In the months afterwards I made a trip to the Celtic Superstore to buy the DVD of the match. I wasn’t ready to watch it but needed to have it nonetheless, for when the time came. I’ve still not opened the box.
I watched the game from high up in the Porto end. The Porto fans were great, allowed us to celebrate with all the enthusiasm you could muster for goals in a European final, then wished us well as we made our way through them and out of the stadium. Had Celtic won while dropping like flies whenever an opponent coughed, it might have been different.
Porto were favourites and would go on to prove how good a team they were by winning the Champions League 12 months later. Their players would demonstrate their prowess across the world for the next decade. They had fabulous talent, so much so, that they should have aspired to better than the gamesmanship used during their run to the Uefa Cup and Champions League wins.
On the field it was a tale of great goals and heroic defeat, off the field, it was one of the most spectacular events in sport.
80,000 Celtic fans made the pilgrimage to Seville and treated the world to a carnival. The city became the scene of one of the largest parties the game had ever known. For me the pre-match schedule involved a two hour trip north before a panicked dash across the city collecting match tickets. What a stress!
There was 10 in our party and collecting the tickets took priority. Once we had them we could afford time to eat, but what? Several restaurants were sold out, we eventually found a café with frozen chips and a meat-based slab of something or other. No choices. No beer, wine or cola either, it was diluting orange juice or water. An entire city was pretty much emptied of food and drink.
You could forget about motorised transport to get to the game, we had to walk from the city to the stadium on the very outskirts of town. It was hot and dry. An enterprising local was selling a retained stash of cola at the side of the road at a hugely inflated price, no one passed him without buying.
This was a journey to a football game, but not one any of us were familiar with.
The long walk home from the game was memorable for the incredible reaction we got from the locals. They applauded each of us as we walked past their homes in recognition of what took place in their city throughout the day. Things like this don’t happen but that day was different. Seville, like Lisbon, will always remember Celtic. Fifa and Uefa made their Fair Play Awards the following year to Celtic fans, a nomination normally reserved for clubs.
I met a German couple in the hotel elevator. “Are you disappointed?” they asked. “No. We were beaten by a good team”. I had celebrated two Celtic goals in a European final and watched as we pushed a tremendously talented team to the brink. Disappointment comes a lot worse than this, although time brought regret.
Seville 2003 was not Lisbion 67 but it was a wonderful occasion in our very proud history. Let’s do it again.
For those who prefer their nostalgia with a bit of silverware, 10 men won the league, 24 years ago today. Big Billy was back and the Celts were in control.
Speaking of Lisbon 67…… Willie’s book, pre-order your signed copy now!
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What a fantastic place CQN is tonight.
I feel as if I’m in a huge hall full of Celtic fans, one-by-one sharing our individual Seville stories, as the rest of the Bhoys sit quietly absorbing every word. (I posted mine on Sunday – always too quick of the mark).
If we were all together, we could give TBJ a huddle-sized hug for his bravery before joining together in a heart-felt rendition of YNWA.
It’s been an absolute pleasure – far better than watching the DVD.
HH
tinytim
18:37 on 21 May, 2013
TBJ
A wonder place for your Bhoy to rest.
When i think of Seville ,i will always now associate it with your Bhoy swell as OUR final.
May he rest in eternal peace.
TT
…………
That’s a fine post TT, worth repeating for a good Mhan.
Vinny
Another good tip that came out of the Seville.
Don’t ever drink Cruzcampo
Some fantastic stories today and brings a lot back.
My Seville story started before we played Liverpool, I had a feeling we would make it to the final, don’t ask why i just did. We booked 4 tkts via UEFA website just in case and the rest is history. Me, my late Mum, my Dad and a good mate were going to go and we decided to make a holiday of it and booked a week in Fuengerola. Loads of mates had no tickets but decided they were going anyeay so they
Glendalystonsils likes a mr whippy with his lime green jelly
19:59 on 21 May, 2013
A thought occured to me last night when watching that Hillsborough programme although there was no mention of it in the programme.
What part did the Masonic brotherhood play the collusion of these high ranking police officers, judges and politicians ?
A significant part ,I suspect.
………………………………………
Read John Stalker’s book and you will see that it is a massive influence in the police force.
unlike some posters on here i have watched the dvd sevral times..with no shame no regrets and total pride in my Bhoys who gave us one of The most amazing nights of our Celtic supporting lives..a few years later i bought henriks limited ed.framed pic of his 200 goal ..his second of the game that night, signed and has seville ticket in the frame..nearest i got to one! no.67 i picked and well worth the £175 . watched the recordings of the game when i came back from the trip to get it out of my system, felt it was the best thing to do,the more you put something off the harder it becomes h.h
I watched the BBC Panorama Hillsborough programme and admit to being slightly disappointed on the basis, that all these years later we are still so far away from finality for the bereaved.
A) Precisely, why it happened?
B) Why it was allowed to be covered up for more than two decades?
The woman (forgotten her name) who has subsequently died since the announcement of the new enquiry, after losing her son in Sheffield was remarkable, in her strength and persuit of justice.
I think if you visited football including Celtic Park Hampden or Ibrokes in the old days this tragedy, gets so much closer to you, and it’s simply not good enough to say nobody was to blame.
As for the cover up most of them are alive and accountable, and should be brought to justice.
Thank’s Vinny
TT
Big Nan
haven’t read the book, but my late father in law was a policeman. As a Catholic and an outspoken critic of the Masonic mob in the ploice he never rose above the rank of P.C.
What has happened to the CF twitter account? I thought he/she had thousands of items? Has there been some sort of legal threat made which has stopped them from tweeting the leaks?
My mates and I took a punt 3 months before the final and bought 6 tickets direct from UEFA. Best investment ever. We flew from Glasgow to Amsterdam to Madrid then caught the bullet train to Seville. Apart from the tims enjoying themselves the highlight on the train was the naive young American couple sitting across the aisle from us. Afetr asking us what the green and white uniforms were about and us carefully explaining where we were going and its significance the girl turned to her partner and suggested that they would maybe take this event in. We left them in blissful ignorance but wondered afterwards what they made of Seville and how it fitted in with their vision of Spain.
We had booked into a hotel on the outskirts near the conference centre thining the facilities nearby should be decent and that there would be a taxi rank on hand. Both guesses worked out so we were sorted. We got to a position just before the river from the opposite direction to the bulk of the support and settled down to have a few beers outside a friendly little bar. A carload of tims arrived with a load of parched bhoys inside. They wanted to know how far they were fro the stadium and when we told the it was a reasonable walk away they piled out and settled down with us.
After the game we headed back to our hotel wher there were a few Porto fans staying. A couple of guys in the lift apologised for the theatrics but we told them not to worry about it as we were off out to party. Round the corner were a few bars which stayed open till late. (So late we never found out when they closed)These bars seemed to be inhabited by a young crowd, maybe students. Anyway when we walked in still wearing out strips into a large bar/club where we were the only non locals the entire bar stood up and gave us a standing ovation and the owner came over with drinks followed by plenty more. I have a vague memory of the bar closing around 3 and when we expressed disapointment we were advised that this was the early nigh for thaat establishment and to move to the place next door. Cue repeat of applause drinks etc.
A great week for all of us and one the spiteful references to Seville calculators by radio pundits will never diminish for those of us who were there.
Tiny Tim
Ref your post last night, I am with you all the way regarding the Investor/business lounges, still waiting on my reply as to why there was no heated seat after the first season
BSR-The liar Blair and incompetent Straw could have brought the families justice around ’97 .I don’t think anyone will do time for this.
tinytim
20:06 on 21 May, 2013
Thank’s Vinny
TT
………
De nada amigo!
It was your best post, all the rest…..
:>)
V
It has been an enormous pleasure to be on here today – more so than usual.
Thank you all for sharing your memories of ten years ago.
A special mention goes out to TBJ.
HH!!
The night after in madrid we met a couple of bhoys fron thevirgin islands who made their way over for the game..
The night in Madrid was a quiet one compared to the previous days high jinks.
Evening folks.
Regretfully could not manage to get to Seville due to being skint at the time. Reading the blog this evening lifts the spirit. Many fine individual stories with the main theme of folks enjoying a once in a lifetime experience.
Despite the disappointing result, the true Celtic spirit coming to the fore, this is what makes me proud of being a Celtic supporter.
Special thanks to TBJ for sharing his special story.
Thanks to Paul for a fine article and you fine folks for sharing these wonderful memories.
Dan
glendalystonsils likes a mr whippy with his lime green jelly
19:59 on 21 May, 2013
A thought occured to me last night when watching that Hillsborough programme although there was no mention of it in the programme.
What part did the Masonic brotherhood play the collusion of these high ranking police officers, judges and politicians ?
A significant part ,I suspect.
As my heart was breaking last night. The sight of Anne Williams wee boy being taken out of that pen was horrendous, but the arrogance of some of the police was frightening. If they can collude for murder, what will they do to protect a rotten football( loosely ) club.
That wee boy will live with me forever
SoT,
My mate and I were living in Holland at the time of the Feijenoord game. We knew how good they were. We had watched them regularly and Big Wim van Hanegem beat Milan on his own earlier in the tournament. We had tried to talk to Mr Stein when he came over to watch the playing Ajax. Couldn’t get near him. We wanted to warn him how good they were.
Milan itself, including the result, was not an experience I’d to repeat. The locals were so full of themselves, no interest in anyone else. The people of Seville were of a different order altogether. God bless them.
I hope we get to another Final in my lifetime. I don’t really expect to, as the financial odds are well stacked against us. My auld Dad still waxes lyrical about Lisbon. At least I have had Seville. Never to be forgotten (still, it would be good to win again and be there to witness it first hand).
BT
Did you meet Nafos looking for his passport?
Decided to book the week as well, theres thirty of us in all and only half with tickets doesnt matter as everyone just wants to be there. Couple of nights before the game we all meet in Puerto Banus as friends have a flat there and some of the boys were staying there. Fantastic night out with Patrick Kielty and his mates all massive Celts.
Get to Seville the morning of the match and its just a sea of green, car horns tooting wherever we go as the citizens really take is to their hearts. The heat is unlike anything i’ve evr experienced, unreal. taxi takes us out to the big hotel near the park where a friend is staying so we get in there for a beer and its like a who’s who, Davie Moyes, Big Roy, Rod Stewart, Roy Keane to name a few but someone shouts there’s Paul McStay so i just have to get a photo taken with my hero. Doesnt get much better than that for me. another roar goes up and its the Porto team are leaving to go to the game. Some good natured booing and ribbing takes place but Mourinhos face was a picture when he saw the Celts in the hotel, i think at that point he knew how big our support was going to be. We meet a few mates outside the ground by chance and one of them still hasnt got a ticket. we wander up to the ground and he manages to get past the first cordon, he gets to the turnstile where his brother sticks his tkt into the machine, green light and he’s in. he then passes the ticket back to his brother who tries it on and red light, nightmare, he’s not going to make it but for some reason the guy looks at his ticket and passes him through. Magic we’re all in.
That sight will live with me forever, green and white everywhere. Everyone knows what happened next. Henriks goals are just genius.
After the match we make our way through some Porto fans coming the other way, handshakes all round and they seem sort of stunned that we’ve taken defeat so well. I was of course disapointed but the main feeling i had was pride. Proud of the team and the fans. Proud to be a Celt.
Soal
Did you pickpocket him whilst that picture was being taken.
BT
It was hard enough for me to get my arm on his faraway shoulder
Thanks to everyone. All day. I’ve laughed and wept.
Not sure if it has been posted already or not but for those of you who have not viewed the official DVD there is a quote from the commentator ( Jim Rosenthal I think ), where he states that, in 25 years of covering European finals, he had never experienced an atmosphere at a European final like the the night in Seville.
Always good to hear a neutrals view of our fantastic support.
Hail! Hail!
Bada
The lying, and cover up started before everybody was even dead, with the 3.15 cut off myth which was destroyed by Panorama – and previous ‘ a gate was smashed down ‘ in John Motson’s commentary (a later retracted lie).
Blair and Straw never looked, and their were two officers named last night who both caused the tragedy, and then instigated the cover up.
Sadly, the delay in the truth may extend the guilty perpetrators longevity.
I think we’ll lose Kayal in the sunner. Be tempted to go to QPR for Eseban Granero. Get him for peanuts now.
For those who never made Seville, like a lot of Celts that night I never got a ticket but I did have two lovely Celtic lassies along with me just outside the stadium in a fans area with large screen TVs etc, if the screens went bust we would have made our way to the stadium and sang the songs in support of our team.
Spot the difference with the team from Glasgow who are looking good in Europe, and the right wing racists who have been liquidated.
TV reality
Vmhan
Did you have wan of their skirts on?
Imagine the follow follow version of today about Manchester.
A wuz bitten bae an Alsatian
A booted a copper
A hit the screen was a can.
The difference is that they could NEVER compete with our stories….
TBJ – thanks for sharing. It is amazing how Celtic brings us all together.
A special thanks to Paul67 today for giving us such a platform to share experiences. One of the great days on CQN.
Seville67
The Bhoy Jinky 17:25:
God Bless your Son, he is in a better place. Hard for you but you will be together again some day. From a shellfish point of view I hope it wont be for a long time yet.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Charlotte is back, must have had a weekender in the jail…
vmhan
If you were at the same bit as me the screens did go bust for the first 15 minutes. We all ran into the train/bus station next to it to see a tv. No riots involved, just great banter about Spanish tellies…
Malorbhoy
20:12 on 21 May, 2013
‘Tiny Tim
Ref your post last night, I am with you all the way regarding the Investor/business lounges, still waiting on my reply as to why there was no heated seat after the first season’
###
Is the point of the investors/business/heated seats section not just that it costs more, the idea being that by being seen in the dear seats you can imagine yourself (and imagine others perceive you to be) a bit of a swank who can splash the cash, rather than for any intrinsic value in the package itself?
Pity Tommy didn’t recall on SSB that NEIL recently confirmed that he had a job to do at Celtic….. Speculation always follows great managers, and SSB fuds would luv to see the back of oor NEIL…..
Maybe Charlotte got lifted by the FOCUS polis for singing rebel songs at Tannadice?
TBJ
God bless you B…
WGS
20:28 on
21 May, 2013
I’m going nowhere ;-)
Granero is one of those on stupid wages at QPR, way beyond anything we pay. As is the £5m+ price tag they’ll be looking for. And he’s been that bad he couldn’t even get a regular game for a dreadful QPR team.
Barry Bannan would be a good signing, has the ability, not a regular at Villa, a year left on his contract.