Our very own Setting Free The Bears has kindly written a review of Seville – The Celtic Movement, which I hear has already sold out in some WH Smith stores. SFTBs contributed a chapter to the book, which he didn’t cover in his submitted review, but which has been added in context below. Here it is:
How do you solve a problem like Sevilla? The question which Oscar Hammerstein originally posed in regard to describing the will o’ the wisp qualities of a flighty and frolicsome postulant nun, is no easier answered when the object of the question is replaced by the event, precedents and aftermath of the UEFA Cup Final played in Seville on the 21st May 2003.
That is the task set in the book Seville: The Celtic Movement, published by CQN books, a development arising from the Celtic Quick News fan website, a site which itself started in 2004 by Paul Brennan who was exasperated by the fictions commonly held by the old media and its fan adherents over “what happened to the Seville money?”.
Though Mr. Brennan appears and contributes to the book, it is largely the work of Brogan, Rogan, Trevino and Hogan who wrote 50% of the chapters, and Winingcaptains, who organised, edited and designed, with credited assistance, the format for bringing this mammoth task to the table in the shape of a readable and enjoyable book.
Though these two provide the base structure of the book, there are additional individual chapters provided by a credited journalist, some enthusiastic amateur writers, an academic and, even the old media is represented in the form of BBC extracts in one chapter. However, what rounds out this book and what gives it its unique flavour are the contributed memories of myriad fans gathered in Chapters 22 and 23, and credited to their blogging names.
It is a tough task to make the collective memories, reminiscences and reviews of the Seville experience coherent and readable, but the editors and publishers have done a very good job of ordering and editing under the various themes. Inevitably, there is some repetition and occasionally, there are some factual mistakes but these do not spoil the flow and readability.
This may be a new style of journalism and sports book but it pays decent heed to the traditional virtues of storytelling by providing laughs, tears, drama and in one memorable incident, that staple of modern literature, a skitter of scatology.
In addition to the quality of the writing and the comedy, drama and tear-jerking quality of the tales, the book has far surpassed the normal publishing standards of both the Sports Book industry and any niche publishing sector.
There are 64 pages of colour photography included with the book, many photographs provided by the contributors themselves, which provide tremendous visual garnish to the narrative descriptions within the book. This is more than double what you would find in most Sports books from “quality” publishing houses and four times what you normally get from hurried and ill-considered publishing ventures. All of this and the book is available at a price of only £18.99.
There are also several cartoons, by Bill Houston, which illustrate aspects of the tales told and provide even more comic input. The publishers and designers have gone to considerable expense to set a high standard for this new-ish area of book marketing.
It is fitting that such well told tales are given a setting which is fitting to their worth. This is a high quality and well-presented piece of work and CQN publishing have set a high industry standard which will be difficult to match.
This is the definitive source book for anyone seeking to understand what the Seville experience, which is more than the football match, means to Celtic fans. As Celts descended on Andalusia from all over the world, there is no single person who has an overall perspective on what occurred back then.
The real Celtic story requires the gathered perspectives of Celts of all hues, proud, defiant, exasperated, angry, sad, vindictive, proud again and, often all shades of emotion were experienced as the event unfolded and was reviewed.
The opening three chapters set the scene with an overview of Celtic’s history and standing in Europe, a description of the goal that saw Celtic qualify for the final and a depiction of the city and the impact of the visiting fans.
Setting Free the Bears wrote one of the most captivating sections of the book; 5000 words about the 10 seconds leading up to Henrik Larsson’s epically important goal in the semi-final second leg against Boavista. It is not so much the story of a goal but the story of an awakening. All the drama contained within one man’s Celtic supporting life poured out in the story of this goal. You have to know the value of Celtic to understand but the very essence of what the club is all about reaches from this chapter.
There was more involved in the goal that it’s likely your memory will recall. Our leaders were represented, the
The first hint of mysticism comes here as Celtic’s re-appearance in a European final takes on the overtones of a late-life romance with a lost and rediscovered former teenage sweetheart.
Then it is over to 12 chapters by Brogan, Rogan, Trevino and Hogan. In his own unique style, BRTH describes his Seville experience and the companions with whom he shared this experience. All the elements of suspense are there in a “Will He or Won’t He Make It to the Game” stylee. If they ever re-make “The Perils of Pauline” then BRTH is just the man to give a modern day Pearl White a set of obstacles to overcome. However, it would not be a silent film as Jim has plenty to say about the cast of characters involved.
This central story sets the template against which the later blogger descriptions of how they obtained tickets, travelled to and from Spain, and experienced the build-up, the day and the outcome, can be compared. The themes of loss and redemption are presaged as tickets, travel plans and friends and family members go awry before being re-united in co-incidences that would shame the credulity of James Fennimore Cooper and indeed, there is an appearance of a Mohican, or at least a haircut style, in one of the many tales.
The challenge of doing justice to the mystical experience that was Seville has led these bloggers brings out the best in their non-professional writing. They want to represent again, in the manner described by Jim McGinlay on p.84 where he states that “in essence, the people traveling were not so much going to support Celtic and, instead, were going to be Celtic.”
The middle sections of the book, chapters 15 to 19, cover the following, largely discrete themes, two of them composed by Joe Ruddy:-
*An overview of the games and the fans reaction to each tie
*An account of the BBC coverage of the day (by an Aberdeen supporter and an ex-Rangers co-commentator let me remind you.)
* An interesting range of views expressed via Twitter and other social media
* A fascinating set of extracts from Professor Giulanotti’s academic study of the Seville experience
* And a tale of technical ingenuity and hazard that allowed New Zealand’s ex-pat and descendant community to get their Seville experience
As every day is a school day, Professor Giulanotti introduced me to the novel term, dietrologia, which is, apparently, “the science of observing or speculating upon what goes on behind the scenes in powerful groups”, or paranoia as we call it in Castlemilk. The good professor describes Celtic as a “relatively exogenous community” and, though I am not sure of a precise definition of this term, I am fairly confident it has nothing to do with temperance or teetotalism.
Chapters 20 and 21 allow two further gifted writers, Blaise Phelan and L.Monaghan to describe their ticket experiences as they were particularly dramatic and comic.
Then we are onto the heart and soul of the book, the multi-faceted descriptions by numerous Celtic fans of their Seville. In Scotland we are used to having 57 words to describe various states of rainy weather but it taxes the Celtic tongue, poetic as it is, to convey the sense of oppressive heat experienced on The Long Walk to Bessa and back.
It is in this section that you will, once again, laugh, gasp, rage and cry at the descriptions of what occurred to an extraordinary people at an extraordinary time. I guarantee you that, however hard or callous you imagine yourself to be, you will cry unashamedly at the story of The Boy Jinky on page 305 about the scattering of his son’s ashes. It was far from the only occasion on which my eyes were wet.
The book concludes with a cheeky poem and a word from CQN’s main man, Mr. Brennan, on the impetus to found CQN, based on the questions being asked about what Seville meant for Celtic finances, basically, “what happened to the Seville money?”
From that question, the intent of which so irked Paul Brennan that he started a blog, CQN has grown and developed to the extent that, at a distance of 10 years, some perspective and agreement is beginning to emerge as to what Seville meant for the club.
I would not claim that the distilled essence of all that Seville means to us is here within this book but a goodly proportion of it is well represented here. With the passage of time, there may be less resentment against Porto and more of an acknowledgement of how good a team they were technically but the justified sense of wounded resentment is still well represented too, against the play-acting of the Porto team, the weakness of the referee, and the venality of the ticket touts, fat cats and a minority of our own support in the vending of tickets. There is, even, some scapegoating of our own players as this book seeks to represent all the reactions to the match and the event.
As someone who chose not to go to Seville, because I refused to go without a ticket, I found the recollections had finally altered me in that view and I echo what HamiltonTim said in stating that the failure to go to Seville was the biggest regret of my Celtic supporting life.
For those who have struggled to watch the Seville DVD and re-live the painful memories, could I commend the words of Troon Tim in stating that these CQN recollections have been “an absolute pleasure- far better than watching the DVD.” If you buy the book, you can put that act off until the 20th anniversary at least.
The final word should go to CQNs creator as he honestly evaluates the new media approach which has led to this new style of book:-
“Citizen journalism is far from perfect, in fact, it is mostly absurd, but, it is democratic in its access and, most importantly, it is ours.”
In my translation that means, these may be the views of internet bampots but they are our internet bampots and they represent well.
Get yours here:
[calameo code=0003901710a55b5798f06 lang=en page=54 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
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NatDisnaeKnow….
The Video In The Second Article Comes From A Recent BBC Documentary:Inside The Animal Mind….
Have You Checked The Sun’s Website For A Preview Of Tomorrow’s Page 3 ….?
Still….Laughin’
Celtic 2 Fiorentina 0…..
Ah….Memories !
Played Them Aff The Pitch…
Was Surprised That We Lost The Return,Though..
skyisalandfill c’mon wee Oscar
00:45 on
31 March, 2014
Nature is cruel and not subject to laws or social norms.
Yeha – goddamn those birds for not adhering to the law of the land! When can we expect Police Scotland to start kettling them? ;-) See Ted Hughes reference above.
Every other morning, a crow comes to my kitchen window and pecks furiously at it until someone runs toward it and scares it away. It’s been coming back every other day for 3 years now. Crows are pretty fearless and aggressive at all times.
Golf day 10!AR, if you’ve emailed, I will get back to you tomorrow am, should have been today, life intervened etc
Seville book. Superb! Some people only happy when they’re moaning.
TSD…..
Fiorentina set the blueprint or violetprint for what Sevco are doing now.
Biggest cheating bassas ever in Italian football and that’s saying something.
Their chairman knew Sir Murray of Mints very well.
Go figure.
The Singing Detective Demands The Resignation Of Campbell Ogilvie
00:58 on
31 March, 2014
NatDisnaeKnow….
The Video In The Second Article Comes From A Recent BBC Documentary:Inside The Animal Mind….
Have You Checked The Sun’s Website For A Preview Of Tomorrow’s Page 3 ….?
————————————-
Yeah – watched the BBC documentary. So what?
No – I’ve not checked out P3 in tomorrow’s Sun. Better stuff available online.
What’s your point?
Anyway Bhoys…..
One of my first ever posts on here advised to get on the Pool to win EPL at 12/1.
Brendan’s boys are having a go.
Love getting a run for my money in an honest competition.
Hopefully we can have a level playing field in Scotland one day.
We have an opportunity to put a hose in Sevco’s snarling mouth now.
Will we take it or move to the back of the bus again?
Hmmmmmm……
Liverpool defeated once at home this season.
MOTM that day?
Step forward Mr. Victor Wanyama……..
Hopefully overcomes his injury problems in a Liverpool shirt next season.
Bored waiting.
Bed…
Nat know……
Did you ever drink in the Argosy in Paisley Road West?
ryecatcher
00:44 on 31 March, 2014.
You expressed the way I felt, only to add, I had a teacher that on the Monday, would ask what colour the priests robes were and make life hell for the ones that didn’t know.
Still, I had mostly good teachers…just incase TD is lurking :)))
Sipsini….
Bang on that man….
The tut tutters were in the only place in life where they felt adequate.
I felt sorry for them when I was old enough to realise why they looked at our brood like something they had just scraped off their shoes.
Celtic was my religion mate.
The washed out Hoops shirt meant more to me than anything then.Recovered from a ragstore in Bridgeton.
Bobby Murdoch was Bigger than both Jesus and John Lennon in my mind then!!
We will find out a week on Sunday,when Mr,Kompany and co. come to town….but can you think of any defence that could keep a clean sheet at Anfield?
I can’t.
Just back in
FIANNA CD delivered,worth listened to,.Locals saying,band to listen to,what do I know?
the bottom line is ………….
00:31 on 31 March, 2014
———————-
My wife likes yoghurt. I can’t stand it.
I like cheddar cheese. A lot. My wife thinks it has too much fat.
They are side by side in the fridge.
She eats the yogurts. I devour the cheese.
We live happily together and have done so for over four decades.
We don’t think any less of one another because of our eating habits.
How about the Celtic Chariman’s daughter winning two titles in the French Badminton Championships. Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/badminton/26812105
Good for you girl. Europe beckons yer Dad’s fooftball team too.
Congratulations
Hopefull doubles is what you get too…,next year a treble.
Nigh Imogen.
The Singing Detective Demands The Resignation Of Campbell Ogilvie
00:38 on
31 March, 2014
Crows(Corvids) Are Believed To Possess A Level Of Intelligence That Matches The Average Seven Year-Old Human Child….
_________________________________________________________________________
Thanks very much for posting that.
Absolutely fascinating.
Smashing intro by Gary Ralston in The Record at the head of his article about poor officials in Edinburgh yesterday.
“BUTCHER and Forster are convinced the Easter Road outfit would have gone on to win the match if they hadn’t of been denied a legitimate goal at a crucial stage in the Edinburgh derby. ”
Journalism at its best. Back to school,Gary.
We don’t want to play The Strangers cos they don’t exist. The auld club were done/liquidated/scudded/out of business for ever AND owing millions to millions in Scotland. Cheated the Taxman, the hospitals, the schools, the medicines, the troops, the poverty, the crime, the deprivation The cheated by signing players they couldn’t afford with money that wasn’t their own but would eventually be wanted back by the owners – Bank of Scotland (when no-one was looking),
1994, Rangers were more burst than were Celtic at the time Celtic were being pressed by the B of Scotland to pay up their outstanding balance. Rangers were deeper in the red but they were on cozy terms with Masterson at the bank. But the BOS wanted to hurt Celtic and give more loans to Murray
When you have liars, spivs, gangstars, market traders, venture capitalists, asset srippers, specialists in insolvencies, conmen, cowboys, rogues and sundry latter day dreamers all claiming that they are the future of your club – you have a nice wet feeling.
No leader, No plan, means no future for the upcoming team or for those who invested in the team and club
My neighbor in North Caroline said he heard they got relegated and they’re needed back etc. I nailed him very promptly “Not relelgated, they were liquidated, out of business, gone no more.” “So” he says”they had to apply for entrance to the league and start at the bottom” “Yes” I said “they disappeared owing $200 milions to honest workers who will never see a coin of that again” “Uh, that’s not what they told me” he said.
They cheated to do what they did, but they still messed it all up.
Now they had a second bash at and they have spent 18million pounds in the last year as part of the heaviest wage bill in Scotland, leaving them almost broke..
Tell me My Regan, Tell me Mr Ogilvie, Tell me Mr Doncaster. When you fix Scottish football properly, so that is recognized for being fairly run by men of unquestionable character governing teams that hold integrity and transparency as the bulwarks of sports administration – How old will my great, great grandchildren be?
Move along there – nothing to see here.
The throngs who only want to define their team’s game in association with THAT one game.
Never, Never, Never.
Their business died, their club died, just as in Scots Law, British Law, Mercantile Law. But a history is alive as long as they want it. THEY need that message. But I don’t need to hear it or any similar message from any club.
That history is dead.
Nice to have you back,Ralph.
Wish you had been in the pub with me on Saturday night as I tried to explain your point to an in-denial hun.
Eventually I just told him to come back in three years and tell me how he spends his Saturday afternoons.
On his allotment,I suspect.
Nice to hear the message being spread in the Carolinas.
He said as he casually claimed top of the overnight moon howler page
‘GG
Premier spot for the MOONHOWLERS is at the bottom of the page,ideal for our readers down under.
(Boom,boom!)
Why don’t we know the post split fixtures?
A professional organization, in touch with clubs and fans, would be doing all in their power to give clubs plenty of time to plan for travel and crowd arrangements.
Bmcuwp
My own habit late at night is to check the last page and work my way backwards.
It probably reflects my own backward attitude and sheltered upbringing
Just to brighten your morning up…be aware mc oist is coming :))
One of the key observations that can be made about watching ourselves this season, is that Rangers have struggled to implement a consistent playing style. This is not to say that the side has struggled for results, in fact a look at the league table indicates Rangers have been successful in every competition entered this season (barring an early-season defeat in the Scottish League Cup, in a match whereby many of the established first team were ineligible to play). Football is first and foremost a results business, winning and entertaining should go hand in hand, yet despite the on pitch success, many fans appear disgruntled by McCoist’s approach to tactics.
However, glance down south and you will find a side who achieve results with a comparable philosophy. Chelsea. This is not to say that Chelsea and Rangers for a second are similar sides on the pitch, there is a gulf in talent, appeal to watch, and the competitiveness of the league that means the two are largely incomparable. But, with a few minor tweaks, it can be argued that McCoist could develop a playing style similar to Jose’s.
Firstly, Mourinho is regarded as a manager whose sides are defensively solid and rely on the individual flair of players to unlock teams. The discipline of the midfield and backline, allow the freedom for their more creative players (such as Hazard, Willian) to take players on, knowing that if the ball is lost there will be defensive cover. It can be argued that Rangers have attempted to adopt such an approach, with players such as Templeton often relied upon to individully unlock defences.
Formation-wise, both sides have used a variation on the 4-2-3-1, with Chelsea playing to the strengths of their defenders by forcing sides to play the ariel game, nullifying the threat of shots from outside the box, or players running through past the defence. Rangers attempt this, but defensively are not strong enough in the air, neither do the defensive midfielders (such as Black, Law) have the discipline to close down such space. A fine example of a player who was competent at this, is the much alligned Maurice Edu, who whilst struggled on the ball, was a fantastic example of somebody whose off the ball work was pivotal to a solid defensive structure (see the game at Old Trafford against Manchester United for proof).
In terms of personnel, Ally must seek to train Nicky Clark to play the number 9 role. He has the attributes (speed, awareness and finishing), yet he is often regarded as an afterthough to Jon Daly. I would also argue that this summer, another creative AM player is needed with pace, such as Chris Humphrey (formely of Motherwell, who is reported to be leaving Preston in the summer). Hopefully, such a move is already in the forethoughts of his mind, as we can yet but dream of Ally sharing the same tactical nouse as Jose.
Good morning friends from a still dark but apparently dry, overcast and breezy East Kilbride.
Greetings from Glasgow airport. Berlin beckons for the week. Could see it far enough this morning.
In the comments section of the hootsman this morning, this post fair cheered me up this Monday morning on top of us being on the way to 4 in a row! Morning champs
n a staunch defence of nothing in particular, Rangers rookie manager Alistair McCoist – resplendent in an immaculate tie – hit out at critics of everything associated with Rangers, in a successful attempt to ingratiate himself simultaneously with the hordes, the gangsters who run his beloved 140 year old stadium (the one that John Brown played for), the ghost of Lord Integrity Struth and some banjo plucking, toothless fist shakers.
In a surprisingly frank exchange with some dozing journalists, he roared, “To be honest with you, I don’t do finances. I just spend the money and when someone says ‘stop spending money’ that’s a correct thing to say and I’m glad we all agree on that. Including the supporters, who have been tremendous – not just in threatening and intimidating, but also doing nothing and sending angry emails. And that has to be seen as a good thing. So if someone – and I don’t know who that is – says that I’m fairly rubbish and spendthrift, they are entitled to their opinion – and that’s an opinion that they’ve got and that’s great. But it’s not necessarily my opinion. Although it might be. That will take care of itself and we’ll just have to see how that works out.”
McCoist continued “The thing is that there are things that are happening and I don’t know if they really are happening or not. You’d have to ask those people that say they’re happening and see what they say. You could ask my ears what they hear, but they won’t say anything because it’s my mouth that speaks for me. And that’s a good thing. But my ears can’t speak, so you’d have to ask my mouth. But you won’t get an answer, because my mouth can’t hear you. It’s full of pies.”
lionroars67
07:56 on
31 March, 2014
In the comments section of the hootsman this morning, this post fair cheered me up this Monday morning on top of us being on the way to 4 in a row! Morning champs
n a staunch defence of nothing in particular, Rangers rookie manager Alistair McCoist – resplendent in an immaculate tie – hit out at critics of everything associated with Rangers, in a successful attempt to ingratiate himself simultaneously with the hordes, the gangsters who run his beloved 140 year old stadium (the one that John Brown played for), the ghost of Lord Integrity Struth and some banjo plucking, toothless fist shakers.
In a surprisingly frank exchange with some dozing journalists, he roared, “To be honest with you, I don’t do finances. I just spend the money and when someone says ‘stop spending money’ that’s a correct thing to say and I’m glad we all agree on that. Including the supporters, who have been tremendous – not just in threatening and intimidating, but also doing nothing and sending angry emails. And that has to be seen as a good thing. So if someone – and I don’t know who that is – says that I’m fairly rubbish and spendthrift, they are entitled to their opinion – and that’s an opinion that they’ve got and that’s great. But it’s not necessarily my opinion. Although it might be. That will take care of itself and we’ll just have to see how that works out.”
McCoist continued “The thing is that there are things that are happening and I don’t know if they really are happening or not. You’d have to ask those people that say they’re happening and see what they say. You could ask my ears what they hear, but they won’t say anything because it’s my mouth that speaks for me. And that’s a good thing. But my ears can’t speak, so you’d have to ask my mouth. But you won’t get an answer, because my mouth can’t hear you. It’s full of pies.”
——————————-
LOL! Brilliant!
I noted him saying something about being “not medically minded” at the weekend in responding to a question about a player with an injury. He is the absolute master of talking but saying absolutely nothing!
NatKnow – Supporting Wee Oscar
08:10 on
31 March, 2014
Shug Keevins called him a national treasure ?
Its an excellent piece of satire, the truth hurts as they say, whomever posted in the Hootsman it take it a bow
LIONROARS67
That is first-class!
The Scotsman should be tracking the fella down and offering him a job.
Preferably in their Political Department,that’s a gold mine for satirists at the moment.
Morning all. Fairly drab now here today. Mind you, my mood has just been lifted by NatKnow’s snippet from the Scotsman. Hilarious. National treasure indeed. Long may McCoist be manager of the deid team.
Sorry, that should have been lionroars67. Anyway, brilliant spoof.
parkheadcumsalford
08:24 on 31 March, 2014
Your spelling is terrible……..deid = deed …. :)
Bad news for gin drinkers who are watching their weight.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592778/Just-two-glasses-favourite-alcoholic-drink-push-recommended-daily-sugar-limit.html
No mention of Guinness being a problem though.
BMCUW
Slimline tonic avoids the problem!
67heaven,
Indeed!!
ROBINBHOY
Good point,bud!
I’ve got enough to worry about wi my alcohol intake without worrying about my sugar intake too.
Drink sensibly-drink pints….