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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The Original Sadie’s Bhoy
Hiya.. Teach???
Nice tae greet.
Pal..
Ye hiv jist Wrote a very Intelligent Submission..
Sure.. You are Correct..
Celtic, dinnae need tae Get doon n Dirty..n Roll in the Mud wi oor Uncouth Foes.
We should always seek the Dry. n High.. Grun.. Every, Time
N. this is exactly whit the Celtic Administration has chosen tae Dae,in this Case.
Look, the Sevco ur the Sevco..n . The Celtic ur the Celtic..
Keep it simple
Let Sevco Do as Sevco Diz..
n
Let the Celtic Do as . Celtic Diz~~
Maks Sense tae Me.
Nice Chatting Pal.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
EL DIEGO BHOY
I remain resolute in my admiration for anyone who could head the ball in them days!
Jimmy came up in discussions yesterday when I was out with my mates,how many he scored and how many,bearing in mind he was 5’6″,were with his head.
One of the-older-fellas said that you really concentrated on the ball back then.
If it looked like the ball was flighted in a way that meant you were heading the laces,it was death glory or cowardice.
Jimmy never took the third option,thats for sure.
EDB
Nice Try
Love
SOAL
God loves a trier.
Best wishes.
Tosb
That’s a subservient spineless attitude ….. Don’t think you really believe that that is the way to proceed
Your previous comments on here don’t square with that comment
Everton to play Arsenal and Man Citeh at home,could help Liverpool to the title
mickbhoy1888 @ 16:57
Leigh Griffiths in the Roseburn Bar earlier today
He’s probably heard of embramike’s legendary hospitality and popped into my local on the off chance. Pity about my foggy Guinness heed !
Not sure if the staff would be all that happy about the table dancing when the Paradise Sauna is just a few doors along – I think !
I’ve got a contrarian view of Bobby Murdoch. Yes he was the best passer of a ball I’ve ever seen but wasn’t he injured a lot of the time, or is my memory playing tricks? Also, in the second most important game in our history he had a bad game, and was responsible for Feyenoord’s winner.
Surely Daniel Fergus McGrain, would get into a best ever 11 ?
As Coutinho makes it 3
BMCUW
You forgot to mention George Connelly.
How could you?!
:-)
HH!!
mickbhoy1888
16:57 on 30 March, 2014
Maybe he was liquidated, like that corrupt shower over at bigotdome
PHYLLIS DIETRICHSON
http://www.thecelticwiki.com/m/page/Murdoch,+Bobby
Nearly 500 games for us,his ankle may have let him down,but his spirit didn’t.
Banner at the Liverpool game –
Brendan – the carefully chosen one.
LOL
TALLYBHOY
I know,but while George COULD have been the best,and probably should have been,it’s difficult to include him.
Had he seen out his career,even elsewhere,no-one would have denied him his place amongst the greats.
Like you,I still remember him as the great player he was,and the fantastic player he should have become.
Deary me, Bobby Murdoch gets slaughtered,and LG
gets a pass…..sometimes think I’m on the wrong blog.
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers ………praying for our wee hero!
16:56 on 30 March, 2014
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY
Have to disagree,bud.
It’s fine to put the ball in the net more than the opposition,but that is not the point.
A level playing field is what sport is all about.
Tolerating cheats is not.
……………………………….
Oh don’t get me wrong. I’m not in favour of tolerating cheats and I recognise the need for a level playing field. However, we are never going to get one. They can’t help themselves. Their whole psyche is one of supremacy. It is their default position. Very often they have not been good enough on sporting merit alone to reach a position of supremacy so they have resorted to cheating – honest mistakes, SFA decisions etc to maintain their position at the top. They didn’t win much during Big Jock’s first 9 years because Celtic were so far ahead of them in ability on the park that there was nothing they could do. We meted out our own form of justice in an avalanche of Celtic victories against them. We need to return to that position. The bungling Board were to blame for allowing them to get back on terms with us by failing to build on success by refusing to invest real money in players. That’s why we fell away as a force. This time round it is incumbent upon the men in charge at Board level to make sure that we continue to provide appropriate funding for our managers.
mickbhoy1888 @ 16:57Leigh Griffiths in the Roseburn Bar earlier today
I have the video too but won’t be posting it on here.
Wonder how many weans will be at school the morra with tram lines down there trousers , hubby doing a good deed for mothers day .
My Dear,Dear,Dear Friend….Kojo
I Bring You Dark Tidings…..
You Are Accused Of Yet Another Thought-Crime….
By The Illiterate West Wales Celt…
(Not The-Sharpest-Tool-In-The-Village!)
Of Being A…..
(A Cannae Quite Bring Ma’Sel Tae Repeat It )
A……M-M-MISOGYNIST !!!!
Jings..! Crivvens..! Hannah Montana..!
Ah Sure Hope This Outrageous Slur..
Disnae Reach The Ears Of Greta Garbo,Lucille Ball,Gina Lollobrigida,Lil’ Tanya Tucker,Maureen O’Hara,Zsa Zsa Gabor,Ellen DeGeneres,Whoopi Goldberg…..
An’ All The Other Sun-Kissed,Lissom-Limbed SnowBunnies….
Who Have Earned A Notch Oan Yer Bed-Post….
Still….Laughin’
AllOorAinHair&TeethCSC
James Edward McGrory is somehow looked upon as a flop Celtic manager, however his record includes:
Double in 1953/54 first in 40 years
St Mungo Cup
Coronation Cup
2/3 Scottish Cups he led Celtic to the semis in 1965
2 League Cups including the greatest victory in our history, aye even including Lisbon
“here’s to the lad who was born in the Garngad
and once more the bluenose crew we’ve mastered
so get down on yer knees and pray
for it’s the anniversary
of the Hampden massacre ya bluenose bassa”.
The Original Sadies Bhoy
Pal.. Ye don’t need tae Justify yer Thinkin in this.. Tae Me.. Pal
Ah get it..
Boy.. dae Ah get it!
Ah live by the Slogan..
“There is a Right Wey tae Haundle . Maist things. n… There is a Wrang wey , tae haundle maist Things’
N..
Pal. in this Situ ..
You hiv chosen..
“The Right Wey”
Bully fur you pal..n don’t let these .. Go Go Guys..
Shoot ye Doon!
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Spurs have a decent squad but need the right coach to turn them into a team.
The importance of the right coach should not be overlooked.
Liverpool after years struggling have finally got the right guy.
A coach has to find the right balance between players and utilise their strengths.
Also playing in a manner pleasing to fans to keep them on board whilst also winning.
Rodgers has taken a guy like Henderson who looked an expensive bust and turned him around simply by employing him in a role and system complimentary to his talents.
Who said Bobby Murdoch was a flop?
My dear,dear,dear,friend,, The Singing Detective
Pal.. Ah am Happy tae greet Ye..
West Wales Celt?
Hmmmmmmmm
He is a Commie.. well. mebbe he disnae admit it.. but.. He is..
So that’s him taken care of.
Women?
Ah Luv Them.
That’s all tae be said.
Ah gotta Go Noo.. at this very Minute.. n . Get ready tae go tae the Airport..
Ah am Off tae Los Angeles..
Will be back in Vegas.. Next week Sometime..
so .. Ah wull Be back oan the Blog. then..
Seeya..
Nice chatting as Always,plaomine
Kojo
Still ,Laughin
Liverpool full of confidence,playing without fear.
SFTB,
I share your new best buddy, Kojo’s appraisal of your review of the Seville tome; so much so that I cranked up the ol’ Visa card and invested in a copy.
A career in book reviewing awaits you, me lad.
!!bada bing!!
17:21 on 30 March, 2014
It’s on page 1 HH
….pfayr supports weeoscar
17:08 on 30 March, 2014
Tosb
That’s a subservient spineless attitude ….. Don’t think you really believe that that is the way to proceed
Your previous comments on here don’t square with that comment
………………………………………..
Like everyone else on here and in the country I have watched events involving Rangers and their barsteward child Sevco play out since 14 February 2012. I have been stunned at the lies, cheating, threats, intimidation and obfuscation that have taken place. We have witnessed the antithesis of justice. They were liquidated and should just be a bad memory but instead of Spartans we have Sevco. Deals have been done to accommodate them and protect them by the SFL, SPL, SFA, UTT, Lord Nimmo Smith and we have rubbish being reported in the newspapers, radio and television telling us that the holding company died but not the football club.
I have now reached the conclusion that things will never change in this country. They will never be adequately punished by the powers that be (think of the shame game and what happened to Neil Lennon compared to McCoist, Bougherra, Diouff, Whittaker) so I now think that we must administer our own form of footballing punishment by thrashing them whenever we meet them on the field of play. That will have the desired effect on their supporters who will vanish like snow off a dyke because they can’t stand being beaten.
Need a goal for spurs fir a nice double Suarez first goal and 4-1 ….nae chance
Spurs cannae get out their own half
Tosb
Why don’t we do both
Scud them on the pitch and harass the life out of them off it ……if they don’t do things properly
We could do that
Kojo
You are doing a fair impression of Gollum………
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY
Nice thoughts,bud. But unlikely.
Think back over just the second coming of the Legned,the Moloney booking,the pen for them v Hearts,the McCurry nine bookings. Etc,etc,etc.
Then multiply it by as much as it takes to get that lot in first place.
Aye,I would love us to hump the huns 10-0 on a regular basis,not that I’ll be watching it,and for other teams to do the same.
Ain’t gonna happen.
….pfayr supports weeoscar
17:40 on 30 March, 2014
Tosb
Why don’t we do both
Scud them on the pitch and harass the life out of them off it ……if they don’t do things properly
We could do that
………………………………..
Yes we could but sometimes it comes back to bite you on the bum. We tried to harass the life out of Rangers and their supporters by writing to all sorts of people and organisations about their dinging of ‘The Famine Song’ and we eventually got the Offensive Behaviour Act. It seems to me that we are the main victims of this piece of legislation. The anti Celtic media propaganda machine ensures that our efforts at getting justice come to nought on most occasions. We are ‘paranoid’ or haven’t you heard. Nowadays we are told that we are ‘obsessed’.
Liverpool fans with the ‘drum n bass’ version on YNWA…
tosb,
You are right.
The prevailing attitude will never change, therefore we have to maintain our playing advantage over them, ensuring the inevitable desertion of their hordes.
They cannot accept second best, so they will crawl back unto the woodwork…..or Firhil, as it was known in the past.
I think that will be Celtic’s plan for the foreseeable, when hopefully, football will have regained some of it’s senses and UEFA, or perhaps some other federation reconstruct the game.
Until then, ba’ in the back o’ the net, is the way to go.
Simultaneous with another financial demise in ?Govan, of course.
Liverpool 2 pts clear at top of EPL with 6 games to go.
Man City and Chelsea have to come to Annfield, with away games at West Ham, Norwich and Crystal Palace, finishing up at home to Newcastle.
Could Steven Gerard get the reward for his loyalty to the club ? Hope so.
The side currently at the top of the much heraldry
EPL…..did our reserve team no hump them?
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers ………praying for our wee hero!
17:44 on 30 March, 2014
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY
Nice thoughts,bud. But unlikely.
Think back over just the second coming of the Legned,the Moloney booking,the pen for them v Hearts,the McCurry nine bookings. Etc,etc,etc.
Then multiply it by as much as it takes to get that lot in first place.
Aye,I would love us to hump the huns 10-0 on a regular basis,not that I’ll be watching it,and for other teams to do the same.
Ain’t gonna happen.
…………………………….
I disagree. It happened under Stein when they were still a rich club. They spent a fortune trying to compete with Celtic but could get nowhere near us. We have the fortune nowadays and they are skint. Although I hate to admit it and frankly I am raging at some of our supporters for it, our crowds will increase again when Sevco arrive in the Scottish Premiership. It is up to the powers that be to ensure that we use our money prudently but peffectively to ensure that we can always put a team on the park that will destroy them. The dodgy decisions they got during our NIAR didn’t make any difference. We can return to that position.