Twelve months ago Dom O’Riley was another former rocker, living in London and hoping that things would turn out well for his son, playing for MK Dons.
2022 has been an unforgettable year for Matt, a move to Celtic has delivered a league winning medal, Champions League football, international recognition and the relaunch of his Dad’s music career.
It seems that the Glasgow music scene has been just as positive for Dom as the football environment has been for Matt with both of the O’Riley’s looking forward to their first Christmas in their adopted home city.
Christmas songs are a popular part of football culture, having been left heart-broken by Brendan Rodgers Celtic fans vowed to give their heart to Ange Postecoglou, so far there hasn’t been many tears from the club’s Australian boss.
In January Postecoglou delved into the third tier of English football to add to his midfield, as an unexpected spin off Matt’s Dad has also had a new burst of life as he told The Sun:
When Matt moved to Celtic, we decided to move to Glasgow too. The music scene here is just like it was in the 1980s in London, and it just gets you going again.
Glasgow is a great city, and I’ve done more musical things in the last six months than the last five years in London because it’s so much easier.
The original Christmas Time’s A Time To Rock took four or five minutes to write. I’d had the idea in my head for a while, so the words came out fairly easily.
It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek look at the Christmas songs I liked growing up, so there’s a bit of Slade, Mud and others.
Matt tells me some of the Celtic players like it and think it’s pretty fun too. The push for Christmas No?1 is on, without a doubt. You’ve got to aim high!
Aye well.
Is the father a comedian?