On my drive to work this morning, I was thinking about how I am starting to miss the football and we all know there is quite a long wait before we get back to action again so I thought (with a little help from the internet) that I would try and recall three big events at Parkhead. The events may not mean much to others but they stand out for me.
Hopefully reading this will allow other readers to re-live their first experiences at Parkhead and I’d be grateful if people can share those experiences via the comments box as I quite enjoy reading comments on what I’ve posted.
The first time I ever went to a match, it was against Dundee Utd at home and we lost. The match was played on Saturday, 24 October 1987. This was less than a month after my 5th birthday so I’m afraid I can’t say who my man of the match was or give much of an opinion on the match.
I do remember there being a lot of noise, a lot of bodies that I could see every time I looked up (well a lot of legs anyway) and being amazed that there could be so many people all in the one place just to see Celtic.
That experience was probably the first time that I had any indication of how big Celtic are. To me, a 5-year-old, I thought that the whole world had turned out at Parkhead that day. The streets of Glasgow and every other street around the world must have been desserted.
I went to the game with my Dad and we were standing in the jungle. Given the fact that I was so young, I probably never saw a great deal of the match but one thing that does stand out is the fact that, after Utd went ahead, I decided to change my allegiances.
I wanted ‘the orange men’ to win. I remember my Dad telling me that I couldn’t say that and to stop talking about the ‘orange men’. Little did I know, that the ‘orange men’ were not the opponents on the pitch that day ! ! ! ! !
Apart from having a sketchy memory of being in the jungle watching the match, I remember wondering why I couldn’t hear the commentator. There was commentators on the telly so why not at the stadiums? Was it not supposed to be better seeing the game at the stadiums? And why was there no way to see a replay of what had just happened? What happens if you want to go to the toilet? Do they stop the match so you don’t miss it? Why not?
I also remember hearing about pies and bovril. Now, I had just turned 5. I knew what a pie was but a bovril just added to the excitement and mystery of the day. I guess it probably still does as I can still find no valid reason for drinking a cup of watery gravy, yet, on a cold day, I still enjoy one.
Despite the fact we lost the game, I loved it and my Dad continued to take me regularly until I got my first season ticket – when Tommy Burns was in charge.
CLICK HERE for page 2 Malky Mackay and Paolo di Canio.
The next event, is another defeat. This time it was a 1-0 loss to Aberdeen at home. The match was played on Sat 4 September 1993 but the reason this match stands out for me is because I spent most of it, along with other fans shouting “sack the board”.
Does an 11-year-old even know what a board is or what their purpose is ? I probably had no idea but I joined in regardless.
Six months later, Fergus McCann turned up and took over the club. Looking back, I really don’t have a lot of memories of the actual match. By this time, we had moved from standing in the jungle to near one of the pylons in the old Celtic end (the pylon that was closest to the jungle).
That is where my Dad used to stand (his Gran lived in the houses that used to be where the coach park now is) so that is where we would go. It feels like our part of the stadium. Funnily enough when the Jock Stein Stand opened we moved our season ticket seats from the south stand to near where that pylon once stood.
The reason I am mentioning this particular day is because every time any directors were spotted in the stand / directors box there was a lot of booing and shouting at them along with the “sack the board” chants. Looking back, I would like to say that fan power can make a difference.
Also, with the team doing so poorly back then, it was a group of what I refer to as ‘hard core’ fans who were there – there wasn’t much glory going on at Celtic then so the glory hunters were in hibernation at this point.
I think, at such a young age, to be amongst people who cared so much about the club and saw it as much more than just a football match had a lasting impact on me. Yes, we all want to see the team doing well, but with Celtic, it’s more than just a team winning a football match – it’s not something that can be explained either.
Now on to my 3rd and final memorable event – it was when we beat Rangers in a Scottish cup match at Parkhead. The match in question was played on the 6 March 1997 and we beat them 2-0. Malky Mackay scored from a header and Paolo Di Canio from the penalty spot.
The reason I pick this game out is because by then, I was 14 years old and it was the first time I had been to a derby match that we had won. That was the first win in 10 attempts against Rangers, I wouldn’t even like to think how many derby matches I had been to prior to that but I’m sure if anyone else tries to recall their first derby match where we won, it will be a massive occasion in their lives.
So that’s my first major experiences of Celtic. Of course, there are bigger events since but for me, these three events just stand out in my memory.
Yes being in the stadium in Seville in 2003 will always live on, as will being at Parkhead when Wim Jansen’s team stopped 10 in a row, the 5-1 win v Rangers when we had Dr Jo in charge, the 6-2 match when Martin O’Neill was boss, knocking Barca out of the UEFA cup in the Camp Nou are all massive things and I know there are many others but the events described are probably my earliest significant memories.
CLICK HERE for the best of Video Celts this week.
CLICK HERE for Emilio Izaguirre interview
Follow Video Celts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
Do you have a passion for football, writing and Celtic? VideoCelts is looking to expand over the coming months and can offer you a great platform to join the expanding online Celtic community. Drop an email to videocelts@snack-media.com
The first game I can remember at Celtic Park, although I had been to many previously (so I’m told), was Celtic vs The Republic for Packy Bonnar’s testimonial.
From what I remember a couple of the players changed teams at half time which, as a kid, just confuses things. I couldn’t help thinking ‘ who do this Eire mob think they are pinching our players’. Think it ended up a 2-2 draw although when you’re wean perched on one of the railings on the terrace it’s hard to tell for sure.
I think that Celtic won that match 3-2 with a Gerry Creaney hat-trick.
Billy McNeill’s last match in charge, seem to remember a fairly emotional Paul Elliot departing that day as well.
My first game was almost 40 years ago- a 9-1 win over Clyde in September 1971.
I remember my first night match and European match- Athletico Madrid in 74, never liked anything Madrid related after that.
First match as a ‘neutral’ reporter was 1-1 v Motherwell in 1995, Phil O’Donnell scored a Motherwell- Dougie Arnott probably equalised.
4-2 match in 79 is probably the most dramatic, 6-2 in 2000 the most effective and St Johnstone 2-0 to stop 10-in-a-row the most nervous- what a hellish week that was after drawing at Dunfermline.
hey i remember your first game did Dun Utd win 2-1?
if so i was there too & tony shepherd scored for us with a twenty yarder, after we went 2-0 down?
i was in the celtic end, my dad wouldnt take me in the jungle !!!
Ha Ha, “The Orangemen” bit made me laugh, your dad’s face must of been a picture, when you started coming out wi that!!
My favourite Celtic memories are actually not at Parkhead, the 1986 last day title decider at Love Street is one and Larsson scoring in Boavista and the realisation, that we would be in a European final, something I truly thought I would never witness in my lifetime.
I’ll always remember the sheer awe of my first game at Parkhead, against Hearts around xmas time 1980, think we won 3-2, but I was just so taken a back by the crowd, the noise and size of the place, that I can’t actually remember much of the game.
I think that we are the same age and that this was also my first ever game…weird!!
My defining memory of this very same game is as a 5 year old copying what a man next to me shouted and getting a slap round ma head from ma dad!! the sentence included the word prick!
The first time my father (God rest his soul) took me to Parkhead I was also about 5. He lifted me over and had told me to run like blazes up the stairs as the man would chase me, which I duly did to the amusement of all. The only other thing I can remember from that day was that I couldn’t see the game and was given a macaroon bar to shut me up.
Another great memory for me was going to a Rangers game when the Jock Stein stand was just a scaffold. I was late and was shown to the front of the scaffold just about on the pitch and had to walk along behind the goal to get to my seat. The atmosphere was incredible and for the first time realised how it must feel for the players to walk out in front of a full house. The hairs on the back of my neck were up and I was overcome with emotion. Can’t remember which game this was (Senile) but I am sure that Negri was playing for them? Maybe someone can remember?
My third and final memory was going to Seville in 2003.
I know it’s cliché but my greatest Celtic memory is Seville, i didn’t have a ticket for the game and knew i couldn’t have afforded 1 anyway, i decided to go 2 days before the game with my cousin, he realised the day before his passport was out of date, we live in London and the only place we could get it renewed was in Wales!
Got a coach to Wales and didn’t get back until the early hours of the morning, closest we could get to Seville was Benidorm, then on the way back had to fly into Manchester and get a train to London from there, was worth every minute! The atmosphere on the streets of Seville was magical, one of my greatest ever memories.
BEST GAME I’VE BEEN AT WAS THE 4-2 VICTORY OVER THEM TO WIN THE LEAGUE. 10 MEN WON THE LEAGUE.
NEXT WAS 2-0 VICTORY OVER REAL MADRID ALTHOUGH RETURN LEG WAS A NIGHTMARE.
THIRDLY WAS SEVILLE THAT WAS AN EXPERIENCE LIKE WILL NEVER BE REACHED AGAIN.
Honest truth, I cant remember my first Match. I know I started going to Celtic Park with my Dad around 1972/3, I was 4/5 years old and my dad had a season ticket in the stand, he lifted me over and I often sat on his knee if it was busy, I seem to remember the seats being a light grey maybe. I remember turning up on the last day of one season and the players all kicking balls into the crowd, alas we were a bit far up in the stand. I remember watching a young Tommy Burns making his debut I think, I certainly remember my Dad praise him and saying he had tired out. I remember my Dad swearing at the Referee who’s surname was Gordon, first and last time I ever heard my Dad swear, I never knew what the two words orange or bast… meant! I remember going to Celtic Park for my 12th birthday (2 or 3 days later) to watch Celtic v Real Madrid and seeing Johnny Doyle score with a header. I remember someone telling me to look at the crowd, (67,000 my eye!) I did and I can see the Celtic end even now. I also remember taking a radio with me to School Football training 2 weeks later for the coach to take it off me so he could listen to it, if only Peter Latchford never took too many steps, who knows what might happened that night.
Later on in life at 19 I remember being in tears in the Celtic end at Tommy Burn’s testimonial against Liverpool, not for Tommy but for Danny McGrain whom Celtic never gave the chance to properly say goodbye at the end of the previous season, the crowd were chanting his name and Danny was and still is my all time Celtic hero. My mates still rip the p!sh out of me 24 years later for “greeting” that day.
I remember more than I think I remember, just not that first game but my greatest memory is when Henrik scored a screamer from 20 yards past Alan Main on the final day of the season the crowd rose almost as one, to cheer. What did I do? Yep, I sat there, never moved and cried, we had stopped them taking away our 9 in a row and that has to be, maybe, my greatest memory…….
Great read,
Stopping 10 in a row has to be the one.
Didn’t start going to many games until the early 90s and as a result most of my clearest memories are defeats.
A rare moment of joy back then was beating Cologne in a UEFA cup game, great midweek European night, won 3-0 turning round a 2-0 deficit. No idea about scorers just remember a great atmosphere as we fought back. Brilliant night and I was even spotted on the telly in the highlights.