The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[ashman]

I wonder where Ashman stands on the idea of uniting the two states on the island of Ireland to once again create an Irish Nation and an official Ireland.

That for me would be higher up the priority list than worrying about recreational preferences. That said if he is so staunch about sport it is probably pretty obvious he is at the forefront of promoting Irish unity.

Not overly concerned about a UI to be honest .  My support for Irish sport is largely about community. I support my local LOI team and would be a fan of the league in general .  Can't understand Irish people referring to British soccer clubs as "we" . These clubs are big money grabbing corporations.

[Hectic]

I wonder where Ashman stands on the idea of uniting the two states on the island of Ireland to once again create an Irish Nation and an official Ireland.

That for me would be higher up the priority list than worrying about recreational preferences. That said if he is so staunch about sport it is probably pretty obvious he is at the forefront of promoting Irish unity.

Not overly concerned about a UI to be honest .  My support for Irish sport is largely about community. I support my local LOI team and would be a fan of the league in general .  Can't understand Irish people referring to British soccer clubs as "we" . These clubs are big money grabbing corporations.

I am very active in my community as is my wife.  We have an active role in coaching kids and in family groups, always support local businesses, have watered the local hanging baskets and painted at the local GAA club FFS but it is not one or the other when it comes to supporting Glasgow Celtic, a corporation yes but much much more than that and indeed a club like few others.  Being a Celtic supporter is about being part of a community also and in the case of my supporters club a local one at that.

[ned]

I wonder where Ashman stands on the idea of uniting the two states on the island of Ireland to once again create an Irish Nation and an official Ireland.

That for me would be higher up the priority list than worrying about recreational preferences. That said if he is so staunch about sport it is probably pretty obvious he is at the forefront of promoting Irish unity.

Not overly concerned about a UI to be honest .  My support for Irish sport is largely about community. I support my local LOI team and would be a fan of the league in general .  Can't understand Irish people referring to British soccer clubs as "we" . These clubs are big money grabbing corporations.

What if my local soccer club would be a very unwelcome environment for me or someone from my background? Celtic are an all inclusive club with very strong Irish links as you are well aware. Sports fans the world over refer to their team as 'we'. Not sure why you post in here because your tune never changes nor do you offer any insight, just popping up now and again to reiterate the same point. Celtic are a british football club in that they play in UK but more precisely they are a Scottish club with a massive Irish influence. So to that end I have much more in common with the club and my fellow supporters than I have even with the GAA club I represented as a youngster. The gaa can be a bit insular at times.

[T Fearon]

You can identify with a sports team in another country for numerous valid reasons.For me,it is the Irish roots of Celtic,Pat Jennings is the reason I've supported Spurs for decades.I would also follow,not actively in terms of attending games,both the Irish and Airtricty Leagues and used to travel regularly to Dundalk games during the Jimmy Mc Laughlin era.

But to get back to the point,overpraising what are,in context,modest achievements in the face of no opposition whatsoever, will not improve our club,particularly on the European stage.

[tonto1888]

My local team at home are glenavon. My father got a hiding watching them for the fact he was a catholic. Why on earth would I follow them

[T Fearon]

I was clearing out my late father's house last night and came across his Glenavon season ticket from the sixties.He and his Uncle were huge Glenavon fans,on account of Jimmy Jones and Johnny Denver joining them after Belfast Celtic's demise.

I remember seeing Martin O'Neill score two goals to help Distillery beat Glenavon in the Irish Cup quarter final in 1971 in Lurgan.

[bennydorano]

My own father had a Glenavon season ticket back in the day. Were Portadown FC not as prominent back then? Often wondered why he treked to Lurgan. The same man loved his soccer tho, worked in various parts of England for years and at different times had Season tickets at Notts Forest, Leeds and another Yorkshire club - Bradford I think.

[tonto1888]

My own father had a Glenavon season ticket back in the day. Were Portadown FC not as prominent back then? Often wondered why he treked to Lurgan. The same man loved his soccer tho, worked in various parts of England for years and at different times had Season tickets at Notts Forest, Leeds and another Yorkshire club - Bradford I think.

My father was a celtic fan but he loved football. He went regularly to both city and united when he lived in Manchester

[Main Street]

Growing up I was a Dundalk fan and went to their games. I just like Celtic and the Celtic ethos, I'm not what you'd call a fan but the fellow traveller connection goes back as far as I can remember.
Most everybody else in my 6th class at a Dublin national school which I attended, supported Leeds Utd at the time. They were the fashion in Ireland then.
I was a lone voice of fervor for Celtic in the days before the epic European cup semi final, Celtic v Leeds. The morning after the Hampden pk victory,  I came late to school and took my time strolling across the football field which the classrooms faced out onto, with a huge feckin' tricolor draped over my shoulders as a cape. My mother had sewn one together in 1966 to hang outside our house. It was faded but served with honor in what turned out to be its last call of duty.
The Head was amused and bemused at the same time.

[T Fearon]

Benny,it was the signing of Belfast Celtic players Jimmy Jones and Johnny Denver that attracted many supporters from Portadown to Glenavon.

I remember seeing Portadown V Stoke friendly at Shamrock Park with Gordon Banks in goal

[T Fearon]

Also if you watch the Lisbon Lions film on BBC1 in a short while,you'll see ex Celtic player (and former Portadown manager) Jim Conway.

[PAULD123]

Just take the top 6 from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France directly and be done with the charade of champions league. Add in a couple of token teams from a 10 round qualifier to make up the rest.

Why? Why do that? Why just make it easier and easier for a handful of clubs to forever perpetuate their position?

At one stage Celtic were one of the biggest clubs in Europe, why shouldn't they be allowed a fair chance of regaining that. Torino, PSV, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica, to name a few, were once huge teams in Europe that have fallen away. Why would you think it correct to freeze the current crop of large teams forever, not allow them to fade but to exclude the chance of others rising?

If you want a fair competition then return to straight knock out and see the giants quake when they realise one slip-up could put them out of Europe to a minnow. But they don't want that, they want six games so any slip can be rectified. That is organised cheating.

It's a boring competition because all the risk has been taken out for the current giants. Give the smaller clubs a chance of knocking them out in round one and then we will have dispensed with the charade

[StGallsGAA]

The Lisbon Lions.  50 years ago today! 

[ned]

Just take the top 6 from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France directly and be done with the charade of champions league. Add in a couple of token teams from a 10 round qualifier to make up the rest.

Why? Why do that? Why just make it easier and easier for a handful of clubs to forever perpetuate their position?

At one stage Celtic were one of the biggest clubs in Europe, why shouldn't they be allowed a fair chance of regaining that. Torino, PSV, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica, to name a few, were once huge teams in Europe that have fallen away. Why would you think it correct to freeze the current crop of large teams forever, not allow them to fade but to exclude the chance of others rising?

If you want a fair competition then return to straight knock out and see the giants quake when they realise one slip-up could put them out of Europe to a minnow. But they don't want that, they want six games so any slip can be rectified. That is organised cheating.

It's a boring competition because all the risk has been taken out for the current giants. Give the smaller clubs a chance of knocking them out in round one and then we will have dispensed with the charade

Think foxcommander is alluding to the fact that soon the top four from the big leagues will be parachuted straight into the group stages.

[foxcommander]

Just take the top 6 from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France directly and be done with the charade of champions league. Add in a couple of token teams from a 10 round qualifier to make up the rest.

Why? Why do that? Why just make it easier and easier for a handful of clubs to forever perpetuate their position?

At one stage Celtic were one of the biggest clubs in Europe, why shouldn't they be allowed a fair chance of regaining that. Torino, PSV, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica, to name a few, were once huge teams in Europe that have fallen away. Why would you think it correct to freeze the current crop of large teams forever, not allow them to fade but to exclude the chance of others rising?

If you want a fair competition then return to straight knock out and see the giants quake when they realise one slip-up could put them out of Europe to a minnow. But they don't want that, they want six games so any slip can be rectified. That is organised cheating.

It's a boring competition because all the risk has been taken out for the current giants. Give the smaller clubs a chance of knocking them out in round one and then we will have dispensed with the charade

Think foxcommander is alluding to the fact that soon the top four from the big leagues will be parachuted straight into the group stages.

PAULD123 - I despise what the competition has become. They don't care about smaller nations

It's ridiculous the champions league is no longer just that. The old european cup format represented the true contest for 'champions'. A chance for smaller teams to maybe upset the odds and win the damn thing. Now it's a procession with the 2nd and 3rd teams from countries getting automatically into group stages. You read about the battle for 4th place in england like it was life and death of a club and something to celebrate.

If UEFA truly wanted football in smaller countries to grow they would bring it back to champions only so the money wouldn't just stay in the big boys pockets.

Paul Pogba cost 100 million and Utd could afford it. Imagine what a fraction of TV money could do for the winners of the smaller nations if it was guaranteed each year.