We arrive home, co-incidentally, on the morning of the Kilmarnock game. I managed to get tickets for both visits last season, however, we get no joy this time around.
Still, it’s good to be back watching the Bhoys in action after a three-week break, even on TV. And we then keep on winning in the interim.
There will be a further ‘bucket list’ item to be ticked off in the summer, God willing, as I receive the news that I have been accepted on to the Celtic FC Foundation’s trip to Zambia in June, to continue work on the ’67 Kitchens’ project. My brother was on the 2019 visit and says it was the most incredible experience. We will be going together this summer, and whilst I’m nervous, I’m also proud and excited.
Two weeks later, I become a grandad again. For the third time. It is one of life’s great pleasures to spend time with the next generation as they take their first steps and I’m very lucky that an early retirement has allowed me to do more over the past two years. Another wee Corr Bhoy has now joined the world. Thankfully, mum and baby are both doing well, albeit dad tells me that he is stressed out!
And workwise, I have ploughed through since my return to finally complete my first Celtic book, the manuscript passed to my editor the night before we fly to Denmark, as is the latest article for the matchday programme. The book has been my main focus for the best part of a year now, and it feels fantastic to have finally reached this stage. I am working with good Celtic Star people, who have been a godsend. I can’t wait to see how it looks in print and to fulfil a dream I have held since childhood.
I have also been providing articles for each of the home League game programmes for the past couple of seasons, another labour of love.
For the last campaign, I wrote about the nineteen title-winning seasons Celtic fans have enjoyed since Billy McNeill became the boss at Parkhead in 1978, ‘We are the Champions’.
This season’s feature is called ‘A League of Their Own’ and looks at the nineteen men who have made most Scottish League appearances for Celtic since its inception in 1890. As you would expect, there are some incredible players in that list, spanning every generation. That will now include the current crop, as Scott Brown steadily works his way up the table from his starting position of 21.
So with all current publishing targets met, we’re all off to Copenhagen in the green, in the green, the only weight on my shoulders being a rucksack with a change of clothes. This time, we’re travelling with Hynds Travel from Milngavie, with an overnight stay on the Wednesday, returning after the match.
