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!
[calameo code=000390171179f475cf1c0 lang=en page=6 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
1,062 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
…….a friend of mine worked with the guy who wrote the Shake’n’ Vac ditty……….
to give him credit he was a tad embarrassed about his claim to fame….
” IfYou’reCarpetSmellsFreshYourRoomDoesTooooo” CSC
What’s the latest with the mob..
HH
My excellent cousin and great Celtic mhan Michael McG composed the well known radio advert music for Ashfield, Ashfield, the people who care, and never got any credit for it.
Until now.
Bankiebhoy
It’s all he had to do….
Carpet related jingles .
Has to be the great ———-
This is luxury you can afford , by Cyril Lord..
Stolen and adapted by the great Bonzo Dog boys it became .-
This is boredom you can afford , by Cyril Board..
Those who frequented the State Bar back in the day might remember that one of the bog doors featured a – This is boredom you can afford grafitto
Bet yeez are all doing that wee whistly bit from the Ashfield ad in your heids now.
I’m doing the shake and Vak, but def whistling and hanging about here…..!
HH
DontPatmadug
Mind and tell him that £32000 was raised for wee Oscar in 2 hours at Celtic park.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142959769/Sevco-Finance
MWD
Now that’s what I call class !
She’s back
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142959503/Intrinsically-Linked
micktt
12:23 on 22 May, 2013
What’s the latest with the mob..
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
‘deep shoite’ springs to mind …. !!!!
Lottie is back
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142959503/Intrinsically-Linked
HH
Celtic first
i still occasionally find myself singing that advert , much to mrs b’s annoyance, your cousin did his job well
Borgo67
Thanks. The mhan’s very talented.
And another http://www.scribd.com/doc/142959769/Sevco-Finance
HH
Orig Sad Bhoy- from the excellent Celtic Wiki
He seems cut from the same cloth as Sean Fallon.
THe bhoy and I started a lhist of things ‘Sean Fallon wouldn’t do’, starting with patenting his goal celebration.
Modren football is rubbish..
Well someone seems to be getting it right!!!! 6th paragraph. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22541130
Sean Fallon would not wear boots with a magenta and lilac “colourway”.
In case you missed it last night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnIVMo7Xx2c
Celtic First 12.26
Brilliant!! There must be a Celtic song in there !
We’re Celtic..Celtic..Celtic..Celtic..Celtic..Celtic the People who care !
With Lenny and Jinky and Henrik and Tommy !
You know we’ll always be there !!!….Everybody !!
One thing that struck me about Seville was the amount of money that must have been spent on mobile phone calls. Everyone seemed to be phoning and at a time when call rates were scandalous (or less scandalous than they are now). I don’t think picture phones were around then or the costs would have been even higher.
Another memory is the detritus around the cathedral square which included a fair amount of Buckfast empties. Talk about bringing coals to Newcastle or wine to Spain when a bottle was less than a pound. It was amazing how quickly it was all cleared up. If it was here half of it would still be lying about.
From Garngad to Croy I am Neil Lennon.
12:41
Excellent. My cousin’s legal team will be in touch.
This conversation has been recorded.
There was a crowd of 14 of us staying in Benalmadena for a week and we rented a couple of people carriers for the journey to Seville. We had friends staying at the large hotel beside the Betis stadium (noticed others have mentioned it) and we had a smashing day around the pool with the various celebrities (Caesar, Jim Kerr etc.).
I managed to secure 6 tickets when they were first made available and there were a few friends and my brother delighted with my decision. Entering the stadium I was blown away by the heat, the noise, the colour and of course the fans.
Leaving the stadium we seemed to walk for miles until we eventually found a bar. Next thing I know the people carriers had arrived and I had a lovely 1.5L bottle of red to comfort me back to Benalmadena.
Sounds silly but we had a captain’s armband with us and each night the ‘captain’ would be taking the major decisions. All good fun, until it was handed to me.
In a moment of madness (under the influence) whilst sitting in a restaurant at the waterside having enjoyed dinner, I took the decision that my team needed a wee swim in the sea.
Imagine the looks we got stripping off in the restaurant and running naked into the water, the whole place erupted with the locals all joining in the sing song afterwards. Happy days!
Can’t believe it is 10 years ago and it was Rab, over from Perth on his last visit a few months ago that reminded me of the chaos of that night.
Still haven’t watched the rerun..
garngad to croy
i am singing it already
Sean Fallon would not get a trained owl to deliver the rings the day he got married.
Mick McManus RIP
C1st
At least ut wasn’t tedescos tiling jingle. He would deseve to be hunted down fir that one
Lottie’s musing’s blocked at work . Can someone summarise please ?
Sanna
Marc Giddy on SSB last night. “Lenny will be off to Everton”
Old Tim and Malor Bhoy and the rest of the posh seat malcontents would be impressed if he’d done the ole ‘ShakeandVac’ jingle.
new article posted.
Happy days indeed
Dontbrattbakkinanger
Thanks for that link. I’m glad my minds not playing tricks on me. I had a memory of my dad telling me that he was called Peter but his real name was Willie. When your earlier pic showed a W. McGonigle as did some of the reports of the game, I. Was beginning to doubt that anyone ever called him Peter except my Dad!
Petermcgoniglecsc
Uefa cup final – day of the match
For me , having been taken to the matches as a kid , it was great to be able to go to the final with my dad who had just turned 60 and I had just turned 30
As a follow up, having returned to the hotel that morning about 04:00 we were reasonably fresh
At breakfast the place was amazing , dozens and dozens of Celtic fans, various generations of the same family all there etc
Leisurely morning and trip into the city on the hotel shuttle bus
As the bus comes over the river into the city we are reminded of this was the scene were the Porto fan had lost his life the day before
We see all the various Uefa style banners on all the poles , this is the start of the long walk from outside the town to the stadium area, very much sevilles expo area or their version of a posh gallowgate walk way to the stadium
We cross the river and enter the city
We are off again walking about, we pass by the cathedral, it was mid morning but still it was getting busy
Along through some of the cobbled streets, we are then on the main road again, we eventually find ourselves at the far side of the city were the UEFA hotel was , we would be over this way later
A short stop for one beer and we decide to take it easy and then head back for the bus
Back at the hotel, nerves are getting the better of us , time for showers, time to put our strips on
We were that nervy we put our tickets under the insoles of our trainers/ shoes ? Incase they fell out our shorts
Back across to the wee restraunt we were in the day before , lunch and one beer, we had the sensible head on here . waiter today knew what a well done steak was when my dad was asking him !
Back to hotel and on the bus to the town, although bus driver informed us that he would not be stopping on the bridge (were the walkway to stadium started)
Some quick thinking and suddenly some one was feeling sick, wonder who that was, driver pulls in at lights on bridge , more than half the bus jump off
We are now at the posh gallowgate, tents were up in car parks, great ideas to avoid 40 degree heat
The local barrow bhoys were out selling beers and water , great idea
We decide to head to the stadium early, a bit stressful getting in through all the security as we had heard about genuine tickets being rejected
In the stadium early on the atmosphere was pretty amazing , more than three quarters of stadium full of Celtic fans
At one point during the game due to the heat we had to go and buy extra water due to sore heads from the heat
I won’t mention much about the match other than note that one of our four predicted that Henrik was just about to score
After the match we deliberately stayed until right after the final whistle and watched everything that was going on, taking our time to leave the stadium
Other than the score, one regret was watching the Porto players rolling about the deck, other than that this was the only reason to boo the winning team
After match it seemed to take ages to walk back from the stadium to the town, we probably did not realise how far we walked before the game
On way back to the city had noticed loads of people sleeping on the grass verge of the long road out of stadium , most bizarre must have been a couple of bhoys sleeping up on the scaffolding which was around the corner from the cathedral
At around 0215 hrs we finally manage to walk from stadium to the hotel where our friends were staying, this was at top of road from the big hotel that uefa were staying at
Other than to catch up with our friends that long walk ended up being fruitless as about one beer later the pub shut …. Boo
Lasting memory of trying to get a taxi was the orange trees on many of the streets
Later on we eventually manage to get a taxi driver, this guy was a cross between dick Turpin and jackie. Stewart
At one point we were concerned given the speed this dafty was driving taxi round bends, especially on those windy ones that join the motorway ( we actually had to tell him. To slow down)
So we are back at our hotel , great day , result could have went anyway , beat by a good team, sore feet from walking about, limited beverages after match, we then had a go at trying to drink the limited items from the mini bar
The next day we spent some time admiring what a nice city Seville was, before some relaxation at the pool
Eventually we had to go to the airport, last memory of the airport is that it was completely jammed and there was two younger guys battering a ball about, before two long the ball was shifting all over the place, then it smacked a big huge guy right on the nose , so funny
During the trip we met loads of people, some we knew some we met for the first time
Truly amazing experience , Celtic family / spirit
Would do it all again