My Celtic
I've been watching Celtic since I can't remember but I do remember I was one of the biggest Celtic supporters in my class at school in Primary 1. (Just like Eck, Paul, Tony, Steven and many more). I believe I was about 7 or 8 when I first went to a game but I don't know the exact details. I'm sure though it was a game against Ayr United. My dad was a founder member of the Grangemouth No.1 CSC back in the 60's after he had moved through from Glasgow with the Glasgow overspill. He would take me to games now and then but it wasn't till the 1982/1983 season that I became a regular. On 4th September 1982 I travelled through on my local supporters' bus (Grangemouth No.1 CSC) to a match at Home versus Dundee. My dad's mate Billy Deane took me to the game. It was the first game of the season and we raised the league flag to celebrate winning the 1981/1982 Scottish Premier League title. I was one of the 19,122 in the crowd that day. (Edit - maybe not as I would have probably been give a lift over the turnstiles by Billy). I was 12 years old and that season I would go to every match home and away. Although I was Celtic daft from about 4 years old (or earlier) this was the start of my journey as an active supporter. I was told that day by Billy to expect to see the league flag being raised at the same time next year. That didn't happen and it wasn't until May86 that Celtic would win the league again. What a day that was at Love Street. One of my best ever games to attend. My favourite moment as a Celtic supporter; - Some may find this strange given many of the great experiences I have witnessed but it my personal favourite just on how I felt that night. It was the evening of Thursday 24th April 2003 and we were playing Boavista in the 2nd leg of the semi final of the UEFA Cup. Winning 1-0 and therefore qualifying for the UEFA Cup Final in Seville was just the best feeling ever. I watched the game in The Star Inn pub in Falkirk. My favourite game attended; - The Double Treble Cup Final. It was a historic day/match and I had the good fortune of being inside Celtic Park pre game and post game whilst visiting Hampden in between. I've a lot of favourite games to choose from but this is my favourite due to whole day and everything that I got to experience that day. I got to see the open top team bus from inside Celtic Park and was there when the players came in (photos attached).
My favourite family moment; - My oldest son, Aidan, was born on Friday 27th April 2001 and he left the hospital 2 days later with a small green hat given to him from a nurse. This was his first day into the world and he was woken from his sleep in the living room as me and my dad cheered when we beat Rangers at Ibrox 3-0 thanks to Lubo (2) and Henrik. 16 years exactly to that day (and 2 days after his 16th birthday) I took my son to his first game against Rangers. It was at Ibrox and we won 5-1. My worst game attended; - The first time The Rangers beat us. 29th December 2018 at Ibrox and I was one of 700 Celtic fans in the away corner. The score was 1-0, we played poorly, we had no fight, the atmosphere was poisonous and the vocal support from us was non existent as the noise was that loud we just couldn't get any songs going. A horrible horrible day! I've always been interested in numbers/data and with that passion and my Celtic passion looking at Celtic through numbers/data/trends is something that ticks both boxes and is great hobby of mine. Something I have tapped back into due to some spare time during lockdown.
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