It’s a nice touch to see our Holy Goalie Artur Boruc will receive a farewell match from Legia Warsaw and that Celtic have agreed to be the opponent for the 20 July friendly at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego, but this one could be a bit tasty!
Boruc made 194 appearances for the Hoops was quite rightly at the time considered one of the best goalkeepers on the continent during his time in Glasgow’s east end. He also holds a place in the hearts of many of the Celtic support for some outstanding performances as well as his obvious and often public disdain for those who played for and followed a team across the city.
But as much as this game is an invitation Celtic couldn’t really turn down it’s worth noting the reception the Celtic support may receive in Warsaw and as such perhaps on the field of play may not quite be in keeping with the friendly tag this game will have attached.
Celtic ‘lost’ 6-1 on aggregate to Legia Warsaw in the Champions league 3rd qualifying round in August 2014. It was -briefly – our joint worst aggregate defeat in Europe, alongside a 5-0 defeat to Juventus in 2013, but not it’s not recorded that way, instead the tie officially concluded 4-4 and Celtic went through on the now defunct away goals rule.
Celtic were awarded a 3-0 win after Legia Warsaw were found to have played an ineligible player for all of five minutes minutes at the end of the game Celtic played at Murrayfield in Edinburgh due to the Celtic Park being used for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. A selection of images from that match taken by Vagelis Georgariou are shown in this article.
Of course, the Warsaw team and their support were not a happy bunch, and given it was what was, in their view, a minor breach of the regulations, the Polish side believed Celtic should have refused to accept UEFA’s decision – as if doing so would have resulted in anything other than both teams being kicked out the tournament rather than just Legia – and done the gentlemanly thing.
After Celtic went through Legia Warsaw ultimately lost their fight to be compensated for their Champions League exit when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that their initial punishment was fair.
Now rather than blame their own administrative or coaching staff for the daft error, the world of footballing rivalry means Celtic remain the big bad ogre in the eyes of the Legia support.
And I’m aware this remains the case after a night before a friend’s wedding run-in with a Legia supporter in France three years ago, who having chatted to me amongst a group of friends at the bar the night before the wedding tried to engage me on the subject when it became apparent which club I supported, before intermittently scowling for the rest of the night and the following day after I refused to accept his wisdom that Celtic lacked for sportsmanship on the matter hoping for the sake of other gusts a decision to agree to disagree might be better than raking over old ground – heatedly on his part. It seems this is a matter that is not a case of water having travelled under the bridge amongst those who follow Legia Warsaw.
The embarrassment probably also stems from the fact that the following season in the Europa League, Romanian side FC Botosani trolled Legia Warsaw somewhat – by dressing the ballboys behind the goals in Celtic kits. Funny to anyone else but not to Legia Warsaw supporters.
This game could well pass without incident of course and it’s far from a suitable sample size to draw on to compare the mood of the entire Legia Warsaw support to one angry Polish fella at a wedding. But just in case – and with the game being so close to the start of the season – perhaps this match is a game Ange Postecoglou may wish to carefully consider his starting eleven and discount those he may wish to lean heavily on in the upcoming season, because although this tribute match for Atrur Boruc is deemed friendly in name, I’ve a feeling it will be far from the case when the match kicks off.
Niall J
