I had often been told by people who should have known better that Rangers = Scotland = blue as distinct from Celtic = Ireland = green, and, as I was young, I almost believed that. That is until the events of April 1961 when Scotland went down 3-9 to England at Wembley – and how the Rangers fans rejoiced!

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The goalkeeper, you see, was Celtic’s Frank Haffey and he was a convenient man to blame for it all! They had been hurting for three and a half years and were generally unable to deal with the chants of “Seven past Niven” with reference to the Scottish League Cup final of 1957, and now at last they had their revenge. They could chant “Nine past Haffey” “Haffey Nine” or simply the inane “Haffey! Haffey! Haffey!”. Oh, it must have been great to be a Rangers supporter at Wembley that day!

Unfortunately, they ignored two rather major obstacles to their glee. One was that the nine goals were scored by Englishmen, not Celtic players, and the other was that the two Scotland full backs that day were Bobby Shearer and Eric Caldow who both played for – er – Rangers!

Jokes circulated that the ball was orange in colour, so that Haffey and McNeill were afraid of it, and Shearer and Caldow didn’t want to kick it in case they hurt it! The blame for this Scottish disaster – well up there beside Culloden and Flodden – must be shared!

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Football can be cruel some times, but as for Frank, he had to bounce back. He really didn’t do himself any favours by allowing someone to take his picture at a railway station on platform 9, so that 9 appeared above his head, but it was often forgotten that in last year’s game at Hampden, he had actually saved a penalty!

He never played for Scotland again, and it would have to be said that his performances for Celtic were often a matter of some argument and dispute on the buses or trains home. Eleven days after the Wembley game, he was playing in the Scottish Cup final replay against Dunfermline, and a piece of sloppy goalkeeping gave away the second goal. One could argue that the game had gone by that time anyway for it was in the last minute, but it was in rather sharp contrast to Eddie Connachan in the Pars’ goal who was inspired that night – and being inspired, he became lucky as well! Eddie, like several others in the Dunfermline team, was apparently a Celtic supporter and of course their Manager was a fellow called Jock Stein.

Two years later, his goalkeeping earned Celtic a replay against Rangers. A little luck and more confident finishing might have even earned Celtic a win over Rangers who were a better side, but the Sunday papers that day were full of headlines like “Franktastic!” and “Fearless Frank” but the replay saw normal service resumed and a dispirited Celtic team well beaten. Frank was possibly to blame for at least two of the goals, but some newspapers also said that he did well to prevent double figures, so inept were the rest of the team.

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The following season saw a pantomime at the end of October. Celtic recovered from their awful start, and on the same day as Rangers were winning the Scottish League Cup, were beating Airdrie 9-0. They were awarded a penalty which they hardly needed, and in response to the chants of the crowd, Frank was allowed to take it – and duly missed it – but applauded the Airdrie goalkeeper before charging back up the field to his own goal!

A couple of weeks after this, he had the misfortune to break his ankle in Glasgow Cup game at Partick Thistle, which effectively ended his Celtic career for John Fallon now took over, and Frank eventually left for Swindon Town and eventually Australia.

Arguably, a better singer than a goalkeeper, Frank released several records like “The Dear Little Shamrock” and “Slattery’s Mounted Fut”, and he certainly tried to make Celtic supporters like him. Sadly, although he had many fine games for the club, he lacked the one quality that goalkeepers always need, namely reliability. It was a pity, for we wanted him to do well!

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Born in 1948, David Potter first saw Celtic at Dens Park, Dundee in March 29. It was a 3-5 defeat, which equipped him admirably for the horrors of the early 1960’s. He had “followed” Celtic for a few years before that and recalls having been called upon to impersonate Jock Stein and receive the family silver teapot which had to do for the Scottish Cup as it was presented on April 24 1954, after he and his father had spent a nerve wracking afternoon listening to the radio!  Since then, he has “followed” every Celtic game with bated breath, and has written extensively about the club in magazines and books. His favorite team was that of 1969 (which he rates marginally better than 1967) and his favorite player was Henrik Larsson.

His ambition for Celtic is for them to keep on winning silver in Scotland and to be something in Europe once again. His other interests are cricket and drama. He is 70, a retired teacher of Classical Languages, married with three children and five grandchildren. He now travels on the Joseph Rafferty bus from Kirkcaldy. He also loves Forfar Athletic.

If you would like to support our Independent Celtic Fan Media Platform you can become a Member, Subscribe, Buy or Donate for the Price of a Pint. Your Support helps us continue to produce Daily News & Articles, Weekly Newsletter, Two Weekly Podcasts, Monthly Fanzine, Video Content & Live Shows.

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More than 90 Minutes Issue 112 Digital Edition

 

 

 

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine Issue 112 Digital edition is now uploaded to the members area for all subscribers to download and read.https://celticfanzine.com/product/more-than-90-minutes-issue-111-ezine/

The Legendary Bertie Auld graces the cover of the new edition of More than 90 Minutes as we enter our 20^th year of publishing the fanzine. The cover picture shows Bertie with his hand raised with clenched fist after Celtic beat Rangers 4-0 in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final. Our regular columnist, John Fallon was outstanding between the sticks that day and there is no better man to write about our cover story than Celtic Historian David Potter.

More than 90 Minutes Issue 112 Digital Edition

 

As 2020 came to a close we pay tribute to a great supporter of Celtic and indeed our little publication, John Wilkes after his sudden and sad passing before Christmas. John lived for family, friends and football. We also pay tribute to former Celtic player, Tommy Docherty and the greatest of them all Diego Maradona.

Former Celtic player Dougie McGuire joins Spanish based Celtic fan and author, Scotty Alcroft in conversation while Eire Go Brach CSC member and home and away days regular, Michael McGurk is our Fan in Focus.

As mentioned above Celtic Legend, John Fallon is back with his no holds barred column on all things Celtic. Trust me age has not mellowed the Original Holy Goalie who has seen and done it all from childhood Celtic fan to an amazing medal haul in the most famous Celtic team of all time before playing against Celtic for Motherwell and then returning to Celtic Park as a fan once again.

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With tensions running high among Celtic fans with all that’s going on at Celtic on and off the park, Glasgow based columnist, Mick Kane writes about how The Celtic support have brought about a change of regime before and can do it again.

Dublin based columnist Eoin Coyne asks questions on what has gone wrong as the title looks to have been handed to the Rangers without little resistance by the New Year in what should be a historical season and the one that delivered the 10IAR. While fellow Dub, Ciaran Kenny looks back at a Cup Final like no other and the remarkable Quadruple Treble.

Celtic Author, Liam Kelly writes about the Donegal field that has become a Celtic landmark while Potters Player features Jamie Weir and Paddy McMenamin looks back at the Ibrox Disaster.

Plus, all the regulars including Editors Desk, Since Last Time, Snap and Tim Molloy.

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If you would like to support our Independent Celtic Fan Media Platform you can become a Member, Subscribe, Buy or Donate for the Price of a Pint. Your Support helps us continue to produce Daily News & Articles, Weekly Newsletter, Two Weekly Podcasts, Monthly Fanzine, Video Content & Live Shows.

https://celticfanzine.com/join-us/

https://celticfanzine.com/product-category/monthly-print-subscription/

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Pre-Order More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine Issue 112 and we will stcik it in the post once it lands at HQ from the printers.

The Legendary Bertie Auld graces the cover of the new edition of More than 90 Minutes as we enter our 20^th year of publishing the fanzine. The cover picture shows Bertie with his hand raised with clenched fist after Celtic beat Rangers 4-0 in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final. Our regular columnist, John Fallon was outstanding between the sticks that day and there is no better man to write about our cover story than Celtic Historian David Potter.

PRE ORDER More than 90 Minutes Issue 112 Print Edition

As 2020 came to a close we pay tribute to a great supporter of Celtic and indeed our little publication, John Wilkes after his sudden and sad passing before Christmas. John lived for family, friends and football. We also pay tribute to former Celtic player, Tommy Docherty and the greatest of them all Diego Maradona.

Former Celtic player Dougie McGuire joins Spanish based Celtic fan and author, Scotty Alcroft in conversation while Eire Go Brach CSC member and home and away days regular, Michael McGurk is our Fan in Focus.

As mentioned above Celtic Legend, John Fallon is back with his no holds barred column on all things Celtic. Trust me age has not mellowed the Original Holy Goalie who has seen and done it all from childhood Celtic fan to an amazing medal haul in the most famous Celtic team of all time before playing against Celtic for Motherwell and then returning to Celtic Park as a fan once again.

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With tensions running high among Celtic fans with all that’s going on at Celtic on and off the park, Glasgow based columnist, Mick Kane writes about how The Celtic support have brought about a change of regime before and can do it again.

Dublin based columnist Eoin Coyne asks questions on what has gone wrong as the title looks to have been handed to the Rangers without little resistance by the New Year in what should be a historical season and the one that delivered the 10IAR. While fellow Dub, Ciaran Kenny looks back at a Cup Final like no other and the remarkable Quadruple Treble.

Celtic Author, Liam Kelly writes about the Donegal field that has become a Celtic landmark while Potters Player features Jamie Weir and Paddy McMenamin looks back at the Ibrox Disaster.

Plus, all the regulars including Editors Desk, Since Last Time, Snap and Tim Molloy.

Annual Magazine Subscription

If you would like to support our Independent Celtic Fan Media Platform you can become a Member, Subscribe, Buy or Donate for the Price of a Pint. Your Support helps us continue to produce Daily News & Articles, Weekly Newsletter, Two Weekly Podcasts, Monthly Fanzine, Video Content & Live Shows.

https://celticfanzine.com/join-us/

https://celticfanzine.com/product-category/monthly-print-subscription/

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It was May 22 1943. Even in the depths of war, a hint of optimism was now in the air. Rommel’s Afrika Korps had surrendered in their thousands to the Desert Army a couple of weeks ago at Cape Bon in Tunisia. Hitler had now sustained two body blows – the loss of his Afrika Korps and his 6th Army at Stalingrad earlier in the year. Rumours spread round Glasgow that he and that jackal Mussolini were about to surrender. Sadly no, the war still had two awful and bloody years to run, but there was now little doubt about who was going to win.

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And things looked good for Celtic as well. Following an abysmally bad League campaign and an equally bad Southern League Cup, the team had rallied a little, and having defeated Queen’s Park and Clyde convincingly in the Glasgow Charity Cup, they were now facing Third Lanark in the final. It would be nice to win something, would it not? The fans had stayed loyal through some incredibly difficult times, and they deserved something.

The weather? We don’t really know because war time newspapers are reluctant to say anything about the weather lest it gave the enemy vital information!  They did tell us however that 25,000 turned up at Hampden to see Miller, Hogg and Dorran; Lynch, McLaughlin and Corbett; Delaney McPhail, Rae, McGinley and Long take on Third Lanark’s McBride, Peat and Rennie; Blair, Currie and Kelly; Gould, Mason, Connor, Fitzsimmons and Cairns. The referee was Bobby Calder of Rutherglen, a man who in later years would become a legendary scout for Aberdeen. Most unusually for war-time, manager McStay had managed to field the same team two weeks in a row. No sudden emergencies, and the trains managed to deliver everyone on time!

A feature of the crowd was its diversity. Englishmen, Americans, exiled Poles, Frenchmen, Belgians, Dutchmen were there, some of them curious to learn about the Scottish obsession with football, others there to see this famous Celtic team who used to be regarded as the best in the world, but who had now fallen on bad times. Celtic supporters were there with their favours and rosettes even though with war-time transport being so sporadic and unreliable, there were not quite as many there as one would have expected in peace time. But, although there was no live radio commentary today, the players were well aware that the result would be awaited with bated breath in many parts of the world – in Cairo, Tunis, India and on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was maybe “just” the Glasgow Charity Cup, but it meant an awful lot to the war-weary, the wounded and homesick.

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It is in the nature of war-time football that a player has a brief moment of glory then disappears again. In 1940 George Gillan won the Glasgow Cup and then disappeared. Today it was the turn of Charlie McGinlay. He had joined the club a couple of months ago, had failed to impress hitherto, but today he scored two fine goals on either side of half time and then Hugh Long scored a third. Hugh Long, like Charlie McGinlay, is hardly one of the all-time Parkhead greats, but he did play for Clyde for a long time after the war. Third Lanark were handicapped by the loss of their captain John Blair to an ankle injury, but they would have been well beaten anyway. There was one player of genuine Celtic class on the field that day – and that was the immortal Jimmy Delaney. The others were honest journeymen who tried hard and worked well and today was simply one of those very few and rare war-time days when it all came off for Celtic. Jimmy McStay had a moment of glory.

No great indications of dancing in the streets of the Gorbals to celebrate this one – the times were simply not conducive – but no doubt a few supporters permitted themselves a smile, a “wee hauf” and a chorus or two of “Erin’s Green Valleys”. It was a actually a record breaking occasion, for Celtic had now won the Glasgow Charity Cup 24 times, once more than Rangers. There was a moment of comedy and embarrassment as well. The trophy was to be presented at the City Chambers a few days later, but Rangers, last season’s holders, sent the wrong trophy! They sent the Glasgow Cup, not the Glasgow Charity Cup!  It was, I suppose, an “honest mistake” (to coin a phrase) and. to their credit, they did apologise!

The 1943 season had not yet ended, however. There was still the Summer Cup. Those, however, who might have hoped to see a permanent turn in the affairs of Celtic at this point would be doomed to disappointment. The war news was good, nevertheless in 1943. By the time the new season began in August, Sicily was more or less in Allied hands, and it was only a matter of time before Italy itself would be invaded.

Born in 1948, David Potter first saw Celtic at Dens Park, Dundee in March 29. It was a 3-5 defeat, which equipped him admirably for the horrors of the early 1960’s. He had “followed” Celtic for a few years before that and recalls having been called upon to impersonate Jock Stein and receive the family silver teapot which had to do for the Scottish Cup as it was presented on April 24 1954, after he and his father had spent a nerve wracking afternoon listening to the radio!  Since then, he has “followed” every Celtic game with bated breath, and has written extensively about the club in magazines and books. His favorite team was that of 1969 (which he rates marginally better than 1967) and his favorite player was Henrik Larsson.

More than 90 Minutes Issue 111 Ezine

His ambition for Celtic is for them to keep on winning silver in Scotland and to be something in Europe once again. His other interests are cricket and drama. He is 70, a retired teacher of Classical Languages, married with three children and five grandchildren. He now travels on the Joseph Rafferty bus from Kirkcaldy. He also loves Forfar Athletic.

f you would like to support our Independent Celtic Fan Media Platform you can become a Member, Subscribe, Buy or Donate for the Price of a Pint. Your Support helps us continue to produce Daily News & Articles, Weekly Newsletter, Two Weekly Podcasts, Monthly Fanzine, Video Content & Live Shows.

https://celticfanzine.com/join-us/

https://celticfanzine.com/product-category/monthly-print-subscription/

https://celticfanzine.com/shop/

https://celticfanzine.com/donations-page/

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The strangest Cup Final Weekend is upon us, no fans at Hampden, no buzz around Glasgow City, No Celtic AM, no pints in the Brazen or after party in McChuills. What ever you’re cup final ritual is it can’t happen this time due to Covid19.

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With the vaccine kicked off we now have hope of returning next season to cheer on the bhoys and get back to all those match day rituals we all took for granted and Why not? Who would have ever thought we would live through a World pandemic of lockdowns, tiers and virtual reality.

I chatted to Eddie Toner earlier in the week on the Celtic Soul Podcast and it was nice to hear his Celtic Journey from Ball Bhoy at Celtic Park to going out on Monday to buy his Cup Final outfit. A ritual he does before every Scottish Cup Final, something green for the big day is a kind of romantic thing a new shirt for the big day. Eddie attended the 1969 final for the first time and he has not missed a final that Celtic have taken to the field in since. So that is a lot of Cup Final Outfits.

Like so many Eddie will be watching from home, he told me he will have his cup final outfit on, the tunes playing pre-match and he will pour himself and those in the house a drink or two in a season he says he is hating because of not being able to meet up with his family on matchdays including his 83 year old Mam who is also missing the match day experience and ritual.

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For me it will also be strange, no airport pint, no weekend craic and no late night pints and chats with my mates in the Artto. This cup final for me will be watched on a reserved table for 6 in a restaurant the max allowed for this Cup Final get together a far cry from the thousands of fellow Celtic fans I normally get to spend Cup Final with. You can’t beat hugging a complete stranger when the ball hits the back of the net.

One positive is that the table of 6 will consist of some of my oldest mates who I enjoyed the highs and lows with that comes with following the famous Celtic FC. So what ever your doing for this Cup Final, Enjoy the build up, Enjoy a drink of your favourite tipple and hopefully we will all enjoy seeing History being made!

No doubt about it if Scott Brown goes up to lift the Scottish Cup we’ll be there if only in Sprirt but throughout the World Celtic fans will be be dreaming of these scenes before kick off and will be kicking and heading every ball, shouting at the players who can’t hear you but that don’t matter it’s part of the emotions that stir when we watch anyone wearing the famous hoops and the four leaf clover upon the chest. So if you’re in New Zealand or Newry, Glasgow or Galway, Boston or the Bronx. Or where ever you are watching Enjoy it because Cup Finals are special and this could be the most special of all.

More than 90 Minutes Issue 111 Print

 

Andrew Milne started More than 90 Minutes in 2001. He has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Malone’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association

If you would like to support our Independent Celtic Fan Media Platform you can become a Member, Subscribe, Buy or Donate for the Price of a Pint. Your Support helps us continue to produce Daily News & Articles, Weekly Newsletter, Two Weekly Podcasts, Monthly Fanzine, Video Content & Live Shows.

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