Immortals

Phillip Vine

Description

The Immortals is a passionate love letter to Celtic FC, by turns ecstatic and distressed, angry and joyous, but always obsessed. After the disappointment in 2021 of failing to complete the fabled ten-in-a-row league titles, the author took solace in researching causes for celebration from Celtic's proud past. His starting point was the rallying cry that 'two nines are better than one', and the book's centrepieces are stories of both of Celtic's nine-in-a-row triumphs. On his journey he discovered darkness and despair as well as derring-do and delight, the extremes of emotion inevitable in all love affairs. He uncovered the evils of the Irish Holocaust and the poverty of Glasgow's East End that preceded Celtic's foundation, the dubious conduct of Celtic's money-men, as well as the 'miracles' of the immortals among the club's founding fathers, its dynasties, managers and players. The book takes us on a pilgrimage through time with faithful hope for the future.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 08 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801503099
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Phillip Vine, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500777
eBook ISBN 9781801503099
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Contents
Heartfelt Thanks
135 Celtic Immortals: Personal and Political
THE FIRST HALF
The History Bhoys
1. Welsh and Maley
2. The Early Immortals and Ireland
3. Holocaust and Sectarianism
4. Charity Men and Money Men
The First Nine-in-a-Row: 1965-1974
Foundations
1. Jimmy Gribben
2. Bob Kelly
3. Jock Stein
4. Sean Fallon
The First Nine-in-a-Row: 1965-1974
Turning Points
1. First Love, First Success, 24 April 1965
2. The Tackle, 23 October 1965
3. The End of the Iron Curtain, 3 January 1966
The First Nine-in-a-Row: 1965-1974
1. One-in-a-Row, 7 May 1966
2. Celtic s Annus Mirabilis, 1966/6
Immortal Moments
1. The Americas
2. Celtic v Bayern Munich, 8 June 1966
3. Rangers v Celtic, Glasgow Cup, Ibrox, 23 August 1966
4. Celtic v Rangers, Hampden Park, 29 October 1966
5. The League Cup Final
6. The Turning of the Year: The League Championship Race
7. The Scottish Cup, Berwick Rangers v Rangers
8. Glasgow Winter, Glasgow Spring
9. Celtic v Dundee United, Wednesday, 3 May 1967
10. Rangers v Celtic, Saturday, 6 May 1967
Immortal Men 1966/67
1. Smiler Neilly Mochan
2. Bob Rooney
3. Jimmy Steele
4. Dr John Fitzsimmons
5. Billy McNeill
3. That Team, Ten Seconds to Go, and Three-in-a-Row, 1967/68
4. Doubles, Prejudice, and Four-in-a-Row, 1968/69
5. Transition and Triumph, Pride and Fall, 1969/70
6. Deconstruction, Reconstruction, 1970/71
7. The Exception that Proves the Rule, 1971/72
8. Champions in Decline, 1972/7
9. Hangover and Nine-in-a-Row, 1973/74
HALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT
Stopping the Ten: 1998
THE SECOND HALF
The Second Nine-in-a-Row: 2011-2020
Foundations
1. The day the world was saved: High Noon, 4 March 1994
2. Rangers in their Place
Turning Points
1. Celtic v Rangers, Scottish Premier League, 27 August 2000
2. The Appointment of Neil Lennon
3. This Isn t the End, This is Just the Beginning
4. The 2011 Scottish Cup Final
5. Lennon on the Brink, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 15 October 2011
The Second Nine-in-a-Row: 2011-2020
Championships
1. Taxing Times and One-in-a-Row, 2011/12
2. Profits and Losses, 2012/13
3. Curdled Milk and Cream; Lennon Leaving, 2013/14
4. Ronny s Big Ship Now, 2014/15
5. Hollow Men, Stuffed Men and Exit Deila, 2015/16
6. Buck Rodgers in the 21st Century and the Invincibles, 2016/17
7. Rodgers s Record Breakers, 2017/18
8. Judas s Betrayal and Paradise Regained
9. Pandemic Politics and Nine-in-a-Row, 2019/20
EXTRA TIME
Other Celtic Stories
The Curse of the Ten
1. Historical Context
2. The Blame Game
Stein s Failure, 1974/75
The Crucifixion of Neil Lennon
Lennon s Failure, 2020-21
The Blame Game/The Players
The Blame Game/The Board of Directors
THE FINAL WHISTLE
Quadruple Treble 2016-2020 and Scottish Cup Winners 2016-2020
Two Records in One Afternoon
The Ange Revolution, 2021/22
Personal and Political: A Celtic Prospectus
Two Fundamental Questions
Select Bibliography
Photos
John, you re immortal now.
BILL SHANKLY TO JOCK STEIN
Inside the Celtic dressing room,
Est dio Nacional, Lisbon,
25 May 1967
Bill, they re all immortals now.
JOCK STEIN TO BILL SHANKLY
Inside the Pearly Gates,
God s Good Heaven,
Date unknown
To Liz, the love of my life
and
to friends lost, found, and forever:
Eric Brown
Don Fouracre
Simon Norris
Andy Pearce
Connie Rawlinson
Malcolm Sell
Finn Sinclair
Freya Sinclair-Brown
Derek Smith
Sue Smith
These stories are also dedicated to the
millions of Irish men, women, and
children who were the victims of genocide
in the Irish Holocaust of 1845-1850,
and to the immortals of Celtic past,
present, and future.
Heartfelt Thanks
WRITING MAY appear a solitary business but the production of any book is as much a team game as football.
There are publishers, editors, designers, proofreaders, researchers, distributors, bookshops, without whom there would be no book.
So, my heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone at Pitch Publishing whose trust and encouragement and generosity of spirit mean so much to me and whose creativity and professionalism make all things possible.
There is another team, though, that I rely upon at the crucial stage of finalising the text of each book. These are my professional readers whose dedication and intelligence and experience combine to point out both errors of style and of substance in the second draft of my work. Without their critical input and without their creative suggestions, the final versions of my books would be far inferior. Without them, I would be lost indeed.
So, heartfelt thanks go out to these unsung and unpaid heroes: Ishmail Badr; Eric Brown; Pete Murphy; Ray Starling; Des Vine.
I am particularly indebted, however, to my special friend, Eric Brown, the award-winning author of science fiction and crime novels, the best writer I know, who has supported, encouraged, and critiqued my writing for the best part of two decades. Without Eric, I would never have become a published author.
135 Celtic Immortals
1887-2022
In order of appearance in the book
RODDY MACDONALD
Scorer of a winning Old Firm goal in 1979
JOCK STEIN
The original immortal
STEVIE CHALMERS
Scorer of the winning goal in the 1967 European Cup Final
BOBBY MURDOCH
Lisbon Lion
BERTIE AULD
Lisbon Lion
BILLY MCNEILL
Captain of the Lisbon Lions
JOHN CLARK
Lisbon Lion
KENNY DALGLISH
Football genius
BOBBY LENNOX
Lisbon Lion
BOB KELLY
Celtic chairman 1947-1971
DERMOT DESMOND
Current Celtic majority shareholder
THE GREEN BRIGADE
Fans organisation upholding Celtic culture
PAT WELSH
Fenian activist and Founding Father
TOM MALEY, SR
Founding Father
TOM MALEY, JR
Player in Celtic s first match, 1888
JOHN GLASS
Founding Father
BROTHER WALFRID
Originator of Celtic and the Poor Children s Dinner Table
WILLIE MALEY
Player in 1888 friendly v Rangers; Celtic manager 1897-1943
DR JOHN CONWAY
Founding Father
JOSEPH SHAUGHNESSY
Founding Father
ARCHBISHOP CHARLES EYRE
Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow and Celtic patron
MICHAEL DAVITT
Fenian revolutionary and Celtic patron
NEIL LENNON
Player 2000-2007; manager 2010-2014 and 2019-2021
BROTHER DOROTHEA
Colleague of Brother Walfrid
TOMMY GEMMELL
Lisbon Lion
FERGUS MCCANN
Celtic saviour in 1994
JIMMY GRIBBEN
The man who brought Jock Stein to Celtic
JIMMY JOHNSTONE
Football genius
JIM BROGAN
Celtic stalwart under Stein
JAMES KELLY
First Celtic captain; chairman 1909-1914
CHARLIE GALLAGHER
Celtic stalwart under Stein
JIMMY MCGRORY
Celtic record goalscorer; manager 1945-1965
SEAN FALLON
Celtic captain, assistant manager, immortal
JIM CRAIG
Lisbon Lion
DESMOND WHITE
Celtic chairman 1971-1985
JIMMY FARRELL
Celtic director 1964-1994
CHARLIE TULLY
Football genius
JOE MCBRIDE
Celtic goalscorer 1965-1968
DANNY MCGRAIN
Celtic captain and best full-back in the world
DAVIE HAY
Quality Street member; manager 1983-1987
TOMMY BURNS
Player 1971-1989; manager 1994-1997
PETER LAWWELL
Celtic chief executive 2003-2021
IAN YOUNG
Author of the infamous tackle on Willie Johnston in 1965
JOHN HUGHES
Celtic goalscorer 1959-1971
RONNIE SIMPSON
Lisbon Lion
JOHN DIVERS
Celtic stalwart 1956-1966
NEILLY MOCHAN
Celtic Boot Room stalwart under Stein
BOB ROONEY
Celtic Boot Room stalwart under Stein
JIMMY STEELE
Celtic masseur under Stein
DR JOHN FITZSIMMONS
Celtic doctor under Stein
WILLIE WALLACE
Lisbon Lion
GEORGE CONNELLY
Football genius
HARRY HOOD
Celtic goalscorer 1969-1976
WILLIE ORR
Celtic captain 1904-1907
JIMMY MCMENEMY
Celtic player 1902-1920; assistant manager under Willie Maley
DAVIE HAMILTON
Celtic player during six-in-a-row 1904-1910
ALEC MCNAIR
Celtic player during six-in-a-row 1904-1910
JOHN THOMSON
Celtic goalkeeper, died in action in 1931
JIMMY QUINN
Celtic goalscorer 1900-1915
DAVID LOW
Financial fixer and saviour of Celtic in 1994
BRIAN DEMPSEY
Celtic rebel and ally of McCann in 1994
JOHN KEANE
Celtic rebel and ally of McCann in 1994
KEVIN KELLY
Member of Kelly dynasty at Celtic and member of the Biscuit Tin Board
JACK MCGINN
Founder of Celtic View ; chairman 1986-1991
TOM GRANT
Member of the Biscuit Tin Board
PHIL O DONNELL
Celtic stalwart 1994-1999
CELTS FOR CHANGE
Rebel supporter organisation
SAVE OUR CELTS
Rebel supporter organisation
JACKIE MCNAMARA
Celtic stalwart 1995-2005
HENRIK LARSSON
Football genius
PAUL LAMBERT
Celtic stalwart 1997-2005
MARK VIDUKA
Celtic iconoclast 1998-2000
HARALD BRATTBAKK
Scorer of the goal that stopped the ten
UBOM R MORAV K
Football genius
CHARLIE NICHOLAS
Football genius
WIM JANSEN
Celtic manager who stopped the ten
JOSEF VENGLO
Celtic manager who signed Morav k
MARTIN O NEILL
Celtic manager 2000-2005
GORDON STRACHAN
Celtic manager 2005-2009
CHRIS SUTTON
Celtic goalscorer 2000-2006; media legend
ALAN THOMPSON
Celtic stalwart 2000-2007; as