“It was the joy of my life” – The day the Jungle told Billy Connolly where to stick his wellies

The legendary Scottish comedian Billy Connolly has been speaking at a Q&A session for Castle Fine Arts and was asked some questions about his great passion for Celtic…

A former player and now Newcastle United coach Peter Ramage asked him about his favourite memories as a Celtic fan. Recounting a memorable moment at Celtic Park when he was asked to be the referee for a testimonial match in 1976, Billy, as reported by Glasgow Times, said:

“I was asked to go to a testimonial for Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox at Celtic Park.  And when I was going in, he told me he wanted me to be the referee, this was Jock Stein, and he gave me a Rangers outfit. It was a blue tracksuit, a Rangers scarf and a hat.

“And I had to guide Celtic onto the park dressed like that… you can imagine in those days it wasn’t the new flashy temple we have now.  You were there and the building opposite you was the Jungle – it was corrugated iron and there were people who had never left there – and they booed, like you’d never heard booing in your life.

“The swear words were ridiculous, so I sent them off, I blew my whistle and gave them a red card, and they went berserk.  They sang, “you can stick your flaming wellies up your….”, and it was the joy of my life.”

And Billy also talked about his trip to Seville for the UEFA Cup Final against Porto. “

“And when I went to Portugal to see them in the cup final against Porto. During half-time I was wearing a white suit and the crowd started singing “There’s only one, Billy Connolly.” And these are the highlights of my life. It was simply brilliant.  I’ve had a lot of brilliant moments following Celtic, but they were the best,” Billy said.

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