Thanks for publishing Celtic Born. I regularly access NewsNow and you can’t imagine how thrilled I was to see it titled Brendan is Celtic born. Your family stories of watching Celtic in 1930s. I’ve now shown it to my family and they’re equally as thrilled.
I don’t want to go all ambitious but the Paradise we now know and love is a very different animal to the Stadium I’d gone to in 60s & 70s.
Life on the Celtic Park Terraces
My first Celtic match wasn’t accompanying a Father or indeed any family member ( my Dad was already nearly in his mid 60s and my older brothers seemed self absorbed or detached or aloof from Football or just not interested).
Fortunately for me a family of five brothers moved ( or flitted as we knew it ) from Drumchapel to near by us in Balornock. They were proper 100% football playing nuts and total Celtic zealots to boot. They didn’t have self doubt or ambivalence towards Fitba ‘ or The Bhoys. Their parents were both Irish which seemed to somehow legitimise their passion all the more. They didn’t seem cowed by the odd stray mouthy WATP type Rangers fan (not that there were too many in Balornock!)
Photo Imago -The Celtic team of 1964 Back Row Ian Young, Tommy Gemmell, John Fallon, John Clark, Billy McNeill, Jim Kennedy Front Row Jimmy Johnstone, Bobby Murdoch, Stevie Chalmers, Charlie Gallagher and John Hughes
The first match was thrilling especially as Celtic beat Motherwell 4 : 2 with Stevie Chalmers getting a hat trick and Bobby Murdoch scored with a 30 yard thunderbolt.
(Just a slight digression but Chalmers was a local Balornock lad and had several years earlier when he was still single tried to date one of my much older Sisters. She declined then moved to Canada not long after. I doubt she would have got it but it was oft joked she was banished for not seeing the virtue in probably what was to be scorer of Celtic‘s greatest goal).
imago/United Archives International 1967 European Cup Final Celtic v Inter Milan Chalmers (No9) of Celtic scores the winning goal against Inter Milan during the European Cup Final. 25th May 1967
The first time at Parkhead was otherwise incident free. No trouble nor any hint of excitability just the honest celebration of a match well won.
I started to attend more and more frequently and eventually it was accepted my love of Celtic and there being no evidence of anything adverse meant I could go with my peers. It was very interchangeable but Brian and Frank Grimes, John Biggam and the perennial BO’s ( Brian O‘ Sullivan ). On the very odd occasions Frank McGarvey who we only knew as Peter ( 168 appearances 68 goals).
None were Neds nor ‘hard men ‘ in any traditional definition but I’d say they’d stand their ground and weren’t readily intimidated. Always a bonus especially negotiating your way through East End Glasgow on dark Winter nights for mid week matches. They were a mix of postponed matches (winter months were full of postponements) , Cup replays and of course European nights.
The European nights were magical then too , crisp winter evenings, full house the floodlights and what an atmosphere!
Back then we alternated between either the Celtic Family Enclosure ( roughly the first 10 – 12 seated rows of the Main Stand ) which ironically wasn’t always that familial. Someone once said to us “ What about the industrial language “ and we replied “ We‘ ll try not to use any! “
By our early to mid teens we started to gravitate towards either the Celtic End or The old Jungle. I think you needed the fearlessness of adolescent testosterone to survive both although The Jungle was a bit more ‘ Celtic Da ‘ although incredibly intimidating to Visiting teams. Just ask Gordon Strachan!
The Celtic End…
The old Celtic End attracted a younger demographic and was generally much more volatile. There’s no use ducking this – on occasions Celtic fans would rain down bottles and cans ( quite often filled with urine ) intended for the running track but inevitably striking fellow Celtic supporters. There were casualties and sometimes random follow ons as irate victims went in search of the culprits. There were no such things Stewards in those days. It was Polis or nothing.
Glesga Polis largely looked liked Prometheus cast offs back then and their fearsome reputation and ‘ actions ‘ would sort it out one way or another. Some fans wouldn’t be back in time for tea. They were getting a ‘ lie in ‘ courtesy of the Hardest Gang in Glasgow ( Glesga Polis alternate name).
There was also a well known sub culture of Gangs ( in fact called Teams rather than Gangs). Some had a close affinity to Celtic although this wasn’t reciprocal. The Cumbie from The Gorbals The Shamrock from Garngad and a smattering of The Maryhill Fleet. Again, sorry but they would on occasions use the Celtic End as a temporary War Zone. Although it has to be said it wasn’t week in or week out. Presumably some Accord or Agreement would be worked out and peace and love of football prevailed.
Of course when Rangers swung by for the annual neighbourhood version of ‘ kicking the Danes head ‘ (one of the origins of Fitba ‘ ) internecine warfare was set aside for something much more tribal. People built up to that one home match ( there was no playing each other four times a year) with quasi nationalist /religious fervour. Especially the traditional Ne ‘erday match and especially a home game at Paradise. Many came directly from all nighter celebrations direct to the Stadium. Excessive amounts of alcohol a tribal atmosphere and probably the whole Rangers end packed to the rafters.
Entrance to the Ranges End at Celtic Park in 1960s….
No wonder it became the fashion to wear Builders safety helmets to stand in the Celtic End. Ubiquitous too as white could have green stripes added and yellow ones green and white for the tricolour!!
I just hope Glesga Polis had their checkered foreheads reinforced. It was as close to Riot ( Damages ) Act 1886 that you could take it. Happy New Year to aw them Glesga Polis.
Brendan McKenna (Breandán Mac Cionnath)
