The Universal Recognition of Celtic

I wanted to share a little story about how popular Celtic is--even in a non-footballing country like the U.S.

On Sundays I play in a pick-up game with around 20 people. I wore my brand new Celtic top on the field and got a couple of compliments. Several guys asked my buddy Joey what jersey he was wearing (it was Inter-Milan), but had no trouble telling who mine was. A few others asked about mine and upon telling them, "Celtic", they would tell various stories about how they knew about Celtic. I know this seems odd to many of the posters in Europe, but remember that football/soccer is probably the 4th or 5th most popular sport here.

The best part was this: I went to a Chinese takeout place afterward to get some food. As soon as I walked in, the girl working the counter screamed: NAKAMURA!!! Apparently she is actually half-Japanese and her dad is a huge Celtic fan because of Nakamura.

Anyway--I just wanted to know if any other people had similar experiences, especially in areas where Celtic isn't as universally known as in Scotland or Western Europe.

 

years ago i lived in malta for a year and it was round the time hartson played for us , so i had hartson 10 on back of my hoops top. remember a few folk asking for my shirt including this guy same age as me at the bar who had an arsenal top on with henry on the back, he wanted to swap shirts and i was like "No Chance !!!"
but i did get a few looks the night we beat barca at CP through alan thoompson, i was watching the game and cheered like * when thommo scored, only to realise their was a barcelona fan club watching it at the other end of the bar and i was the ONLY celtic fan in the place, the looks i got i nearly shat masel ! but they were good sports afterwards

 

last year I was in Florence for the 2-2 cup game against the huns after the game I was walking back to the hotel when these 2 italian guys stopped , they only spoke broken english but they told me how much they loved Celtic and hated rangers, one guy just kept saying kenny miller cheating * :icon_mrgreen:

 

Was wearing my celtic top at the pyramids in egypt last year and an Egyptian boy on a school trip who couldn't speak English shouted Celtic at me. All his pals were round him looking at me, he must have been the football expert and his friends were wondering what team I was wearing.

 

Some guy stopped me in the bottle shop and told me how unlucky we where against Udinese(Away). I had the tartan international top on which isn't the most recognisable Celtic top.

 

any country ive been to and worn a celtic top which is belgium, germany, netherlands, portugal, turkey, bulgaria and france; i've always had locals giving me thumbs up, chatting about Celtic and that. especially in Portugal, there were guys in their 70s or 80s talking to me about the Lions in broken English and very enthusiatic hand gestures. Brilliant

 

Few times I have thought to myself *!

The 2 that stick in my mind are:

When I was on the train from Turkey to Syria a few years back, one of these trains that take a few days but hey it was cheap as chips, this little Iranian boy kept staring at me. I was thinking to myself, * is it that obvious that I am the only westerner on this * thing! Anyway the young lad kept staring so I asked his father if he would like a sweet. His dad burst out laughing and kept saying Celtic, Celtic. The little boy got excited and jumped on his seat to get something out of his luggage. He got out this magazine and there was an article on Henrik Larsson. The little boy started shouting 'the best, the best'. Stayed up most of that night showing each other family photos and having some very awkward conversations in broken english and eating some questionable food. I carried these little Irish flag souvenir things with me to give to people as a thank you. I gave the little boy it and his dad took one look at it and started shouting Bobby Sands IRA IRA IRA. The most surreal thing that has ever happened to me.

Another time when I was in New Zealand I got myself very lost. I was standing about in this small town centre at 9 or so at night and didn't have a clue where I was or what to do. I nipped into this little pub and got a pint of guinness. I could see a few eyes on me and felt a bit uncomfortable. Anyway I felt * it, if I am gonna get a beaten I may as well make myself comfortable. I took off my coat and had my Hoops top on. The bar owner asks where I am from and what I am doing here. I was honest with him and told him I was lost. Next thing I know this old boy comes walking over and gets right in my face and at this point I am thinking what the *. He turns and says ' lost are ye? well we cant let ye spend the night out under the stars. You will come and stay with me and my wife and I won't take no for an answer!' Ended up staying for with him for over a week for free and had all my meals etc cooked and all my washing done. Had no idea the boy was a celtic fan but on the last day he rolled up his sleeve and had the club crest tattooed on his arm. He said 'We look after our own dont you know boy'. Still keep in touch with him and his wife.

 

That right there is a couple of cracking stories.

 

years an years ago i was getting my photo taken in the hoops outside the grand hotel in brighton an the doorman said to me "your about the twentieth this week"

 

Excellent tales sir !

 

I can't say I have a story myself but a friend of mine whent to Ghana on a volunteering trip and he met this one young lad who loved Celtic my mate had a kick about with the young lads and this lad turned up in a Celtic training top.

 

Some cracking stories there, keep them coming

 

Guys,

I'm working in Chennai (India) ATM and I went on a trip to a place called Pondicherry on Saturday and I seen about 5 or 6 youngsters all wearing fake celtic tops, I didn't see any other football top whatsoever, one of the strangest things ive ever seen. Also, they were all hoops tops, but different fake designs!

 

Wrote this one on another thread recently, will repost:


Irish-American Hoop here. I drive around with a "CELT1CFC" license plate. It's my favorite part of my car lol

Little story about our club's reach. I was double-parked on a dead end side street in City Island, Bronx, NY waiting to pick someone up. City Island is a small fishing village in the Bronx, may have seen the self-titled movie. Anyhow, I see a black man walking his dog in the distance. He walks right up to my open passenger window, half sticks his head in, and in an African accent says "Is that Celtic Football Club?"

There's generally not a whole lot of dialogue between strangers in these parts, which made the exchange we had that much more memorable.

 

Love stories like this!

 

Got of the boat in Port Ziad in Egypt a couple of years back. I was wearing my Celtic jersey walking up to the buses that was waiting for us and a man either a cop or security gaurd said to me in broken english o you Irish Celtic Celtic ye hate rangers and he was giving me the thumbs up.

 

Years and Years ago I was with my family in Disney land Florida and we were walking through the turnstiles and this huge monster of a black man was taking the tickets, I had my hoops on and he turns to me "ah Celtic, are you Scottish?" I replied "No" so he says "are ya from the north or south of Ireland so?" so i told him Dublin to which he returned "cool man, high five man". * Mad I thought.

Traveled about alot and the hoops are recognized everywhere its unreal.

 

Some awesome stories! Things like this always give me a little buzz; makes me so proud to be a Celt!

The only story I remember right now was when a group of Greek kids that spoke no English recognised my bumble bee top and started shouting Samaras! This was in London after the Emirates Cup. I tried to start a conversation with them but all they could say that I understood was Samaras.

 

I was at the Lake District a couple of summers ago, and me and my dad were going in to get a chippy. I was wearing my Celtic top, and there was this guy walking by and when he seen me he started smiling. As he walked by me he had his thumbs up and said 'Celtic' in a foreign accent.

Another time was in Florida, I was wearing the hoops and this guy, and his son, in an American accent said 'Come on the hoops!' Later my dad was in the cue at the toilet and he was also there. The guy was born in America and has lived there all his life, but it turned out that his parents lived in the same street in Glasgow that my mums mum lives in.

When I'm on holiday I always count the number of Celtic tops I see to the number of Rangers tops. Every single holiday, I've seen far more Celtic tops than Rangers, and the majority of the holidays have been in England. Makes me proud:icon_mrgreen:

 

I've not got as many great stories as you guys (yet!) but in both primary and high school I had Celtic teachers. A few kids in school wore Celtic tops as well, even though no-one was from Scotland or Ireland.

In Barca on holiday we were in one pub watching El Clasico ( I was about 11 or something) and my dad (massive tim) got talking to guys and we found everyone liked Celtic there also.

I went to Villareal when we played them a few years ago, I was crying I think because we were losing and they kept diving lol so one Spanish woman in front of me (I was sitting in home section) smiled at me and swapped scarves, again everyone there was really friendly. I remember the council/mayor whatever of Villareal (a tiny town) putting on a gigantic banquet and a big tent for all the travelling hoops, the population of the town easily tripled when we came to town!

Apart from that i've not got any specific great experiences, just that i've never seen a rangers top outside Scotland, but there's very few towns and cities i've been in around the world where I haven't seen a hoops top. Our fanbase is quite incredible and massive.