I remember singing “It’s going to be 10 in a row”, but back then 10 had no significance. Neither did 9, it was like 8 in a row, another stop along the way. But when Jock Stein’s team finished their spectacular domination of the Scottish game in 1974 with nine successive titles and four European Cup semi-finals, “Nine in a row” became a phrase with extraordinary substance.
Of course, in years to come, for others, nine in a row became a target to surpass. In the late eighties Rangers changed the financial parameters of Scottish football for some time, and set their own course towards liquidation, but on the park, they swept all before them in the domestic game. By summer 1997 they had won their won nine in a row. McEwan’s lager billboard adverts featured the club with the line, “9 out of 10, could do better”. And didn’t we know it.
Celtic were in disarray having sacked Tommy Burns and with our three most cherished players, Di Canio, Cadete and van Hooijdonk on their way out the door. The new managerial appointment “the second worst thing to happen to Hiroshima”, as our mainstream media portrayed him to Celtic fans, arrived only two weeks before the start of the season.
After losing the first league game of the season at Easter Road Celtic lost 1-2 at home to Dunfermline; they were leading at half time. 10 in a row seemed inevitable but this season was the greatest example of why the prevailing currents of football are now always evident on the surface.
Have a read at this from the Independent after that defeat to Dunfermline:
“[The home supporters] cannot be fooled – even as the teams were announced it was clear they are unconvinced by the new signings. The mention of Pierre van Hooijdonk, Paolo Di Canio and Jorge Cadete before a game was enough a year ago to raise the roof in anticipation. On Saturday, Henrik Larsson and Regi Blinker hardly registered in the approval stakes.
“Larsson’s poor touch too often saw him lose possession. The blunt truth is he is not a proven goalscorer and Jock Brown, the general manager, will have to add fire power to the team.”
Don’t be too harsh on the journo who penned this, few dissented, and Jock Brown’s reputation was pretty much set by these incredibly inaccurate reviews. Although, “blunt truth” has never been used with such laxity.
The towns of the west of Scotland can be dangerous places after big football games but not 15 years ago today, when Celtic beat St Johnstone to win the league for the first time in a decade. Celtic fans of all ages poured onto the streets as the spirit of carnival took hold.
I remember hooped fans sitting on top of a set of traffic lights in Lanarkshire; green, amber, red, then rows of green and white. I walked around Hamilton town centre that night. For an evening, every pub was a Celtic pub, with rules about wearing colours suspended, and singing was celebrated.
And sing we did.
At the end of the night I could be found singing “Cheerio to 10 in a row” at a taxi rank outside a nightclub. The ‘brave’ soul standing in front of me waited until his taxi was moving away before mumbling his offenses out of the window.
Last summer I did an interview with Tony Hamilton for Celtic TV . When we drilled into what really made an impact on me as a Celtic fan I had no hesitation on placing that game against St Johnstone above Champions League victories, qualifying for a European final or beating Barcelona. We aspire to move beyond the confines of Scottish football but for 125 years this has been our home. In all that time, in domestic or European football, there have been, at most, only two more important games.
Enjoy the memories, but don’t play that George O’Boyle leap over in your mind; just in case you imagine him a few inches higher.
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Fantastic memories Paul! My first season as a season ticket holder- and I lived in London at the time! Saw about four games all year.
Remember the tears welling up at the end. It was like being released from
prison…
This was the game that made the modern Celtic. Yes, there would be trouble ahead and we seemed to be going backwards under Barnes, but in this game we realised we could be winners…
Brilliant brilliant memories.
Livibhoy
enjoy and savour it..watching some of the footage is a dream..especialy towards the end as the final whisle was near and the camera starts to focus on the squad players who were in the tunnel..watching them huddle and dance is one of the things i love to see when Celtic are triumphant…the players enjoying that special moment that fans love to see..h.h
Token Tim
Was very good friends with the owner….gave him loads of stuff that went up on the walls…my pals used to play with the team….that night and early morning and the next day was euphoric…the game was on a loop….a band was on….athenrye I think….and we were very merry for about a week….great times.
Kikinthenakas
wdh,
cheers, noted, ta.
We would have won the title at Dunfermline a week before had Craig Falconbridge not scored a late equaliser.
In retrospect it all worked out for the best, allowing us to win it at home.
Can any of you genius types dig out an article that Falkirk (ahem) fan Gordon Waddell wrote for the next day’s Sunday Mail?
I mention it because anyone who thinks Celtic is just another club and Scotland just another country should have their mind changed just by watching the highlights that Whitedog posted earlier and then reading that Waddell article.
SydneyTim
Aye Colin was some man he is married to Anna Ryder Richardson now
whitedoghunch
12:51 on 9 May, 2013
praecepta
try and get to the clove club with the Spanish Isaac who owns it worked up here for me and will be able to give you his suppliers here there and everywhere.
Paul67 is forwarding my email address – will fill you in with details (and link) when we make contact.
Thanks!
9/5 / 1998.
A lift from Parkhead to Thornwood and then a very enjoyable stroll through the people outside The Rosevale .
WDH
Do they still run a zoo?
Henrik’s goal was the loudest roar i have ever heard at Celtic Park.Tony Watt came a very close second a few months back….
I think the 1965 cup final should be regarded as one of the top 5 landmark wins for Celtic. It was the start of J Stein’s and Celtic’s dominance in Scottish football for the next 10 years.
celtic_first-Waddell actually wrote an article last year re huns songbook.He said if they sang “up to wer knees in Celtic blood” rather than “fenian blood” it would be fine.
whitedoghunch
12:53 on
9 May, 2013
SydneyTim
I used to manage Rab’s -never saw batman in it !
=============================================
Hope you weren`t Robin the till
plenty of huns in Livingston.worst pub I was in rabs bar in deans,worked in mimtec in brucefield.a few huns in there as well, baird road full of them,also worked in banta global in kirkton.a lot of bitter huns in there, but I didn’t put up with there nonsense,livibhoy the st johnstone game i ended up in a good tims house in east calder great night, also i would have thought you and the dolans would have been celebrating down in the tower pub.i plenty of bitter and twisted huns in west Lothian.manys a good tim has lost there jobs through them,
The Battered Bunnet
12:15 on
9 May, 2013
The ESPN element of the SPL package that BT have assumed is a 5 year lock-in.
While it is encouraging that:
a) A peer of Sky’s is serious about giving them a square go commercially, and
b) The emerging broadcasting medium of choice is Internet
…there is unlikely to be meaningful change to the broadcasting of Celtic games any time soon, let alone any change in the value of the rights.
This is underlined by the SPL’s decision last week to continue presenting their bottom to BBC for a further 3 years for a broadcasting rights package that is hugely unbalanced in comparison to the BBC’s presentation of English football.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aye it will not be any time soon as a reliable source informs me
Auldheid@Auldheid52m
@STVGrant @jamiekborthwick @BTSport The only way to get more TV money is competition between providers. We need BT to step into that role.
Pauline McVey@McVey1023m
@Auldheid @STVGrant @jamiekborthwick think they will. BT has SPL til 16-17 via ESPN deal. Don’t think they’ll collude w/ Sky like ESPN did..
Pauline McVey@McVey1022m
@Auldheid @STVGrant @jamiekborthwick …when the rights come on the market again for 2017-18 and beyond.
Auldheid@Auldheid7m
@McVey10 @STVGrant @jamiekborthwick Plenty of time for the new kid on the block to establish a presence. Target households of 5m Scots.
JohnnyClash
if you are talking about Colin then last I heard yes
Was living in Motherwell then and me and my brother travelled in by train. I remember running the gauntlet of Sevco (Murderwell) fans in Brandon parade all telling us none to politely how the gers were gonnae do 10 in a row.
We got talking to a guy in the Springfield Vaults before the game who was over from the seminary in Rome for the match. He didn’t have a ticket and I was sorely tempted to give him my ticket for the match but to be honest even if he was JPII he had no chance.
I fell forward about 5 rows of seats when Henrik scored the first. I remember bumping into a few people I hadn’t seen in years on the pitch after the game. Some weren’t even at the game only made their way over after full time. I went home with my jeans full of turf.
Made my way back to Kelly’s and we had a huddle every hour on the hour on the mini roundabout outside. Great night, especially when I think of all the people there that night who are no longer with us and the joy on their faces at stopping 10.
“He’s got curly hair but we don’t care, walking in a Jansen wonderland.”
Went from Heraghtys to Titwood many times that night, culminating in a giant huddle in Nithsdale Road.
Meanwhile
Anyone heard of this guy on trial?
Stan retires
maggie thatcher dead
BlantyreKev,
10 games???
Toughie. would need lot of thinking time for that.
But quickly they would probably include, the above game v St Johnstone, 3-1 doing of Ajax in Amsterdam CL qualifier, Boavista away, Henke’s 50th (3-0 doing) v the huns at Ipox, Centenary Cup Final, 5-0 St Mirren ’86, Juve 4-3, beating Hibs 4-2 1977 (my 1st ever game)…..to name but a few.
Will think more on this for discussion at a later date!
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Sydneytim,
Greetings from Adelaide.
I was in Rab Ha’s too – free bar was epic. I remember the manager handing out bottles of bubbly too.
Feel a wee bit homesick now.
S
Our celebrations started in the Merchant City and finished via the Velvet Rooms at 3am in the Canton Express on Sauchiehall St.
The place was in uproar as we walked in – everyone singing and dancing atop the tables. The wee Chinaman who owned the place eventually managed to get everyone to calm down for a brief moment before the boy he employed to collect the plates yelled “HAIL, HAIL……. ” and the whole place erupted in bedlam.
After that the wee Chinaman gave up.
A wonderful memory of a wonderful night.
Henriks Sombrero, 11:54
For once I’d say no news is good news in this labyrinthine tale
Celtic_First
I can find a few stories written by Waddell for Sunday Mail on 10 May 1998.
What did it refer to and I’ll get it posted.
Mort
pic.twitter.com/krHaqkT08r
Apparently new away top for next season.
HH
pic.twitter.com/tNnizYP5er
See if this works
HH
Canny type fur greetin’!!
MT -Doesn’t open mate.
Having suffered through all those years with no title, Mrs HJ and I were in Paris that weekend – no mobile phone, internet etc.
In the morning we walked from out hotel close to Arc de Triumph through Paris and up to Sacre Coeur. As the day went on we were getting more anxious about the game.
We got back to the hotel. I had a little radio which just managed to get BBC which was prattling on about the next day when the EPL would finish. Only score I heard was from Tannadice so I thought it was going against us.
Eventually, BBC moved to commentary from CP. We shared the earpiece – one each. Just when Harald scored, a French station came right over our reception so we did not know the final score until we got to a phone box in the post office on Champs Elysees.
My son, who had never experienced a league win, let us hear the celebrations through the tv at home.
We were leaping up and down on the Champs Elysees to the great amusement/bemusement of the locals. A Scots piper was playing but he was not interested in football (or temporarily not interested in football).
Bought a bottle of good champagne and had a wonderful night in Paris.
Gave my ticket away for St Johnstone game.
Before I had kids i took my oldest nephew to keep him away fom his Dads team(Murderwell)
Promised him I wouldnt miss his first communion and I didn’t.
It worked out well he still travels up from Engurland to watch the hoops even though my sister and family moved South shorlty after that game and lived down there ever since.
Though loads of peer pressure to support premiership team there is only team for him.
Wdh,
Did you used to work the lunchtime shift then sprint up to the games about half two?
S
pic.twitter.com/krHaqkT08r
Bhoys how I envy ye those brilliant memories. It was all so different for me, Home Alone trying to keep in touch re a crackling radio. First glimpse I got of anything was on the evening News on TV. There was a short piece on re the after match celebrations, my abiding memory is TV reporter trying to interview a few ecstatic Celts and a wee Tim about 9 or 10 continuosly poking his face into the camera repeating in the broadest Glaswegian accent ever ” One in a Row, One in a Row”.
Bada still trying to get the link to work. Not sure why it is not opening.
HH
NL is 9/1 from 16/1 Skybet for Everton job,Manager betting markets can be pretty volatile.
Steven Mouyokolo..
Much touted / much coveted in his youth. Never managed to live up to the early hype.