It’s 15 years now, on the 9th of May, since Celtic faced Saint Johnstone in the last game of season 1997/98. The maths was easy. A victory for Celtic would land them their first league title in…
Throughout the season, comment has been made on the missing thousands at Celtic Park with the media telling us it’s because thousands of us miss Rangers. I…
Recent Celtic games have heard the fans singing loudly - ‘Here we go 10 in a row!’ - after Celtic sealed their second consecutive SPL title under Neil Lennon. And the opportunity is certainly there to make…
Like many I have been greatly exorcised by the league reconstruction debate of late and the perceived lost opportunities to make the structure more exciting and move away from the current flawed split. As highlighted…
In the days and weeks following our game in Turin, I was quite surprised by the sense of despondency among some Celtic supporters. I remember reading a number of…
And the podcast returns! Just as you thought I'd done a bunk and joined Eddie as a monk in his cave, after a 6 week absence the podcast is back!
This week I am joined by St Anthony of CU, KDS and Celtic Wiki fame. We discuss the 4 goals a game enjoyment of SPL home games, the disaster at Hampden v St Mirren, league reconstruction and have a brief look forward to Juve. Hope you enjoy.
Oh and at the end we have a musical tribute to raving Loony Charlie Green.
And the podcast returns! Just as you thought I'd done a bunk and joined Eddie as a monk in his cave, after a 6 week absence the podcast is back!
This week I am joined by St Anthony of CU, KDS and Celtic Wiki fame. We discuss the 4 goals a game enjoyment of SPL home games, the disaster at Hampden v St Mirren, league reconstruction and have a brief look forward to Juve. Hope you enjoy.
Last week, Bolton Wanderers striker and Olympic athlete Marvin Sordell hit the headlines due to his addiction to social networking sites. As manager Dougie Freedman explained,
“It could be bordering on an obsession with Twitter and Facebook and all the things that go on with these kids.
“We are now trying to work with Marvin — by taking his phone off him.”
Hardly George Best’s Miss World inspired nocturnal activities, but Sordell is a modern phenomenon. The tabloid press was started to create access to those in the public eye. By placing celebrities on a pedestal, the notion is that they are there to be judged, ridiculed and criticised. Twitter is merely a continuation of this view, only with a more personal feel than any newspaper could offer. Social media has morphed into a macro gossip column, with followers thirsty to be drip fed news of a footballer’s lunch like a hungry whore.
In Scotland, things are more sinister. On-loan Hibernian striker Leigh Griffiths has been rightfully condemned for telling a twitter user to ‘fuck off back to your own country’ during a heated exchange. Firstly, there is no justification for racist abuse in any civilised society. Griffiths’ is in desperate need for education and punishment, but another tabloid similarity is the perceived sense of rage that manifests itself like a rotten disease through the body of social media. It is paedogeddon for the X-factor generation.
When I think of the most memorable games during my time supporting Celtic there are a few obvious ones that will immediately spring to mind.
Right at the top there is the 4-2 league title win against Rangers in 1979, closely followed by Love Street 1986, the 6-2 annihilation of Rangers in 2000 and the tremendous UEFA cup victory over Liverpool at Anfield in 2003.
However there are other often less spectacular games that stay in the mind for good reason and one such game was the Dundee United v Celtic encounter at Tannadice on 27 January 1998.
The 1997/98 season was perhaps the most tense season any Celtic fan has ever experienced or may ever be likely to. The Rangers juggernaut was in full flow going for a record 10th successive league title win and Celtic were hell bent in preventing them from doing so.
Sean Fallon’s passing fills every Celtic heart with tremendous sadness.
If ever a man was destined to play for Celtic it was Sean. In the 1940’s Sean’s sister Lily almost drowned in Lough Gill (a freshwater lake in County Sligo) and she was only saved by the intervention of Joe McMenemy who was the son of the Celtic legend Jimmy McMenemy.
Fate had it that Joe was over in Sligo on holiday and the Fallon family gave Joe a warm welcome after his fine deed. Joe in turn sent the Fallon’s a Celtic jersey and Willie Maley’s book by return and Sean was then destined to be a Celt for life.
Sean became a footballer with Glenavon and the call came from Celtic in 1950. Principally a left back, Sean was a versatile player who could play up front when required and had a ferocious will to win. So much so that he became famous for his hard, but fair, tackling style.
