat wheels – the kind young guys push up and down the beach selling Italian ice cream.
HH
Archie McPherson who has just completed his updated biography on Jock Stein will be doing a Q&A on CQN next week. You can ask him about anything – ie nothing out of bounds.
BRTHs event in Edinburgh has been cancelled due to venue hitting us with all sorts of extra charges – we only wanted a pie and a pint.
RWE
Hiya,Pal.. Pleased tae meetya..
Good. tae see that…Ye hiv… Doffed yer Stuffed Shirt.. Goat intae the Spirit o’ Things…
n..Aye, By some Definitions … a Modou Barrow, could be jist as ye hiv
Described.
Nice try.
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
Jimmy Murphy was the name of my long dead uncle.
He and my aunt would come round every Saturday night and he would always slip me two shillings. he was a quiet man, a docker, a decent man who was twice torpedoed during WW2 – and had spells adrift in lifeboats after both sinkings. He volunteered to be a gunner on the merchant navy ships.
My pocket money at that time (10 yrs of age) was a penny for every year, so I was on the princely sum of ten old pennies from my Dad.
Don’t know much about Jim Murphy the politician but have a hard time getting negative about the name…
Rip Uncle Jimmy
I would gladly sink dungs boat, an awful wee man.
HunrantCSC
At the expense of alienating the Celtic/Patrick thistle fans among us I’d like to wish FC Groningen and Skjarnan all the best for tonight and over the two legs against their opponents.
Obviously those among us who haven’t sat at fir park listening to their fans sectarian views or haven’t read Aberdeen mad this week who have started targeting Ronny will disagree.
ramthecoefficentCSC
Just asking…….Does holding close to ones heart one particular political view and political allegiance make you any better a Celtic supporter than someone that holds an opposing view and allegiance to your own
Raspberry
What is it the guy has done to cause such venom?
Genuine question.
Archie McPherson who has just completed his updated biography on Jock Stein will be doing a Q&A on CQN next week. You can ask him about anything – ie nothing out of bounds.
BRTHs event in Edinburgh has been cancelled due to venue hitting us with all sorts of extra charges – we only wanted a pie and a pint.
————————————-
What was the venue?
Can we find another venue?
Looking at BBC news outside Celtic Park…….seems that they are trying to make the security measures the most prominent event at the Commonwealth games
Re Smurrffey in the minging tap. Maybe that was the day the sodgers were givin the hun songs laldy.
The Blane Valley Supporters Club.
I’m thinking of going into the Blane around 2pm if anyone fancies a drink your welcome.
Hamilton Races is on tomorrow night,I think Richie has a horse running, if he comes to the Blane Valley, I may be persuaded to join you as long as you have a couple of winners for me too bet.
RWE
Ma mammy was a Murphy and a proud one at that.
jude2005
Cheers for that.
A Celtic family response.
HH
oldtim
there is a horse called Blaine in the 7.40 at hamilton tmrw !
whitedoghunch.
I saw that,may have a few shillings on it,big price, I may go E/W.
Jim Murphy
I have no time at all for his politics and I’ve never met him so I don’t know him as a person.
BUT, I heard Chick Dung moaning about his overly robust tackling when Murphy’s charity team played his. I’m jealous of the fact he didn’t waste his chance to legally boot the little runt all over the park.
HH
17s beat Aberdeen 6 nil. Josh scored one.
H H
Edinburgh plod raise no objections to anti-independence Orange march on week of independence vote.