Why Vesuvio’s?
Tom Campbell: “I think there was a reason for that. I mentioned to Cyril that I had still not come to terms with Celtic’s success and that I was still scarred with numerous defeats inflicted by Rangers over the years. He surprised me: ‘If Celtic were to play Rangers in any other city than Glasgow, any European city, they would win regularly by 3-0… but here’s somebody who can answer that.’ Guess who had just come in? ‘John, I was just telling Tom here that Celtic would beat Rangers by three clear goals if you played them anywhere else but Glasgow.’ Jock Stein smiled, rubbed his chin thoughtfully, shook his head and said: ‘No Cyril, I don’t think so. It would only be 2-0’.”
How well received was your debut book?
Tom Campbell: “It was astonishingly well received, and sold out two editions very quickly.”
How did you meet Pat Woods, and how did your first collaboration materialise?
Tom Campbell: “Some years afterwards I was back in Glasgow on holiday and at the airport going back to Canada I bought a wonderful little book by Bob Crampsey called ‘The Scottish Footballer’. I read it cover to cover, and spotted that Bob was headmaster of St Ambrose, and I wrote to him. Bob wrote back, thanking me for my comments and asking if I were the same Tom Campbell who had written Glasgow Celtic and, if so, could he pass on my address to Pat Woods who had also liked the book. The rest is history; in fact, more than one history.”
The gap between your first and second books was quite substantial. Was there any specific reason for that?
Tom Campbell: “I rather thought that one book was enough. I was married and had a family; I was teaching and had been promoted… However, Celtic’s centenary was coming up in a couple of years and I wrote to the club and offered to write it (the official history). I think that, two years before the event, Celtic had not thought too much about it. Well, they declined my offer and I wrote to Pat Woods about it; he thought I should still write it, and volunteered his help in the research. Encouraged, I started the book and Pat started to send me stuff, tons of stuff… and brilliant stuff. There was no way I could use this material without acknowledging it in more than the usual way. So, I suggested to Pat that we do the book as co-authors. Pat was a bit reluctant; he’s very modest, and shy, and he needed encouragement from me before agreeing. Incidentally, the title was his idea – and, in view of the club’s early history, entirely apt: Where has it fled, the visionary gleam? Where is it now the glory and the dream?”
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