At the end of June of 1994 I walked out the gates of high
school for the last time. I had
already secured a job & would soon start working life. One of the first things I did was sort out
some cash to help me buy my first Celtic season ticket.
My brothers & sisters were regular visitors to Celtic
Park over the years & I have great memories of watching Celtic play during
the eighties with them, my Dad & Granda.
I would go along to the matches with them now & again, but now I
wanted to be part of it on a regular basis.
The winds of change had swept through Celtic Park in the
first half of 1994 with Fergus McCann completing a takeover of the club &
for me I wanted to be part of the new chapter.
Celtic would play the entire 1994-1995 campaign away from
Celtic Park due to the development of our new stadium, so for the next 10
months all roads would lead to Hampden.
As the season progressed the atmosphere in Hampden was never
great, you could hear players shouting & receiving instructions from the managers
on the side-lines.
The traditional way in which we had all attended matches in
the past had now changed. Designated
seats, friends & family scattered around the stands made it difficult to
build up any kind of atmosphere. These
things coupled with inconsistency on the park made the trips to Hampden less
than enjoyable.
The month of November would bring huge disappointment as
Celtic lost to Raith Rovers on Penalties in the League Cup final at Ibrox. I was sitting directly behind the Raith Rovers
dug out that day & watching their players & coaching staff celebrate
was a tough one to take.
At the start of December, Celtic made the trip to Anfield to
play Liverpool in a testimonial for Ian Rush.
Around 10,000 Celtic fans including my brother & I made the trip to
cheer on the hoops. It was a rough night for the players as Liverpool scored 6
without reply, but in that cold night the resilience of the Celtic fans was put
to the test & we sang our way through a long 90 minutes on the pitch.
During half time The Farm made their way to the Anfield road
end to play “All together now” as a thank you to Celtic & to the fans who
had come to the support of Liverpool fans in the aftermath of the Hillsborough
disaster.
1995 welcomed a new face to Celtic. Pierre Van Hooijdonk arrived from NAC Breda
& made an instant impact on his debut against Hearts by scoring a memorable
goal, but again more lack-lustre performances meant we only won 1 league match
in January.
Our league performances were a mixed bag with a win & draw
here & there but no real consistency.
We seemed to be more focussed on cup matches & made it to the
Scottish Cup Final following a 3-1 win in the Semi-Final replay against Hibs, it was nice to see
Ibrox decked in green & white for two matches & at least after this win
we knew the final would be at Hampden.
The league season petered out, but we registered a big 3-0
win against Rangers & I caught the bug for away matches making some
memorable trips to Pittodrie, Brockville & Tannadice forging some great
long lasting friendships.
In the final league game of the season against Dundee Utd at
Tannadice. Celtic fans were in full voice serenading our hosts with a rendition
of “We’ll meet again some sunny day” as United were relegated from the top
flight.
With the league finished, the players could focus on the
build up to the cup final 2 weeks later. For the fans some of us had a trip to
the Barrowlands to see the Wolfe Tones perform. My brother George supported the Wolfe Tones that night & it
was amazing to see him perform on the famous Barrowlands stage.
Walking to Hampden with my brother Benny on the day of the Scottish
Cup Final, there was a real nervousness in the air. Injuries & poor form meant that nothing was guaranteed.
In truth the match was poor, but an excellent header from
our new talisman Pierre Van Hooijdonk ensured that our 6 year wait for a major
honour was over. Emotional fans shed a
tear as Paul McStay lifted the Scottish Cup in what would be his only honour as
captain of a club he served so well.
Celtic fans celebrated, singing songs long into the night
throughout the city & over the country.
Even though we never really played any matches at home that
season, fans still turned up in their numbers to Celtic Park. In what became a weekly pilgrimage for many
fans, we would turn up at Paradise to see the progress being made on the new
North stand being built on the site of the old jungle.
The change that many fans had longed for was now well
underway. We made progress on &
off the pitch during our season long visit to Hampden. A new mood of hope & optimism lifted
the Club & fans for our return home.
