Shane MacGowan was the outward symbol of what millions of people globally saw as Irishness.  He was and will forever remain at the forefront of Irish music, culture and storytelling.

From his punk days in London in the 1970s and the rise of The Pogues, to his long illness and subsequent withdrawal from public life, Shane took the torch that was passed to him from generations of Irish troubadours and used his rare abilities to reach new heights for Irish folk music.

It is almost 40 years since The Pogues debut album was released.  Red Roses for Me would be the initiation for many to the new wave Irish/Punk/Folk fusion that would allow the band to remain at the pinnacle of the music scene for over a decade and beyond.

For me, as an 8 year old growing up the youngest of 9 children in the east end of Glasgow, I can be thankful to my older siblings for introducing this music to me.  How we consume music has certainly changed in the last 40 years, but the lasting legacy of the unique style Shane had, means he along with The Pogues still list in my top 5 artists when it comes to Spotify Wrapped at the end of every year.

Shane was more than a front man.   He was a teacher, a poet, a director and a star.  He had the ability to not only paint a beautiful picture with his words, but build a set, furnish the surroundings and then make you feel like you were living and breathing every word he sang.   A one-off and a legend in his time.

His tour stories are legendary, all of his gigs memorable to anyone fortunate enough to be there.  I was too young to see The Pogues live first time around, but was lucky to see him play in and around Glasgow, including the reunion tour in 2002.   However to see to him play at the Barrowlands along with the full arrangement of musicians is a memory that will stay with me forever.

From The Pogues to The Popes, the master lyricist always produced a story that had you mesmerised from the opening chords and words.   Collaborations with Sinead O’Connor, Christy Moore, The Dubliners and Johnny Depp all broadened the appeal of the lovable rogue.

A genuine sadness hit me when I heard the sad news of Shanes passing.  So many happy memories of family gatherings and gigs, or introducing his music to my own children now.   Shane has been a staple of my music tastes for 4 decades and his gift to us will be that his music and poetic storytelling has already become part of the great Irish songbook, shared and cherished by those who knew him well, and folk like me who just connected with his music.

Christy Moore probably put it best “Fair play to you Shane MacGowan…….but you sure know how to write them boy”

I’ve been loving you a long time,

Down all the years, down all the days

And I’ve cried for all your troubles

Smiled at your funny little ways

Martin Donaldson is a Glasgow East End Bhoy,  He made my first trip to Celtic Park in 1983 for a 0-0 draw with Brechin City & thankfully that never put him off going back.   He now sits perched high in section 409 of the North Stand with his 2 kids making memories along the Celtic Way.

He loves picking out those matches from yester-year to find out much more about the legendary names & faces that have graced the Celtic Jersey over the years.  He is a keen fundraiser for The Celtic Foundation & The British Heart Foundation as they both strive to  make a difference and to change peoples lives all over the world.

The Print Edition of issue 130 is sold out but you can still download the digital edition to read more quality articles from our team of writers.

Celtic return to action after the international break with Motherwell the visitors to Celtic Park. Every Celtic fan will be hoping they can turn in a performance like the one they signed off with against Aberdeen before the players went off to play for their respective countries.

That 6-0 performance was almost perfect on the field although the noise and colour created by Ultra groups the Bhoys and the Green Brigade was sadly missed.

After the disappointment of our 6-0 hammering in Madrid it was nice to return from our travels and watch the Celtic players turn in such a positive performance and send us all home happy.

The nightmare of watching  the Spaniards after Maeda was sent off was put to the back of my memory as I left Celtic Park looking forward to watching the highlights of the game and the goals by Yang, Kyogo, Palma, Turnbull and Oh (2).

Brendan was quizzed about the Champions League at this week’s press conference but he will focus on Motherwell first.

The SPFL is our bread and butter but after the AGM financial results you would imagine that the board will back Brendan to bring in better players in January which as Brendan stated can be a tough window to shop in.

He wants to cut the squad numbers down and a number of players will have to move on.

With the Asian cup starting on the 12^th of January during the Scottish winter football shutdown. Celtic will be without key players with the final not scheduled until.

You would imagine bringing in another quality striker will be on Brendan’s mind.

While attending a music festival in Murcia, Spain at the weekend for the first time in years I listened to a Celtic game on the radio. We could not locate a bar showing the game or get it online so we enjoyed a few beers on the balcony of our hotel.

Still buzzing from the bands we had danced to at the festival the night before we settled onto the balcony to listen to the game with Packie Bonner for company on commentary. Rene my big Celtic supporting Norwegian mate joined me for the game and even brought the beers.

The usual conversation took place between us that most fans have before games when you see the team sheet. James Forest was the surprise getting a rare start on Livvy’s plastic pitch. Would there be a European hangover? Would it be another plastic pitch disappointment?

Thankfully none of the above happened and Celtic ran out 3-0 winners with 10 men after Joe Hart got sent off after Reo Hatate opened the scoring from the penalty spot. On form Matt O Riley and Daizen Maeda added to the tally.

When Hatate opened the scoring a loud roar could be heard from my fifth floor balcony only to find out that a wedding was taking place underneath us in the early afternoon sunshine. The staff gave us the signal to be quiet and we had to be a bit more reserved in our celebrations for the other 2 goals.

After the game I noticed a hooped top at the swimming pool in the distance and when I arrived down for a swim it was the famous hoops of Celtic alright. It was Jackie Stewart and his lovely wife Sandra who I had met at the Las Vegas Celtic Convention last year.

It’s a small world and if I had met Jackie before the game we could have watched the game  as he had it on his room. Celtic fans are everywhere, This is how it feels to Celtic.

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

Happy Birthday to Us

Its been 22 years today since More than 90 Minutes first went on sale outside Celtic Park. It’s been some buzz travelling up and down Scotland, Europe and beyond covering the Celtic Fans journey  following the famous Celtic FC.

There have been ups and downs along the way but we thank everybody who has bought a copy, subscribed to the fanzine or sponsored us from 2001 to the present day. Special mention to the ground sellers from over the decades who stood in all weathers selling the fanzine before and after games.

To everybody who contributed articles we thank you for making the fanzine what it is today as we work on issue 129. Fan media has changed a lot since then and we have had to follow kicking and screaming into the digital age but with your support we are still able to put out the print edition against the odds.

THANK YOU

On Tuesday night we faced Feyenoord for the first time competitively since that night in Milan in 1970. It’s a different world especially in football since those halcyon days of the early ‘70’s. We were European giants whereas the Dutch were an unknown quality probably the reverse of 3 years previously when we were the unknown against the illustrious Italian giants Inter.

I was 16 back in those far off days, working in a city centre bar as the conflict overwhelmed us all in Belfast. I had been at the Benfica game in November (my first game) when we hammered the Eagles of Lisbon 3-0 in front of 76,000, then Fiorentina in March 3-0 again 75.000  and of course the semi v ‘Super’ Leeds at Hampden with a record 136,505 crowd driving the Celts on to a 2-1 victory.

I was enjoying this European gig and planned to head to Milan for the final but that was easier said than done. First of all my pay was £5 a week and flights were crazy when you think that Michael O’Leary can get us to Milan for €20 now. But dreams are what makes life an interesting journey.

We had an eclectic cohort drinking in the bar just off the city centre. It was close to the Republican Markets area so a big cohort were from that area but we also had a trendy cohort who frequented the upstairs lounge which had photos of Al Capone on the walls and fake Thompson submachine guns, as Billy Connolly would say, ‘ffs this is Belfast they sell Bomber jackets in the shops’.

The most interesting cohort drank in the wee snugs in the back bar, they were all older shipyard workers and always spent Friday evenings on pay day there for a few pints of ‘Single X’, a Belfast delicacy of cheap Guinness.

The most amazing fact about these guys was that they were all Linfield and Rangers fans but I never once sensed a bigot among them. Once they heard I wanted to go to Milan they said they would have a whip round to help with the flight. It was a lovely gesture which I’ve always appreciated but between the jigs and reels I didn’t make it to the final but that didn’t reflect negatively on the generosity from those old guys who probably all passed away long ago.

As for the final itself we all know the story, we went in overwhelmingly favourites but didn’t turn up on the night not only on the pitch but on the terraces. Well we turned up as always 20,000 Celtic fans but the Dutch drowned us out with their bloody horns which was all you could hear.

Celtic played as bad as possible but almost made it to a replay and we would never have played as bad again. But it wasn’t to be, big Gemmell opened the scoring and became part of a unique cohort to score in 2 finals. Feyenoord equalised through Rinus Israel and while out played the Celts held on until almost the end of extra time when Ove Kindval scored the winner.

To be honest we didn’t deserve to win but if 5 or 6 players have an off day it can happen. The Dutch victory put them on the European map and Cruyff and Ajax won the next 3 titles, it was the era of ‘total football’. 8 months later I did see Feyenoord in the flesh as Celtic played in a friendly at Hampden and I witnessed this ‘total football’ in the flesh. It was awesome stuff instead of mad British football booting the ball up the field it was modern football but back in the 70’s.

The big keeper out to Wim Van Hanegan, he passed it square to his left back, forward then to Wim Jansen who broke the 10 for the bears years later. It was intricate football and beautiful to watch and Ajax would show that for the next 3 years.

53 years have passed since that night in Milan and Scottish and Dutch football have suffered in the modern era being from small countries. The big 5 countries have tapped into serious financial sponging and we just can’t compete. It’s unfair but it is what it is.

On Tuesday night we played Feyenoord, we have a chance until the sending’s off put paid to any chance of a point in what was a 50/50 game of football.

I was at the Ireland v Holland game last week in Dublin, we had a chance, the Dutch are not world beaters now. Same as this group in this season’s CL we have a chance. I suggest it’s the easiest group if that’s not a contradiction in Europe but there’s none of the super heavyweights and we can take 9 points from the 3 home games and maybe something away from home in the remaining two games.

Paddy McMenamin was born in Belfast with Donegal and Tyrone parents. He spent the 70’s in Long Kesh. He has been going to Paradise since the Benfica game in Nov. 1969. He lived in Donegal for 30 years but now lives in Galway. He returned to University at 50 and became a secondary school teacher of history and English.