Celtic Book Reviews

For any fans interested, reviews of Celtic books old and new - starting off with the first Celtic autobiography'Passed To You' by Charlie Tully, 1958.

Grafitti on the wall – it says he’s magic, he’s magic!​

Version with pics here: Charlie Tully - book review


Books by Celtic players in recent years are almost as common as dubious refereeing decisions but that wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1950s footballers’ memoirs were usually kept for the newspaper columns and printed over a few weeks. Not surprisingly – and not for the first time – the Celtic player that broke the mould was West Belfast’s own Charles Patrick Tully.

Charlie Tully was the first Celtic player to have an autobiography published, fitting of the man around whom there was so much hype during his time in Glasgow. To say that the bold Charles Patrick was a well-known public figure in Scotland and Ireland in the 1950s is an under-statement – his name was everywhere and Tully stories abounded. This Belfast Bhoy took it all in his stride and happily stoked the fire himself when the opportunity arose.

‘Passed To You’ was published in 1958, when ‘Tullymania’ was still in vogue and a year before he left Celtic. The second-oldest of fourteen children, Charlie’s impudence was on show from an early age. Attending St. Kevin’s school in West Belfast he resented the emphasis on hurling and was once given four strokes of the cane for organising games of football in the school grounds. Far from discouraging him, his displays for youth teams saw him taken on as a net-boy at Belfast Celtic, for whom he made his debut while still a teenager. Under the watchful eye of legendary trainer and former Liverpool and Ireland keeper Elisha Scott, the young Tully developed into a fully-fledged professional alongside Belfast Celtic legends such as Jack Vernon, Paddy Bonnar and Jimmy McAlinden. Not that Elisha wasn’t aware of his wayward tendencies on the pitch, telling Tully once: “If we shifted the goalposts across the park you’d be a world beater.”

Glasgow’s Celtic made their move for Charlie in 1948 at a time when the team was flirting with relegation to the horror of the support. It took him only three hours to decide to leave Ireland for the first time and set up in Glasgow. An £8,000 fee demonstrated that Celtic were – unusually – determined to get their man. It could have been different for, on arriving in Glasgow, he made his way to Willie Maley’s famed Bank Restaurant on Queen Street and, on asking for directions to Celtic Park, was instructed instead towards . . . Ibrox Park. The joke was played on him by Celtic’s previous clown prince in residence, the notorious Tommy McInally. Willie Maley kept him right before McInally gave him his first lesson in Glaswegian: “The correct pronunciation is Paurkheid.”

Tullymania was instantaneous for, in his own words, “when this innocent went abroad things really began to sizzle.” In only his sixth game in the Hoops against Rangers in September 1948 the Tully legend got into full swing thanks to a performance labelled ‘Tully And The Three Gers’. Charlie’s fairytale started with a roasting of the famed ‘Iron Curtain’ defence in an unexpected 3-1 victory. His flicks, feints and ball-juggling skills were so deceptive that the Rangers defenders were reluctant to approach him for fear of further humiliation. The Celtic fans couldn’t believe their eyes - he beat three defenders in one move using three different manoeuvres. But that wasn’t all. He set up all of Celtic’s goals into the bargain. For Celtic, it appeared like the dawning of a new era after a decade starved of success. The man himself said of the game: “I couldn’t go wrong. I tried everything in the book and wrote one or two extra chapters.”

It was soon after that the stories started, all nonsense to fuel Tullymania. In his book Charlie gives the mythical example of how he and Winston Churchill walked into Buckingham Palace together only to be met by the King who nudged his wife and said “Who’s that with Charlie?” A few weeks later he was dining with his new pal John McPhail when this exchange took place with a café owner:
“Is it true that an accident happened at training this morning?”
“Not that I know of’, said John.
‘Well’, said the proprietor, ‘I heard that you crossed a ball into the middle, this guy Charlie Tully jumped to head it for goal and got his head jammed between the uprights.”
‘Meet Charlie Tully!’ said John.
The biggest laugh in that story might be the suggestion that Charlie would ever bother jumping for a header in the first place.

The legends about Tully were sometimes based in reality though. His audacity knew no bounds. He once took a shy, threw it off the back of a defender, whipped a cross while the startled defender looked all around – and this move inspired a 3-2 comeback victory! And of course, there was the amazing story of how he scored direct from a corner kick at Brockville – only for the referee Gerrard to re-order it, believing that Charlie had placed the ball illegally. So what did Tully do? Hit it straight into the goal at the second attempt. Unbelievably, the same referee was in charge of an Ireland – England international at Belfast the following season when . . . Tully did it again! As the man himself said, “Doug Gerrard will probably tell you that Tully is the ace of all flag kickers.”

There is one chapter in the book that makes for fascinating reading: Celtic’s visit to Rome in 1950. From Bing Crosby meeting the players on the boat to Ostend and singing ‘I Belong to Glasgow’ to his ringside view of John McPhail’s decking of a Lazio opponent (who’d been kicking him and taunting him with lines like “you begga tougha man!”) in a supposedly friendly game, Charlie’s delight at recounting the various tales is obvious. The Celtic players were all presented with bouquets of flowers before the Lazio game got underway, prompting Charlie to say of the fans back home: “if the Tims could only have seen us then”! The undoubted highlight though was when the Celtic party made it to St Peter’s Square for an audience with the Pope. Charlie repeated the rumour doing the rounds in Glasgow that while he was in Rome every mass was all-ticket and the Holy Father had made enquiries about his birthday - in order that he could make it a Holiday of Obligation! The impact of the occasion wasn’t lost on the Belfast bhoy though when he saw the Pope which he described as “The most exciting and satisfying experience of all. No prize, or honour could ever be greater than this”.

The book is an easy and enjoyable read, mostly focused on tales of his team-mates, games and opponents but with occasional insights into Glasgow life and beyond in the 1950s. At one point he poses the question if all the wine-grapes (papes) go to Parkhead and all the bluenoses go to Ibrox, where do the four-by-twos (Jews) go? The USA Tour of 1957 left Charlie convinced that family life wouldn’t survive if women back home abandoned the kitchen for the workplace the way American women had. On an earlier tour to the States he took exception to an opponent referring to him as a Scotch Haggis when “the shamrocks were sticking out of my ears and the clay was still on my boots!”

There is a particular relish in reading Charlie’s account of the amazing 7-1 League Cup final triumph the previous year which the man himself refers to as “the greatest defeat of Rangers by the Tims in modern times”! His dressing-room bust up with Bobby Evans a few days before that game – Celtic’s first cup final against Rangers in 30 years – is one of the few instances in the book where ‘inside knowledge’ is revealed, including his successful attempt in making sure the story didn’t reach the papers before the final. By that time the name of Tully was known far and wide and the release of a book by and about him was destined to be a big seller. This after all was a player who was single-handedly responsible for a significant increase in attendances at Celtic Park and sustained this throughout his time in the Hoops. He was adored and cherished by the Celtic support – and well he knew it!

The book is quite hard to get your hands on nowadays, out of print and expensive. The good news is that the Belfast Celtic Society hope to re-publish it in the near future, with some additional biographical information. This can only add to what is already a fascinating read which captures the spirit of the time so well. It is also fitting that in the last chapter Charlie made the bold forecast that his first love, Belfast Celtic, WILL BE BACK. It wasn’t to be for the original Grand Old Team but it is down to the supporters of that much-missed team that we will get a taste of what Tullymania was like once again. Hopefully the Society will make sure this time that the photo on the book’s cover isn’t of Celtic losing a goal in a final!

I for one cannot wait. And maybe it will contain his response to the question famously posed to him in 1967: “Charlie - Do you think you could play in Celtic’s European Cup winning team?” Tully’s response was priceless and said, no doubt, with a hint of devilment: “Sure, I could take the corners.”


The Shamrock rating: 7/10




More Celtic books reviewed here: http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress.com/book-reviews/

 

Celtic - Changing Faces, by Paul Lunney

Review here (with pics): http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/celtic-changing-faces-by-paul-lunney-a-review/

​

The new book by accomplished Celtic author and football historian Paul Lunney is a fascinating pictorial review of the club’s first 125 years. Here you will find the earliest Celtic team photos through to the latest and players ranging from Darlin’ Willie Groves and Johnny Campbell, among Celtic’s earliest stars, to Paul Elliott and Scott Brown from the current era. In just under a hundred pages you are transported through monochrome and sepia to full blown colour as the early green and white stripes give way to the now famous Hoops, Celtic Park expands in the backgrounds and the trophies begin to pile up.

On the face of it, a book consisting of a stream of photos of one football club through the ages shouldn’t really be that interesting. But this captures developments in the game and wider society, as the author himself says: “from the black and white Victorian early days right through to the modern era of glorious colour we can observe the many changes in football fashion and facial appearance. From the heavy jerseys, long pants and cumbersome boots of 1888 to the slick and stream-lined styles of today’s strips and footwear, the contrasts are certainly striking. Likewise we see how faces differ over the passing decades.”
One familiar face which certainly does change over time quite dramatically is that of Willie Maley – pictured in the first ever Celtic team photo of late 1888 as a young man with a fine moustache and then through almost every season, ageing with the turn of each page, until we finally see him sitting, still an impressive physical specimen, next to Jimmy Delaney and the Scottish Cup winning team of 1937. And that’s where the attraction lies with this book. These pages are golden Celtic history, each telling a story of a player or a manager or a team at a specific time, easy to access and to contrast with earlier and older times.

The photos come from newspaper libraries as well as the author’s own impressive collection. The quality of them is generally faultless. Some of the early colourised photos are simply glorious – Alec McNair and Jimmy Quinn being particular stand-outs. The identities of reserve players and backroom staff will spark some debate, especially from the heavy 40 plus squads of the 80s and 90s. Pictures of the players out of ‘uniform’ and away from the park are among the most fascinating. There are a handful of photos which will appear new to most fans although the majority will likely have been seen before, if not as well packaged as they are here.

The developing styles and appearances of the team photos will likely attract the most interest. We all have our own favourite era – often the one closely associated with our youth following Celtic – and this book provides an instant opportunity to compare and contrast players from different periods in time. Patsy Gallacher and Lubo Moravcik – who’d have taken the corners? Jimmy Quinn v Bobo Balde – that would provide a competitive edge to training. Charlie Shaw and Peter Latchford – why does one look sturdy while the other manages to look overweight? The angelic Dan Doyle and the curly-heided Roy Aitken – was innocence ever so out of place? And then you see a picture of the recently-departed Bobby Collins, fooling about, young and carefree, and you’re reminded that these are men with lives, families and stories of their own beyond the Celtic Story. And you feel gratitude for all their efforts.

This book is more than a wander down the Memory Lane sandwiched somewhere between the Gallowgate and London Road. It acts as a reminder of good times, bad times and great times but there’s more to it than that. There are some faces here – and some away jerseys especially – that you’d rather not remember. Yet there’s also lots between the covers to fuel discussion, quizzical enquiries and heated arguments about the contrasting features of the major Celtic eras of success.

Paul Lunney has done another impressive job in reviewing Celtic’s history through the use of compelling and often brilliant imagery. ‘Changing Faces’ will grab the attention of fans both young and old for different reasons. A good buy at £12.99, it will be welcome across the threshold of any Celtic-minded home where the history of ‘the bould bhoys’ is cherished.

The Shamrock rating: 7/10

 

Sean Fallon - Celtic's Iron Man by Stephen Sullivan

Review here (with pics): http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress...-fallon-celtics-iron-man-by-stephen-sullivan/



Fallon, the strong, who undismayed,
Fronted the hostile roar,
Staunch as the rugged rocks that guard,
His native Sligo’s shore

Time shall not dim your lustre,
And none your right gainsay,
To measure your feat with the brightest page
In Celtic’s history.

Of all the things remembered about Sean Fallon, his role in Celtic’s historic 7-1 Cup Final victory over Rangers is sometimes overlooked. The above poem, from the 1958 Celtic Supporters Association Handbook and republished in Stephen Sullivan’s long-awaited biography of Celtic’s other famous Sligoman, highlighted the support’s gratitude for a solid appearance not just at Hampden In the Sun but throughout the 1950s. Fallon helped provide the much-needed backbone for a team resplendent with individual talent – and the platform for winning silverware which had become an unfamiliar visitor to the Celtic Park boardroom.

‘The Iron Man’ was how Fallon came to be known among the Celtic support of the day. Yet the impact this one individual had on the course of the club’s history went far beyond being a purveyor of bone-shaking tackles. One of the difficulties which the author faced was condensing Sean Fallon’s story into a single book as his day-to-day connection with Celtic spanned three triumphant and tumultuous decades in the most amazing phase in the club’s history. Another was the reticence of a man who preferred instead to extol the virtues of colleagues and who had long resisted overtures to tell his own, unique Celtic Story. In this regard we have a young generation of Fallons to be grateful for as they proved the spur for Sean to decide to work with Stephen Sullivan to “put something down for the grandkids.”

It is a decision which all Celtic fans should be grateful for because this is one of the most interesting and important Celtic books published. Here is the inside track on what it was like to play for Celtic in the 1950s and to be part of the management team during the club’s darkest and brightest periods from the early 1960s through to the late 1970s. It also the tale of a football talent-spotter supreme. The story is told in a refreshingly honest manner as would be expected of Sean Fallon and it is clear that his focus was not on dishing any dirt but simply setting the record straight – and adding to that public record.

He fills some of the blanks about things left largely unspoken in the club’s history. He tells of his working relationship with club chairman Bob Kelly who seized control of team affairs and wouldn’t let them go; the difficulties he faced after being appointed first-team coach by Kelly under his old manager Jimmy McGrory who was suspicious and resentful of the move (on which Kelly had not conferred with the manager); how Jock Stein came to be appointed manager rather than him yet the two former playing colleagues went on to forge a working partnership that drove Celtic to massive success; and how it all came apart at the hands of unscrupulous directors who ignored a previous pledge of a job for life at Celtic Park.

And then there are the various stories of how Sean’s famous eye for a player and wonderful manner led him to entice a generation of great footballers to Celtic Park, from Bertie Auld to Kenny Dalglish, Ronnie Simpson to Pat Bonner, Tommy Burns to Paul McStay – and many others in between. Typical of the man he instead praises the work of others involved in bringing players to his attention, including a publican (Danny McGrain), a priest (Davie Hay) and a car dealer (Tommy Burns)! The Quality Street Kids, Celtic’s famed reserve team of the 1960s, were invariably known as “Sean’s Boys” and in this book we have Sean’s take on the success of Lisbon in ’67 as well as the despair of Milan in ’70 and the reasons for both.

Some of the most intriguing parts of the book concern the family and private life of Sean Fallon which he freely reveals as he considers these often necessary to understand how his professional life played out the way it did. To this end, while much of the book is based on detailed interviews with the man himself, it also benefits from input from a range of observers and participants along the way (including Sean’s wife Myra and children) so that the author wasn’t left to rely entirely on his subject’s recollections. On occasions the former players and colleagues interviewed challenge Sean’s position on certain matters, giving this football book an unusually open and critical approach is welcomed.

We come to understand how his life-long commitment to Celtic was inherited from his father, who lived for a while in Glasgow as a young man and caught the Celtic ‘bug’ then. His father was a former British soldier whose decision to enter local politics in Sligo and run for Mayor despite challenges from Republicans provides an interesting slant on the ‘poppy’ remembrance issue which continues to generate controversy around Celtic and its support. His son went on to represent Ireland at international level but became embroiled in controversy of his own when he decided to play for the northern Irish League against the Republic-based League of Ireland whilst a Glenavon player. This appearance, however, opened the door to a move to Celtic – as did Sean’s decision to shave almost six years off his actual age to persuade the club they were securing the services of an enthusiastic 22 year old as opposed to an experienced 28 year old! The lie was maintained for a number of years and it proved to be in Celtic’s best interests as ‘The Iron Man’ played in the first team through until his mid-30s despite a series of bad knocks and injuries which would have been the ruin of lesser men.

Personally, the most fascinating aspect of the book was the illumination it brought to the key period of the late 1950s through to the mid-1960s. From the experimental Kelly Kids (effectively the Busby Babes without the significant Busby input and guidance) to a series of debilitating and high-profile cup defeats before the return of Jock Stein to the club, here we have an insider’s account on what was going so badly wrong behind the scenes at Celtic Park. In the eyes of the players, Sean Fallon was the man to turn their fortunes around – yet when given the opportunity to do, he appeared not to take it. This was largely down to his complicated relationships with Jimmy McGrory and Bob Kelly¬ and, crucially, the absence of effective leadership at the club. While Sean Fallon never lost faith in his own ability to manage he was equally convinced that acting as assistant to his good friend Stein was an appropriate and rewarding way for him to maintain his key professional aim – to serve Celtic Football Club to the best of his abilities and in its best interests.

There is so much of value in this book that it’s unlikely any Celtic supporter, no matter how much they know about the club, will not learn something new from Sean Fallon’s story and the entirely engaging way it has been told here.

Sean’s dedication to the cause of Celtic was illustrated late in his life on 20th March 2012. That was the occasion on which the Celtic Graves Society organised a commemoration in honour of Michael Dolan, Celtic’s first ever goalkeeper, at a Lanarkshire cemetery which formed part of that year’s Coatbridge St. Patrick’s Festival. Despite being just four months short of his 90th birthday Sean delighted every Celtic supporter present by taking the time and effort to attend and speak at the event. Fortunately the whole Celtic support had the opportunity to remind Sean he had a place in their hearts a few months later when, before a packed Celtic Park, he unfurled the league championship flag on August 4 2012, to a magnificent roar around the stadium. It was to be a final public hurrah in the service of the club he followed devoutly, with Sean passing away on January 18th the following year.

The Iron Man legend lives on however. After sustaining a double-fracture to his arm in an accidental collision with the Celtic great Jimmy Delaney in the first-half of a game against Falkirk in December 1952, Sean’s decision to play on drew admiration from Delaney who felt compelled to write to the Sligoman after the incident: “The fact that you played right through the rest of the game proves you have the old Celtic spirit.” It is that wonderful Celtic spirit, something that Jimmy Delaney knew all about, which infused Sean Fallon’s life and which the author has done a magnificent job in capturing here. For those grandkids he has certainly put something special down and this book represents a true appreciation of a great, humble and honest man – whose life was dedicated to his family and Celtic.

This excellent biography will help ensure that Sean Fallon long remains a shining star in the Celtic galaxy. The 1958 poet was right in his prediction: time has not dimmed in his lustre.

The Shamrock rating: 9/10

 

Competition to win a copy of the Sean Fallon book: http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress...on-man-win-sean-fallons-biography-free-entry/

 

Only just started the book but that is my favorite picture from it.

 

‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ by Frank Rafters

http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress...-on-the-shoulders-of-giants-by-frank-rafters/




As far as Celtic debuts go, this book by Frank Rafters is up there with Jorge Cadette and Barry Robson in terms of memorable first impressions. With over 450 pages it is a wide-ranging appreciation of the men who made Celtic great in the pre-Lisbon era – and of individual supporters who follow the team from all corners of the globe, providing Celtic with its core strength.

To write a first book of this range and depth in such an engaging and enjoyable matter is truly impressive. When you consider that the author is still in his early 20s you realise it is a remarkable achievement. Although, it should be pointed out, Frank is no novice when it comes to writing about Celtic. He is the main man behind the successful Maley’s Bhoys website and Twitter feed which has thousands of followers among the Celtic support. With this book Frank has successfully developed his interest in the club’s history into a single volume celebrating the players, managers and supporters who create what he calls, with a scientific rationale no less, The Celtic Effect.

This is no straight-forward re-telling of the club’s history. The author has created a blend of historical profiles of leading players and insightful fan stories of following the team’s fortunes from every continent in the world – interspersed with some of his own experiences of watching Celtic home and away.

Despite being a young man he knows his history. He felt there was imbalance in the Greatest Ever Celtic side voted by supporters back in 2002 as it contained no players from the pre-Lisbon era. Effectively the club’s first seven decades were overlooked as fans, understandably, selected players they’d seen in person or on film. To address this imbalance, the author has made a personal selection of profiles of those he considers the most influential Celtic players from 1888-1960. Those who follow Maley’s Bhoys online will be familiar with the style: detailed and well-researched pieces illustrating what made these men the greatest Celts of their eras. While the names are familiar the author has used access newspaper and Hampden Museum archives to great effect. Match reports and obituaries help give a true flavour of the achievements of these Celts on the park and their standing off it.

In between the player biographies are varied and often funny tales of fans following the Hoops from far-flung Philadelphia, Santiago, Adelaide, Kisumu (Kenya), Crete and Hong Kong as well as supporter experiences in Madrid, Milan, Stuttgart, Barcelona and (of course) Seville. Not forgetting Coatbridge, home to Billy Davidson, teller of some memorable Celtic stories with the best undoubtedly being what he got up to on 26th May 1967 in the company of the big cup. (Although how he came to have portraits of Henrik Larsson, Muhammad Ali and Carol Vorderman on his living room wall is another interesting tale!)

The most fascinating story in the entire book for me was that of Bill Boland. At the time the author interviewed him Bill was the oldest living Celtic player. How he went from the pit at his village in Muirkirk, Ayrshire to Celtic Park in the 1940s is a great read – but even more fascinating was Bill’s account of being a Celtic supporter for almost a century. This really was Celtic history come to life.

All in all, ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ is a truly worthwhile read. As with any debut, you could find room for improvement in the excessive word count at times or the strange fascination with bold typeface but heavy editing would inevitably have lost some of this book’s intrinsic charm. This is a fine addition to any Celtic library and here’s hoping the author goes on to establish a regular berth in Celtic’s first team of historians and writers.

The Shamrock rating: 7/10

 

Many thanks for sharing the fascinating information on Celtic Books. You mention that the Belfast Celtic Society hope to re-publish Charlie Tully's autobiography. I am really interested in buying a couple of copies. Any idea how to get in touch of get on a waiting list.

 

Don't think they're there yet with it mate. Visit their site (www.belfastceltic.org) and email them to note your interest. Expect there'll be a fair bit of publicity when the project gets the green light.

 

Celtic Book Review - 'The Road to Lisbon - A Novel'




Ay Ay Ay Ay
Simpson is better than Yashin
Lennox is better than Eusebio
But Johnstone is better than anyone!

This road to Lisbon is a fascinating and engaging tale that reflects the varied signposts along the way: Burnbank, Bilbao, Coatbridge, Chalk Farm, Dunfermline, Salamanca, Bridgeton Cross and Estoril, to name just a few. The two authors have succeeded in making the physical journey of 1700 miles – and Jock Stein’s spiritual journey from Lanarkshire miner to world class football manager –an enthralling and, at times, enlightening experience. And that’s before any acid was dropped in the Basque Country!

A novel about Celtic and the club’s greatest journey is challenging on a number of fronts. All Celtic fans are familiar with the Lisbon adventure to some degree but the two stories weaved together here are truly imaginative and complement each other superbly. The absorbing, dual approach takes the perspective of a group of Celtic fans from the Gorbals hurtling south in a Hillman Imp as well as that of the man who guided the team all the way to the Estadio Nacional. One account is a roller-coaster of stories, incidents, characters, noises and sights which veers from comedy to grim reality and moments of quiet reflection while the other consists of a narrow, single voice from deep within the psyche of Jock Stein himself, revealing his fears, his motivations and ultimately his strategic genius.

Celtic’s greatest manager comes across as a straight-talking force of nature who doesn’t miss his targets when they come into sight: bottom-feeding journalists, bent referees or his forbidding opponent in the Inter dug-out, Helenio Herrera. Or rather, he doesn’t miss his f*cking targets, for this is the voice of Stein as the man and former miner: uncut and unrefined. It won’t be to everyone’s liking given the pedestal he now (rightly) occupies, yet there’s no doubt he used his language as well as his physical presence to intimidate, impress and cajole, especially that squad of players who hadn’t won a single trophy yet were Champions of Europe in just two seasons under his management. The imagined team-talks and other exchanges here convey not just the forceful language used but also the humour and the crucial relationships which Stein developed with Jimmy Johnstone, Sean Fallon, Bob Kelly and Billy McNeill among others.

The other Road to Lisbon is being spear-headed by Tim Lynch (I’ve only ever met a single Tim in my time whose first name was actually Tim) and his band of Gorbals die-hards: Rocky, Eddie, Mark and Iggy. For them it’s a road-trip of a lifetime, the first occasion (as with most of the 12,000 travelling Celtic support) that they’d even been abroad. It was a different time. There’s tensions aplenty in this group of pals who are on the brink of major changes in their lives. Love, family, faith, gangs and crime are some of the things pulling them in different directions. The pilgrimage to Lisbon, the lure of the big cup and the glory of Celtic are binding them together – just. When they’re on the verge of splitting or fighting, Tim brings them back together with memories of their favourite Celtic games and all is right for a while. But Lisbon is also a crossroads for them: their experiences on the way there mean there’s no turning back when – and if – they all make it back to the Gorbals. They are changed men and you can understand why as the story, which captures the flavour of the age splendidly, unfolds. They are endearing characters in very different ways and you are left wishing that, somehow, you could have joined them for the ride.

All roads lead back to Celtic, of course. The Stein segments include his earliest football days, long before he captained Celtic to the Double in 1954. The authors bring his back-story to life and make him an even more substantial figure. His meticulous notes, fixation with tactics and development of unrivalled man-management skills are all to the fore. The story of the wayward Hibs’ star Willie Hamilton – and how his snoring caused upset one night in the Stein household – shows how finely honed his managerial talents already were before his return to Celtic Park. Stein’s flawless research and preparation is mirrored in the work undertaken by the two authors here to cast light on the details about his life and career that had previously been overlooked but are an integral part of his story. The imagery that is deployed at times is also captivating – the road towards the Portuguese capital being described at one point as having “several thousand Celtic supporting strung along it in clusters like beads on a rosary.”

This is a Celtic road trip from the Barras to the Basque Country and beyond that you never want to end.

The Shamrock rating: 8/10




More Celtic Book Reviews here: http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress.com/book-reviews/

 

Loving the reviews!

 

Another book review!


Yogi Bare - by John Hughes


http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/celtic-book-review-yogi-bare-by-john-hughes/


Oh the Bear! The Bear!
The Bear is Everywhere,
Feed the Bear! Feed the Bear!



I had been looking forward to this book by John Hughes, the popular striker of Jock Stein’s Lisbon-era squad known as ‘Yogi Bear’ who was feted by the Celtic support with the original chant of ‘Feed the Bear’. The Coatbridge bhoy was a fine goal-scorer with an unusual style known as much for his thrusting runs and fierce shooting as his maddening inconsistency at times. He missed out on Lisbon itself through injury but played in the club’s other European Cup final in 1970 and, having made his Celtic debut aged only 17 in 1960, should have a wealth of great stories and memories to share of the club’s golden era. What could go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. The warning signs were there when the book’s release was promoted in the press. The Daily Record headline was ‘John Hughes lifts lid on run-ins with Celtic great Jock Stein’ while the Daily Telegraph used quotes from Yogi for the astounding claim that ‘Jock Stein was intimidating, inhumane and corrupt’. Now, you might think there were at least a few positive angles to promote first in a Celtic career laden with silverware before getting round to dishing the dirt? Not when there’s a character waiting to be assassinated, it seems. “He got rid of me when I was in my prime and three months later I was finished at 28. People say to me, ‘Are you bitter?’ Yes.”

Now that’s curious, because in the book itself Yogi goes out of the way to deny this: “I repeat I am not a bitter guy.” Yet he says it so often, after yet another bitter outburst, that he quickly loses all credibility. Was he finished at 28 as he claimed in the Record? It turns out that he is as inconsistent off the field as he was on it at times. He left Celtic at 28 but then had two seasons at Crystal Palace before joining Sunderland where a persistent knee injury brought the curtain down on his career. But we can’t let the facts get in the way of the assault on Jock Stein’s reputation.

There is clear anger that Stein sold him to the London club when the player’s view was that he had plenty more to offer. But if Jock Stein decided that playing young strikers like Kenny Dalglish and Lou Macari the Quality Street Gang was a better strategy than sticking with a player regarded by all and sundry as inconsistent and nearing 30, that’s a decision that was entitled to take. Yogi wonders if his failure to score an easy chance in extra-time in the 1970 Final v Feyenoord might have had something to do with it – it’s hard to escape the conclusion it did. Bearing a grudge about his exit from Celtic Park over four decades later cannot be healthy however. Given that he chose not to attend his former manager’s funeral in 1986, it unfortunately doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

The attack on Jock Stein doesn’t end there. There is anger at being forced to join Crystal Palace without negotiating with other clubs and also at Stein’s decision not to advise him while away on a foreign tour that his wife had suffered a miscarriage back home. As others have pointed out, those were different times – Managers had almost complete control over transfers in the absence of agents and men were rarely directly involved in pregnancy-related issues. The story told in the book regarding the miscarriage highlights Stein’s apparent insensitivity. It’s a shame the story wasn’t put in the public realm while he was still alive to give him the opportunity to respond to it. At the very least, in response to the stinging criticisms made, Stein could have pointed out that John Hughes hadn’t won a single medal before he arrived, that stuck with him through the regular periods when he lost form and even recommended Yogi for his first management post – all facts which are, begrudgingly, admitted in the course of this book.

Unfortunately another great Celtic servant, Sean Fallon, comes in for similar treatment from Yogi. John Hughes made his dislike for the former Assistant Manager known with critical comments at a supporters event at Celtic Park last year. They appeared ill-judged at the time but his criticisms of Fallon in the book are unfounded as well. He claims that he wasn’t a regular first-team pick in the early 1960s because Sean Fallon didn’t fancy him: “It didn’t matter that I was scoring goals every other game, my face didn’t fit. He never bothered to tell me where he thought I was going wrong. I was left out of the team and I was too naïve to ask for a reason.” Did he ever ask for an explanation? Apparently not: “I would probably have been shooed away into a corner like some errant schoolboy.”

Yet Sean Fallon was never the manager and it was known to the players that chairman Bob Kelly picked the team – yet Yogi’s ire is directed solely at the Irishman. Despite everything that you’ve heard or been told previously about Sean Fallon you are now meant to be believe that he was unapproachable and uncaring. And if you think that’s far-fetched, what about this: “Sean Fallon had a lot of power in team matters and would even lock Jimmy McGrory out of the dressing [room] on some occasions.” It’s one thing re-writing history to undermine the popular picture that has emerged of Sean Fallon as a fair and decent man; it’s something else completely to suggest that he would lock the elderly McGrory out of the Celtic dressing room. You might be forgiven for thinking there’s a theme emerging here: Sean Fallon, of course, is also not around to defend himself from these ‘new’ five decades-old allegations.

There is more than one flight of fantasy in this autobiography. Intriguingly, the story of how Big Yogi almost became a Juventus legend wasn’t featured in the Daily Record promotional pieces. I wonder if it was because even they didn’t think the story held water. “John Hughes of Juventus. Doesn’t sound right, does it? Yet that could have been the case at the start of the sixties, remarkably only year after I had broken into the Celtic first team.” Something certainly doesn’t sound right. How often had the Juve spies watched the young Hughes in action? How much lira were they prepared to stuff into Bob Kelly’s biscuit tin? We don’t know. What we do know is that a Scottish reporter once asked him if he’d heard of Juventus and that they were keeping tabs on him. Was the young Celt interested? No, he advised the reporter. And that’s basically the entire story. Even Nacho Novo’s agent couldn’t have made up a better one.

Sourness is a constant feature in the John Hughes story, unfortunately, and it bookends his career. He believed he was due to be picked for a Scottish schoolboys international in the 1950s against England at Wembley, only to lose out to a striker from Helensburgh: “Yes, Helensburgh, that hot bed of football” moans Yogi, as if the fact he was from Lanarkshire and not the wilds of Dumbartonshire should have guaranteed his selection. When his playing career appeared over he was approached by former team-mate Bertie Auld, then managing Partick Thistle, to turn out for them. Yogi was surprised at the approach: “This was the same Bertie Auld who only passed the ball to me when he didn’t have other options!” Again, another double-take is required. Is he seriously suggesting that in the hundreds of games they played together winning every trophy on offer in Scotland Bertie refused to pass to him? Doesn’t he think this might have been noticed?

The book is littered with criticisms of his team-mates at different times although he’s far less keen to discuss his own shortcomings: “Please do me a favour and let’s get rid of the annoying inconsistency tag once and for all . . . I had to be reliable to get into any of Jock’s line-ups. Hopefully, this will once and for all bring a halt to the wayward assessments and unfounded observations that my form was up and down like a yo-yo.” And yet, the abiding memory of most supporters who saw him play regularly was . . . inconsistency. They must all have been mistaken.

Unfortunately ‘Yogi Bare’ has little to recommend it and I feel saddened to write that about a Celtic player’s memoirs. The book is at its best when recalling the great games he played and scored in. His scoring record in the Hoops is clearly a huge matter of personal pride, as it should be given that he’s in the top 10 of all-time Celtic strikers. The chapter on his experience of playing for Scotland is worth a read. Yet he has a knack of turning almost every positive into a negative and is a bundle of contradictions. He bemoans being underpaid at Celtic – yet criticises the enforced move to Palace where he doubled his wages. He says he doesn’t feel like one of the Lisbon Lions – yet he still attends functions as a Lion. He puts the blame for the failure to beat Feyenoord squarely at the door of Jock Stein – while saying that before the game “Most of us had already worked out how we would spend our win bonus.” If the manager was guilty of resting on his laurels in 1970, he wasn’t the only one.

The book costs a whopping £18.99 and is self-published. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear as though it’s been fully proof-read with some glaring omissions and typos at times. The writing lacks imagination and comes across as tired, especially in the later chapters. When comparing the obscene amounts of TV money that exists in the modern game to his time, the author states: “Sky was merely something that was above your head in the seventies.” Witty banter, it ain’t.

The book seems to have been released for the principle purpose of boosting Yogi’s pension pot – and there isn’t even the consolation that a portion of the book’s profits are going to charity. That fact in itself is in keeping with this autobiography: it lacks charity in every sense.

The Shamrock rating: 4/10



More Celtic Book Reviews here: http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress.com/book-reviews/

 

A review of 'Spirit of '86' by Andrew Reilly

http://theshamrockglasgow.wordpress...ook-review-the-spirit-of-86-by-andrew-reilly/




1986 is a year which conjures up many different memories. Maradona’s greatest ever goal at the Mexico World Cup or the even better one which came 4 minutes before it are both right up there. But for Tims the world over, 1986 is remembered in glorious lime green and the rain of Love Street in Paisley.

Those of us who are of a certain vintage will remember forever 3rd May 1986. It stands out as one of Celtic’s greatest final day league triumphs and was carried out in traditional swashbuckling Celtic style.

What a lot of us do not remember is the seven preceding games which lead up to that incredible day. Seven games Celtic had to win to have any chance on the final day.

Andrew Reilly’s book recalls the final eight games of that season in fabulous fashion.

Put simply this book is just a wonderful trip into the recent history of our club and is clearly written by someone who stood on those terraces and experienced it all first hand. His recollections of all the protagonists involved, the Celtic players, managers and opposing players, very much matched my own. His description of Davie Dodds alone is worth the money.
It is also a timely reminder of how different Scottish football was back then. Both Aberdeen and Dundee Utd had genuine quality, both players and management. Both competing regularly with Europe’s elite. Reading again Celtic’s starting 11 for these matches would just make you salivate Homer Simpson style (I would advise having a towel handy while reading). It is incredible how much talent was in this team. Their work ethic and desire to win each game is evident on every page and the descriptions of the goals on that final day will raise the hairs on your arms - and maybe a few other places.

But there were also some similarities to football as we know it today. The first thing the reader will notice from the top 5 positions of the League table of 29th March 1986 is the absence of a now defunct club from Govan. In 1986 they were in quite a mess, both in footballing and financial terms. Fortunately they got themselves out of that mess by getting into an even bigger one.
The other similarity is the problems Celtic have encountered over the years with football authority. The book details perfectly the spat between Celtic and the SFA over the release of 3 players for an international friendly which was to take place the same night as a crucial league game at Fir Park. The quote from the ‘Evening Times’ on the subject is unbelievable to read but demonstrates perfectly the feelings of the Rangers-led media at the time. Some things never change.

One particular area where this author is to be congratulated is the thorny issue of one Judas Johnston. The author uses his proper name (I just can’t) and although it may now stick in the throat of most of us, his contribution in those final eight games can never be overlooked. His goal against Aberdeen at Pittodrie being noted by the author as ‘tremendous’ and he was the final piece in the 3rd goal at Love Street, a goal the author describes as ‘the greatest Celtic goal he ever witnessed’. It would be too easy to overlook Johnston in this book given the array of players around him on the pitch, but he rightfully claims his place in our history regardless of his antics in 1989.
I loved reading this book. It was an education and also brought back huge memories, of being stuck to the radio on Saturday 3rd May 1986, dancing round our kitchen when Albert Kidd scored at Dens Park and that famous scene of Jim Stewart (the St Mirren keeper), ball in hands, as the Celtic fans start to jump about on the terracing behind him when they heard the news from Dens.

So if you’re the age to remember that day, or maybe the gargle has dimmed your memory, pick this book up. Even if you’re too young to have witnessed the events of 1986, this book will transport you back to a day when Celtic players were still top class and didn’t complain if their strips got proper dirty or the pitch was a little uneven. Redbay Roy

The Shamrock Rating: 8/10

 

I was in the superstore when he was in trying to sell his book before a game and nobody went near him. He was sitting with his face tripping him

 

That seems to be his regular face. He had a great career, played for the club he loved, is well thought of by many who saw him - yet his bitterness is what he's renowned for. It's very sad.

 

Packie Bonner autobiography





If there is a funnier and more enjoyable biography by a recent Celtic player than this effort by Packie Bonner then I’ve yet to read it. This much-anticipated book is laden with wonderful, often hilarious, stories about his Celtic team-mates, his family, his upbringing and also life after his goalie gloves were retired. Unsurprisingly, pride of place is given to his remarkable journey as the Republic of Ireland’s Number 1 as the country, led by Jack Charlton, went from international also-rans to serious contenders at the European Championship and World Cup tournaments.
I was concerned that the book might prove quite bland like most player biographies. Listening to Packie on Radio Scotland in recent seasons he is a pleasant but also largely innocuous commentator and I felt this book might also adopt a ‘safe’ approach. Instead, without resorting to the tabloid sensationalism that some other former Celts opted for, he tells his story his way and is critical when necessary but insightful throughout. Often there are relatively few words he has to say about individuals he has dealt with for whom he clearly has no time. The absence of hyperbole makes his disregard for the likes of Roy Keane, Lou Macari and John Delaney all the more damning.

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He comes across as a man largely without ego, even shy at times. He places the responsibility for this on his childhood growing up on the Atlantic coast in Ireland’s north-west and parents who ingrained in him a respectful outlook on life. His love for his family, local community and County Donegal shine through – Cloughglass, near Burtonport, has been his place of retreat and succour throughout his * life. His background and natural modesty did not prevent from making the leap of leaving the Donegal countryside for Glasgow as Jock Stein’s final signing and going on to overcome homesickness to establish himself in a Celtic dressing room full of characters and then going on – fairly quickly – to take over as the main goalkeeper from Peter Latchford. His dedication and application helped provide solidity to a very good Celtic team which withstood strong challenge from Aberdeen and Dundee United to win the league title more often than any other Scottish team, although they failed to match the achievements of Ferguson and McLean’s in Europe.
I’m often surprised at the criticism that comes Packie’s way from fellow fans because his record demonstrates that he was not just a good Celtic ‘keeper, but a great one. He has more Celtic appearances (641) and clean sheets (253) than any other goalie in the club’s history. For those who with over 200 Celtic first team appearances, his shut out record of 39.5% is beaten only by Charlie Shaw (53.2%) and Davie Adams (43.3%), both of whom played a century and more earlier. He played for Celtic both in sunshine and in shadow: up until 1989 he helped win four League titles, two Scottish Cups (missing out on the Centenary season final due to injury) and a League Cup before six years were endured without any silverware until he won the Scottish Cup again with his close friend Tommy Burns as manager in 1995. To have kept the Celtic goal for a fifteen year period and secure over 250 clean sheets is a remarkable achievement.

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Of course, being the man he is, Packie gives the credit to his team mates with whom he shared success and friendship: McGrain, Aitken, Burns, Nicholas, McStay, McAvennie and many others. And he has tales about almost all of them! One of the most striking features of this book is the quality of the story-telling which comes across as natural and co-writer Gerry McDade deserves credit for the support he brought to what is an engaging and easy book, a true joy to read. There were some genuine belly-laughs with tales of Johnny Doyle’s pet cockatoo, the off-field antics of Anton Rogan and having to share a flat (and the burden of the domestic duties) with Tommy Burns during their spell at Reading. When you discover what Packie’s father-in-law was wearing the first time they met it may come as no surprise that he later accused the Donegal man of trying to kill him (although he assures us the two incidents are not connected). There are of course times when being universally referred to as ‘Packie’ in a multicultural city like Glasgow can give rise to difficult situations, as illustrated in one outrageous story here from the early ‘80s which I was fortunate enough to hear the man himself tell at a supporter’s function a few years back to tremendous laughter.

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How Shay Given escaped Celtic’s clutches is more likely to make you cry than laugh as will this account of life under Lou Macari’s bizarre time in charge. But there’s also the time he and Charlie Nicholas visited Shotts Prison; his constant reminders to fellow ‘keeper Jim Stewart of his bewildered expression that fateful day at Love Street 1986; the momentous party in Mark McGhee’s house the night the Centenary Double was secured; and the conversation he had with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican during Ireland’s unforgettable time at Italia ’90.


All these stories – and many, many more – make up the Packie Bonner Story: an absolute delight to read capturing as it does a momentous period in Celtic’s history and also in the history of Irish football. It is a source of pride that this is a great Celtic man and therefore no surprise that as a mark of respect – and a mark of the man – that he gives over the last words of his story to another Irishman who has also left an indelible mark on the history of Celtic, Sean Fallon: ‘The way to live life is to be nice to people – what else can we do in this life?’


The Shamrock rating: 8/10

 

Is Broony's book worth buying?

 

Know whose is rubbish imo? The Petrov book that came out in 2006. Spends about ten pages in the middle picking out his fantasy team of random players. Just didn't seem like there was enough there for a whole book.

 

I went to the Superstore on Sunday as Packie was there to sign copies of his book. A Celtic legend and a true gent