Bertie Auld passed away yesterday.<\/p>\n
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If Celtic are more than a club, he was more than a player.<\/p>\n
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The legendary lions team had the fatherly eye in Ronnie Simpson, the heart and courage in Billy McNeill, the cunning and trickery of Jimmy johnstone and the energy and strength of Bobby Murdoch.<\/p>\n
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In Bertie Auld it had the supporter. The man plucked from the terraces who brought the streetwise fan who thought he knew it all onto the pitch. Thing is, though, Bertie did know it all.<\/p>\n
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He could play, he was years ahead of his time in the number ten role and had that extra wee bit of guile and the character to trust his instincts.<\/p>\n
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Auld probably wasn’t the best player in the world, but he thought he was, and that turned a great team into a magnficent team.<\/p>\n
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That was on the pitch, but it was off it where the man became a legend.<\/p>\n
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Over the last twenty five years or so, he was a regular at the games. not as a guest of the club behind a glass shield, but as a fan, wandering about the car park, or the club shop, an unofficial meet and greet that left nobody ignored, nobody feeling that he was unapproachable.<\/p>\n
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He became a sort of link to the past, and a link to the present. If you wanted to meet someone else, he’d help you find them.<\/p>\n
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His infectious grin and sharp sense of humour removed any sense of awe or discomfort you felt from being in the presence of one of your heroes.<\/p>\n
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He had that knack of making you feel at ease, and an aura of\u00a0 friendliness that makes a mockery of modern day footballers and how they conduct themselves.<\/p>\n
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He was just another supporter, just like us, albeit he was a little bit better at football. Like when you end up in a bar somewhere and meet another Celtic fan, you’d have a blether, and thats how it was when you spoke to Bertie.<\/p>\n
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Just another fan.<\/p>\n
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Unlike many other ex players of many clubs he listened to what you said, you were as much of interest to him as he was to you.<\/p>\n
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He had time to stop and talk, and he spoke as he played, with his heart.<\/p>\n
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If you asked him something and he didn’t know, he’d drag you along with him until he found someone who did.<\/p>\n
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Some footballers slip away into quiet obscurity.<\/p>\n
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Bertie would have to find someone who could explain to him what that meant.<\/p>\n
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He loved the club, he loved the supporters, and he thrived on our love and respect for him.<\/p>\n
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Players come and players go, the club remains the constant.<\/p>\n
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Yet Bertie Auld was more than a player, he was the living embodiment of the club, and when his body is laid to rest, his spirit will be heading straight back up the London Road.<\/p>\n
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He never left Celtic, Celtic never left him, and his spirit will be forever present whenever the team runs out onto the park.<\/p>\n
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Bertie Auld. Mr Celtic.<\/p>\n
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Today our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.<\/p>\n
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Rest in Peace Bertie. We’ll miss you.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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