Author Archives: celticfanzine

Stopping the 10 / Celtic supporting life before Social Media / Celtic Soul Podcast

In 1997/98 season Celtic stopped Rangers doing 10IAR. Life was also different back then with no social media or smart phones. There was no 24 hour coverage of Celtic.

Fanzines was the most popular form of fan media every month on sale outside Celtic Park. Radio coverage, TV highlights, newspapers and teletext was how we got our Celtic fix.

Michael Pringle and Andrew Milne look back at the end of the 10IAR season and Simon Donnelly’s goal that almost won the league for Celtic through green tinted retro glasses.

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https://youtu.be/Gu9WDcMjTC0?si=K8vYcAqb2i_ukKrx

 

John Beaton more Honest Mistakes! / 3 Horse Race / Celtic Soul Podcast

Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins More than 90 Minutes Editor Andrew Milne for their weekly chat about all things Celtic.

The bhoys look back at a good day in Glasgow last Saturday. Celtic beat Motherwell 3-1. Later in the evening Hearts lost to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. The gap at the top of the SPFL was cut to 2 points and we celebrated both results at the John Fallon Tribute Dinner.

John Fallon the original holy goalie was on all our minds as we hosted his family and friends to pay tribute to the big man. John was very critical of referees and I am sure he would have had plenty to say about Saturdays penalty which was missed by the referee and Rangers fan John Beaton who had a birds eye view of the foul on Maeda but ignored it until VAR intervened and he was forced to award the penalty and send off the Motherwell player.

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Another goalkeeper in the news is Kasper Schmeichel who may have played his last game for Celtic due to a long term injury. Martin O’Neill Dundee United pre-match press conference was taken up by questions of the announcement on TV rather than through Celtic official media channels. Again communication has been poor from the club and it was left to the manager to face the media.

Simon Donnelly was our special guest at our dinner and he shared stories of his career and stopping the 10. He could have been the hero who scored the goal that won the league away to Dunfermline but it was not to be but we were celebrating a week later in the Glasgow Sunshine when Henrik Larrson and Harald Brattbakk were the goal heroes on the day.

Michael ended up in the Police Cell for sneaking into the ground without a ticket in Dunfermline and he tells us about listening to the game on the radio with other Celtic fans in the same position sitting in the cell.

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The new Ultras documentary which came out on BBC this week gets a review from Michael who has been the fanzines go to about Ultra culture for over 20 years. He was writing about the European Ultra scene long before it became part of the football experience for so many in Scotland.

The Bhoys give their opinion on the current state of play with those running the club and the Green Brigade

Celtic are back on the road on Sunday and the bhoys look ahead to the game which is another big one in the title race.

Dundee United v CELTIC Tale of the Tape

On Sunday Celtic travel to Tannadice to take on Dundee United for a 12:30 kick off. Tickets as usual are in high demand by Celtic fans. The game is live on Sky Sports with coverage starting at 11:30. The game will also be streamed outside Ireland and the UK on Celtic TV.

For those of us travelling over from Ireland it will be an early start to catch early flights to make connections with Celtic Supporter Club buses in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Last Saturday we witnessed a really good game at Celtic Park with Yang the hero on the day for Celtic scoring two really good goals and picking up the man of the match award.  Celtic had to battle back from one goal down to a really good Motherwell team.

At 1-1 Celtic were awarded a penalty after VAR intervened. Referee John Beaton missed the foul on Maeda and the red card even though he had a better view than everyone else in a sold out Celtic Park. Once a rangers fan always a rangers fan!

On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of hosting a sold out Tribute Dinner to Lisbon Lion John Fallon. It was a fantastic night and a big shout out to former Celtic striker Simon Donnelly who was our special guest and to everyone who supported the fundraiser for the 12th Lion Charity.

One of the biggest cheers of the night was when full time sounded at Rugby Park with Kilmarnock beating Hearts 1-0 on the plastic pitch. The result means Celtic are now only 2 points behind the league leaders as we head into this weeks fixtures.

Hearts face Dundee at home on Saturday at 3pm. Elsewhere at 3pm Motherwell host Hibs, Falkirk are at home to St. Mirren and Kilmarnock play Livingston. Later on Saturday evening the rangers host Aberdeen at 17:45 at Ibrox. Lets hope Dundee can pull off a shock and Aberdeen can do the same.

Dundee United sit in 7th place in the league table. Last weekend they shared the spoils with Dundee in the derby.

The last time we travelled to Tannadice was for a midweek fixture on December 17th during Wilfried Nancy’s 33 days in charge of football matters at Celtic. It was a game of two halves. Celtic were 1-0 up at half time after Maeda scored on the 13th minute. Celtic missed chance after chance to increase their lead but in the second half they fell asleep and the home side dominated and ran out 2-1 winners.

Nancy looked a lonely figure as he walked up the tunnel that night with some Celtic fans calling for his head while others turned their anger towards the Celtic board members. It was an ugly night in many ways.

By the time Dundee United came to Celtic Park in January, Wilfried Nancy’s short stay in Glasgow was over and Celtic called on Martin O’Neill once again to take charge and on his return he watched his Celtic team score 4 goals without reply from the visitors.

Lets hope MON can sprinkle some of his managerial magic on Sunday and we can banish the bad memories of our last visit to Tannadice. Kasper Schmeichel has now joined the long term injury list at Celtic and most of the Celtic managers press conference on Friday was taken up by talk of his injury and the way it was announced on TV and not through official club channels. But then again Celtic have not a great record when it comes to communication unless its for a new piece of kit from Adidas.

MON also gave an update on Engles, McGregor and Johnston who are all back training with the captain in contention to play his part on Sunday.

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

 

 

CENTENARY BHOYS

Celtic are now involved in a 3 horse race to see who will be crowned Champions of Scotland and are in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup with a very special Celtic manager Martin O’Neill in charge. After the season we have had it would be magical to be celebrating a double in Spain at the Celtic Supporters Festival in Cabo Roig from Thursday June 04 till Sunday June 07.

Back in the 1987/88 season Celtic were celebrating our Centenary. 100 years of our famous club Celtic had another special manager in Billy McNeill and he and his players delivered a double in that famous season.

Two of those Celtic players from the Centenary season Peter Grant and Joe Miller will be joining us in Rosie Maguires for the Celtic Festival and on Friday 05 June at 5pm they will take to the stage to share their stories and tales from the dressing room during that fairytale season.

Weekend & Daily Tickets Available

Click Link to Order

https://CelticFestivalSpain2026.eventbrite.com

Neil Lennon defied Bullets and Bombs on his way to legendary Celtic Status

Wolfe Tone CSC have announced that Neil Lennon will be their special guest at Egans Bar on Friday 09 June with a kick off time of 9pm. The event will be hosted by myself and I am looking forward to sharing the stage with another Celtic Legend.

The last time I was in Egans I shared the stage with two of Lenny’s former team mates Chris Sutton and Alan Thompson. Neil Lennon needs no introduction to Celtic fans and his CV as both a player and manager are there for all to see. The record books don’t lie.

He played a big part in Martin O’Neill’s first era in charge and captained the team under Gordon Strachan to the last 16 of the Champions League. As Celtic manager he steered Celtic to a famous win over Barcelona on a very special night at Celtic Park as we celebrated the 125th anniversary of our club and what a night we had in Rome when his Celtic team beat Lazio.

Limited Tickets are €50 and available from club members Mark 0870635464 / Digger 0879351583/ Revolut Thomas 0879337005 for what should be another cracking evening at Egans.

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

 

 

The Policing of the Glasgow Derby / No Problem at Hampden / Celtic Soul Podcast

Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins Andrew Milne for their weekly catch up on all things Celtic after two weeks on the road following Celtic in Scotland and Germany. The media and social media exploded on Sunday after Celtic beat the rangers on penalties in the Scottish Cup blaming both set of fans for the rangers fans running the length of the pitch to confront some Celtic fans who had went on to the pitch to celebrate the win and get a selfie with the heroes of the day.

The rangers fans attacked stewards and assaulted a member of the Celtic staff. The Police have tried to deflect the blame from themselves. Michael details the Police operation on the day from he arrived on his supporters bus till after the game when a Celtic fan was assaulted by rangers fans and they continued to kick him while he lay unconscious on the ground.

Celtic progress to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup Final to face St. Mirren and Celtic have another big one on Saturday in the league when Motherwell visit Celtic Park.

With all the talk of what happened after the game no one is talking about the Maeda onside / offside goal ruled off by VAR. It was not a classic game of football but it was a great battle and a great win for Celtic.

Martin O’Neill had to plan without McGregor and Tierney and some of Celtic’s best players who are injured watched from the stand with the Celtic fans.

Celtic defended really well and Sinisalo showed us why he is now Celtic’s No. 1 goalkeeper although we struggled up front. He was in fine voice for the penalties while the Celtic players banished the memories of the Aberdeen penalty shoot out from the Scottish Cup Final in Hampden last season.

 

John Fallon 12th Lion Charity Raffle

John Fallons tribute dinner takes place on Saturday Night in aid of The 12th Lion Charity. The school will be an ever lasting tribute to Lisbon Lion John the Original Holy Goalie.

The event is sold out but we are holding a raffle for a signed 1986 away jersey donated by Kieran Davenport and signed by heroes of the team who won the league on the last day of the season 1986 at Love Street. The jersey is signed by the Celtic Manager on the day Davie Hay, Captain Danny McGrain and goalscoring hero Brian McClair.

Tickets are a fiver and you can buy as many as you like.

https://celticfanzine.com/product/john-fallon-12th-lion-raffle/

The Policing of the Glasgow Derby / No Problem at Hampden

Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins Andrew Milne for their weekly catch up on all things Celtic after two weeks on the road following Celtic in Scotland and Germany. The media and social media exploded on Sunday after Celtic beat the rangers on penalties in the Scottish Cup blaming both set of fans for the rangers fans running the length of the pitch to confront some Celtic fans who had went on to the pitch to celebrate the win and get a selfie with the heroes of the day.

The rangers fans attacked stewards and assaulted a member of the Celtic staff. The Police have tried to deflect the blame from themselves. Michael details the Police operation on the day from he arrived on his supporters bus till after the game when a Celtic fan was assaulted by rangers fans and they continued to kick him while he lay unconscious on the ground.

Celtic progress to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup Final to face St. Mirren and Celtic have another big one on Saturday in the league when Motherwell visit Celtic Park.

With all the talk of what happened after the game no one is talking about the Maeda onside / offside goal ruled off by VAR. It was not a classic game of football but it was a great battle and a great win for Celtic.

Martin O’Neill had to plan without McGregor and Tierney and some of Celtic’s best players who are injured watched from the stand with the Celtic fans.

Celtic defended really well and Sinisalo showed us why he is now Celtic’s No. 1 goalkeeper although we struggled up front. He was in fine voice for the penalties while the Celtic players banished the memories of the Aberdeen penalty shoot out from the Scottish Cup Final in Hampden last season.