If football resonates with you in any way, it’s probably because it brought you an intense joy at some point. For me, two such moments happened at Tannadice. We travelled there in 1981 but were still trying to get through the turnstiles when Murdo McLeod put Celtic ahead in 2 minutes. Frank McGarvey and Tommy Burns added two to complete a 2-3 win. I think this was the first title I saw us win in person, it’s certainly the earliest I remember. Danny McGrain was held shoulder-high right in front of me; the memory is indelible.
The outcome of that league was never really in doubt, not so, the 2008 title. Gordon Strachan’s side looked dead and buried six weeks earlier. They needed to beat Rangers twice and hope their title rivals dropped points in another two games to bring the achievable gap down to goal difference.
All that was achieved by the time we travelled to Dundee on the final day of the season. Celtic and Rangers were level on points, with Celtic holding a four-goal advantage.
If the game that won the title in 1981 was a procession, that night in 2008 was anything but. Celtic looked fragile throughout the first half and came perilously close to going behind in the final minute of the first half. Rangers were at Pittodrie and both games were goalless on the hour mark. A goal either way could shift momentum.
Aberdeen made the breakthrough on 63 minutes, we had beathing space. Nine minutes later, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed Celtic ahead from a corner kick. Soon thereafter, Aberdeen made sure of the job with a second goal at Pittodrie and a helicopter was despatched towards Dundee.
That season started with the players celebrating on-field with Tommy Burns, their assistant manager, after beating Spartak Moscow on penalty kicks to gain entry into the Champions League group stage. On scoring the winning goal, Jan pointed to the heavens, acknowledging Tommy’s passing a week earlier. The fortitude the team and manager showed that season was remarkable.
As you watch tonight, there will be no tension. Celtic could play you and me in central defence in their final two games, just for the “lols” and would still win the league. But that just makes the achievement all the more remarkable.
In the summer, we went out of the Champions League with a central defensive pairing of Stephen Welsh and Dane Murray playing in front of Scott Bain, who was given the gloves after Vasilis Barkas performance in the first leg. Ismaila Soro played the holding role in both games. In a very literal sense, the Celtic that will take the field tonight would be unrecognisable to us back then.
Enjoy the game and remember – it’s an early kick-off: 7.30.
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1981 game: I was at a residential centre with the school in the Borders, P7
Our teacher arranged for us to watch the game on TV. Can’t remember if it was live or we stayed up late for highlights; probably the latter. Loved Tommy Burns’ goal
2008 game: I was at my mother-in-law’s funeral wake. I decided not to watch the game but when my wife asked if it was on (late in the first half) she told me not to be daft and I bolted down to another hotel bar with the TV. She came with me for some emotional relief. Some girl my wife
D66 @ 12.58
Cock Tavern — Euston CSC plus LU CSC
But you knew that didn’t you.
No salmonella on the premises because the botulism ate it — classy joint.
Not to be confused with the Cock Tavern under Smithfield Market.
TFOD1.0 / 2.1 shop of the worst possible kind.
Full of City bean counters using language they wouldn’t be allowed to use at home.
Been there once — for a friend of a friend — never again.
Total erse wipes — the ba’and without instruments.
MADMITCH
TMcL was being very hard on the “Arabs” this morning.
Why don’t you explain yourself?
Nice thread to warm up to tonight
https://twitter.com/LilZe_7/status/1524358662260764672?t=SCI8KEjntgJ2zy6nBTCXpQ&s=19
HH
TMcL @ 1.09
Happy to explain myself …
You were complaining about DU revoking tickets in the home support areas because the postcode was new to them.
Some on here could construe your comments as being racist as they were anti-“Arab”.
Was that your intention or am I mistaken?
Paul 67
Your blog is having the pish ripped out of it.
Is it about the clicks?
Casual racism on a Celtic blog
Why not block the ip at source?
Anonymous trolls with your backing Paul
Any word Paul?
HH
Shaping up to click those clicks
The arrangements for this game are making me suspicious that there is an attempt to engineer a bad atmosphere and trouble.
The cancelling of purchased tickets will cause mayhem at the turnstiles – guaranteed. Loads of Celtic fans were in the home end at Ross County (on best behaviour) – no bother whatsoever.
Not usually any ill-will with Dundee Utd fans and wouldn’t have expected any tonight – why create the issue by cancelling tickets.
Strange kick off time – will result in people arriving late – more hassle.
Now we hear about the potential for people with genuine paid tickets being locked out. Again – more hassle / angry people.
We are being set-up.
HH
BGFC
Bet no one remembers 1962 Dundee Utd 4 Celtic 5…
Cranberries Zombie
https://youtu.be/Uv5wF-E9D8Y
HH
Toaty Trumper + Micro Marxist @ multiple times this morning
Is the AT collective double manned today?
Toaty Trumper working the casual racism cut and paste top the max.
Micro Marxist trying to be everyone’s friend with the feel good links.
Strange vibe from the one guy.
BIG GEORGES FAN CLUB – HAIL, HAIL, WEE OSCAR
Absolutely spot on.
There appears to be a sense of anti-Celtic bitterness emanating from Tannadice.
Unfortunately, the general response on here seems to be – Shutup. It is what it is – from people without tickets who wouldn’t go near a game.
Requests to cancel others is not a good look.
Repeated requests merely amplifies this.
Post – read – debate – disagree
As far as I’m aware, only personal attacks and foul language are not tolerated here.
In other news, we’ve a league title to reclaim in a few hours time
Before the 2008 game at Tannadice, United fans were queuing up to hawk their match tickets to the highest bidder wearing green and white.
BGFC @ 1.16
Is that your project management gene coming to the fore?
Professional worrier !!??!!
Surprised about the message that the gates will be shut in our areas when the crowd limit is reached — that would suggest that they know there are a lot of forgeries about but are not going to do anything about it.
Tuff if you have a real ticket but get there too late.
As you note — recipe for trouble.
Home area tickets — if you are trying to pull a stroke then discovery should not be shock.
If you have bought a straight up ticket and the gates have been closed for capacity issues then trouble that way comes in spades.
Hopefully the coked up zoomers are on a short leash tonight.
Tonight — what we need is a big screen at Dens Park — what could possibly go wrong.
CA could attempt a pass and take out the she-bang.
1977 @ ER — anyone else make the effort?
From memory it was quite a boring game.
TV not present?
1977 @ ER
Wasn’t that her silver jubilee ?
WBC @ 1.37
ER = Emergency room then an atmospheric little park just off Leith Walk.
Not really as fully engaged as yourself when it come to all things royal.
Not that day — too much green and white.
Had been hoping for a goal-fest to match 73 — ended up 1-0.
REFLECTIONS – THEN & NOW
The 2008 title-win was so special – we were all hurting because of Tommy – it was a fitting tribute to him and his family. All our family watched it on TV – a great family time as well as a great Celtic time.
Paul, you rightly say:
“In the summer, we went out of the Champions League with a central defensive pairing of Stephen Welsh and Dane Murray playing in front of Scott Bain, who was given the gloves after Vasilis Barkas performance in the first leg. Ismaila Soro played the holding role in both games. In a very literal sense, the Celtic that will take the field tonight would be unrecognisable to us back then.”
With Ange just arrived – bringing players in and getting some shape to the squad after our disastrous season & with Ajer, Christie & Edouard leaving, was an enormous task. A task that would not/could not, be completed until the January window. Of course since then, a new look and new direction has built up.
As well as Welsh, Soro, Barkas & Murray, we also had young Montgomery featuring regularly. Starfelt was finding it hard to ‘find his feet’ and injury after injury was hampering us.
Ange was attempting to build a squad and a way of playing ‘on the hoof” without time for preparation – next season will be very different; in fact it looks like we have started early with a left-back from Sweden. No doubt Mark Lawwell is ‘beavering away’ – that too represents such a refreshing & encouraging development. Ange has now got a like-minded and trusted ally alongside in the quest to strengthen the squad.
As we moved through the months up to the year-end, the recruitment, injury & settling-in problems meant that no clear definition of ‘so-called ‘Ange-ball’ could be descerned. The games against Bodo were eye-opening & eye-watering to witness. Domestically we could see things were slowly changing, but all we could do was to win as many games as we could, in any way we could, to stay in the title-race. It was not pretty -: at times playing ‘off the cuff’ with a patched-up squad and making it up as we went along.
The early winter-break and the January player additions were the key & catalyst to a more settled and structured approach – Ange has built and moulded on the back of that. The emergence of GMAK, the solid influence of Hart, the addition of Maeda & Hatate, and the CVV/Starfelt partnership, has typified a settled confidence and has allowed the successful implementation of the manager’s playing style & philosphophy.
With a better squad & freedom from crippling injuries, Ange has us ‘sprinting for the title’ – we will ‘burst through the tape’ tonight.
In August 1965, Celtic became the first British football club to produce its own newspaper, The Celtic View. The paper started as a four-page weekly publication and was the brainchild of Jack McGinn who was working in the circulation department of Beaverbrook Newspapers. McGinn himself edited the paper for the first few years, with circulation initially reaching around 26,000 copies.
@CQN
So many highlights that season –
the penalty shootout win against Spartak.
The late winners against AC Milan and Shaktar.
Robson putting Celtic 2-1 up against Barca in the last 16.
JVOH’s last minute header against TFOD.
And of course Tannadice.
Uncle Jimmy you might tolerate racism and a racist in your ranks but I certainly will not.
Call it out.
D :)
Winning the league:
1973 = ER?
1974 = Falkirk?
1982 = LS?
I’ll say something for him. Fat Charlie can strike a ball. Check link at 3:50 in.
https://youtu.be/cTVfcXPyDD0
D66 @ 1.48
Now that you hold the baton — would you like to explain / detail this casual racism that upsets you so much?
Requests to cancel others is not a good look.
Repeated requests merely amplifies this.
Post – read – debate – disagree
As far as I’m aware, only personal attacks and foul language are not tolerated here.
In other news, we’ve a league title to reclaim in a few hours time
How awfully woke jimmy.
Cancelling does not look good,neither does racism on a Celtic blog,it appears youv cancelled that already.
Here’s how it goes jimmy
A racist anonymous scumbag can talk of our stars in terms tenko
You happy with that on a Celtic blog?
Cancelling doesn’t look good,
Racism looks much better tho.
HH
Don’t have a problem with Utd’s decision other than it should have been taken before Celtic post codes started buying tickets for the game, although they are getting refunds.
No club wants away supporters in the home end, and if it were the other way round we wouldn’t want to be seated beside celebrating away fans in our seats?
Security wise Celtic supporters and Celtic get a hostile reaction at most Scottish grounds, even at Tannadice.
The fact Utd can’t fix security for this fixture is their problem, we got the 6,000 we were allocated.
Save us from faux sanctimonious tripe – used to deflect & camouflage.
Sanctimony is the cheapest form of morality. It costs nothing to drum-up & highlight spurious matters attributed to others to cover one’s own inadequacies.
JHB on 11TH MAY 2022 2:03 PM
Save us from faux sanctimonious tripe – used to deflect & camouflage.
Sanctimony is the cheapest form of morality. It costs nothing to drum-up & highlight spurious matters attributed to others to cover one’s own inadequacies.
Why are you here racist?
Toaty Trumper @ 1.56
How was the Tenko comment racist — racist to whom?
It was made in jest about the state of the squad after a couple of months of intensive training.
I have mentioned NB and MO’R as two of the squad who now look like ultra marathon runners / have experienced three years of a war time diet / been a POW in a Balkans War camp.
If I had mentioned a Boer War era “concentration” camp would you still consider that comment racist?
The reason I didn’t is that Tenko was fiction while the BW camps were all to real.
How does racist vermin determine morals? don’t know
Shall I ask a ceaucescan romanian..
Regarding nick of NB / MO’R — I was going to mention Liz McColgan but thought better of it.
For the record I think that our training has been too intense recently.
Too many in the team have a physique that looks like a bag of spanners.
Too much has been attempted too quickly.
Paul 67
Your blog is having the pish ripped out of it.
Is it about the clicks?
Casual racism on a Celtic blog
Why not block the ip at source?
Anonymous trolls with your backing Paul
Any word Paul?
HH
Oh many clicks with the racist vermin playing high moral ground.
Wee jimmy bells the lot of them
Posters like David66 asking that others be cancelled!
Scroll on by if you don’t like it.
Not everyone thinks the same or are we all supposed to?
Toaty Trumper @ 2.10
Please explain yourself — happy to learn and move on if you have a valid point to put across.
Please engage constructively — everything else is just moon howling pure and simple.
If explaining racism is too much for you then what are your thoughts on our MF next season?
Ernie,
“You are beginning to sound like a demanding and over entitled Toddler”
H,mmm,a bit like you Ernie when someone goes against your Dogma.
Rimtimtim
Scroll on by and let the casual racism slip in
We are a club of refugees and racism must be fought o all sides.
Let’s cancel racism.and crush its skull,its thinking has no place at Celtic
HH
HH
AT @ 2.18
Are you on the sauce?