“Some moments are nice, some are nicer, some are even worth writing about,” Charles Bukowski.
Beautiful, magical, mystical, incredible, historical, uncanny, just a wee bit, well special, yet also just a wee bit unbelievable.
There are moments in your life outwith your control that mean the world to you. One of those moments happened today.
????5⃣ Paying tribute pre-#CELKIL to our greatest ever captain, Billy McNeill.
Rest in peace, Cesar. You’ll Never Walk Alone ????⚪️ pic.twitter.com/dzbWX8QxMG
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 27, 2019
Joso Simunovic Celtic’s current number 5 heads the ball into the net. The clock reads 67.
Celtic’s current Number 5 nets in the 67th minute. And then a pause. That’s right Celtic’s current number 5 nets in the 67th minute.
There are simply moments when you realise the club you support is significant, there is something beyond spiritual about it.
You support Glasgow Celtic Football Club. I don’t need to explain the background to any of you, I don’t have to set a scene. You all know what this means.
A moment where time stops, where the noise around you becomes murmured and numbed, indecipherable.
You can see the lips move from the Bhoys beside you but you can’t hear a single word. It’s like you put your head under the water in a busy swimming pool.
You can’t hear anything except your thoughts gathering and some sort of order descending in your mind. Nearly.
It’s immediately personal but develops to a collective because your mind requires it.
You need to share it. You roar, you sing, you realise the enormity of the moment. To some who seem lost, you explain and it spreads. You hug, kiss, embrace like you’ve experienced something life changing, because you have.
You know time hasn’t stood still but it’s in slow motion, paused like it just wants your brain to be given that precious moment where it absorbs, it sinks in it, appreciates just what has happened. It’s creating memories.
67 minutes in today. The head of Jozo Simunovic.
What a way to mark the death of Celtic legend Billy McNeil.
A goal in the 67th minute – Billy captained the club to European Cup glory in 1967.
The scorer? Jozo Simunovic, Celtic’s No.5 – the number Billy wore. ❤ pic.twitter.com/k7kUWLabhY
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 27, 2019
That’s what happened to every single supporter inside Celtic Park.
It started reverberating around Glasgow, spreading nationwide and emigrating across this island, into Europe and onto Australia, Canada, America and to every Celtic outpost around the world.
You could actually feel it. Like electricity being shared.
On the day we celebrated the life of Billy McNeill, Celtic’s most famous Number 5, Celtic’s current number 5 rose as if positioned, lifted and risen from the turf by Cesar himself and launched Celtic from their malaise, from their attacking slumber and on to victory as Billy himself had done against Dunfermiline, Rangers and Vojividina.
The man who lifted the European Cup aloft against the Catenaccio, the ‘doorbolt’ the unbeatable side of world football in 1967 was waiting for the moment he had to intervene, a moment where maybe given just one opportunity to return and once again leave his mark. He took his time and waited for his moment to influence.
To the very day Celtic had finished 9 in a row all those years ago.
The moment the God’s smiled down with Billy pulling the strings.
If I had never known before, had I ever questioned my faith in a football club, that moment like no other reaffirmed my belief in Celtic Football Club. Forever.
In my choices, why I listened to my Grandfather, hung on every word, followed and listened as he told me why, ‘If you know the history’ is not only important now but to those who follow us.
The fans, the players, those who had gone before us, those now and those who will make up future generations who support and play for this famous club.
This moment is as big, as important but more importantly evidence that Celtic are more than a football club.
“It is definitely my favourite moment in a Celtic jersey.”
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 27, 2019
Somewhere up there God has some first 11.
Maybe he was just missing that Centre half. The missing link. A real captain.
Today maybe, just maybe, he sent the big man back to us for one last send off, and as he said thank you for completing Heaven’s 11, Big Billy got to say Goodbye and in a style all of his own.
Maybe it’s all too romantic, but maybe we’re just a romantic club.
As I said to my 4 year old who possibly was just pretty excited because Dad was happy.
‘This is why this is a magical football club wee man’
And it is.
‘Success is no accident, it is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all love of what you are doing,’ Pele
Niall J
