You can imagine the scene, deep inside Celtic Park. “Let’s invite Fergus over to raise the flag on the opening day of the season. Would be great to get him back 20 years after his critical role in saving the club, especially after that nonsense in ’98.
“Wait a minute, probably best not to mention the flag just yet, let’s call it the opening home game of the season”.
16 years ago Fergus McCann accompanied Jean Stein onto Celtic Park to raise the league title flag, an event which seemed beyond us when he flew into Glasgow to complete the takeover from the old board in 1994.
He was booed by a sizeable minority of the support, ostensibly for not spending enough money on players. It was a source of regret for tens of thousands of us. Fergus arrived with a plan to turnaround a club which played in an antiquated stadium and were being thoroughly routed on the park. He left five years later with the league flag flying high, a modern 60,000 seater stadium and net bank debt at £2.5m. It was something of an economic miracle, and although he got the money he wanted when he sold up, he never got the credit he deserved.
Celtic fans had been conditioned to distrust him by a small handful of people with considerable reach. The club was being rag-dolled, despite the miracles it was performing. The man himself was never one for showboating, his last two contributions to Celtic were to speak at the annual Celtic Charity (the charity he formed) dinner, and to mark the unveiling of the Brother Walfrid statue. Only charity has brought him back, so this will be a rare day indeed.
I’m absolutely delighted to announce we are publishing Tommy Gemmell’s autobiography, “Tommy Gemmell – All the Best’. The book is written and will be out in the summer. It will be a paperback but we are going to do a small hardback run, all of which will be signed by Tommy, and will include a special chapter with questions from CQN’ers, which Tommy will answer in the book. Details on how to submit a question soon.
This one is going to be a lot of fun……….
If you would like to read the new CQN Magazine, GO HERE to read properly, and for FREE, the graphic below is just a taster.
[calameo code=0003901710a55b5798f06 lang=en page=1 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
324 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- »
That Sevco Zombie boycott last season really put Dundee United in their place.
Still cringe when I think about the bunnet being booed. Think a few folk left in disgust. Was close to it myself.
The DR reading dafties were played like a fiddle.
ROBERT88
This one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heroes-are-Forever-Celtic-McGrory/dp/184596103X
Or this one?
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/a-lifetime-in-paradise/id645582686?mt=11
Hope one of them turns up trumps,mate.
I am going for both teams to score tonight, 5/6 presently, but will drift soon after the game starts.
HH
Paul67
Some of us were unhappy with elements of Fergus without being swayed by a spiteful and jealous MSM.
Fergus was here a couple of years ago to unveil Big Jock’s statue at CP as well.Met him and thanked him on behalf of the Cetic support ,for all he had done .
Tiny Tim,
About a year and a half ago I linked this on here – Rangers Title Deeds – are they authentic? I don’t know, but they look it, and if they are not, then the guy whose blog it is has no credibility… because to lie and deceive like such, if that is the case, then it leaves future submission subject to sceptical prejudice if not ridicule in the extreme.
Do they look authentic to you?
Good post Paul – I wonder if we’ll some flouncing today as there is a sizeable minority on here who remain more than a little bit negative towards The Bunnet.
As has already been mentioned, for many he failed because he didn’t buy players to stop them equalling 9-in-a-row as opposed to he succeeded because he stopped our club being liquidated.
Know which one was more important to me.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS ………FC not PLC
Neither!
BobbyM
You have mail I think.
If I have sent it to the right addy.
HH
BobbyM
I didn’t, and can’t seem to find you addy.
HH
st patricks day 1956
My thoughts on Fergus.
There are of course different opinions on Fergus McCann, he was not perfect, but who is ?At the time, I despaired at the direction Celtic Football Club were going, I made a banner proclaiming DON’T SACK THE BOARD, JAIL THEM. because I despised the board for what they had done, and that they were running the club into the ground. I bought shares as I believed in Fergus, so love him or don’t love him, its up to you, I believe he was a major figure in the history of Celtic Football Club.
Fergus Slayed The Blues.
I am festering away, angry and frustrated,
I know they don’t care
how we feel about our team,
sacrosanct, to the extreme,
well, they think that.
Let them eat cake , they may say,
the malcontents won’t have their way,
Nepotism, gave them the privilege
but they abuse it,
and use it, voraciously,
for their own needs.
Their contempt to Jock Stein
a great man,
the best that’s ever been
our manager.
So what chance had we, the fans,
the lifeblood of the club,
as Jock called us.
I know they don’t care
how we feel.
My Lord and my God,
I make an appeal.
And it happened, it was for real.
Our saviour, for all to see,
but, for this wee guy in a bunnet
where would we be.
Bankrupt.
Ridiculed by media, and even
so called Celtic fans,
but Fergus McCann was the wan
ahead of his time, as a businessman.
Prudent, but prominent in our history
without the recognition he deserved.
He answered our prayers and did
what he said he would do, and more.
Grants, Whites, and Kellys, and their puppets
shown the door,
and no before,
time.
So let us rejoice, let us rejoice
and be glad in it, to give thanks,
Fergus McCann is The Man,
for me, and many others,
Fergus Slayed The Blues.
P67
I don;t think it was Jean Stein who unveiled the flag. I’m sure it was a season ticket holder who was around 90 years old and had been a season ticket holder for decades.
LB
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS ………FC not PLC
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Celtic-FC-Book-A-Lifetime-in-Paradise-The-Jimmy-McGrory-Story-/201019467970
this one, cant find it anywhere, is on amazon but unavailable.
P67: ‘e was booed by a sizeable minority of the support, ostensibly for not spending enough money on players.’
============================
Clever use of the word ostensibly, means you got away without mentioning the well intentioned but flawed Bhoys Against Bigotry campaign.
That day the booing occured, a large banner appeared in a nearby section (at half time I believe) which stated ‘We’re Irish, We’re Catholic, but we’re no bigots Mr.McCann’.
The stewards went in for it of course only for it to be passed around and kept out their reach.
Anyway, (I didn’t boo btw and was sitting in the main stand), rather than the signing of players I think the major issue and THE biggest cause of the booing was the victimisation of fans and the flawed focus of the BAB ‘campaign’, which you could say kickstarted a process of targetting Celtic fans which has continued to this day and given our detractors another stick to beat us with.
HH
BobbyM
Found it
U have mail.
HH
Fin75……
Doh…..Doofus here meant Ian Ferguson fae Barrowfield.Ive never seen Bazzas missus.
BMCUW
Sent you a text – did you get it?
If you did not, it was possibly intercepted by GCHQ and the NSA.
…and possibly their Italian equivalent.
Or Cosa Nostra as they are known here.
HH!!
From Celtic tweet
Celtic U20s team to play Hearts: Fasan; Kidd, O’Connell, Fraser, Waters; McManus, Lindsay, Henderson; Herron, Fridjonsson, P. Twardzik (MH)
No LG.
Is he in contention for a place tomorrow?
You look at all the Clubs since the War that have got themselves into financial peril.
Men like Fergus Mccann are pretty rare; the David Murrays of this world are ten a penny.
Any Celtic supporter who can’t see what he did for our club is, in my humble opinion, an imbecile.
leftclick:
This is from the movie Amistad, it’s about slavery, I think you might enjoy it. I thought it brilliant, conniving, Machiavellian, ruthless, anti-Catholic (American bias), and the Brits come out of it well too for once.
John Quincy Adams Addresses the U.S. Supreme Court
A proper Celtic legend was booed….
Kenny Dalglish.
At big Jock’s testimonial too…..I felt sick that night.
Never forget the embarrassment on the big man’s face.
Far more embarrassing than booing McCann but that wasn’t right either.
GG
Thanks for that link on page 1. We, those cycling to Belfast for Wee Oscar, were sitting on the ferry as the 1-3 scoreline came through. Funnily enough, we were all confident that Celtic would still win.
JJ
Quincy Adams Wagstaff,
Yes 13/5 for a penalty to be scored by either team.
Also, 10/3 for The Rangers to score a pen, 14/1 Dunfermline.
God bless Fergus McCann, he deserves all the accolades for saving Celtic back in ’94.
However, he was not boo-ed in 1998 for his failure to spend money as suggested by Paul67. He was boo-ed because of the manner in which he dismissed Tommy Burns.
Will Fergus get a statue?
THE EXILED TIM
MAGNIFICO!
An absolute belter,mate.
Grateful thanks!!
McCann with his Bhoys Against Bigotry.
McBride with his OBAF bill.
Human footprints will be found at Paradise in a couple of hundred years.Archaelogists will try figure the presence of cordite and the absence of several toes.
ROBERT88
Available on download via
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/a-lifetime-in-paradise/id645582686?mt=11
Regards Fergus McCann, no person can ever deny what he did for Celtic just like no person can ever deny his is not God and he is fallible, and he was too.
There is a good book about the takeover and the shenanigans…
The McCann Takeover – the Inside Account – David Low and Francis Shennan.
I prefer the real thing in my hands, not into this technology stuff, when it comes to reading! i sound old but im not! 25, but still. book or nowt!
DBBIA
Is it possible to be appreciative of what Fergus did for Celtic and be critical of some of his actions at the same time without being labelled an imbecile?
Word has reached the Castlemilk nursery that McCoist is chasing a treble.
http://youtu.be/L49VXZwfup8
P67 and Livibhoy
If my memory serves me, Jean Stein opened the Jock Stein stand a week or so after the flag was unfurled. Fergus came out with her so no way was anyone going to boo.
BTW, if Celtic fans can boo Henrik then there are some that will boo anyone. Shameful indeed.
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon
13:03 on
7 February, 2014
Quincy Adams Wagstaff,
Yes 13/5 for a penalty to be scored by either team.
Also, 10/3 for The Rangers to score a pen, 14/1 Dunfermline.
Wowser!! Think I may invest a shilling or two…
P67,
I think your being a tad unkind to ‘sizeable minority.’
To suggest that those voice their displeasure were being basically brainwashed is disingenuous. They were entitled to their opinion, no matter how much you or I may strongly disagree. Like it or not, Fergus gave them plenty of ammo around that time.
My own belief though, was those were arguments for another day. Still valid as they were. Nothing to do with ‘being conditioned to distrust him by a small handful of people with considerable reach.’
I have always held the opinion that the main cause of consternation that day was the fact that the management team that had brought us our first title in ten years, left immediately afterwards because they felt they could no longer work under him….
For the record, I was in the main stand that day, clapping and cheering……
Hamiltontim is praying for Oscar…..
Yes, there will always be critics and people who back him, he saved our club and much more, so that far out weights any of his misgivings that others think he has, IMO. Just imagine what could have happened… I point you towards Govan.
Robert88
There is a copy on Ebay right now for about £90 including postage. Are you on Ebay or do you want me to buy it and sort matters out afterwards. Be quick!
JJ