Author Archives: celtic

Voice of the Fans: Exhibition

A free exhibition at Leeds Central Library, Voice of the Fans invites you to explore over 60 years of fan-made media, from the collections of the British Library and Leeds Libraries, that has defined the beautiful game starts today 09 May and runs till Sunday 10 August.

Dive into the world of fanzines including Leeds United powerhouse The Square Ball, the global When Saturday Comes, the long-running City Gent, and the imaginatively titled War of the Monster Trucks – each brimming with unique perspectives, humour and passion. Discover how football zines were a vehicle for building communities, sparking change and amplifying voices in the fight against racism and homophobia, while championing women’s football and grassroots action.

Born out of the DIY ethos of the music and punk scenes, the raw creativity of football zines remains inspiring and relevant in today’s global game. The exhibition showcases fan-driven creativity from the UK and Ireland, and features some of the longest running and most influential football zines, alongside stories of well-known names who started their careers writing for these grassroots publications.

HOW WE LAUGHED AND SANG…….

How we laughed and sang “Simply the Best” as the Celtic players ran out at Ibrox last Sunday at lunchtime. The rangers fans were raging not only were we back inside their ground we were taking the piss out of them before a ball was kicked. Tina Turner would be proud.

Celtic fans were in early for the return to Ibrox for the first time in a while. There is a lot of debate on if the game should be played at both Ibrox and Celtic Park in front of the home fans only. I know it gives more Celtic fans a chance to get a ticket and watch the Glasgow Derby when they come across the city but for me I’m glad away fans have returned to the fixture. Football without fans!

It was great to see the Irish flag flying high as the rangers fans arrived into the ground. The flag of the country of our founding fathers flying proudly over at their place brought a smile to my face as it did earlier in the season when the Bilboa fans brought tri-colours into Ibrox before knocking them out of Europe and ending their season early.

There would be no guard of honour from the home side which I did not expect and to be honest I think guards of honour between bitter rivals are a loud of me bollix. Football is tribal in the city I would not like to see Celtic giving them a guard of honour if the shoe was on the other foot. Sadly an empty bottle of Buckfast was hurled onto the pitch aimed at a Celtic player. We also had a Celtic fan mocking the Ibrox disaster which is sad and not very clever!

On the pitch Adam Idah missed a great chance in front of goal before the rangers went up the park straight away and scored on the stroke of halftime. Idah redeemed himself in the second half by equalising and getting to celebrate the goal twice after it went to VAR.

If Daizen Maeda squares the ball to second half substitution Johnny Kenny and he puts it in the back of the net he would have become a hero of Tony Watt status but our player of year opted to go it alone and we left with a share of the spoils with trophy day to look forward to and that cup final at Hampden against Aberdeen with a treble up for grabs.

This weekend we are back in Glasgow to see Celtic take on Hibs who sit in third place and if they had not had such a bad start they could be sitting in second place ahead of the rangers who have not won at home in 7 games which I am told is a record one they are not proud of while Celtic hold records for being the most successful football club ever and they did it without cheating tax payers.

CELTIC SOUL PODCAST – George Baker FC United of Manchester

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine Editor, Andrew Milne chats to George Baker about FC United of Manchester 20 years after the foundation of the football club.

The club set up in protest to Malcolm Glazer’s takeover of Manchester United’ is a statement often used to describe FC United. But while there is no doubt that FC would not have happened without the American invasion, it was the catalyst, the final straw, but not the sole reason.

The material theft of a Manchester institution, forcibly taken from the people of Manchester, was the tip of a pyramid of destruction, with changing kick off times for the benefit of television, soulless all-seater stadia full of ‘new’ supporters intent to sit back and watch rather than partake in the occasion, heavy handed stewarding and ridiculously priced tickets propping it all up. By May 2005 some supporters had had enough.

The failure to prevent Glazer and repeat the successful repulsion of Rupert Murdoch in 1998 resurrected a ‘last resort’ idea from that previous campaign and the FC United wheels were put in motion.

A group of individuals determined to continue the fight formed a steering committee and FC United of Manchester was delivered. Critics of the idea argued that if supporters were disgruntled with the Premiership then why didn’t they go and support other local cash-strapped clubs instead of setting up their own? But that wouldn’t have been theirs would it? It wouldn’t have been United and it wouldn’t have been right to takeover another club after they had just been taken over themselves.

Nor could they drift off in various directions and be lost to each other and maybe football forever. They wanted to maintain the momentum of the protest, to stick together, to sing United songs, to reminisce and bring back the good bits of the good old days.

They wanted Our Club, Our Rules and they got just that, a member owned democratic, not-for-profit organisation created by Manchester United fans. A club accessible to all of the Greater Manchester community, dedicated to encouraging participation of youth whether it be playing or supporting and to providing affordable football for all.

55 YEP SIMPLY THE BEST

Ibrox will once again have some green and white on display on Sunday when Celtic fans return to a ground known to many as Castle Grey skull. One thing that will be missing from the ground will be silverware after the rangers failed to win trophies and the highlight of their season was celebrating a draw in Aberdeen as Celtic fans waited to celebrate being crowned Champions.

Those same fans are boasting about going for a treble (of wins over Celtic) but it is our bhoys who are going for a real treble. There will be no guard of honour for the Champions of Scotland but the rangers fans have promised to sing “Simply the Best” when the champions take to the field.

Brendan Rodgers had his poker face on at the press conference ahead of the game and is looking for the players to get a win against the rangers after the bitter disappointment of the last two games against them. On current form Celtic should be favourites even though they are missing a number of players including Jota who could be out for up to 9 months with the injury he picked up at Tannadice.

Celtic turned in an excellent performance last weekend and everyone enjoyed the celebrations that followed in Dundee, outside Celtic Park and in pubs and clubs around the globe. Although the business is done in the SPFL we all know the importance of burying the rangers and seeing off yet another rangers manager who has once again failed.

Their fans are waiting for the 49’s to arrive and pump some money into the club to try and compete with Celtic. And with this I mind I am sure Brendan Rodgers has identified players he would like to bring in during the summer after hopefully delivering another treble to Celtic Park. From a position of strength the club must back the manager to make sure that we are competitive once again in Europe and remain the dominant force in Scotland.

After tomorrow the rangers fans will watch the rest of their poor season play out while we as Celtic fans look forward to another Cup Final at Hampden.

Competition for Starting Places is Hotting Up

Last Sunday at Hampden Park, Celtic took another step towards a possible treble with a five star performance. St. Johnstone shocked us a few weeks back on their home pitch with 1-0 win to send us all down the road very annoyed. Brendan Rodgers also spoke after the game on how poor the team were that day.

He made some changes against Kilmarnock and again left some big names on the bench in the National Stadium at the weekend. St. Johnstone held out for 33 minutes before man of the match Callum McGregor opened the scoring and opened the flood gates before half time with another 3 goals, 2 from Maeda and one from Idah.

Second half Sub, Jota scored on the 67 minute to remind the manager that he is still a man for the big occasion. Celtic’s bench had a strong look about it and competition for starting places is hotting up ahead of the remaining league games and a return to Hampden for a Cup Final against Aberdeen.

First up it is Dundee United who have gone about their business quietly this season and are fighting for a European place. Celtic need a point to secure the title on Saturday at Tannadice.

Supporters buses will be packed for the journey up the road and Celtic fans will be watching around the globe hoping to see the Bhoys secure 55 League titles before another revenge mission to a trophyless Ibrox the following week.

The game will give some Celtic players a chance to redeem themselves after losing both home and away in the last two fixtures and it will also see Celtic fans return to Ibrox.

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

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine Issue 137

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine Issue 137 is now on sale in both print and digital format.

Order your copy by clicking the image of the Maeda inspired cover as he continues his great form up front or on the wing. He has scored over 30 goals this season can he hit the 40 mark before the end of the season?

Things are settling down now at More than 90 Minutes HQ as we head into the business end of the season after a hectic period of travelling to two games a week following Celtic throughout Scotland and Europe. The crew also travelled to Thailand to host the Celtic Supporters festival in Bangkok and Hua Hin.

Inside another packed 48 page issue of the fanzine. Paddy McMenamin looks back at the recent rangers game and celebrating St. Patricks Day in Glasgow. Paddy pays tribute to former Celtic goalkeeper Evan Williams who sadly passed away earlier this year and looks at the recent treatment the Green Brigade received before the rangers game by the Police.

Eoin Coyne reflects back on recent performances the good and the bad. Liam Kelly writes about the atmosphere at the recent away trip to St. Johnstone. Martin Donaldson reviews “And if you know your History’ the latest comic play from Jim Orr at a sold out Websters Theatre in Glasgow.

Regulars Rachel Lynch, Tim Molloy and Lisbon Lion John Fallon give their opinion on all things Celtic and guest columnist Dr. David Murray looks back at the career of Celtic hero Ronnie Simpson. Michael Pringle pens his away day to Birmingham for Celtic’s Champions League clash against Aston Villa.

CELTIC SOUL PODCAST – In Conversation with Didier Agathe

Former Celtic Player Didier Agathe joins Andrew Milne on the Celtic Soul Podcast to chat about his Football Academy in Bangkok, his faith after being told he would never play football again and the journey he took which would lead him to Glasgow.

He talks about training on his own for 3 months in a park and sleeping in his car before finally getting Celtic to offer him a permanent contract after stints at Raith Rovers and Hibs. After he signed Martin O’Neill asked him to sit in an empty Celtic Park on his own for half an hour while Eyal Berkovic told him he would never play for Celtic.

Martin O’Neill knew better and he became a big part of that famous team that won a treble in his first season, gave us some memorable nights in the Champions League and took us on the road to Seville.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES

What a difference a week makes in football. Celtic bounced back last Saturday from the shock defeat away at St. Johnstone with a dominant 5-1 win over Kilmarnock at Celtic Park. The Celtic players have been accused of starting too slow in recent games but they came out of the traps quickly in the lunchtime kick off.

As expected Brendan Rodgers shuffled the pack and dropped a number of players who had under performed in Perth v St. Johnstone in came Idah, Scales, Forest and Taylor  and out went Jota, Kuhn, Trusty and Schlup. We had plenty to cheer about in the stands Maeda, CCV, Hatate (Twice) and substitute Ralston had us off our seats on 5 occasions.

Kasper was back at Celtic Park in the main stand watching the team take another giant step towards title number 55 and 4IAR. Reo’s first goal & CCV goal could be contenders for goal of the season. Both were crackers and were talked about later that night as we hosted the More than 90 Minutes Annual Charity Dinner in Glasgow. A big shout out to everyone who joined us on the night.

At half time it was 4-1 and the job was done the second half failed to live up to the excitement of the first half but it was great to see Tony Ralston getting a late goal to put the cherry on the top of the cake after a very pleasant early afternoon in the East End of the city.

The split fixtures should were announced earlier in the week and the champagne is on ice for the celebrations in the green half of Glasgow and throughout the Celtic supporting World. The rangers getting knocked out of the Europa League to our Basque friends in Bilboa brought a smile to all our faces. The Blue room is bare cause there are no trophies there!

This weekend however it is mission revenge when we head to Hampden Park on Sunday to take on St. Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-final a win will go some way to banish the memory of the shock defeat in the League and keep us dreaming of another treble.

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

CELTIC SOUL PODCAST| Matt, Milish, Maeda & all things Celtic

Matt McGlone from the Alternative View joined Milish to talk about the impact Maeda has had this season at Celtic and to talk all things Celtic including looking back at the recent Hearts and the rangers games and preview the weekends game in Perth v St. Johnstone and the welcome away ticket allocation.

Matt always shares a few gems from his time supporting Celtic on the podcast and this episode is no different when he tells the tale of a chance meeting with Rangers captain Richard Gough at Selhurst Park in London with the League Trophy after Celtic stopped the blue half of Glasgow doing 10IAR.

The Bhoys also share stories about club legend Billy McNeill and remember Evan Williams who sadly passed away recently.