Leaving of Liverpool

With my son being a bit sport crazy, it can be difficult keeping up with the various conversations relating to transfers, touchdowns, goals and home runs that he has caught online on any given day.   I'll hold my hands up, the fascination with different sports is quite possibly my doing.    We've gone from watching the Red Sox throw away a more than decent chance of winning the world series in the autumn of this year to being glued to game day coverage once the NFL season started (I'm a Patriot, he's a Green Bay fan!), we now find ourselves frantically trying find a stream to watch NCAA college football in the hope that the Michigan Wolverines maybe, just maybe win the championship this year.

These are extra innings interests that help pass the time when our true sporting love are not playing at home or we aren't travelling around Scotland for a Celtic away match.  I would say I have little to no interest in football south of the border, the EPL just comes across as too commercialised for me (even more than NFL & MLB).  However, Gabriel has grown a real appetite for Liverpool in recent years, his interest started to grow when Brendan Rodgers was in the dugout at Anfield - the Liverpool team that agonisingly slipped at the final fence in the title race.  A champions league & premier league title since then has made up for that in his eyes.  So, when I won tickets to a Liverpool match at Anfield, I only had one person in mind to take with me on the road trip.

Travelling down to Merseyside on the Friday night meant we would have all day Saturday to look around some of the places of interest in the city.  We stayed in the town of Waterloo which looks out on to the mouth of the river Mersey and the boats travelling to and from Ireland.    A frequent train service from Waterloo station means it is only about a twenty minutes from the buzz of central Liverpool.  Our first port of call had to be Albert Dock just to get a glimpse of site where “This Morning" was filmed many moons ago.  We then made our way through shopping precincts to the famous Cavern Club and the birthplace of The Beatles.

Perhaps it was because I had been starved of any live music due to the various Covid restrictions, but as soon as we walked into the Cavern Club we were spellbound.   With live music from 11am onwards I felt like a regular Day Tripper as musicians took us all on a magical tour of the artists who have played at the Cavern over the years.  We could only stay for the first 2 of the resident artists performances, Gabriel lapping up Johnny B. Good from Gary Murphy & I was delighted to hear Working Class Hero performed by Richard Batty.   I cant stress this enough – the Cavern Club is somewhere every music fan must go to experience the magic of it all.

Now, it was on to the main point of our venture into England, the world famous Kop & Anfield was only a few miles way.   We got a train from Liverpool central to Sandhills station where we caught the connecting “soccerbus" to Anfield.   Even though we were about 2 or 3 hours early there was still a steady stream of fans making their way to the match.   A walk around the stadium showed the sheer scale of the new main stand as it dwarfs the closely bunched houses standing in its shadows.   The murals on the walls in the streets around Anfield are a striking nod to former glorious victories and the hope for more silverware to come.

Gabriel & I paused for a few moments of reflection at the Hillsborough memorial and said a few silent prayers in memory of those fans who tragically died supporting their team on the 15th April 1989.

Our tickets were in the new level of the main stand, thankfully the construction team had folk like me in mind when they built this towering structure by adding escalators taking fans to the very top.   The concourse was packed with fans watching the 3pm results come in from Soccer Saturday.   I could enjoy the novelty of a pint of lager in the stadium before we took our seats for the match.

The air of excitement grew for Gabriel with a rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone.   A slow match came to life after thirty minutes when Jürgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta squared up to each other on the touchline, the passion and noise this confrontation created pushed Liverpool into a greater sense of urgency and by far the better team.    At half-time the hosts were 1 nil up over Arsenal , but I was running back to the concourse to check the score in the Celtic match against cup holders St. Johnstone in the cup semi final at Hampden.

In the second half Liverpool completely outplayed Arsenal and ran out deserved 4 nil winners, the red fans on Merseyside left the stadium with a spring in their step, as did Gabriel & I with news of the victory for Celtic at Hampden.  Honestly, it was good to watch football match without moaning at the referee, centre back or striker.   Although, I think Gabriel kicked every ball sitting next to me.

We returned to Anfield the next day for a stadium tour and while it was an experience to see the stadium so empty, the tour did feel a bit hollow.   Maybe I just expected too much, or maybe listening to a recorded audio guide is just not my thing.   I would much rather hear the passion of a fan telling me the stories of great victories or historic moments.   

With that our breath-taking weekend on Merseyside was over.   Some fabulous new memories created for us both and a three and half hour drive back home in time for the 6pm match-ups on NFL Sunday.

St Margarets CSC 20th Anniversary Fundraiser- Dublin

My wife & I have visited Dublin a number of times before walking up and down O'Connell street, shopped on Grafton Street & I've savoured my fair share of Guinness in the many crowded bars in the fair city.      It never gets old.     A city that always seems to be on the move & 22 years after my first visit it still has a few hidden gems to enjoy.

After a fairly heavy night of bad weather over Ireland on the Thursday night/ Friday morning our flight out of Glasgow was delayed & with plans already made for tours in Dublin it would be tight to squeeze it all in.    A short bumpy flight in heavy winds & quick bus journey to the hotel in the pouring rain & we were ready to start our mini break.

First port of call was the museum & tour at Glasnevin.    Home to 1.5 million souls at Ireland biggest cemetery.       A stunning city of the dead that tells the story of the struggle for Irish freedom through its many statesman, patriots, poets & heroines.         A rousing speech from Padraic Pearse at the grave of O'Donovan Rossa is the start of an enthralling visit.    The  90 minute tour only scratches the surface of the rich history of despair, love, hope & freedom.

Our first day was rounded off with a casual stroll through streets of Dublin, walking north & south of the river enjoying a few drinks & the buzz of the city bars.

Our trip to Dublin wasn't all about the sightseeing, we were there to help the boys & girls of the St Margaret Celtic Supporters Club celebrate their 20th anniversary, 20 years of making the trip from Drogheda to Glasgow & much further afield to watch Celtic.   With 3 events over 2 days at the City North Hotel planned the organisers were marking their anniversary in style.

Unfortunately, due to timing we were only able to enjoy a small part of the celebrations with Hilly, Andrew Milne & the rest of the club.

With a 12 noon start it was an early rise to get the train to Balbriggan & then on to to the City North Hotel for a special Celtic Am.       With Frank McAvennie, Paul Byrne, Bobby Petta, Alan Thompson & John Hartson all there to share stories it was an afternoon we couldn't miss, although we did make a visit to the Milestone on the way.

As a  regular at the Celtic Am events at Malones in  Glasgow, you are always guaranteed a great pre-match build up with Anrew on the mike.     A good mix of guests from ex players, actors & charities there really is something to talk about for everyone, with Celtic at the forefront.

The players opened up to the small crowd & shared stories of their playing days, training sessions & marriage proposals.     Macca & Byrne were like a double act trading stories & laughter at some of those painful years as Celtic players during the mid 90s.

Thompson & Petta gave an insight into playing under current Ireland boss Martin O'Neill, with special praise for his back room team John Robertson & Stevie Walford.    Big wins over our rivals, late winners & an appreciation of the fans was never far from the agenda.

By the time John Hartson took the Mike the room was buzzing with the arrival of the SPFL trophy and special guest Hilly.

Hartson well known for big goals in big games spoke about those moments & the disappointment of missing his chance to play in the UEFA Cup Final in Seville.    The guests held the crowd captive with their stories & memories of playing for Celtic, making sure the reminded Petta that he was the only one of them not to score against our city rivals.

The afternoon wasn't all about the ex Celts sharing stories, we were there to help raise funds for Cancer charities & to support the hospice in Drogheda.    Ireland international Gary Kelly donated funds from his testimonial against Celtic to help support & build the hospice and guests were happy to donate to support the work there.

The laughter form the stories shared by the players, Hilly & Andrew faded as John began to speak about his life or death fight against cancer.          Open & honest, John left nothing out of his fight to survive.    The strength & character shown by John is an example to all of us to check yourself regularly, go to the doctors & appreciate your family, friends & loved ones.

An amazing afternoon came to an end as John Hartson closed the session with an emotional account of being discharged from hospital to recover with his family.

This was no doubt a small taster to the main event later that night, but what a funny, thought provoking uplifting afternoon it was.

One Day in Madrid in the Green & White

By the time most of Celtic supporters club busses had started the journey up the A9 to Dingwall for the lunchtime kick off against Ross County, I was in a small cafe finalising my travel plans for the day ahead. Over the next 14 hours or so I would be immersed in the footballing obsessed city of Madrid, thankfully I had my wife and son for company for the journey. 

The crisp cold morning that met many Glaswegians as they opened their doors on Sunday morning was in stark contrast to the soaked avenues and cobbled lanes of Madrid, but no amount of rain would dampen our spirits as we set off on the first leg of the journey and the Santiago Bernabeu.

For me, every trip to a stadium tour has to have a link to Celtic, so I was delighted to be in the venue where our greatest ever player lit up the Madrid sky back in 1967. Real Madrid had arranged to play a testimonial match for the legendary player Di Stéfano and “Los Blancos" looked at this as an opportunity to topple the newly crowned kings of Europe. 

Celtic arrived in Lisbon fresh from our victory at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon and put on a performance that even had the Real Madrid fans cheering “ole” whenever Jinky had the ball. Celtic won the match 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bobby Lennox and ensured that the magnificent Madrid trophy cabinet would always be short of one piece of history. Overall, the stadium tour was excellent, but I can only imagine it being much more of a challenge during the summer months when there are plenty more tourists in the city.

From the end of the tour, conveniently placed next to the Real Madrid club shop we had a 10 minute walk to our next venue – Paddys Irish Bar and a catch up with Madrid Emerald Celtic Supporters Club for the Celtic and Ross county match.

The downstairs bar had been converted into a shrine for all things Celtic by the time I picked my seat to watch the match. Around 30 fans all crowded round the telly gave it a proper big match feel, with accents from Glasgow, Ireland and even a couple of local Spaniards who had caught the bug for Celtic. Most of the fans there had made the journey through the Madrid metro to keep in touch with the hoops. 

Our hosts shared details of their annual Christmas appeal where they are raising money to buy up products to be donated to food banks in the city to help those less fortunate. Once again, that charitable arm of Celtic and its supporters shone even in the most miserable of Madrid weather. By full time we had watched a convincing Celtic victory, had a good sing song, picked up a Madrid Emerald CSC scarf and an invite back to join the club members to a Rayo Vallecano match. Now we were ready for the last part of our Super Sunday football feast.

Making our way to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium for the Atletico Madrid v Barcelona match saw us snake through the city metro system crossing from one side if the city to the other. In amongst the red & white stripes of the Atletico colours the Green and white of our newly acquired Celtic scarf stood out brilliantly as commuters looked to check our badge of honour. 

As the stadium filled up it was easy to sense that the Atletico fans and particularly the ultras were using this match to remind the Barcelona players & travelling fans that Catalonia was still very much under control of Madrid. Orchestrated banners & Spanish flags were waved throughout the match. In the end a moment of genius from the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi secured 3 the points and silenced the hostile Madrid crowd.

The metro journey home was a quiet one, with much frustration amongst the Madrid faithful. As the carriages began to empty the green and white Celtic scarf became more noticeable, one Madrid fan approached us saying, “Celtic - it's a historic club" and shook our hands. Our walk back to the hotel was peppered with shouts of “Celtic – Glasgow”. As far as footballing mad cities go Madrid is high on the list and it’s good to know that Celtic and our fans are still recognised in the madness.