The Agony & Ecstasy

I was looking through some family pictures for my daughter's birthday recently and during the search I found a photo from the first Celtic match I took her to, it was a league match at Celtic Park against Motherwell.

The 2007/2008 season was coming to close & the result the previous week suggested it was going to be a difficult end to the season for us.     A 1-0 defeat at Ibrox had left Celtic trailing in the title race & our rivals had games in hand.   The match against Motherwell was a must win if we were to mount any challenge.

My daughter & I left the house early  so we could make our way to Paradise before it got too busy.   As it was the first match we had to make a trip to the superstore to pick up a new scarf that almost smothered her as I draped it round her neck & shoulders.

We made our way to the Lisbon Lions stand & took our seat ready for the players warm up.   The stadium slowly filled up before kick-off.

As far as first games go, it wasn't a classic, it wasn't even a victory.   Another 1-0 defeat looked to have ended our season.   We walked back to car, I drove home & tried to convince my daughter we were better than that & myself we still had a chance to win the league.

The league campaign moved on to another match against Motherwell a week later and  a 4-1 win kept us involved in the fight for the title & with two games coming up against the league leaders at Celtic Park, we could still hope.

My brother & I made our way along to the midweek match at Celtic Park against our city rivals.    A must win game.    As usual the atmosphere was electric, the Celtic players were energised by the backing from the home support & put in a blistering first half performance, but only had a spectacular Nakamura goal to show for it.

During half time the cheers from the home fans grew as a huge banner was unveiled in the north east corner, Scotland's Shame pointed towards the visiting fans from Ibrox.

Into the second half the match flowed from end to end, an equaliser came for the visitors & the nerves in the home support began to show.    There was still  plenty of time for a winner & when Cuellar was shown a red card for his one handed save on the line from a netbound shot from Nakamura, we had a penalty to take the lead.

Scott MacDonald stepped up only to have his penalty saved & perhaps our chance of a winner gone.

With time running out, I hate to admit, my brother left his seat & made his way to the exit and I followed him out.

We were two of only about 20 people on Janefield Street as a roar came from behind us, Celtic had scored a late late winner thanks to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.   A late winner, a crucial last minute winner against our title rivals & we had missed it.    Joined by some other early leavers we celebrated in Janefield Street & quickly made our way to the pub for a few beers & to see the winning goal.

I was raging we missed the goal, but to be back in with a shout for the title I was willing to let my brother off.

Up next were Aberdeen, another below par performance, but we managed to get a much needed win thanks to goal from Samaras. 

All roads led to Celtic Park for the final Glasgow derby of the season the following week.

I picked up the keys to our new family house on the Friday, got settled in & then made my way to the match on the Sunday, bumped in to my new neighbours on Springfield Road not exactly hiding my colours much to their delight.

Another pulsating match had everyone in the stadium on the edge of their seats.    Celtic ahead early & then behind just as quick.     A second goal from MacDonald levelled it before half-time.    Thankfully the second half slowed down.    We were awarded a penalty & with MacDonald on course for a hat-trick he passed the ball to Barry Robson to score & give us the victory.     

Now it was time to believe, in a short space of time we had turned the league around, it wasn't quite in our hands but we had momentum.

A 2-0 victory away to Hibs kept the pressure on at the top, but we still needed a favour from another team if we were to win the league.

4 days after the Hibs match a true hero of Celtic lost his battle with cancer.    The front entrance to Celtic Park became a shrine to Tommy Burns as Celtic fans & fans of other clubs came to lay tributes to a player & manager who had served Celtic for so long.

Fans, players directors & club officials took time together together to remember the great Tommy Burns in the days to come as he was laid to rest on the 20th May.

By the time the last league match was to be played the destiny of the title was pretty much in our own hands.    Win & we should be champions.     With no chance of a ticket for the trip to tannadice, I decided the next best thing would be to watch it with family & friends at the Kerrydale suite at Celtic Park.

There with my heavily pregnant wife & daughter we watched on, nervous as to how the night would play out.

The atmosphere was fantastic, but the longer the match went at 0-0 the more nervous we became.    Then, with about 20 minutes to go Celtic win a corner, Hartley crossed it into the box for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to power a header into the net.

Celebrations kicked off at Tannadice & with us at the Kerrydale.     With results going our way in the other match at pittodrie.     Celtic were champions of Scotland when only 8 matches previously they had been written off.

For my daughter it was a quickfire baptism into life as a Celtic supporter, the lows of the loss to Motherwell to the incredible highs of the celebrations in the Kerrydale 7 weeks later.

Nights like that stay long in the memory & 10 years later that feeling continues as my daughter & I make our way to see Celtic home & away along with my 10 year old son.

x

Ghosts of Cathkin

Walking through the trees, catching a glimpse of the pitch with the lush green grass.    A few steps more & what's left of the steps of the old terracing come into view.

Cathkin Park was not a ground I had been to before, with Third Lanark going out of business before I was born, but something about the terracing steps & the barriers just made the trip worth it. The old wide spectator steps have been largely covered by trees, plants & weeds.    However, through some incredible commitment & hard work by volunteers some of the old terracing is starting to show once again.

11 Scottish Cup Finals were played here between 1885 & 1899, Renton winning the first of them against Vale of Leven & Celtic winning the last 2-0 against city rivals Rangers in front of 25,000 fans.

In May 1888, Scottish Cup holders Renton would be crowned the unofficial champions of the UK & the World at Cathkin Park after defeating English FA Cup holders West Bromwich Albion 4-1.

Many of the greats of the Scottish game played here at a time when a football match was a break away from the tough industrial life in the city.

James McGrory made his debut here in a 1 Nil defeat for Celtic.   McGrory would recover from the defeat to go on to cement his place as the greatest goalscorer in Celtics history. 

In the early 60s, thousands would make their way to watch a match here,  in 1962 Third Lanark would again inflict defeat against a Celtic team that included Billy McNeill & Stevie Chalmers.  However, the next 5 years would see fortunes for both clubs completely change.

In 1967, one club would be crowned champions of Europe & the other would play it's last match.

In those years a young Celtic team had a leader in Jock Stein.   Jock was able to harness the skills of a talented team & allowed them to reach the heights of European & world football, the Lisbon Lions squad knew the strengths of their team-mates & allowed each other to shine during a decade of dominance.

Jimmy Johnstone, the man later named as the greatest ever Celtic Player was the skillful winger & showman of the Lisbon Lions, he too had played on the pitch at Cathkin Park.

That sense of history about the surroundings at Cathkin Park as a Celtic fan grabbed me, but any football fan coming here would get that sense of falling back to a golden age.

Those days are gone & 50 years later a new set of players line up to claim victory in the atmospheric surroundings of the old ground.

Tucked away behind the corner flag are the new team breathing life back into Cathkin Park, but they are not forgetting the glorious past.

The coaches at the Jimmy Johnstone Academy live & breath for the development of young footballers, training players to be the best that they can.   There are stories of players from the glory days of Scottish football including tales of the Lisbon Lions, Tommy Burns & Jimmy Johnstone's good friend Willie Henderson.

It's an education in skills & teamwork but also an education in the talent Scotland produced & can hopefully produce again.   I am lucky I get to hear the the stories from the coaches at the academy on a regular basis & I see how much my son has developed under their training.

The Academy is part of the wider Jimmy Johnstone Charitable Trust, which is looking to create a legacy for one of the finest footballing talents the World has seen.

I had visited Hampden Park as a Celtic fan countless times over the years and never knew the old ground at Cathkin Park with all its history was still there & only a short walk away.

The next time you're in that area & if you have the time take a wee walk round, you wont be disappointed.