One classic scene was of a Celtic fan who flew a plane over the ground with the banner “Hail Hail! The Celts are here”…
Earlier today Niall J’s feature about the day David Murray banned the Celtic Support from attending the Rangers v Celtic game on 30 April 1994, mentioned the flight over Ibrox as some ingenious Celtic Supporters made themselves centre of attention- much to the sheer anger of the growling Bears Below.
“If I could fly over Ibrox tomorrow…” thought some Hoops fans the day before and decided to do something about it? But until now we’ve never known who was behind this brilliant Bhoys stunt…
Maybe it’s time to tell. Stephen Donaghy decided the time was indeed right to spill the beans to The Celtic Star.
“My late father, Steve Donaghy who owned Bing Transport and Peter Beattie who owns George Beattie & sons were two of the people behind the plane over Ibrox.
“I think also Willie Smith who owned a bar next to the Fruitmarket, my father was also the man who uplifted Hamish McAlpine from the Swiss airport when he was flown into cover for the Swiss friendlies and the Daily Record reported he was picked up by the club car. It was actually my father in his Rolls Royce because he wouldn’t fly and drove everywhere to watch the team” regards Stephen told us this evening after reading Niall’s article, titled David Murray banned Celtic fans from Ibrox in bitter response to the arrival of Fergus McCann.
Ex-window cleaner Peter Doherty added some more information on this wonderfully inventive Celtic stunt. “I used to be a window cleaner and I was in an office which belonged to Dominic Keane and there was a picture of the said plane. When I asked his secretary she said Dominic Keane had paid for it to fly over Ibrox.”
Simon Donnelly was one Celtic fan who was at Ibrox that day because he was playing! And he revealed that the the team were well aware of the plane and it’s message and it certainly gave them a lift.
“I remember we were warming up and one of the lads spotted it, I can’t remember who,” Simon recalled in an interview with Glasgow Times. “It gave us all a chuckle.”
Celtic supporter Thomas Liddell was at Ibrox – well sort of – when the said plane flew overhead. “I lived in Govan for 36 years and remember that day Celtic fans were barred from the bighouse.
“I was 18 and remember the plane flying over said bighouse with the banner I think saying something like we are with yous bhoys something like that anyway. But even now with this petty rubbish with the allocation of tickets they really have taken away the atmosphere which was special. Anyway just thought I would share that wee memory with you. Let’s hope we do this mob on Sunday. HH.”
Simon Donnelly spoke some more about that strange game when there were no Celtic Support at Ibrox at all and even the Directors and club officials were absent.
“It was a really strange experience,” the Celtic player said. “It was only us as players and those who were in the dug-out. That was it. It was completely surreal. There is no question that it felt like walking into the Lion’s den. You could sense the animosity towards us before we had even got off the bus!
“We felt like we were representing the club and it gave us a real determination to go and get something. It definitely fired us up. I was just a kid. I was already super excited to be going out there and playing and the whole experience and hullabulloo around the game just inspired us to go out and lift it a bit.”
We did hear from one Celtic supporter who was in with the fat cats and got a punch for his trouble when he celebrated John Collins’ wonderful free-kick that gave Celtic the lead.
Stephen Craig told us about his eventful afternoon at Ibrox. “I was a guest of Adidas sitting directly behind Findlay, when John Collins scored I jumped to celebrate and got a pie and punch for doing so.
“Better though I drew C10 in the first goal scorer at the table and lifted £260 at half-time.”
When David Murray banned Celtic fans from Ibrox | The Celtic Star https://t.co/wKuowATKLK
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) March 11, 2020
Boozers, Celtic on the wrong end of Refereeing Controversies and the SFA | The Celtic Star https://t.co/eCDoOWYV83
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) March 11, 2020
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