Something different, something rather special. It’s Celtic Shorts from the makers of The Celtic Star…

“Majic, Stan and The King of Japan”…Gordon Strachan’s First Season at Celtic by Matt Corr is out now…

In the summer of 2005, incoming Celtic manager Gordon Strachan faced one of the most difficult jobs in world football, charged with restoring the fortunes of the grand old club after a heartbreaking end to the previous season, which saw legendary boss Martin O’Neill and many of the stars who had delivered such incredible success in the early part of the new millennium take their leave. The end of an era.

But this is Celtic…and our nights are darkest just before the dawn. Soon we would witness the thrilling emergence of a team of exciting new heroes who would create their own magical history in those iconic Hoops, as the next chapter in the greatest football story of them all was written, roared on by that Celtic constant, a fanatical worldwide support.

And what a remarkable chapter it is…Celtic theatre at its rollercoaster finest with last-minute dramas, the tragic loss of another of our immortal Lions and the onset of illness of another beloved redhead with Celtic pouring through his veins, then ultimately title triumph as the Hoops battle through a season dismissed by many as being purely transitional to regain their mantle as Scotland’s Champions, the Celts once again the dominant football force in the land.

It’s a season full of characters befitting of any Celtic Story. From Poland came Artur Boruc, the eccentric but brilliant Holy Goalie, and Maciej ‘Majic’ Zurwaski, the international duo thrilling Hoops supporters at either end of the pitch.

We had the perfect Irish Heartbeat in midfield, new skipper Neil Lennon joined by Roy Keane, the world-class Cork Bhoy fulfilling a lifetime dream by wearing those colours, the duo in their element as they dominate proceedings in a vital win at Ibrox. And the incredible, lung-bursting power of Stiliyan Petrov, Stan the Man, the Bulgarian captain with his trademark winning goals turning one point into three in Celtic’s relentless pursuit of the honours.

It’s a campaign where the young pretender Shaun Maloney steps out of the shadows with a series of stunning performances to become Scotland’s Player of the Year, and where John Hartson ends his Celtic career by becoming the latest in a long list of striking superstars to pass the century mark of goals for our club.

Finally, there is the genius of Shunsuke Nakamura, The King of Japan, commencing a Celtic career blessed with the most incredible footballing moments. Little known before his arrival on these shores but still revered two decades later. Technically perfect, he lights up Paradise.

It’s time to tell this story. To relive those goals. To remember those songs. When we had Majic, Stan and The King of Japan…

You can order your copy of “Majic, Stan and The King of Japan” which tells the story of Gordon Strachan’s first season at Celtic now, just click on the image below…

Out now on Celtic Star Books…

At Celtic Star Books, we take great pride in sharing the stories of the legendary players, teams and events which make up the incredible history of our club.

From Kelly to Kyogo, and everything in between.

In our seventh publication – The Bould Bhoys! “Glory to their name,” which will be published on 24th March, we follow the exploits of a wonderful early Celtic team in their attempt to win the Scottish League for the first time, with joy, controversy and intrigue every step of the way.

Author Matthew Marr picks up the story of our early Celtic heroes in the summer of 1892, three years down the line from Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys, our Autumn 2021 publication which completely sold out on hardback and is now available in Kindle form only. The fledgling club from Glasgow’s east end, established for the most noble of reasons, has won the prestigious Scottish Cup against all odds, beating the established order of the day, notably nine-time winners Queen’s Park. But there is unfinished business for The Bould Bhoys…

A new, season-long competition is up for grabs, the Scottish League Championship, viewed by many observers as a better test than the briefer knockout cup competitions to determine who is ‘the best in Scotland.’

What a cast of characters.

Dan Doyle.

Willie Maley.

James Kelly.

Johnny Madden.

Sandy McMahon.

Celts who thrilled our forefathers – “Glory to their name.”

The story of that season will now thrill you, as we reach the 130th anniversary of these events this spring. Matthew will walk you through each twist and turn as it occurs, bringing the heroes to life and placing you at every match as Celtic strive to succeed back-to-back Scottish champions Dumbarton as the team at the top of the League, looking down on the others.

The more things change…

If you love your Celtic history…then this is for you. Click on the image below to order a copy signed by the author.

The Celtic Rising ~ 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything had completely sold out on the Celtic Star Books website and also on Amazon but we have now the book back in stock and available for sale, with same day first class post now included as standard.

The book is also now available on amazon kindle alongside Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys and Harry Hood – Twice as Good, which is also available in hardback at just £10 from Celticstarbooks.com/shop.

From the earliest days of Celtic Football Club, it has been defying the odds, and often logic, to deliver incredible moments which we as supporters will never tire of recounting or reliving. The fairytale club.

Perhaps for the first time but definitely not for the last, Billy McNeill himself is a key figure in this latest Celtic fairytale of which he spoke many years later.

Since Willie Fernie’s man-of-the-match display at Hampden in the Sun back in October 1957, the Parkhead cupboard had been bare in terms of major honours. Seasons came and went but still those at the helm of our club could not find a way to write the next chapter of Celtic success. By the end of 1964, those with green blood flowing through their veins could see no end to the dominance of the club in the south-west of the city, and indeed could only look on as teams from Edinburgh, Dundee and Dunfermline were providing the main challenge.

Like all fairytales, The Celtic Rising needed some magical ingredients to spark it off, and they would duly follow as the Hogmanay Bells sounded the end of one era and the beginning of something so special no-one could possibly have foreseen.

Author David Potter was one of those long-suffering Celtic diehards of the late 1950s and early 1960s who could only dream of the glories to come, and then he witnessed the momentous change which delivered those dreams…and then some…under exciting new manager Jock Stein. The Celtic Rising.

Like so many of our triumphs of the past, the story was as unexpected as it was thrilling, a wonderful old club rising from the depths of so many heart-breaking defeats and false dawns to once again become the dominant force in Scotland and position itself for an even greater adventure to follow.

David will take you with him every step of the way of that incredible journey through 1965. Each emotion, each setback, then each of those fabulous, joyous moments which are now Celtic folklore. There is no one better placed to do so.

“1965 was possibly the most momentous and certainly the most dramatic year in our history.”  David Potter

“We always knew that Jock Stein would bring changes, and we hoped that success would accrue. We did not know just quite how much success Jock would bring! And it all started in 1965!” John Fallon

The Celtic Rising – 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything will be published by Celtic Star Books on Friday 4 November 2022.

John Hughes, 1943- 2022 – Yogi is well worth his place in the Valhalla of great Celts

The news of the passing of John Hughes came to many of us as a deep personal blow. Those of us who grew up in the 1960s had strong feelings about The Bear. The early 1960s were not great years for Celtic, and it would not be long after Celtic supporters got together that an argument could be guaranteed to develop about John Hughes!

There were those who thought that he could be the greatest ever; there were those who thought him a waste of space. The truth is that John Hughes could be either of these extremes. I tended to the former view that he could perform wonders for the club – but oh, how I wish I could have used the word “consistent” about him! If only he could produce every week what we knew he was capable of, then the arrogant Rangers of Baxter and Henderson could have been swept aside.

He stormed onto the scene at the beginning of season 1960/61 and for a while, all was brilliant as Celtic beat Third Lanark (twice) and Rangers at Ibrox with Hughes looking like the new star. He lacked the grace and style of Patsy Gallacher and Charlie Tully (he was never that sort of player) but there was something of the Jimmy Quinn and Sandy McMahon about him. Alas! It could not be maintained, and there was no-one at Parkhead at the time who could talk to the youngster through the difficult times and encourage him. Rangers beat Celtic twice at Parkhead in the League Cup and the League in autumn 1960 and the bubble was well and truly burst.

In some ways those first six weeks of this career were a microcosm of the rest of his Parkhead life. Capable of brilliance, but not always able to produce it through lack of confidence or conviction. The end of that season, for example, saw a marvellous performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Airdrie… but then a feckless, flaccid display in the final against Dunfermline which many fans (and indeed one team mate in particular) found difficult to forgive.

No player was more talked about on the supporters’ buses than John Hughes. His spiky hair style encouraged the nickname “Yogi Bear” who was “smarter than the average (park) ranger” and he generally had a good season in 1961/62 when Celtic impressed everyone – but blew up spectacularly when they had to win against St Mirren in an awful semi-final. His jousts with Ian Ure of Dundee (a man who was also called “Yogi Bear”) were a feature of the season with honours even at the end. But it was Dundee, not Celtic, who won the League.

Like everyone else, he suffered from the crazy team selections of Mr Kelly, but yet those of us who loved the Bear kept faith in him, and just now and again, we saw how good he could be. Take for example 25 January 1964 in a Scottish Cup tie at Morton when he scored a magnificent, individual goal, and things looked good. He then scored the goal that gave us a wonderful and surprise victory against Slovan Bratislava, but then three days later at Ibrox when many of us felt that we were on the cusp of something big, John returned to depressing anonymity.

Midwinter 1964/65 saw Celtic at their lowest ebb, yet John was usually exempt from the abuse of the fans because we always felt that he could do something. Wearing sandshoes on Boxing Day he scored two goals against Motherwell, and then on the very eve of the announcement of the appointment of Jock Stein, Yogi, again wearing sandshoes, scored five on a frost bound pitch against Aberdeen.

He was a very good “bad weather” player revelling in rain and frost – scoring a magnificent goal in the rain at Parkhead in September 1964 against Rangers and then finding it mysteriously disallowed – and for a while under Stein, goals began to flow. He won his first Scottish Cup medal in 1965, and was trusted with the job of scoring the penalties in the League Cup final of October that year. And what a pivotal two moments of Celtic history those were! Those of us who had doubts about his temperament held our breath as the lumbering figure of Yogi appeared to take the two kicks to confirm that Celtic were back and (crucially) that the Rangers complex had gone.

We have already talked about the goal at Morton. There was another one equally good one against Morton in a League Cup semi-final at Hampden in 1967, but those of us who saw the goal at Dens Park in September 1965 will not admit to the possibility of anyone ever having seen a better goal. As an old timer put it, even Patsy Gallacher had to yield to that one! Sadly, that goal does not seem to be on any kind of film.

John was probably unlucky not to be one of the eleven in Lisbon, and he also missed out through injury on the glorious month of April 1969, but he played in most of the rest of the glory days, including the epic League chase of 1968, and, of course, he scored against Leeds in that semi-final of 1970.

It was no secret that he and Jock Stein were no great buddies. Stein seemed to blame John disproportionately for a missed chance in the Milan Cup final against Feyenoord in 1970, and then there was an unfortunate incident in a game at Perth when John was injured, insisted on carrying on, and then eventually had to come off. Stein did not like losing and sometimes needed a scapegoat.

Following quite a few not very well hidden spats with Jock, Yogi was transferred (along with Willie Wallace) to Crystal Palace where he scored another one of his great goals (fortunately captured by TV cameras) but then suffered from injury, something which he had been unlucky with at several points of his career. He eventually moved to Roker Park, Sunderland to join his brother Billy, but injury struck in his very first game and basically his career finished before he was 30.

He was greatly admired in England with Newcastle United prepared on several occasions in the late 1960s to “rock football” with an offer for him, but he stayed with Celtic. He remained a Celtic man, and was frequently seen at Celtic Park in his later years. He remained bitter about Stein, (and he was not the only one) but both men appreciated the value of the other’s contribution to the club.

John was a totally different character from Jimmy Johnstone, as different from each other in their approach to the game as they were in looks. Nevertheless, if a supporter ever happened to be lucky enough to attend a game where both were on song at the same time, then there was nothing on earth that could have stopped Celtic on these occasions – and so often it seemed to happen at Easter Road against Hibs – but of course there were so many other magnificent footballers around at the same time.

He was probably a better left winger than he was a centre forward. The sight of John rampaging in the open spaces down the left wing with panic stricken defenders in his wake is something that was one of the joys of the 1960s. Had he been able to do this sort of thing oftener, he would have been one of the greats of all time. As it was, he has left us with many joyous memories of the great days of Celtic. It is such a pity that the word “inconsistent” has to be applied to him, but nevertheless our generation of fans must feel sorry for the younger ones who never saw Yogi Bear in his prime!

His passing is an occasion of great sorrow, for John is well worth his place in the Valhalla of great Celts.

David Potter

READ THIS…John ‘Yogi ‘Hughes – Celtic Milestones

Harry Hood – Twice as Good is out now! While stocks last you can receive a signed copy by Harry’s official biographer Matt Corr. £1 from ever book sold will be donated to Marie Curie in memory of Harry Hood.

You can order now from Celticstarbooks.com – just click on the image below…

“We’ve got someone twice as good. We’ve got Harry Hood!”

Mention the name Harry Hood and it evokes memories of a wonderful footballer in a glorious era, most notably at Celtic, his boyhood club. Wearing those magical, unspoilt green and white Hoops.

Of the chants which rang out as he scored vital goals for Celtic, against the giants of European football under those massive lights in Glasgow’s east end, in the intensity of the city’s fierce derbies or major cup finals before six-figure crowds. Moments which created history.

Skilful, intelligent and classy, with 125 goals and over 300 games for Celtic in that post-Lisbon era, where the Lions and Quality Street Gang merged with Jock Stein’s astute signings to keep the Hoops at the summit of European football. A key man in an incredible team, some of whom pay tribute to Harry in this, his official biography.

Oh Harry, Harry! He did it all.

And he did it beside some of the greatest Celts of all time.

Jimmy Johnstone, Tommy Gemmell, Kenny Dalglish and Billy McNeill.

Teammates and lifelong friends.

And with that unmistakeable Glasgow sense of humour.

“I called my dog Pele. It was only fair, given that he had called his dog Harry Hood!”

This is Harry’s story.

Published by Celtic Star Books and available now from CelticStarbooks.com and also the official Celtic stores.

Also available from Celtic Star Books…

Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle by David Potter…

Alec McNair Career Summary

• Alec played in Celtic’s first team for an incredible 21 years. No-one has ever matched that.

• He played for Celtic four months into his 43rd year. Another record. McNair remains the only outfield player to take the field for the club after his 40th birthday and is one of only two men to have done so, his friend and contemporary Celtic goalkeeper Charlie Shaw being the other.

• Alec played a total of 584 League games for the club. Another record.

• He made 716 appearances in total for Celtic, despite the Scottish Cup being suspended for five seasons during the First World War. Only Billy McNeill has beaten that, and Cesar’s tally of 822 included over 200 matches in the League Cup and European football, neither of which were available in the era of McNair.

• Alec won 34 honours with Celtic, another record.

• These included an incredible 12 League Championship titles, another record.

• McNair was a key member of the team which won 6 successive League titles between 1904/5 and 1909/10, a Scottish record which stood until Jock Stein’s Class of 1972. He then formed the core of Maley’s next great Celtic side, which won four Championships in a row from 1914.

• He is also one of a select group of men to have captained both club and country as a Celt, Alec’s international highlight no doubt being the day he led Scotland to victory over England at Hampden in April 1914.

An introduction to Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle by David Potter

I’m not really sure where you would begin to describe Alec McNair and his contribution to the success of Willie Maley’s first great Celtic sides. Perhaps you could think about a combination of Danny McGrain and Billy McNeill, those defensive and leadership qualities allied with a career-spanning devotion to Celtic.

The rocks upon which great Celtic teams were built and flourished. Revered ‘one-club’ legends, who operated at the top-level of football over two decades, captaining club and country and winning medals for fun in those cherished Hoops. Men who commanded respect from far beyond the Celtic community, on and off the field. Humble but classy. Fabulous role models and ambassadors for Celtic and everything we stand for.

Then throw in the coolness and composure of George Connelly and the authority and presence of Virgil Van Dijk.

Now we might have Alec McNair, the best defender in the world in his day. The story of Celtic’s Icicle is quite remarkable. He created records which stand to this day, almost a century after he hung up his boots after a trophy-laden 21-year career. No-one has matched that sort of longevity in the history of Celtic Football Club.

Alec wore Celtic’s colours an incredible 716 times over that period, second only to Billy McNeill, whose total of 822 included over 200 matches in the League Cup and European football, neither of which were available in the era of McNair.

He made 584 League appearances, still a club record. For the last of those games, against Queen’s Park in April 1925, he was 42 years and 4 months young, another record. Indeed, Alec McNair is the only outfield player in Celtic’s proud 133-year history to take the field beyond his 40th birthday, with his goalkeeper of that golden era, fellow ‘Holy Trinity’ member Charlie Shaw, the only other man to play for Celtic after achieving the age of 40.

And it was a highly successful career, as Willie Maley’s first great sides enjoyed a golden era.

Alec’s astonishing medal haul of 34 includes a club record 12 League titles, with his Scottish Cup tally of six beaten only by fellow Celtic legends, Jimmy McMenemy, Billy McNeill and Bobby Lennox.

And to literally ‘cap’ things off, as well as being a Celtic icon, Alec McNair was chosen to represent his country no fewer than 15 times, captaining Scotland to victory over both England and Ireland.

A genuine all-time legend for both Celtic and Scottish football.

Great stories require great authors to tell them properly. Someone who can get under the skin of the main characters, feel and share their joy and their pain and take you as the reader into the story itself. Fortunately, we have David Potter in this role. A man whose lifelong devotion to his beloved Celtic would sit comfortably beside any of the great names mentioned above. The eminent Celtic historian is in his element here.

In many ways this is a football love story, written by him about one of the greatest Celts of all time, and the social and political context and insight which supports the narrative is fantastic. It really brings Alec’s story to life, as we kick every ball with the early Celtic greats.

Jimmy Quinn and Patsy Gallacher. Sunny Jim Young, Napoleon McMenemy and Charlie Shaw. James Edward McGrory and the first set of McStay brothers. What a supporting cast that is.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful trip back through a record-breaking period in Celtic’s history.

You will too, I’m sure.

Matt Corr

My all-time hero – Paul Robeson (1898 -1976)

A nice wee article from my English cousin Moya this afternoon, who has only recently started to show an interest in football and hopes to visit Celtic Park for the first time ever when supporters are allowed in. She recently read Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys and was fascinated by the back-story to Celtic’s formation. The club’s founding fathers and principles are as strong today as at any time since 1888. And if Brother Walfrid is one of her new heroes she wanted to share the story of her own hero who she was introduced to by her dad, just as most of you reading this will have been introduced to Celtic in exactly the same way.

Below Moya tells the story of her all-time hero Paul Robeson. And if this inspires you perhaps you’d like to contribute to the site by explaining who your (non-football) all-time hero is and why. Just email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk…over to you Moya!

The Common Struggle of Paul Robeson

David has ensured that Brother Walfrid is a family hero, even to those of us who are only belatedly getting inducted into football (moi)!

I’d like to share my all-time hero – Paul Robeson (1898 -1976). He was a hero of my dad, George, who introduced him to me in my teens. I read his biography in my early 20s and still dip into it from time to time. The life of this great artist, athlete and global activist is never more resonant than it is in today’s world…and this week.

And what you might not know is this colossus of a human being and humanitarian can be linked to the Faulds family history!

A few facts about him:

* His father was born into slavery.

* He was a first class football player, an All-American in football and posthumously inducted into the American College Football of Fame.

* He studied and practised law but had to give up as a lawyer because he experienced too much racism (when studying for his LLB he had to switch university from NYU to Columbia because of the racism he experienced).

* Arguably, his greatest talent was singing – he became world-known for his singing, covering a range of genres from opera to spirituals/slave songs (his Othello is still viewed as one of the best ever).

* He was an actor of international repute.

* He became politicised during the Spanish Civil war and took up the fight against fascism.

* He became one of the greatest political activists (particularly Civil Rights) America (or the world ) has seen.

* He was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era, his passport was revoked and he was forced into isolation in his home country (check this whole period out, he was amazing!)
His passionate and dogged pursuit of civil rights, social justice and a better world for all continued after the McCarthy Era…

And so it it goes on… I urge you to have a look at his life!

BUT, here’s the thing – he supported the Scottish Miners – have a look how! Check out this You Tube video of that time in 1949.

And, a very interesting fact – one of his closest friends in later life was Andrew Faulds. Andrew was an actor who he met when he was performing Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959, and he stayed with his family. Paul Robeson inspired Andrew into politics and he became a Labour MP.

So I really hope that we’ll add him into our list of family heroes.

I was reminded about him on Monday after listening to a Radio Scotland programme on him, and his links to Scotland and miners (listen HERE).

And here we are at the end of the week having witnessed the events on Capitol Hill.

What would Paul Robeson make of the world in 2021?

Moya

Perhaps this is what Lego will make if it…

Update…

Just a comment on Paul Robeson. Are you aware that he recorded the Irish ballad Kevin Barry after hearing the story of his torture and execution?

As part of the back story the ballad was written and handed into the Irish Independent offices by a person who asked for it to be published in their newspaper . He stated that he was leaving that evening on the Dublin to Glasgow boat. It is not known if he was I
Irish or Scottish. The tune he picked for the song was the old Scottish tune Rolling Home to Bonnie Scotland.

I’m sure if Paul Robeson was around in later years he would have recorded The Fields of Athenry or the Town I loved so Well.

Thank you for sharing your story on a Great man.

Neil Doogan

A special offer for you this week, get both Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys and Invincible for just £30! Order now at Celtic Star Books.

WALFRID AND THE BOULD BHOYS

There can surely be no other football club in the world whose history is devoured, cherished then handed down through family, enabling our children and grandchildren to recite the great names and events of the past with the same feeling and passion as for those they witnessed first-hand. It is a rite of passage. A gift which is uniquely Celtic…

In Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys, the second book published by The Celtic Star in 2020, authors from three generations of that Celtic family take you on a magical journey through the early days of the new football club which was springing to life in Glasgow’s impoverished east end.

Through Liam Kelly, we meet the founding fathers. Those men whose compassion, vision and energy created Celtic Football Club for the most wonderful of reasons, to help those struggling to survive. Those of our forefathers and mothers who had nothing. Origins and principles which set us apart as more than a football club, even to this day.

We walk game-by-game through an incredible debut season with Matt Corr, as players are recruited to form a team which will become a cause, a reason for living the other six days in the week. Challenging the established order and creating joy in the communities of the east end by reaching the prestigious Scottish Cup Final from a standing start, then delivering silverware, all within that thrilling first year of existence.

We hear the thoughts of a Celtic supporter, Dan Drake, who lived through that first season and who attended the original Celtic Park with his own father on the day it all began, with a 5-2 victory over Rangers back in May 1888.

Then David Potter shares his thoughts on the inaugural heroes in white and green who would thrill Dan and the other Celtic fans of the early years, playing their way into our hearts and the opening chapters of The Celtic Story. Men like Kelly, McMenemy and Quinn, whose names still roll off the tongue more than a century later, idolised to this day by the descendants of the men and women who watched them create history.

This unique collaboration between these three Celtic writers, all published authors in their own right, has it all.

If you want to know your history…you will love Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys.

Meet the Authors…In assembling Walfrid & The Bould Bhoys, The Celtic Star’s own formidable team sheet was brought into action, spanning three separate generations of Celtic supporters.

Liam Kelly published ‘Our Stories & Our Songs’ in 2015 and followed that up last year with ‘Take Me to Your Paradise.’

David Potter has drawn from a lifetime of following the club to write scores of wonderfully informative Celtic books, which will be valued for generations of Hoops supporters to come.

Matt Corr is the author of The Celtic Star’s first publication of 2020, ‘INVINCIBLE’, and is a popular member of the Stadium Tours team at Celtic Park.

WALFRID & THE BOULD BHOYS is beautifully designed and produced, is priced at £19.99 and is published on hard-back by The Celtic Star – order now at CELTIC STAR BOOKS…

‘The Three Kings’ – Stein, Busby and Shankly

The Three Kings is a feature length cinema documentary on Matt Busby. Bill Shankly. Jock Stein and it’s showing at selected cinemas from this Sunday 1 November. The Three Kings  is available via digital channels and DVD from Monday 16 November and is now available to pre-order. You can watch the trailer for this eagerly awaited cinema documentary below. We broke the news a few weeks ago about the release of The Three Kings and since then there’s been great interest in the documentary with a great number of Celtic Supporters looking forward to seeing it. We’re sure that this will also be the case for Manchester Utd and Liverpool fans.

From the Oscar and BAFTA-winning producers of Diego Maradona and Senna and the director of I Believe In Miracles, The Three Kings is the definitive film portrait of three men who were born in the central lowlands of Scotland within 30 miles of each other – and went on to change the history of football: Busby. Shankly. Stein.

Cinemas across the country will be playing The Three Kings from this Sunday with participating cinemas listed on threekingsfilm.co.uk. The film will then be available on all home entertainment formats from the middle of November.

Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein all came from mining communities around Glasgow where the call of the pits was only drowned out by a call of the pitch, and only then if your talents warranted it.

This cinema documentary offers a fascinating look at three remarkable men and managers. How their upbringings shaped their lives and their football teams. How they became the best of friends and how they became the fiercest of rivals. Each man arriving in three great British industrial cities and changing the life of the people forever. Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.

They would turn three clubs in those cities into three of the most famous sporting institutions on the planet. Celtic, Liverpool and Manchester United today have a combined global fan base of billions, and this is the story of how that happened.

This film is about more than three men. It is about Three Kings, the men that made modern football.

BAFTA-winning director Jonny Owen (I Believe In Miracles) says:

“My Father, who had worked underground, always told me that Bubsy, Stein and Shankly were once miners. That generation of people are leaving us now. It’s astonishing what they gave, the legacy they left to British culture. From the NHS to football they left their incredible mark. This film celebrates them and their remarkable achievements.”

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“Most important is that each club’s fan base is told the film has a lot in it for them, a must-see – a brilliantly told story about how Busby / Shankly / Stein made their club what it is, and the impact they had on the people and city forever.”

The Three Kings is in cinemas from Sunday 1 November, is available on DVD and digital on Monday, 16 November and is available to pre-order now .

INVINCIBLE is Matt Corr’s stunning debut as a published Celtic author.

INVINCIBLE has 288 pages plus a bumper 32 pages of colour courtesy of the wonderful Vagelis Georgariou at Big Lens, capturing all the action from that magical Celtic year – surely the best since season 1966-67 when Celtic also won the Treble and added the European Cup!

Our Father’s Day offer is as follows. When you order INVINCIBLE from The Celtic Star Bookstore you will receive a signed copy of Matt’s book plus a copy of That Season in Paradise, so Celtic’s best two seasons in your dad’s lifetime are covered brilliantly.

With forewords from renowned Celtic author and historian, David Potter and a star of the Invincible season ERIK SVIATCHENKO , INVINCIBLE tells the story of the grand old Glasgow club’s record-breaking 2016/17 season through the perspective of a lifelong Hoops supporter, who follows the Bhoys as events unfold which could not possibly have been envisaged by the worldwide Celtic diaspora just twelve months earlier.

New heroes emerge and memories are created, to be recalled and retold by those with Celtic in their hearts long after those privileged to witness history have passed through Parkhead’s gates for the last time. You will laugh and you will cry, as memories from the author’s five decades of following his beloved team are woven into his record of this incredible campaign.

INVINCIBLE. That was how it felt to be Celtic.

Invincible author Matt Corr is a stadium tour guide at Celtic Park, writes for the match day programme and is a popular contributor to The Celtic Star, where he covers Celtic players from the past in great detail as well as writing about the club’s European trips from the perspective of the travelling Hoops support.

“I am in a training camp in Poland and they are there. They stand up and cheer, then start to sing. “He’s magic, you know, Erik Sviatchenko.” I turn to my teammates. “Listen guys. They are everywhere!” That love that you show to every player makes you unique. If I were still in Glasgow, I would walk around with a sign on my back. ‘I am Invincible! Have you ever tried that?’

ERIK SVIATCHENKO, Celtic Invincible Star

“The 2016/17 INVINCIBLE season will be talked about by Celtic supporters for a long time in the same way as people still talk about 1907/08 and 1966/67. It was a tremendous season. Tremendous events need tremendous recording and recounting. Matt Corr has done just that. This is a worthy addition to the impressive panoply of writing about our great club.’

DAVID POTTER, Celtic FC author & historian

“The story of Celtic’s Wonderful, Magical and INVINCIBLE season is quite brilliantly told by Matt Corr. The quality of his writing and attention to detail is astounding. He manages to take the reader with him at every step on an emotional roller-coaster of a journey through an incredible, thrilling season, which gets to the very essence of what it means to support Celtic. INVINCIBLE raises the bar and sets the standard for others to follow. It is right up there with the very best Celtic books I have ever read.”

Mastodon