"The Rebels Have Won!" - 30 Years Ago Today

30 Years ago today...

"The Game is over. The Rebels have Won!"



Have written this first part of a 30th Anniversary retrospective. This first part focusing on the Biscuit Tin Board, and will post the next part when it's ready to roll, later tonight.

https://www.talkceltic.net/forums/threads/the-rebels-have-won-the-biscuit-tin.156530/

Considering the significance of that event, am curious any old timers who were there that night? Memories of the rallys, protests, boycotts, town hall meetings that proceeded it?

For younger members on here, to perhaps get just a little perspective of just how dire the situation was back in 1994, especially to compare and constrast with the disquieting situation as it is today etc.

Anyhow, thank you Fergus! That man who saved Celtic!​

 

I remember Not The View, being instrumental in highlighting the major issues with the board, in the years before Fergus saved us and during the takeover.

Started in about 87, it was informative and funny and was regarded as one of the best Fanzines in the UK.

It became a vital publication, keeping supporters informed of what was really happening at our Club.

 

Was only 10 but I remember an stv news bulletin coming on bout 10 o'clock announcing it and my da cheering like we had just scored a last minute winner v the huns.

Even tho I was quite young I knew it was a big deal as had been at games during boycotts and stuff. Only when you look back now you realise just how monumental it was.

 

Curious, as a 10y.o. did you get what the boycotts were about? How did your da explain them to you? What was the atmosphere like at the games themselves when there was a boycott on?

 

Did you go to any of the town halls or participate in any of the demonstrations etc? At what point did it click that what was being written in that fanzine was not just 'crackpot', but legitimate issues etc?

 

* Bless Fergus McCann

 

I was 1 when this happened. Wonder how different my life would have been had it not!

 

I remember going to some games where the attendance was barely 15,000 so people absolutely voted with their feet.. McCari's tenure was the worst its ever been.

In terms of the NTV and other fanzines, they just told the truth about the board and it couldn't be argued. The gulf was huge between us and The Huns on and off the park.. I remember NTV did a constant parody of the 'move to Cambuslang', which was pure fantasy.. NTVs included the Buckfast wine enclosure

 

How ironic we need celts for change 2 now.HH

 

As Batman once said, you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.

 

I can't remember a specific conversation about it or anything but aye I knew what it was about and knew the Kelly's were * from being in company of my dad and his mates.

There was a home game where there was an organised walkout about 30 mins into the game and I remember other fans booing those walking out which seems mental when you think how much of a mess the club was in and why it was being done.

 

The saddest part was Fergus never wanted us to ever be in the position again were 1 or 2 families had a monopoly of the club and the plan was for us to be owned by the fans.

Sadly that * Desmond has taken advantage of us being a plc

 

There are a number of significant dates in Celtic's long and illustrious history, and March 4, 1994 is a day which ensured that history has also remained an unbroken one.

Because it was exactly 30 years ago that Fergus McCann saved Celtic when the club was on the verge of going out of business, and for that timely intervention Celtic supporters will be eternally grateful to the man with the bunnet!

Having saved Celtic and completed the takeover, backed by so many other supporters, Fergus then set about transforming the club both on and off the park - the stadium is testament to his vision of a new home for the club but remaining rooted in the East End of Glasgow.

And the every increasing list of trophy triumphs over the years, which started with the 1995 Scottish Cup success at Hampden under Tommy Burns, is further evidence of Celtic's status as the finest team in Scotland.

Fergus McCann had a five-year plan after rescuing Celtic, which included the most successful share issue in club football giving fans a stake in the club, rebuilding Celtic Park and also ensuring that Celtic once again became champions of Scotland, which they did in 1998 after a 10-year gap, with Wim Jansen in charge of the team.

On March 4, 1994, Celtic were minutes away from being no more. Since then, there have been...

• League titles: 18
• Scottish Cups: 12
• League Cups: 12
• Trebles: 6

This week, the club pays tribute to Fergus and honours his incredible contribution to Celtic, culminating in a special video tribute at Sunday's match at Celtic Park.

 

I think my first Celtic games were around 1991-1992 so I would have been. 8-10 years old. I have vague memories of the sack the board protests but obviously didn't understand them at the time.

I think I only went to the old Celtic park a few times and I remember it being pretty grim. Not sure I ever saw us win a game, the stadium was a dump, everyone was raging, and I remember thinking the slums outside the ground were something totally different to anything id seen before. I wasn't really sure why my dad and grandad were so keen to take me!

My first season ticket year was the Hampden year when Celtic park was being rebuilt and even though we lost the league I remember it being much more positive. I dont remember my dad or Grandad really speaking about the sack the board stuff but I do remember the excitement they felt when Fergus took over. It completely rejuvenated the whole club and support. Even the excitement brought about by signing some foreign names and qualifying for Europe was a really big deal. My memories are no doubt exaggerated as most childhood memories are but those few years felt like going from a black and white era into modern Technicolor.

My memories from the Scottish cup win in 1995 onwards were almost wholly positive, I loved it from that point and was properly hooked.

 

Excellent write up mate, thoroughly enjoyed that.

 

Fergus, quite simply, is one of the most important people in Celtic’s history. Man should have a statue outside CP.

If only we had his like at the club today…

 

Fergus didn't get every single thing 100% right, but he got the overwhelming majority of things pretty much spot-on. And one thing that should never be forgotten, and I hope the posters on here who've regurgitated the "conspiracy theory" and "paranoid" * in the last few days are reading this........he * nailed Jim Farry and the SFA to the wall and PROVED IN COURT that those basturds are cheating against us to favour the Huns. There was a circling of the wagons with the SFA and our "independent" hun media at the time, which turned into the most vicious and coordinated attempt at character assassination since Arthur Scargill. But we all know how the McCann v Farry case turned out......... well, when I say "we all know"..... there's obviously a couple of numbskulls posting on here about the need to "drop the conspiracy theories" who are still incapable of seeing what's right in front of them.

* bless wee Fergus !!

 

Think it would be a fitting legacy to rename either the North or the Main Stand in his honour. After all, not only did he save the club, but without him there is no modern day stadium.

 

Didn't appreciate him when he was here, because the whole Tommy Burns departure, and players leaving left a sour taste. But he was right. Rangers were not unbeatable and Pierre went on strike at Forest, proving he didn't have the right attitude for us.

It was the frustration in coming so close, that season we lost one game before. I still say that the main difference is they had Goram, we had Gordon Marshall.

I didn't see it at the time as I was a teenager who wanted instant success, because of years of frustration, but he was playing the long game. He paved the way for the likes of Martin O'Neill to tempt players from down south to our club. The huns spent what they didn't have to keep up with us and that killed them.