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Happy 135th Birthday, Our Beloved Celtic

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Today is the the day when we mark that most auspicious occasion, in which Brother Walfrid (also known as Andrew Kerins) would form Celtic Football Club along with others. The 6 November 1887 would be a day that forever changed Scottish society and both helped and enabled the Irish-Catholic diaspora that settled mainly in the West of Scotland.

With a high concentration of Irish immigration in the Calton, it would be St Mary’s Church that would be the epicentre for this great enterprise, which sought the amelioration of all those immigrant communities which has been left to perish in squalor and poverty. In step the idea of a community football club that would provide meals for all who were in desperate need, struggling from malnourishment and devoid of material wealth and basic living standards.

Along with a small consortium of businessmen, the Catholic priest set about building the foundations of the great institution we have all come to know as Celtic. Our spiritual home and a collective state of mind for all those marginalised by the avarice and wickedness of the orthodoxy. A monument to the enduring bonds of community and family before money and material sinfulness.

We have come a very long way from that day on the 6 November 1887, when Kerins and others put in motion a chain of events so spectacular that they probably wouldn’t have believed the way in which Celtic FC has grown through our 135 year history. We have endured ups and downs; the inevitable highs and lows of following a football club. We came close to extinction in 1994, through the greed and incompetence of a cabal that sought to render redundant the good works of Brother Walfrid and all those that came after.

Fortunately, one Fergus McCann saved us from the precipice and catapulted us back to the top through a share issue which saw the Hoops supporters invest in their club. Something we will always owe a debt of gratitude for. For it was Mr McCann who maintained that 100 years of history was more important than the money it took to avoid the club entering receivership. If only everyone else took that view when it came to teams being liquidated in Scotland.

We proudly celebrate an unbroken 135 year history today. It is something that stands tall in the pantheon of the aristocracy of the game. How fitting it was that we played Real Madrid this week. Two giants who have stood the test of time. We should cherish and enjoy this day in time forever. For it will always be the emblem of the Phoenix Rising. They tried to break our community when we arrived. We responded through gritted teeth and built a football club.

The most successful club in Scottish football history…

Happy Birthday, Our  Beloved Celtic!

Brother Walfrid colour photo

You can read profiles of all of the Celtic Founding Fathers on The Celtic Star HERE.

Paul Gillespie

OUT NOW! Click on image above to order a signed copy.
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About Author

I'm a Garngad Bhoy through and through. My first ever Celtic game was a friendly against Italian side Parma at Celtic Park, in 2002. Currently a student of English Literature and Education at the University of Strathclyde for my sins. Favourite game would be a toss up between beating Manchester United with that Naka freekick, or the game against the Oldco when Hesselink scored in the dying seconds. I'm still convinced Cal Mac is wasted playing that far back.

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