Looking under the bonnet at ‘the establishment’
For the first few years that I attended these matches, it was never an enjoyable occasion, the majority of them, Celtic lost. My seat at the time in Celtic Park was in the south stand at the end of the row which was near the away fans.
I was close enough that they could hit me with whatever random objects they could find lying around. Never mind that I was only a child, this was “ra peepul” so it was ok for them to do this.
I spent most of the times watching those games in abject misery. Don’t get me wrong, there were some good games to watch. We had a few wins versus them at home, just not very many.
Sometimes, these games were decided on a free kick being denied or given. Perhaps a yellow card to a key player early on ensured that they were wary of every tackle that they went on to make.
Others were just strange decisions that nobody could make any sense of. Of course, as I got a bit older and a bit wiser, I learned what these strange decisions were. They were a result of my ‘Celtic Paranoia’.
At the time, I know that there is no way that I could have been the only fan to think that ‘something’s just no right wi’ this mob’.
Fast forward on a bit and it turns out that we, Celtic fans, were misdiagnosed. We never actually suffered from ‘Celtic Paranoia’, however there were a massive amount of influential people who kept telling us that we did.
I don’t just mean non footballing supporting neutrals. I am talking along the lines of people who were in a position of power. Influential people such as journalists. And not only journalists but people who later became known as the establishment.
‘The establishment’ is a fairly knew concept to me now. Who are they? What do they do? Why do they do whatever it is they do? How do you become part of this “establishment”.
While I was living through these grim times as a Celtic fan, a large number of other fans were also doing the same. One fan in particular was doing it. He was regularly travelling the length and breadth of Scotland not to mention across Europe to watch Celtic, Paul Larkin.
Some of you may recognise his name as he is a prominent figure within the world of the “internet bampot”. Paul’s most recent book, ‘The Asterisk Years’ spends time highlighting why we were not paranoid enough.
He doesn’t just ramble on about poor decisions that have gone against us. The book is full of facts and figures to back up the arguments that are being made. When I first heard what the point of the book was, I thought surely someone will stop this from being published.
Some have tried and failed. I listened to a few podcasts with the author and he’s made the point that there is nothing illegal in the book therefore, it cannot be stopped.
Some of the questions that I have asked earlier in this piece about the ‘Establishment’ are clearly things that Paul has asked himself at some point too. ‘The Asterisk Years’ is a book that I struggled to put down. It’s a combination of stories from Paul’s time of following Celtic throughout these years and it goes into a lot of detail to explain why the diagnosis of ‘Celtic Paranoia’ was incorrect.
I would say that if you have ever wondered about what goes on “in the background” this book gives a pretty good indication.
I was lucky enough to have been able to buy a ticket to go along to the Glasgow book launch. Within 2 days, the book was finished. As a fan who lived through these times, it’s very easy to relate to the book.
Overall, I found it was a good read and it’s another one of many Celtic related books that I would recommend to fellow fans.
CLICK HERE to buy The Asterisk Years
CLICK HERE for Paul’s other books