{"id":7554,"date":"2015-07-30T19:21:16","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7554"},"modified":"2015-07-30T19:21:16","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:21:16","slug":"paradise-lost-and-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7554","title":{"rendered":"Paradise Lost and Found"},"content":{"rendered":"
CarlJunglebhoy took a tour of Celtic Park last week, and tells us why Celtic is more than a club…<\/em>.<\/div>\n

PARADISE LOST\u00a0&<\/span>\u00a0FOUND<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m somewhat embarrassed to admit that \u2013 despite the fact I saw my first Celtic match in the same year that Caesar made his debut ( 100 Years BC? – Ed\u00a0J) \u2013 until last week,\u00a0 I\u2019d never actually \u201cdone the tour\u201d of Celtic Park. Neither – for that matter – had my ST holder nephew (28), or my bhoy (19), who both accompanied me.<\/p>\n

Now, I have to admit that – thanks to Celtic Supporters Liaison Officer John Paul Taylor, who kindly offered to take us round (I\u2019d been buttering him up for months with offers of drugs & wummin\u2019) – my experience of the tour was more privileged & private than most, in that we were on our own, rather than part of a larger, official tour group. However, as all the elements were essentially the same, I can certainly recommend that \u2013 IF a tour of Paradise is still on your \u201cbucket list\u201d \u2013 just do it FFS!\u00a0 – For the Celtic daft, the magic of the place just can\u2019t help but resonate!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

CarlJungleBhoy\u2019s Fergus bunnet stares at the safe standing area in the distance<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few highlights simply not to be missed<\/i><\/b>\u2026.<\/i><\/p>\n

.<\/b>\u00a0Sit in the visitor\u2019s dressing room, close your eyes for a minute, and picture all the great names in football that have been in this very place, or sat on this very bench, before going out to face the thunder of YNWA blasting around the stadium. .. Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, Xavi \u2026 you name them\u00a0 \u2026 the list goes on.\u00a0 Surely no true football fan can avoid feeling just a wee tingle down the spine at that thought?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With Anthony McVeigh –\u00a0 Nephew and \u00a0Fundraiser at SCIAF-\u00a0 and Celtic SLO John Paul Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n

.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Sit in the home dressing room and \u2013 as I\u2019m sure many of you have done countless times before \u2013 imagine yourself about to make your debut in the hoops, passing this quote from Jock Stein on the way to the tunnel :\u00a0 \u201cCeltic jerseys are not for second best, they don\u2019t shrink to fit inferior players\u201d\u00a0 – It\u2019s enough to make your heart go Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh…\u00a0 Think about the fact that this is where Henke Larsson sat in tears after saying his farewell to Celtic Park against Seville.\u00a0 Or, where Nakamura received the plaudits of his teammates after his late free kick against Man Utd put Celtic through to the last 16 in the Champions League.\u00a0 Or –\u00a0 in my case –\u00a0 think about those family members looking down who passed their love for Celtic onto you, but never got round to doing what you\u2019re doing now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"ACPCelticDressingRoom2\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bhoy Junior & Senior with shirts from Armstrong, GMS & Johansen, respectively<\/em><\/p>\n

.\u00a0<\/b>Take a deep breath. You\u2019re about to make a dream reality:\u00a0 You\u2019re approaching the tunnel. Take a few moments to ponder all the plaques from\/for fellow Tims lining the walls. Then.. Go on \u2013 Go for it! … Run down the tunnel like a daft wee boy and imagine the roar from the crowd and the strains of Hail Hail hitting you as you exit the darkness and take to the field. By now your shamrock\u2013shaped heart should be swelling with pride.<\/p>\n

Mine\u2019s certainly was.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If allowed – Take a seat in the dug-out. This is a view only a privileged few will experience.\u00a0 Savour it ,\u00a0 feel it , embrace it.\u00a0 Imagine you\u2019re about to be brought on as a sub to save the game for Celtic in a Champions League match, on one of those very special nights in front of 60,000. Or – if it\u2019s the away dug-out \u2013 imagine how intimidating it must feel to be on a losing side with Celtic Park shaking as every single fan does the huddle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Take a seat in the director\u2019s box.\u00a0 Shoogle your ass in The Big Yins seat\u2013 I\u2019m sure Billy wouldn\u2019t mind – and say a wee prayer (if that way inclined) or something daft from his Last Supper sketch (as I did) and wish him a full \u00a0recovery so he can \u00a0take his place again.\u00a0Or g<\/span>reet like a wee baby- if that way inclined -in Rod Stewart\u2019s seat while remembering \u00a0Barcelona….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Stop for a minute in the trophy room in front of each trophy and let those names from the past \u2013 Johnny Crum, Charlie Tully, John Bonnar \u2013 wash over you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Check out Billy McNeil\u2019s magnificent medal collection.<\/p>\n

Dream of the day the current Champions League trophy will take it\u2019s place alongside the European Cup from \u201967.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can wake up now! –\u00a0You\u2019ve found Paradise<\/b>!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I started this off by mentioning I was embarrassed that I\u2019d never done the tour before. Well, imagine finding out in the middle of that tour that there was a real life family connection from you to Celtic \u2013 lost in the mists of time –\u00a0 that you\u2019d never even known anything about before? Well, that\u2019s exactly what happened to me \u2013 See, I told you the magic of the place resonated!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, as we were chatting about our own personal football experiences & milestones \u2013\u00a0 Hampden 1970\u2026 Seville\u2026 my nephew just happened to mention that it was\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>close family member who led the triumphant parade around Celtic Park\u00a0in front of the<\/span>\u00a0Lisbon Lions with the big-eared trophy,\u00a0 back on 26th<\/sup>May 1967.<\/p>\n

I was totally flabbergasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat!? You\u2019re jokin\u2019! How come I\u2019ve never heard of this before!!!??\u201d,\u00a0 I stuttered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, to cut a long story short, I\u2019ve lived away from Glasgow more than two thirds of my life and my contacts with some branches of the family have been more distant than they should have.<\/p>\n

Anyway \u2026.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The late Jimmy Brennan, who married my cousin Anne and was Best Man at my sister\u2019s wedding\u00a0 – In fact, my sister & brother-in-law actually met as Maid of Honour & Best Man at Jimmy\u2019s wedding! –\u00a0 was \u201cdrum major\u201d with the Coatbridge Shamrock Accordion Band.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s the big guy with the stick at the front of the band in this pic from 26th<\/sup>\u00a0May 1967 showing them entertaining the crowd before the arrival of the team at Celtic Park. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thanks to The Shamrock Glasgow for the truly fantastic quality photo above<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, Jimmy led the procession around Celtic Park in front of the triumphant Lisbon Lions and \u00a0Jock Stein etc. etc. following behind on a\u00a0 ..ahem .. gold-encrusted coach \u2013 ah mean coal lorry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0 Jimmy throwing the baton in the air in sheer joy at +\/- 36 mins 45 secs into this BBC Alba Jock Stein film.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/iplayer\/episode\/b045x3s8\/jock-stein<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, only the day before my tour of Celtic Park, I was sitting at another wedding table with my glamourous blonde (second?) cousins Patricia and Louise (that\u2019ll be 110 euros each, girls !<\/span>\u00a0) –\u00a0 Jimmy\u2019s daughters, totally unware of this iconic Celtic connection. Big Jimmy was one of those larger than life characters who liked a drink and was always up for laugh. I recall one story \u2013 Patricia & Louise look away now!! \u2013 when the local Parish priest asked Jimmy for a light\u00a0 –\u00a0 this was in the day when even priests smoked – and Jimmy accidently pulled out a packet of Durex from the inside pocket of his jacket.<\/span><\/p>\n

My own recollections of Jimmy are, sadly, limited to mainly weddings & funerals. As far as I know there wasn\u2019t any geographical connection to Coatbridge. However, I can still picture this big, loveable rogue of a guy with a great line of joke-a-minute patter which hid a heart of gold underneath. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0If my memory serves me correctly, I\u2019m pretty sure he was one of the driving forces behind the charity efforts of the local St Vincent De Paul\u2019s, along with my own Da and bro-in-law Tony.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, Big Jimmy died young, when the girls were still small, so, although they\u2019d heard a wee bit about his baton twirling days – Louise tells me he remembers coming across that white band leader\u2019s suit at the back of a cupboard when she was little \u2013 they don\u2019t really know as much as they\u2019d like. Also, the one person who\u2019d probably have been able to tell them much more \u2013 their Mum Anne\u2013 also died only last year, so that font of memories is also no longer available to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s due to all these of these factors that \u2013 until this week – when my nephew pointed out that little bit in the Jock Stein film, and I came across that photo above, Jimmy\u2019s daughter\u2019s didn\u2019t even know that photo or film even existed! Isn\u2019t it strange how a visit to Celtic Park can spark such things back to life?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, after telling you above about Paradise found, I\u2019d now like to put out an appeal on behalf of Jimmy\u2019s family to anyone out there who might be able to help recover some more pieces of Paradise lost. \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, if anyone has photos or footage of the Coatbridge Shamrock Accordion band at Paradise on 26th<\/sup>\u00a0May 1967, or other pics\u00a0or footage\u00a0<\/span>which might include \u201cdrum major\u201d Jimmy Brennan, his family would be extremely grateful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hail Hail.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CarlJunglebhoy took a tour of Celtic Park last week, and tells us why Celtic is more than a club…. PARADISE LOST\u00a0&\u00a0FOUND \u00a0 I\u2019m somewhat embarrassed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/paradise.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1XQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7556,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7554\/revisions\/7556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}