The Greatest Fans in the World
So, there you have it. There was our Seville. There was the mass outpouring of passion, emotion and love for our Celtic. There was the Celtic people in full glory.
We are fond of calling ourselves “The Greatest Fans In The World”. Our detractors attempt to decry this self proclaimed accolade at every opportunity through fits of jealousy and indignant sneering bigotry. Well, we would like to bring to their attention that we are now recognized the world over for what we have always known. Our crusade to Seville and our total support for the people and club we love has been elevated for all to see as the true way to follow a football team. However, as we attempted to relate earlier, Celtic transcends more than just a team that plays games of football. It brings together a people and a movement. As I will shortly show, collectively our Celtic Nation has been rightly highlighted as the deserving recipient of praise for its devotion to our team, our people and our history. There are many individual tales which underpin that devotion, many of which you have already read about. Taken together, these stories paint the picture of the massive Celtic following, yet each of us has our own individual experiences and memories of devotion.
Here is one more. I have tried not to change much of this contribution. It doesn’t need it anyway. It puts another personal slant on what it means to be Celtic in one’s heart. It gives yet another insight into the Celtic Family with a close up perspective. It is told by the Huddleboard’s very own EME in his own words. We SHALL NOT be moved.
“Where do I begin. To tell a story of how great a love can be? From the age of four I’ve followed Celtic. The choice was not mine. Neither, I may add, was why I’m here in the first place. I have never questioned either. My Parents and God Almighty made one of these choices, my Father alone made the other. As we enter this world there are few things in life whereby we can determine the outcome. Football, in all its simplicity, is paraphrased by the late, great, Bill Shankly as something more important than life or death. Despite the audacity of the statement, in my case the sentiments ring true”.
”As the ball hit the back of the net in the 78th minute of the game against Boavista my heart sank. The club’s biggest game in years and I was in tears. We were in the
UEFA Cup Final; my father lay dying in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. My wife was expecting our baby in a matter of weeks. A few days prior to the game against Boavista I had received a phone call that my Father would be lucky to see the remainder of the day. He made it. He made it ‘to’ Seville. He made becoming a Grandfather. For weeks prior to the game I was thinking, ‘I should be there! Thirty-five years I’ve followed them. I should be there!’”
“The decision, unlike why I follow Celtic and why am I here, was mine. When I realised we were on our way to Seville I was placed in a situation where life and death were staring me in the face. My wife, so heavily pregnant that folk were asking if it were twins, was not enjoying the best of times. My Father, terminally ill, was racing against the clock to see this new arrival”.
“As a betting man, I ask, what odds something would have happened should I have went? Without doubt, it’s the one bet I’m glad I never gambled on”.
“The build up to the final was as great a time as I can remember as a Celtic supporter. My Father was positively hyperactive at times. For a man who was struggling to breathe at times, this was quite a feat. Tales of ‘67 were the order of the day, including how he made it on to the official club footage of the final, and still had time to make it home and take in the game with me on his knee. This, my friends is another story. The media, as expected, latched on to every story, and in some cases, non-story. So sure was I that he wouldn’t be allowed out of hospital to see the game at home, I hastily formatted a guide to Seville which was given to him in order that he could appreciate the finer, cultural aspects of the occasion. For all his working class roots, academia was his forte. With this in his possession there was no idle chitchat with the doctors and nurses about the game itself. The finer aspects about Seville; museums, history and cultural awareness were included in his replies, when the hospital staff were asking him how he was feeling each morning. Call it psychology, call it an act of God, but a few days before the final my Father was out of hospital and enjoying as good a time as I can remember. As we approached the great day I realised that this was quite possibly the last time he would see his beloved Celtic. ‘Final’ had taken on a whole new meaning”.
“The comfort zone in which he languished needed another pillow. I attempted to source an old style Celtic scarf (the broad, silk finish type, with tassels) that was the essential fashion accessory for the discerning supporter way back in those wild and halcyon days of the late 60s and 70s. I remember that when he took me to Parkhead he always wore one. Alas, despite several attempts I couldn’t get one. ‘Gold dust’ was the phrase used by the gentleman in Glasgow’s premier football shop, located in Parnie Street”.
“A message on the Huddleboard, our online forum for hundreds of Celtic supporters, attracted some attention. Chorltonbhoy, a gentleman of dubious work ethic, informed me that a rather plush green, silk finished number was for sale on eBay. Not only did he secure the scarf, he travelled to pick it up and posted it first class the next day. Should his bid for worldwide domination fail in the e-commerce market, he has a career as the world’s most efficient courier”.
”My Mother and sisters, who in between times acted as full time nurses, made arrangements to ensure he enjoyed the day as if he were in Seville itself. Bedecked in his new scarf and a huge Tricolour he looked like a man at ease. For me however, the aforementioned realisation that this was to be his last game was too much to bear. Knowing that all my mates were in Seville, even Ken, who hadn’t seen a game in years and was due to get married eight weeks later! In fact I texted him on the morning of the game to inquire if he fancied joining myself and some other Huddleboarders for a pint only to receive, ‘I’d love to mate, but I’m in Seville’”.
I joined fellow board members BhoyOBhoy and Loserbhoy to take in the pre-match atmosphere and the game itself”. There will be others who will pen the finer details of those 90 minutes far better than I. Needless to say it was not to be. A phone call to find out how my Father was brought home the Mr.Shankly’s sentiments. “How are you?” I enquired. “A great game Son. We did ourselves proud” was his reply. Seems the phrase ‘extra time’ was taking on a whole new meaning too. ‘Extra time’ for him, was a feat beyond that of even his beloved Celtic. My father witnessed the birth of his grandson, Liam, born 13th June 2003. Hell, he even hung around for the Champions League qualifiers. He decided on the 10th of August, after ensuring all around him were safe and sound, and having held his Grandson, it was time to go”.
“Fate and irony are indeed strange bedfellows, for my wife and I had arranged to have our Liam christened on the same day. He left God’s earth to the sound of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ Some 120 fellow Huddleboard members placed messages of condolence on the board when BhoyOBhoy informed them of the news. I can think of no better way of thanking them, and indeed my Father, by penning this story. For Celtic and everything else”.
”Thank you. Hail! Hail!”
On Wednesday the 27th of August 2003, representatives of the Celtic support, together with the chairman of Celtic Football Club, received the
UEFA Fair Play award for the outstanding backing given to the team throughout the European campaign and the fantastic carnival atmosphere that occurred in Seville.
The fans won the hearts of neutral fans across Europe with their passion and the Spanish police were amazed that, despite the huge numbers, they didn't have to make one arrest on match day.
Celtic chairman Brian Quinn collected
UEFA's award on behalf of supporters, with fans' chiefs Peter Rafferty and Eddie Toner.
Celtic supporters' club spokesman Jimmy Divers said of the award: "This is recognition that football fans are the lifeblood of football.
It would be nice now if the fans received recognition from Scotland's football authorities." Yes, wouldn’t it. We won’t hold our breath though.
It was only the second time the accolade was given to supporters rather than to a club or player.
UEFA's executive committee then went on to put the Celtic fans forward as its only nomination for the 2003 FIFA Fair Play Award. Its spokesman Mike Lee said, "We felt it right that when FIFA came to us for nominations for the world award we should nominate the Celtic fans. Their behaviour in Seville last May won over the wider football community. The whole of that week they were just magnificent – even after their side were defeated”.
And we won that too. So, with this book going out on the first anniversary of Seville, ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Greatest Fans In The World. God bless them. God bless Celtic.
you can buy the book from
http://www.ufbbooks.com/
we made this book with the help of everyone on the huddleboard
http://69.93.29.242/hb/index.php?
hail hail
what its like to be a celtic fan
You won the SPL, wow FORTUNE AND GLORY ! Except they didn't even manage that. That's about as much glory as any team from the SPL is gonna manage.
Both OF teams are equally as bad when it comes to bigotry.
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