The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[illdecide]

Celtic got Kazakhstan champions Shakhter Karagandy for knockout game to try and make into the group stages. TBH i don't know anything about this team only the travel will be brutal and hope the damage is not done away in the first leg.

As far as i know its in 2 weeks time so hopefully a few signings will be in place by then...

[charlieTully]

Anyone for the Liverpool game tommoro?

[illdecide]

Anyone for the Liverpool game tommoro?

Yeah i'm bring my nephew tomorrow (even though he's 22...lol) and i'm on that Special Train put on for the match so not looking forward to the train tbh. I was sort of dreading the match too as i first thought Celtic were on next Wed again and thought he'd put out a weak team but the CL game is 2 weeks away so def a better feeling for the game now.

[ludermor]

This mayoman had a very good weekend just gone.

http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory.php?item=4366
Flag Day honour is a fitting tribute to John Keane
By: Brian Wilson on 02 Aug, 2013 16:19
WHEN John Keane, the Honorary Chairman of Celtic Football and Athletic Club, unfurls the League Championship flag at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon, he deserves an ovation to match the contribution he has made to the history, success and – above all - continuity of Celtic Football Club.

Back in the dark days of 1994, John was at home in Edinburgh one evening when he received a call from Kevin Kelly, then the Celtic chairman. The news was dire. The Bank of Scotland was about to foreclose on Celtic.

The wages would not be paid. Administration was staring them in the face.
Kevin Kelly had a straightforward question for John Keane:  could he help the club out of this dire predicament?  John, who had forged a successful business career over the previous 40 years and was already a Celtic shareholder, did not have to think twice.

Looking back, he says:  "Administration was unthinkable. It would have been a slur upon the name of the Club."

An immediate £1million was needed to save Celtic from this ignominy and to keep trading. John Keane immediately phoned his own bank manager, John Brosnan of the Bank of Ireland, who was about to head off to Dublin with clients for a rugby international. 

Instead, he was on the doorstep of the Bank of Scotland in Glasgow when it opened for business the next morning, to pledge John Keane's £1million. The wages were paid. Administration was averted. The rest is history.

John Keane went on to back Fergus McCann's takeover with further crucial investment. Now, both as supporter and investor, he enthusiastically endorses the stability and commitment that Dermot Desmond has brought to the club, making it the force it is today while reinforcing the historic Irish bond – all a far cry from the circumstances of two decades ago.

John is a native of Doohoma on the Mayo coast. His mother was from Crown Street in the Gorbals and his father met her when he came to Scotland as an agricultural worker. 

They settled back in Mayo to raise the family but his mother's love of Celtic and the Scottish newspapers that were posted over to her ensured that John was familiar with the club and its traditions from an early age.

At the age of 17, he moved to Scotland himself, first of all carrying out agricultural contracts and then building a successful business as a contractor laying cables and pipes for major utility companies.

From his first days in Scotland, he became a regular at Celtic Park, developing a deep affinity with the club.

John is the most modest of men. Throughout the dramas of the 1990s, he delivered exactly what was asked of him and what he promised but never sought the limelight.  He was capable of seeing the light and shade of the saga rather than becoming a partisan. And when the chips were down, he saved Celtic for us all.

It is a story which not enough people knew and last year, the Celtic board decided that recognition was long overdue.

John accepted an invitation to become Honorary Chairman of the historic Celtic Football & Athletic Club board which handles relations with supporters and of which he is a long-standing member. He also agreed to take part in Saturday's ceremony.

He looks forward to the event with a little trepidation: "I love the club. I have supported it and nothing will change me from that. This is a great honour. I hope I don't trip and that they don't boo me too much!" 

There should be no danger of that - for all Celtic supporters owe John Keane a debt of gratitude.

[deiseach]

This mayoman had a very good weekend just gone.

http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory.php?item=4366
Flag Day honour is a fitting tribute to John Keane
By: Brian Wilson on 02 Aug, 2013 16:19
WHEN John Keane, the Honorary Chairman of Celtic Football and Athletic Club, unfurls the League Championship flag at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon, he deserves an ovation to match the contribution he has made to the history, success and – above all - continuity of Celtic Football Club.

Back in the dark days of 1994, John was at home in Edinburgh one evening when he received a call from Kevin Kelly, then the Celtic chairman. The news was dire. The Bank of Scotland was about to foreclose on Celtic.

The wages would not be paid. Administration was staring them in the face.
Kevin Kelly had a straightforward question for John Keane:  could he help the club out of this dire predicament?  John, who had forged a successful business career over the previous 40 years and was already a Celtic shareholder, did not have to think twice.

Looking back, he says:  "Administration was unthinkable. It would have been a slur upon the name of the Club."

An immediate £1million was needed to save Celtic from this ignominy and to keep trading. John Keane immediately phoned his own bank manager, John Brosnan of the Bank of Ireland, who was about to head off to Dublin with clients for a rugby international. 

Instead, he was on the doorstep of the Bank of Scotland in Glasgow when it opened for business the next morning, to pledge John Keane's £1million. The wages were paid. Administration was averted. The rest is history.

John Keane went on to back Fergus McCann's takeover with further crucial investment. Now, both as supporter and investor, he enthusiastically endorses the stability and commitment that Dermot Desmond has brought to the club, making it the force it is today while reinforcing the historic Irish bond – all a far cry from the circumstances of two decades ago.

John is a native of Doohoma on the Mayo coast. His mother was from Crown Street in the Gorbals and his father met her when he came to Scotland as an agricultural worker. 

They settled back in Mayo to raise the family but his mother's love of Celtic and the Scottish newspapers that were posted over to her ensured that John was familiar with the club and its traditions from an early age.

At the age of 17, he moved to Scotland himself, first of all carrying out agricultural contracts and then building a successful business as a contractor laying cables and pipes for major utility companies.

From his first days in Scotland, he became a regular at Celtic Park, developing a deep affinity with the club.

John is the most modest of men. Throughout the dramas of the 1990s, he delivered exactly what was asked of him and what he promised but never sought the limelight.  He was capable of seeing the light and shade of the saga rather than becoming a partisan. And when the chips were down, he saved Celtic for us all.

It is a story which not enough people knew and last year, the Celtic board decided that recognition was long overdue.

John accepted an invitation to become Honorary Chairman of the historic Celtic Football & Athletic Club board which handles relations with supporters and of which he is a long-standing member. He also agreed to take part in Saturday's ceremony.

He looks forward to the event with a little trepidation: "I love the club. I have supported it and nothing will change me from that. This is a great honour. I hope I don't trip and that they don't boo me too much!" 

There should be no danger of that - for all Celtic supporters owe John Keane a debt of gratitude.

It's an amazing story. Readers of Celtic Quick News will be familiar with John Keane. They put his efforts for Celtic in a certain, uh, context:

Taking the huge step to save your club

2nd May 2012

Apparently, time for Rangers fans to step forward to save their club has passed.  For the want of £500k any one or collection of them could have bought an exclusive period as preferred bidder and worked on a rescue but no one stepped forward.

It is perhaps worthwhile reflecting on our hour of need 18 years ago.  Celtic had exceeded their agreed overdraft limit and the Bank of Scotland informed the club that unless the account was brought back into agreed limits that day, it would go to court to appoint an administrator.

Back then there were no transfer windows, so players could, and would, have been sold by the administrator the next day.  Celtic would have been left with an unwanted shell of a squad.

Word of the impending doom spread around the Celtic business community and John Keane decided to act.  He withdrew £1m from his account and paid it straight into Celtic's account at the Bank of Scotland.

John did this in the hope that he could buy time for the Celtic Movement to pull a rescue together.  The bank could still have withdrawn the overdraft the same day, which would have made him an unsecured creditor with no chance of a return.  There was also no agreement signed to secure the transfer of the club from the old board, each member of whom would later be dealt with on an individual basis, as shares were sold, or in the case of Kevin Kelly, pledged behind Fergus McCann's consortium.

John kept his money in Celtic and received a seat on the new board, which he retains.  He declined to appear in the publicity photos on the steps of Celtic Park when the club was rescued and although he attends the AGM every year, he remains a quiet and largely unknown figure.  He has since invested more in Celtic, money he will never see back, but which has ensured his family can block a Glazier-style takeover of Celtic.

I have spoken to him once or twice, although he doesn't know who I am, but I have often thought he deserves a standing ovation at the AGM for what he did all those years ago.  Maybe this year.

We can only wonder why there was not a John Keane across the city.

[T Fearon]

Last year it was a Sligoman,the late Sean Fallon,who unfurled the flag.

Men like John Keane will hopefully endure that Celtic FC will never move beyond Irish,or Scots-Irish ownership,unlike the Manchester clubs and Liverpool etc

[T Fearon]

Celtic reserves performing commendably so far and leading Liverpool 1 nil in Dublin.Big Balde looks a right handful

[T Fearon]

Kindergarten 1 Kop 0 

[tyroneStatto]

a very understrength celtic defended well today.

liverpool were flat out apart from suarez so it's an excellent result.

great draw as well for champions league!

[T Fearon]

Lennon ten times the manager Rodgers is.Great result indeed!

[BennyCake]

Celtic reserves performing commendably so far and leading Liverpool 1 nil in Dublin.Big Balde looks a right handful

Bobo Balde's still playing for Celtic???

[rodney trotter]

Amido Balde Portuguese forward signed in the summer. Bobo Balde left in 2009.

[T Fearon]

https://twitter.com/celticfc/status/367237918575697920

Great to see the King back at Celtic Park! Saw him playing for Celtic against Dundalk at Oriel Park in 1975,and he scored a cracking goal as well.Can't believe 36 years have passed since he left.If Celtic had been a little more adventurous in the 70s they could have been playing in the 1976/77 European Cup with a team featuring Hay,Macari,Connelly,Dalglish and Mc Grain.Liverpool won that year 's European Cup with a defence that included Phil Neal,Emlyn Hughes,and Tommy Smith

[illdecide]

Starting to get concerned with our lack of signings and espicially a centre forward thats been around the block a bit who can get us 30 goals a season to replace Hooper

[T Fearon]

Expect activity in the next two weeks, especially after Tuesday night, when Champions League Group qualification will be either practically confirmed or denied. Clubs and potential recruits hedging bets.

By the way I am surprised Paddy Mc Court is having difficulty finding another club. Currently training with Barnsley?