Happy Birthday Celtic

Would have thought the club would have been all over that on social media

 

Aye not like them to miss something like that.

This is the only thing posted today about the goals

https://mobile.twitter.com/celticfc/status/927549415673524224

 

Lies. They got the idea from reading TalkCeltic.

 

* bless the Celtic

 

And we support the Celtic...

 

Happy birthday Celtic.

Big shout outs from massive players again.

People always go on at us to leave Scotland to attract huge players and make the most out of the exposure England or the likes would bring... That may add to our fan base and bring more money in, yes, but I can guarantee you that there's not another club with the same amount of exposure that we get in Scotland, even double that, that has close to the fan base we have, or the amount of world class stars that love us.

One club, dual nationality and an institution. More than just a football team.

Can't wait to teach my grandkids (I'm only 32) about this way of life. I represent Celtic all day, everyday. Whether that's holding doors open, being polite and just being a better person (normal to most of us). But I'll even hold my tongue when people try and slag our fans off to prove a point and then point out that they're worse than me when they lose the rag. (Don't get me wrong, I'll * someone up if I need to - Don't mistake kindness for weakness).

Anyway, I'm having a good bevy to celebrate our birthday, hail hail

 

Huge thanks to all the men who made it happen. Life without Celtic simply would not be the same.

 

Hail Hail

 

Happy Birthday Celtic. You're in our blood

 

It was 134 years ago today on Monday, November 6, 1887 that the meeting during which Celtic Football Club was formally constituted took place in St Mary’s Hall in East Rose Street.

And today, in St Mary's Church, Calton, Glasgow, the annual celebratory Mass will be held at 12noon to mark the 134th anniversary of the club’s formation

It was in the church hall on that day back in 1887 that representatives from the upper echelons of the Irish community in Glasgow, most of whom who had witnessed Hibernian secretary John McFadden’s speech back in February when Hibernian lifted the Scottish Cup, gathered at St Mary’s Hall.

Bodies such as the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Catholic Union, the Irish Foresters, the Home Government Branch of the United Irish League, the St Aloysius Association and the Irish National League as well as local Penny Savings Bank and a Total Abstinence Society were present in some manner but the main objective was the formation of a football team to raise money for the Soup Kitchens of the East End.

It was at the February 12 post-match celebrations at St Mary’s Hall in the Calton, organised for the Edinburgh side by the Glasgow Irish, that Hibernian secretary John McFadden urged his West of Scotland compatriots to start their own team.

They, along with Brother Walfrid and his assistant Brother Dorotheus, had been inspired by John McFadden’s urgings and the Marist priest in particular envisaged the benefits of having a team to represent the community ANDraise money for the poor.

Aside from Hibernian, nine other clubs with Irish affiliations took part in that season’s Scottish Cup - St Peter’s, Dundee Harp, Erin Rovers, Carfin Shamrock, Broxburn Shamrock, Vale of Leven Hibs, Kirkintilloch Harp, Cambuslang Hibs and Johnstone Harp

The Edinburgh side stood head and shoulders above all others, though, and seemed untouchable so McFadden could little have imagined that his suggestion would result in the formation of a team that would become the biggest of them all.




It was John Glass (above) who chaired the meeting 134 years ago today and the Celtic Football and Athletic Club was formally constituted.

From that historic meeting the first ever Celtic committee was formed with the following members:

Honorary President, Dr John Conway

President, John Glass

Secretary, John O’Hara

Treasurer, Hugh Darnoch

Match Secretary, Willie Maley

Committee: Joseph Nelis, Tom Maley, Michael Cairns, Joe Shaughnessy, Pat Welsh, Daniel Molloy, David Meikleham, John McDonald, William McKillop, John McLaughlin and Joseph McGrory.

Following somewhat tempestuous meetings between the parishes of St Mary, St Andrew and St Alphonsus during the months prior to the historic November 6 gathering, the baton held by John McFadden was finally taken up and - mainly thanks to the foresight and reasoning of committee member John McLaughlin (below) who, on the club becoming a limited liability company in 1897, became Celtic’s first ever Chairman – Scottish football would never be the same again






CELTIC DATELINE
There are many significant dates surrounding the formation of Celtic Football Club from as early as September, 1886 to August 21, 1888 when the fledgling club were officially registered with the SFA.

Falling between these dates are a number of historical events that were crucial in the Celtic calendar:

September, 1886: Hibernian come to Glasgow to play St Peter’s of Partick in a match at Glengarry Park in Bridgeton. The park had been named after the area in which Catholic Highlanders settled and, indeed, was the home pitch of Columba, the first youth team formed by Brother Walfrid. A thousand paying customers boosted the coffers of St Mary’s Poor Children’s Dinner Table.

February 12, 1887: Hibernian beat Dumbarton 2-1 in the Scottish Cup final and the Edinburgh team were later feted that night at St Mary’s in the Calton.

April, 1887: This was when Clyde played Dundee Harp at Barrowfield Park, Bridgeton and a crowd of 4,000 raised money for the Poor Children’s Dinner Table at Sacred Heart School. The match, arranged by Brother Walfrid, would no doubt have had the Marist brother recalling John McFadden’s rallying call of February 12.

May, 1887: Glasgow Charity Cup holders Renton played Scottish Cup holders Hibs for the one-off East End Charity Cup when a massive 12,000 paid in at Barrowfield. The match ended in a draw and the replay was staged in August.

November 13, 1887: The committee leased six acres of land on Dalmarnock Street (Springfield Road, where new apartments are) and work immediately started on what would become one of the most state-of-the-art stadia in the country at the time.

January 19, 1888: The first general monthly meeting was held before a lively attendance at St Mary’s where it was reported that the pitch was finished and that work was due to commence on the stand that week.

May 8, 1888: This was the date of the very first game played at Celtic Park when a crowd of 5,000 turned up for a game between Hibernian and Cowlairs.

May 28, 1888: When the new club, resplendent in their white shirts with green collars and a Celtic Cross on the breast supplied by Penman Bros of Bridgeton, took to the field for the very first time and defeated Rangers 5-2 with Neil McCallum scoring the first ever Celtic goal.

But the crucial date in all this was Monday, November 6, 1887, exactly 134 years ago today.

 

Only a hundred year older than me..

Mad when you think about it

 

Amid the poverty, neglect and intolerance of Victorian Glasgow, one man had a dream. His dream flourished and now countless thousands share his vision of a football club that opens its doors to all.

He was born Andrew Kerins in Ballymote Co, Sligo on May 18, 1840, and ventured on the divine path by taking up the oath of the Marist Brotherhood...

And as thousands of Irish took flight from the deprivation in their homeland by sailing to Glasgow, Brother Walfrid was assigned to Sacred Heart School in the city's East End to cater for their spiritual and educational needs.

He had already taught at nearby St Mary's before moving to Sacred Heart in 1874 but by the time he had moved to London's Spitalfields in 1892, the first buds of his vision had started to unfold





The immigrants from Ireland soon realised that the streets of Glasgow were not paved with gold and not for the first time in Scottish history the ogre that is religious intolerance raised its ugly head.

Walfrid therefore had two main aims; feeding the newcomers who were finding employment difficult to attain AND integrate them into the mainstream of Scottish life where two religions were increasingly at loggerheads with each other.

Feeding the poor was a problem with a relatively straightforward answer - a charity drive. Knocking down the walls of religious intolerance, however, was a rather more thorny issue and one that was to present pitfalls on both sides of the divide.

His idea to raise money was to enter the embryonic world of football by forming a club that would attract paying customers and either by accident or design, the new club was utilised to alleviate the other dilemma.

Although formed to raise money for the needy of the East End who were mainly Catholic and Irish, the new club would be neither exclusively Catholic nor Irish.

Many Irish clubs had emerged in the 1880s and their names instantly signified their origin - Hibernian, Shamrock, Emmett, Harp, Erin, Emerald - but Walfrid was keen to build an ecumenical and cultural bridge between Ireland and Scotland so the most likely name, Hibernian, was dropped.


He had earlier established a minor football club named Columba and he was intent on using something similarly meaningful to both Scots and Irish.

Thus, Celtic Football Club was born kicking and screaming into uncertain surroundings both in the football and cultural senses.

The name Celtic was intrinsic to the values and aims of the club in establishing an unquantifiable link between the indigenous Scots and the newcomers whose descendants would be born Scottish


Since then the club has always opened its doors to one and all no matter the faith or colour, creed or race. That has always been the case since its foundation and that will always continue to be the case.

One man's vision and a meeting at St Mary's Hall just off Abercromby Street 134 years ago today on November 6, 1887 grew far beyond the cobbled streets of the Calton and now, thanks to Brother Walfrid and those who followed in his wake, that dream lives on in the hearts of Celtic supporters of every faith and colour, creed and race on every corner of the globe…

 

I wonder what year the Total Abstinence Society gave up in disgust?

 

I love you Celtic mon the hoops