Author Archives: celticfanzine

Tales from the Dressing Room The Martin O’Neill Years

Martin O’Neill arrived in the East End of Glasgow on 01 June 2000 and was unveiled as Celtic manager. He spoke outside Celtic Park and said “It’s an absolute honour for me to be the manager here, an absolute honour,” “I will do everything I possibly can to bring some success to this club.”

That first season, the Irishman delivered Celtic’s first domestic treble in 32 years, with Henrik Larsson leading the way with 53 goals, including 35 in the league which saw him win Europe’s Golden Boot Award.

Join us in Spain at the Celtic Supporters Festival in Cabo Roig from Thursday June 04 till Sunday June 07 to hear the story of Martin O’Neill’s first stint at the club with 3 of the Celtic players who were part of that treble winning season.

Jackie McNamara, Alan Thompson and Tommy Johnson were all team mates during that season.

The 3 players will be joining us in Rosie Maguires for the Celtic Festival and on Sunday 07 June at 3pm they will take to the stage to share their stories and tales from the dressing room during that treble winning season and the Road to Seville.

Where better to relive our journey to Seville than sipping a few cool ones in the Spanish sunshine.

Weekend & Daily Tickets Available

Click Link to Order

https://CelticFestivalSpain2026.eventbrite.com

Another Nail Biting Sunday Ahead

Martin O’Neill and Benjamin Nygren faced the Scottish main stream media today as the ban continues on Celtic fan media. Celtic travel back up the road to Dundee hoping for a better performance after the Celtic players never showed up at Tannadice in our last SPFL outing.

Dundee manager and former Celtic defender Steven Pressley will be in the home dugout on Sunday for the 4:30pm kick off. He will have taken confidence from recent performances against Celtic in the league and the Scottish cup at Celtic Park both defeats. Celtic held on for 1-0 win in the league and scored in the 90th minute in the Scottish cup to force the game into extra time and thankfully score the winner.

Pressley watched his team shock Brendan Rodgers Celtic team 2-0 at Dens last October so there will be no fear factor for him his players or the home fans on Sunday.

Celtic must win this game to stay in the title race with the rangers and Hearts who play before them on Saturday and Sunday. Celtic must do the business and hope that Dundee United can grind out a result at Ibrox and Livingston can pull off a shock at home to Hearts.

There are only 7 games left in the league and every one of them now becomes a Cup Final. Martin O’ Neill enjoyed a holiday during the international break but I would imagine the performance in Tannadice was never far from his mind and he will be looking for the Celtic players to rise up and give the Celtic fans a lift over the Easter holidays.

Nygren was buzzing when he spoke to the gathered media after Sweden’s World Cup heroics now he has to perform some more heroics on Sunday for Celtic. He is a player who has divided the fans and the pundits but with those running Celtic not able to bring in a capable replacement for Kyogo up front he has become our top goal scorer.

He has hit the back of the net on 19 occasions for Celtic this season including 15 in the league and is the second highest goalscorer in the SPFL . Motherwell’s Maswanhise has scored one more goal in the league this season.

He was very positive when he spoke to the press but we now need him and his team mates to bring that positivity onto the pitch on Sunday and let their football do the talking.

The game is live on Sky Sports as is the Hearts game before it. Another nail biting Sunday afternoon lies in store.

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

 

Living on a Prayer / Celtic Soul Podcast

Celtic travel back to Dundee on Sunday for a 4:30pm kick off at Dens Park. Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins More than 90 Minutes Editor Andrew Milne to look ahead to the game and previous encounters this season. They chat about the current state of play at Celtic on and off the park.

Celtic fan media remain banned from Lennoxtown and Celtic Park while Liverpool Fan Media is given access to interview a Celtic Player. In 25 years of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine we have never been granted access to an interview with a first team player. Another own goal from those running the club. Are they ripping the heart and soul out of the club? While Celtic fans are living on a prayer!

They also chat about music after Chelsea’s reunion gig in Glasgow, The Jim Craig Foundation Launch, Match tickets, an emotional trip to Carrickmacross with Jackie McNamara and John Hartson and the return of Nakamura to Glasgow.

Click image to watch on Celtic Fanzine TV

Dundee v CELTIC Tale of the Tape

The international break is over and now all our thoughts return to Celtic and the trip up the road to Dundee on Sunday. I watched Liam Scales on Tuesday night playing for Ireland after missing out on the Czechia game due to suspension. Like myself he watched on as Ireland’s World Cup dreams came to an end after a penalty shoot out. Czechia went onto beat Denmark on penalties and are now off to the World Cup.

Now its time for Scales and all the Celtic players to redeem themselves for Celtic on Sunday at Dens Park in Dundee. Before the international break Celtic served up a very poor performance against Dundee United at Tannadice. The 2-0 defeat saw us slip into third in the league and ruin our Sunday. A traffic jam on the way back to Glasgow didn’t help the mood either.

Failure by the Celtic board to sign quality players in a number of transfer windows have seen the team slump to eight defeats this season in the SPFL. Celtic sit in third place going into the game which kicks off at 4:30pm on Sunday and will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on Celtic TV.

Before the game on Sunday league leaders Hearts will travel to Livingston and are expected to take all three points. The rangers who sit in second play on Saturday at Ibrox against Dundee United and will be favourites to beat the visitors. Pressure will be high when the Celtic players take to the pitch on Sunday and they need to deliver for the travelling Celtic support and all those tuning in on TV.

Earlier in the season back in October Dundee shocked Brendan Rodgers and Celtic when they beat us 2-0 at Dens Park. None is us knew then the management merry go round Celtic would take us on since then.

When they came to Celtic Park in December it was Martin O’Neill’s last game in charge before the arrival of Wilfried Nancy. Celtic hung on that night for 1-0 win. Maeda’s goal proved enough to separate the teams and end O’Neill’s first stint this season in charge on a win before an emotional send off from the Celtic players and fans on a cold Wednesday night at Celtic Park.

Martin O’Neill was back in the managers hotseat when Dundee returned to Celtic Park for the Scottish cup fifth round tie. Dundee were 1-0 up and the seconds were ticking down when second half substitute Adamu scored the equaliser to bring the game into extra time. Tounekti another second half sub scored the winner to see Celtic progress to the quarter final.

It’s a 50/50 game on Sunday. The Celtic players will need to show us much more at Dens Park than they did in Tannadice this is another must win game if we are to stay in the title race.

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

 

The Bhoys who Stopped the Ten

Rangers had won 9 Scottish league titles in row equalling Jock Stein’s Celtic team during the greatest era in the clubs history.

Celtic brought in a new manager Wim Jansen to replace club legend Tommy Burns. He will be forever remembered as the manager who Stopped Rangers doing 10IAR. He also signed the great Henrik Larsson.

Join us in Spain at the Celtic Supporters Festival in Cabo Roig from Thursday June 04 till Sunday June 07 to hear the story of that season with 3 of the Celtic players who were part of the Celtic team who Stopped the 10.

Jackie McNamara, Simon Donnelly and Tommy Johnson were all team mates during that famous season. Simon thought he had scored the goal that won the league and Stopped the 10 in Dunfermline the week before but a late equaliser put the Champagne on Ice.

A week later on a sunny afternoon the celebrations started in the East End of Glasgow and throughout the World. The 3 players will be joining us in Rosie Maguires for the Celtic Festival and on Saturday 06 June at 6pm they will take to the stage to share their stories and tales from the dressing room during that tension filled season.

Weekend & Daily Tickets Available

Click Link to Order

https://CelticFestivalSpain2026.eventbrite.com

Emotional night in Carrickmacross

It was an emotional night on Saturday in Carrickmacross as the Brian Keenan CSC celebrated 25 years on the road following Celtic at the Shirley Arms Hotel as they remembered founding member Brian Keenan and teenager Aoibhe Byrne who have sadly passed. Committee member Dermot Hands speech was emotional and reminded us about loved ones taken too early and the importance of cherishing memories made.

This Celtic Supporters club is a tight bunch and Celtic fans travelled from near and far to celebrate in the packed dining hall of the hotel. It was a pleasure to MC the night with two Celtic Legends John Hartson and Jackie McNamara as special guests.

Both players played under Martin O’Neill together during the early years of the supporters club foundation. Many boat journeys along with Jim Greenan and his bus crew. I would have met Brian and the bhoys on many of those trips in the early days of More than 90 Minutes.

John and Jackie were room mates and shared some tales from the dressing room along with re-living some famous victories on stage on the night after a delicious meal.

The SPFL trophy stood proudly beside the European Cup in the hotel lobby. Jackie said he forgot how heavy it was as he carried it into the packed room to loud applause with his team mate John holding aloft the European Cup a reminder of the greatest team in Scottish football history, the Lisbon Lions. Jackie also told us of the memories it brought back to him lifting it again.

The pints flowed, the craic was good and music and song went on into the wee hours of Sunday morning and the charity raffle was well supported with some great prizes up for grabs. Guests also got a club pen, keyring and a programme with heart felt tributes, a club history and plenty of pictures of the club members on many trips across the Irish sea and beyond to view. Each page also had a famous Celtic quote at the bottom which sums up who we are and why we are!

Every supporters club has its characters and there are two or three in this one whose exploits brought some laughs on the night as stories were recalled.

A big shout out to Ciaran, Dermot, Shaun and the Byrne Family for the warm welcome shown to us from we arrived and not forgetting the staff in Nallos Bar where the club are hosting an end of season do in the bar on the 30th of May.

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

Dundee United Away / A chance meeting with Noel Gallagher

During the International break Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins More than 90 Minutes Editor Andrew Milne for their weekly chat about all things Celtic and a chance to reminisce about Celtic, Football, Fashion and Music back in 1980’s and 1990’s and a chance meeting with Noel Gallagher.

They dissect last week’s poor performance in Tannadice and the disappointment of Ireland crashing out of World Cup qualifiers in Prague. Two defeats one gutless and one full of pride. For club and country and all that.

The Celtic board have pinned all their hopes that Martin O’Neill will continue to get the best out of this Celtic squad while burying their head in the sand and hope all the problems surrounding the club this season will go away but unfortunately the soap opera of a season which they are villains has a few more episodes to run.

Watch on Celtic Fanzine TV

https://youtu.be/prdVHpz6LcE?si=ZKTD2PRWDKHdnMip