If You Know The (Hidden) History.....

How many times have we stood on the terraces, stands and even in the bowels of Celtic park and belted out the anthem with gusto, passion and belief proclaiming to the world what the history of Celtic means to us and them? But more importantly when do we take the time to peel off the veneer of the words and examine the story the history actually tells, and just why it makes the club a bit special and a bit different from most of the others?

That is no boast on my part, after all I only live in the reflected glory of giants of times gone, nor is it meant to belittle the devotion that other clubs’ supporters have for their own teams. It is simply a statement of fact that whether through blood-line, empathy, romantic attachment or sheer accident, once the embrace of this club swaddles you, the warmth welds club and soul with a strength that is as unbreakable as the steel hawsers that launched and guided so many Clyde-built leviathans.

We know so much of Brother Walfrid, Willie Maley, the club’s first breath drawn in the collapsing lungs and distended bellies of the famine, the ‘floating bridge’ of ‘heads and faces’ and the hundreds of players who have graced the turf at Celtic park. Words far more expressive and knowledgeable than any that I might fashion, have flowed like ambrosia from the pens of such as David Potter, Graham McColl, Archie McPherson, Marie Rowan, John Burrowes, Pat Woods, Peter Burns, John Cairney, Tom Greig and even a young Gerry McNee.

But rarely if at all has the hidden past, the flourishing present, and the confident future of the single most important and most influential history been adequately addressed.

The history of the fans.

Such an undertaking is impossible for any one person, any one story, or any one lifetime, but it has to be started by someone, it has to begin somewhere, it has to commence sometime.

So I and the affectionately monickered ‘Slabbery Wumin’ have sold up and we’re off to hopefully scratch that surface of Celtic’s diaspora.

In early 2009 starting in France and then over a period of time (however long it takes) we intend to make our way across Europe and Asia stopping at places where outcrops of Celtic fans have lain their hats.

Each one has a story and each story contributes a piece to the jigsaw of Celtic’s hidden and untold history.

Who are these fans? How did they get there? How do they fit into the local community? How do they maintain their connection with Celtic? Where and how do they see the games? How often do they get back to Celtic park? How large are the communities? Where do they see their future? What lessons are there for others trying to start the same type of venture? How do they view the current state of the club, the players, the organisation, and the media? What is their message to the club’s custodians?

These and a thousand other questions can only be answered by the people who matter the most. The fans.

Try as they might, the efforts of Celtic in becoming a world-club through holding friendlies in far-flung places will lead to little of any resilience. But the enthusiasm, devotion and example of the world-wide support can create a permanent oasis of romance and allegiance in a desert of opportunism.

So if you are based anywhere from Calais to Calcutta, Krakow to Kiev, Berlin to Beijing and would be interested in telling your story, just let me know.

E-mail me at msincent@yahoo.co.uk

Tell me where you are and obviously your contact details. We can then discuss the venture further. Assuming I get enough and a suitable spread of responses, I’ll then attempt to set up a schedule and itinerary.

Stare into the depths of space on a clear Glasgow night and shining back at you will be a thousand visible stars each one telling a story of the past and perhaps lighting a path to the future. But hidden from the naked eye are another billion billion stars each one unique and each one adding the totality of the universe. It is the hidden story that gives meaning to the visible spectrum and it is the hidden history that gives meaning to Celtic’s history and future.

I cant tell the whole story but perhaps I can find just a few more stars and perhaps their existence, their tales, their past and their ambitions will be the seeds that will take root in even more exotic places and ensure that Celtic has a future clothed not only in the gaudy bling of commercial necessity, but also thrives on the life-enhancing, heart-racing, blood-pumping, four-leaf-clover emblazoned hooped soul of passion!

The story of the millions of supporters across the globe needs telling, so to paraphrase

‘let the people speak,
the stories and the songs…….’!

I look forward to your e-mails, posts and failing that? Well thanks for listening

Hail Hail

Estadio (Matt)

msincent@yahoo.co.uk