After a sunshine filled trip to Cork. Brendan Rodgers and the players move on to Portugal to continue the preparation for the start of the competitive season against St. Mirren on Sunday 03 August when the Champions Flag will once again be raised before the kick off to the new season.

This Saturday July 12 Celtic will take on Estrela da Amadoro behind closed doors. It will be the third game of the pre-season after they kicked off with 1-0 win over Queens Park and a 2-1 win over Cork City. Players who were away on international duty after the Scottish Cup Final and have yet to feature this pre-season will play some part in the game according to the manager.

Nicknamed the Tricolours, CF Estrela hail from Amadoro  Northwest of Lisbon and are only 5 years old. They play in the Primeira Liga after winning promotion from Liga Portugal 2 in 2022/23. They finished 15^th last season in a league of 18.

The only way to watch the game is on Celtic TV who will live screen the build up from 10am and kick off time of 11AM.

https://celticfc.tv/pricing

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes and host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

If like me you arrived in Cork on Tuesday afternoon you could be forgiven for thinking that Celtic were playing in a Champions League summer qualifier. Celtic were in the city not for a competitive game but for a pre-season friendly.

The trains from early morning from Dublin on match day had a fair amount of Celtic supporters on route to the Rebel County. Cork natives were still in celebration mode after reaching the All Ireland Hurling final on Sunday after they beat Dublin in Croke Park.

I arrived into the city on the train in the early afternoon on a sweltering hot day. Celtic fans packed many of the city centre bars and no matter what street you turned onto you met Celtic fans sporting the famous hooped shirts of Glasgow’s finest.

I made my way to the Gallows Bar with a few refreshment stops on the way meeting up with some familiar faces from our travels over the years. The Gallows was packed when we arrived and it was great to finally meet up with the Ratton brothers from Sunderland who have been great supporters over the years to both the fanzine and the podcast.

 

I jumped on Cork No.1 Pat Glavin 1888 CSC bus to the game and although I knew there were plenty of Celtic fans in the city it wasn’t until we got to the stadium that I realised just how many were attending the game. There was a sea of supporters walking to the ground for the 6pm kick off.

The stadium is a fine one and it was nice to be back on a terrace watching Celtic. The Celtic team had a familiar look to it in the first half and in the second half it was a much more experimental side. The promoters of the Event had used local bhoy, Adam Idah as the poster boy for the game billed as the Cork Super Cup but he did not play any part in the game.

After the game which Celtic won 2-1, it was back to the Gallows for a few pints of Murphys Stout and a ballad session before catching a night bus home. I arrived home tired at 4am after another great day following the famous Glasgow Celtic. Next stop Portugal.

A full away days article will appear in the next issue of the fanzine and we will get some of the pictures of the trip up on the socials.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes and Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

We are back on the road on today as we head off on our first away day of the season to Cork for Celtic’s second pre-season friendly of the season. Friendly games are not for everyone but there does seem to be plenty of interest in this one and Celtic fans are already in the Rebel County enjoying the local hospitality.

For fans not travelling the game will be shown live on Celtic TV. The game kicks off at the unusual time of 6pm. Celtic kicked off the season with a 1-0 win over Queens Park on Friday on what was a sad day for the Celtic family with the funeral of Celtic Legend John Clarke taking place earlier in the day.

We are still in the middle of Summer music festivals and large outdoor concerts planned over the next few months. It has been bands like Kneecap and Oasis who have been hitting the headlines with the World Club championships not really capturing the imagination of the public. The Man City supporting Gallagher brothers have even been the inspiration for the latest cover of the Celtic View.

Staying on a Manchester theme the Celtic FC Foundation have announced a Legends game between Man United and Celtic at Celtic Park The match will take place over the international break on Saturday, September 6, 2025, KO is 2pm

Celtic have been working quietly over the summer months and have signed a number of players while Scott Bain and Greg Taylor have left the club with a few others lined up for farewell social media messages. In so far are  Kierian Tierney, Ross Doohan, Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmand and Hayato Inamura.

I am sure I will bump into some of our readers in Cork. Safe travels to all. We’re on the road again and no doubt the conversation of those travelling will be based around the latest signing at Celtic.

Tickets still available corksupercup.com/tickets

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes and host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

As another week comes to an end lets take a look at what has happened in and around Celtic Park. The week started with the sad news on Monday that Celtic Legend John Clarke had passed away. Tributes to the Lisbon Lion flooded in from Celtic fans, players and managers past and present in both the main stream media and across social media.

On Tuesday Celtic announced the full pre-season schedule with tickets details for home and away games.

Shaun Maloney was appointed on Wednesday as the club’s new Professional Player Pathway Manager and Celtic’s Woman’s team fixtures were announced they will face Hearts in the opening game of the season.

Friday saw Celtic release a new third jersey which was met with a mixed response from Celtic fans. The Celtic players returned for their summer break for pre-season training and Benjamin Nygren finally signed on the dotted line to become Celtic’s third signing of the summer.

On Saturday Irish Celtic fans hosted Celts By the Sea in Cork and welcomed Chris Sutton to the rebel county for a Celtic Foundation fundraiser.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Former Rangers Chairman and Owner David Murray is trying to rewrite the part he played in his beloved Rangers going bust and out of business. He is laying blame at others doors as he tries to wipe the slate clean.

He has a new book out and is on the media trail promoting the publication titled “Mettle: Tragedy, Courage and Titles”. In recent interviews he has blamed Craig Whyte whom he sold the club for £1.

Sir David as he likes to be called, presided over Ibrox when the club gave £47m in tax-free loans to players and staff between 2001 and 2010. Under Mr Whyte’s ownership Rangers went into liquidation in 2012 – a year after the sale.

He is also blaming the Bank for having the cheek to call in the loans and he also holds Celtic chairman, Peter Lawell responsible for the demise of Rangers by having too much power and influence in Scottish Football.

All was not lost for fans of Rangers they were able to follow a new team, who would still play in blue and play at Ibrox. Following Rangers’ liquidation, a new company, Sevco Scotland Ltd (later renamed The Rangers Football Club Ltd), was formed to acquire the club’s assets and continue its operations.

This new entity, with Charles Green at the helm, was initially admitted to the Scottish Football League’s Third Division (the fourth tier). Rangers successfully navigated their way back up the leagues, achieving promotion to the top flight in 2016 and winning their first Scottish Premiership title in 2021 since the formation of the new club.

The blame is Murray’s to own no matter what way he tries to spin it and he must be hurting so much seeing how well Celtic has been run since the takeover by Fergus McCann in 1994. Fergus and the Celtic fans who unlike Murray and the Rangers fans were not prepared to see their club go out of business insuring Celtic’s famous history continues unbroken.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

Yesterday we heard the news that John Clark had passed away and soon after tributes started to appear across the media and on the socials. John done it all at Celtic, A Lisbon Lion he is a true legend of our club.

I met John over the years in the corridors of the main stand at Celtic Park and at supporters functions. He was always very humble, a great ambassador of Celtic and a gentleman.

I have been lucky to interview a number of the Lisbon Lions but never had the pleasure of sitting down with John. Of all the tributes I read yesterday the one that stood out for me was from Simon Donnelly.

“Football has afforded me the opportunity to meet many people over the years however I need to say a few words about one in particular.

John Clark , Lisbon Lion , 🍀

Such a positive influence on my life from being my kit man , he was far more than that , till recent times being the friendly face welcoming me back into Celtic Park 2017 with the other lads when I returned to do a little work at the club . 

He always looked out for you……..

A quiet man whom I heard earlier Martin O’Neill say , “ he liked to speak with his hands” ☺️but respect was shown from every player and member of staff in my time at the club , a Lisbon Lion of course but probably more than that , the man he was . 

My favourite recollection, when Harald scored that all important 2nd goal in 98 I jumped on his back in celebration. 

Clarky , you’ll be sorely missed 🍀 🙏🏻💚”

Simon during his time at Celtic won the Cup, League Cup and League with Celtic in the 1990’s and I think we were all jumping for joy when Harald scored the second goal in 1998 to stopping Rangers doing 10.

John Clarkes achievements at Celtic make impressive reading

European Cup

• 1966-67

Scottish League

• 1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70,
  1970-71

Scottish Cup

• 1965, 1967, 1969

Scottish League Cup

• 1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70

In the words of the great man from a quote taken from 2014

“I was a Celtic supporter, a Celtic player, it’s been my life… I’ve really enjoyed my life, when I look back I couldn’t ask for any more.“ 
John Clark

Rip Luggie

Happy Birthday Willie Wallace 85 years young today. Lisbon Lion & Celtic Legend