I am on the road again following Celtic for my first away game of the season and a return to Faro in Portugal where Celtic take on Sporting Lisbon in their second pre-season outing.
Celtic started pre-season 30 miles down the road from me in Dublin. I missed out on attending the game in Tolka due to having to work in Spain but managed to get to watch the game with the Paddy’s Point CSC in La Zenia, Alicante.
Tolka has many memories for me. I took my son Conor to his first Celtic game there when they played Shamrock Rovers in a pre-season friendly back in 2002. Steve Guppy scored for Celtic in 1-1 draw.
Celtic played St. Patricks Athletic back in 1998 in the Champions League just as our supporters club journey at St. Margarets was starting. Celtic won 2-0 on the night with Brattback and Larsson on target for the Celts.
Back in 1992 Celtic beat Man City in pre-season tournament 3-1 and that was my wife’s Sandra’s first Celtic game. Charlie Nicholas and Irish internationals Tommy Coyne and Chris Morris scored that day.
Last summer none of us could have imagined what type of a season lay in store when Brendan Rodgers Celtic team beat Sporting 2-0 in the Portugeese heat at the Estádio do Algarve. Reo Hatate and Luke McCowan scores Celtic’s goals.
On Tuesday evening in Faro we may see Celtic latest signing Camilo Duran for the first time in a Celtic jersey. The Columbian 24 year old signed a 5 year deal with the Hoops last week from Azerbaijani side Qarabag.
Duran became Celtic’s second signing if the season after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became Celtic’s first signing of the transfer window after he signed a new one-year deal with the club. Like Martin O’Neill he came in after the Wilfried Nancy shambles.
He had no club and was training with his former club Arsenal and Celtic took him to Glasgow until the end of the season in February. He made the perfect start in the Hoops coming off the bench to score a last minute winner against Livingston at Celtic Park.
He went on to play his part in Celtic’s double mostly coming off the bench making 12 appearances in total. He also scored the winner against St. Mirren.
Most Celtic fans will be happy to see him back at Celtic and hope he can have a bigger impact this season with a full pre-season under his belt.
He is an experienced operator and hopefully he can help Celtic secure Champions League football. He has won everything there is to win in Club Football with Liverpool and played 35 times for England.
His best days maybe behind him but hopefully his best Celtic days are still ahead of him.
The game kicks off at 5pm which should give us time to dash back after the game to watch the France v Spain World Cup semi-final which kicks off at 8pm.
I am looking forward to hooking up with the usual Celtic Away Day crew for a few beers and to chat about all things Celtic.
Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast
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