Ground 37: Celtic Park

'Paradise' in the sunshine

Game: Celtic 4 v 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Date: Sunday 21^st April

Competition: Scottish Premier League

Attendance: 55,000

Admission: £17

Programme: £3

This was only my second ever visit to Celtic Park. My first was in 1997 to watch Scotland defeat Austria 2-0 (back in a period of time when Scotland won by scoring more than one goal and qualified for international tournaments. Halcyon days). Back then Celtic Park was still undergoing redevelopment and the ground had just three stands (the old main stand and the redeveloped north and east).

I was here for Celtic’s penultimate home game of the season and one, that if they picked up a single point, then they would retain their SPL champions title and win their 44^th league championship.

The Lisbon Lions Stand

I was coming to the game from Elgin, which meant an early start for me so I could get to Glasgow’s east end for the lunchtime kick-off. Fortunately, I timed by journey well and arrived with plenty of time to allow me to get parked and mill around the ground. One thing is for sure is that Celtic Park is not set up for people visiting by car – there’s little signage or help for drivers who have never been to the ground before. And, as a fan experience, getting out from around the ground was not the easiest either. I accept that there are serious infrastructural and logistical issues in getting 50,000+ people away and out of an area, but it’s definitely something that the club and local authority should be looking at together.

The Emirates Arena

As I mentioned, I arrived in plenty of time after parking near the brand new Emirates Arena. The arena will be a key venue in next year’s Commonwealth Games and also houses the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. From the arena it’s a two minute walk to Celtic Park, which dominates the surrounding areas.  I took some time to buy my programme and take pictures of the main entrance to the ground and the famous red brick façade. When I was growing up, it was Celtic that were Glasgow’s ‘club in crisis’ and almost every Friday night Sportscene featuring coverage from outside the ground as the latest takeover/stadium plan/boycott was taking place. There were loads of folk hanging around and getting their photograph taken in front of the statutes of Jimmy Johnstone, Jock Stein and Brother Walfrid (soon to be immortalised in a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis if the rumours are to be believed) that sit in front of the entrance. Most Scottish clubs have great histories and it would be great to see recognition of that through statues and other artefacts at grounds.

My £17 seat

I headed into the ground to take my seat in the upper tier of the North Stand and I soon discovered why I’d paid just £17 for my seat. This is what greeted me:

Actually it wasn’t too bad and I had plenty of legroom, so I wasn’t too perturbed by it. It didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the game and didn’t block my view.

What was noticeable when I first got in was the slick pre-game production that Celtic put on for the fans via the two big video screens behind each goal. The show featured footage of the team arriving, interviews with assistant manager Johan Mjällby and captain for the day, Joe Ledley, highlights from other games as well as information, adverts and song choices chosen by fans. I’ve seen the use of video screens work exceptionally well in American sports and Celtic have done a cracking job with their effort too (despite a slightly stutter-y matchday presenter).

What Celtic do not do better than their Old Firm rivals is pre-match music. Both clubs are guilty of crimes against humanity for some of the tunes they play. They may be ‘traditional’ but to a neutral the quality and twee-ness of the songs are just appalling! Granted, it’s different from hearing the latest chart hits, but different is not necessarily better…

For about an hour before kick-off we were treated to rain and a lot of wind which made the upper tier just a little bit chilly, even in April. Then with 15 minutes to go until kick-off the sun came out. It was almost a sign.

Celtic crowds over the season have been probably a bit disappointing for the club, but today was an exception, with 55,000 fans turning up. What was noticeable for me after many games this season in grounds with lots of empty seats is that a full ground, and one that is full of 55,000 people can make a heck of a lot of noise. Especially if they’re in party mood. And that was definitely the case for Celtic fans. The game was only five second old when the first “We’re going to win the league” chant went around the stadium. That was followed for the next ten minutes by “Here we go, 10 in a row”. The almost monastic singing was led by the Green Brigade, a group of Celtic ultras, who sang the entire game and created a great atmosphere, despite some tasteless moments (songs associating Rangers with Thatcher).

It’s fair to say that the first half was a bit of a damp squid. I noticed that the trackside boardings were advertising an SPL trophy with the strapline “We’re having a party” ahead of the match against St Johnstone. It felt a little presumptuous and I noticed it didn’t appear again. The fact I was noticing the trackside advertising probably gives you an indication of how riveting the first half action was. It seemed as if the home side were treating the game as a formality and they didn’t play with any sense of energy. They had a few chances in the first half, but Inverness looked comfortable, with Gary Warren looking particularly comfortable at centre back. Celtic had plenty of possession but lacked a final ball that could clinch the title for the Bhoys.

Celtic shuffled the pack at half-time when Emilio Izaguirre replacing James Forrest, which saw Charlie Mulgrew move into midfield. Gary Warren went off due to injury after 50 minutes and then ten minutes later Celtic broke the deadlock with a threaded ball from Kris Commons (who was really quite excellent in the second half as he was able to float further forward) played into Gary Hooper who poked the ball into the far corner. That got the party started at Celtic Park.

The Green Brigade

Celtic doubled their lead just five minutes later when Ledley found himself unmarked just inside the box, He fired a shot away and killed off the game. After the second goal, Celtic found another gear – they were sharper, faster and stronger than they’d been earlier. Celtic’s third and Hooper’s second goal of the day was superb – Commons drove the ball low and Hooper directed the ball into the net with a backheel. It was both nonchalant and superb.

With ten minutes to go, the party was in full flow – all the home fans did their version of the Poznan, called the huddle. Then the Green Brigade would sing one line of a song and the rest of the stadium would repeat it back to them. It sounded superb and it was good fun, although I couldn’t help but feel like a tourist at this match.

Celtic got their fourth of the day when substitute, the mercurial Georgios Samaras dribbled down the left wing and into the box and thrashed the ball against the bar and into the net. It was a peach of a goal.

The Green Brigade protest the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 

Inverness grabbed a consolation in the final minute with a well-worked goal from Aaron Dorans. But by that point, there weren’t many Celtic fans who cared.

Final whistle

At full-time we had the farcical episode of a countdown clock appearing on the big screen as Neil Lennon wouldn’t be allowed onto the pitch until 15 minutes after the final whistle due to the fact he is currently serving a three-game touchline ban. It was a clever move from Celtic to poke fun at the nonsense. The players went down the tunnel to get changed into their title winning t-shirts (as is de rigueur these days) and then came back out for a lap of honour. The club also decided to not play music and let the fans sing, which was a good move.

After Neil Lennon’s speech the fans vacated the stadium. Whilst inside there was a happy delirium, by the time everyone was outside it felt quite muted. Perhaps because there was a sense of inevitability all season about it? There was no real danger of Celtic not winning the league and from November onwards there was little drama in the title race, only a creeping inevitability as Celtic slowly steamrollered their way into the record books.