With the pain of Ibrox still raw and no Celtic to watch in Scotland for a few weeks, I did the next best thing and caught a flight to Dubai last night, where the team are due to head shortly. I have a few January programme article deadlines looming and a desperate need to start training for my next race, so it seemed as good as time as any to do those somewhere warmer and perhaps take stock of the year just ended. A working holiday if you like.
Actually this trip has been a year in the planning…I’ll explain. On Friday 29th December 2017, I walked out of the ScottishPower office after 40 years to begin the next phase of my life, one where I hoped I would be able to indulge in my passions of Celtic, music, writing and travel a bit more often without the burden of full-time work commitments. OK, so that should probably read ‘Celtic, Celtic songs, writing about Celtic and travelling to see Celtic’, but hopefully you get my drift.
In a flash that year has disappeared, strangely bookended by two very disappointing results against Rangers, the 0-0 Parkhead draw followed by the game I can’t yet speak about last week. In between those, there have been a number of real highs and some painful lows. I’m hoping that as I work my way through the year, the former will prevail. Here goes anyway.
I had planned to head to Dubai this time last year, the Celtic training camp/open day being as good a reason as any to see the place for the first time. However, the last few weeks before retirement were pretty manic, so that didn’t happen. Instead, I sat at home in the cold, watching as an underwhelming January transfer window played out and waiting for the footie to resume. On the plus side, my son sent me a link to a vacancy for tour guides at Celtic Park and so I filled in my first job application since my sixteenth birthday and crossed my fingers.
February would be typical of most of the year, the high of Callum’s fabulous winner against Zenit, featuring Charlie Musonda’s one piece of absolute magic as a Celt, offset by our non-appearance in the return. A day-trip to the beautiful city of St Petersburg in minus-12, with just enough time to have a pizza, a beer and the obligatory away defeat in Europe. Your day will come Matt.
The following day, I did head to Dubai and watched the Pittodrie win that weekend in the company of the Dubai Hoops, who possess my favourite supporters logo. Check it out but don’t take the hump if you don’t like it. We then had Mulumbu doing a Jonny Hayes, deciding that the best way to secure a move to Celtic was to play well and score against us. This he did to send us to defeat on that awful surface at Kilmarnock, as our defenders dropped like flies on one of my rare domestic awaydays.
March featured a couple of highlights. There was a fantastic comeback at Ibrox to win against the odds, as Red Card Ross sent Jozo packing, presumably as retrospective punishment for the Miller Space Launch and Odsonne wrote his own piece of the Celtic fairytale. On a personal level, I started work at Celtic Park, all those years after both Jock and Billy ignored my phenomenal scoring record with the Candy in the mid-70’s. Well, better late than never I suppose.
April included my highlight of the season, a performance at Hampden which gave a new meaning to the ‘4-0 semi’. I also had my first article published in the Celtic Star, a short story about the 1977 title win at Easter Road, a couple of days before we were due to win it there again. Needless to say, we lost and I no longer offer preview articles of this type on the grounds that I am likely to curse us. On the plus side, that meant that 50,000+ Tims got the opportunity to watch the most relaxing title win ever the following week, as the Ibrox side crossed the city and were lucky just to concede the five, a perfect welcome for my new grandson.
May was just glorious. Victory over Motherwell at Hampden giving us our cherished Double Treble and those incredible, unforgettable scenes on the Celtic Way, as we partied for ourselves and for all those who gave us the Celtic and who had the best view in the house that day. God bless the Celtic Da’s, Mammies, Granda’s et al. Some debts can never be repaid.
The summer window was again frustrating, as the excitement of Odsonne signing on was killed by the late departure of Moussa and the situation with Dedryck. Our run through the qualifiers was halted by an average AEK Athens side, a wound which still hurts and an opportunity lost for sure. On a personal level, another goal was achieved as my first articles for the match programme, featuring title-wining season reviews since the 4-2 triumph of 1979, were published for each League game.
September saw narrow victories over Rangers, Rosenborg and St Johnstone, as we progressed in three competitions but a damaging late defeat at Kilmarnock, as our away form continued to be a source of concern.
October and November produced the best performances of this season to date, coinciding with the rise and rise of Ryan Christie as a first team player at Celtic, following his introduction as a substitute at Murrayfield, and some vintage displays from James Forrest, a feat repeated at international level. He scored four in the first-half at Perth in a 6-0 rout, Dundee and Hearts were hit for a Hawaii and even We Are All Neil Lennon’s excellent Hibs side were dispatched by four.
I watched the Hearts home game in the Parlour Bar in Manhattan, home of the NYCSC. The following day I dragged my weary ass around the five boroughs in the sacred Hoops to complete the marathon to raise funds for the wonderful Celtic FC Foundation. I am within touching distance of my £1,000 target. Money’s tight I know but still time if you can help. It will be achieved one way or another.
We made lots of friends but no progress in the historic cities of Salzburg and Leipzig before crucially defeating the Germans at Celtic Park, as the old ground shook once more. And finally, finally, there was a day when we won away, in the freezing cold of Trondheim on Extra Taps Oan Thursday. And I was there!
December saw Brendan and the Bhoys achieve their own Magnificent Seven, defeating Aberdeen at Hampden to lift a third successive League Cup, a feat not achieved since the days of the Lions. There were excellent wins over table-topping Kilmarnock then at Pittodrie mixed with dreadful displays at Easter Road and Ibrox and a cruel sucker-punch at Motherwell. There was a welcome slice of luck when a late Norwegian equaliser in Leipzig meant the Germans could not overcome our points tally, as we succumbed to a strong Salzburg. Now we have Valencia to look forward to in February, in a repeat of our first-ever European tie.
In terms of players, I’m opting for the unsung heroes of Callum McGregor and James Forrest. Both now first-picks for club and country, having not always enjoyed that level of confidence and support.
So that’s my look at 2018. I hope you enjoyed it and that 2019 is better as we chase the Eight.
Hail Hail!
Matt Corr
