The Glasgow Bhoys — Europe’s Fading Memory?
Derlei wheeled away in celebration much to the dismay of goalkeeper Robert Douglas and an army of 80,000 fans who had made the exodus to Seville. The Brazilian’s extra-time strike delivered the final nail in the coffin relegating Celtic to a defeat in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. Reflecting on the final, the opposition team’s manager relayed;
“As a football game, Celtic-Porto in Seville was the most exciting football game I have ever been involved in. An unbelievable game. Every time I see Martin O’Neill I remember I was the lucky one that day.”
– José Mourinho.
You might wonder why the Portuguese conceded to the sheer stroke of serendipity that had befallen his side. Well, this Celtic team was special. Martin O’Neill had carved out one of the finest sides since the European Cup winning team more than two decades prior. Later nicknamed ‘The Bhoys of Seville’, the swagger of this team was spearheaded by Henrik Larsson and Stiliyan Petrov, who upstaged European juggernauts in the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool.
The 1967 European winning team was nothing short of remarkable. The side was led by Jock Stein, a Glasgow hero and a man who relished the big encounters. The Bhoys were followed to Lisbon by a horde of a faithful 15,000. All the flights were sold out and people crammed into cars and vans to make the 28-hour journey from Glasgow to Lisbon. One of the more ludicrous stories involved a man who re-mortgaged his house and got divorced before eventually making it back. It was more like a cult than a football club.
In Glasgow, it was no different. The fierce rivalry between Celtic and Rangers transcended matters of football. Considered to be one of the most brutal derbies in the world, The Old Firm Derby is the embodiment of footballing enmity. As the oldest derby in world football, the passion occasionally boils over into ugly scenes.
Hailing from the Catholic-Protestant division in Glasgow, the conflict dates back to more than a century ago. Celtic was formed in 1888 by a Catholic monk in an attempt to raise money for a then insolvent Catholic community. On the other hand, Rangers was the product of an anti-Catholic unionist freemason. With his patronage, Rangers become the Glaswegian incarnation of Protestantism.
Over the years this football tribalism has become somewhat ridiculous. In 2012, ex-Celtic manager Neil Lennon received a letter bomb from a Ranger’s brute. An imprudent attempt, however, a reality of the antipathy between the two clubs.
Without a doubt the fans yearn for the fondness of the continental competitions that once dignified Celtic Park. The past three seasons have seen the club failing to reach the UEFA Champions League group stages which is less than satisfactory.
It was only in 2013 that Celtic showed the flair and tenacity resonant with that of The Bhoys of Seville when they trumped Barcelona. This side pivoted by Kenyan Victor Wanyama, the driving force of an inundated Celtic midfield. The midfielder’s header condemned Barcelona to a 2–1 loss, a victory even the most fanatical fan could not have dreamt of.
The Catalan club seeking to add to their litany of European success, ran into cul-de-sacs from early on with an attacking three of Messi, Sanchez and Pedro being denied by the host’s disciplined defence. Celtic took the lead in the first quarter of the game with competition debutant Tony Watt sealing the victory after drilling in a close range strike past keeper Valdes. Lionel Messi pulled one back but it was too little, too late. The performance leaving the Blaugrana in the shade. It needn’t not be explained their love affair with the competition as it was evident after the final whistle. Emotional scenes from the dugout to the stands washed the stadium. I’m absolutely certain that even those who had tuned in were undeniably livid.
After the match, the trilled Kenyan described the feeling as being ‘unreal.’ They had unquestionably caused one of the biggest Champions League upsets.
However, the eventualities of their recent displays in Europe have been far from second-rate. The Hoops, as they are also known, have felt a sharp decline succumbing to defeats against Malmo, Maribor and Legia Warsaw in the qualifiers, teams which the Scottish outfit were favoured against. Skipper Scott Brown admitted to being ‘ashamed’ by the team’s European exhibition.
So why the sudden decline?
It is difficult to look at the debility without looking at the peak in the 80s and 90s when qualification for major international tournaments was a formality and normality. When Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen team scooped up the Cup Winners Cup in 1983 beating Real Madrid in the final and a Dundee side surpassed all expectations to finish runners-up in the UEFA Cup Final in 1987 and two time UEFA Cup quarterfinalists, the events painted a picture of delighted Scotsmen doing the jig on the streets of Edinburgh.
This unfortunate downturn can be linked to the commercial manipulation disguised in football modernisation. You see, majority of a club’s revenue streams was produced by fans who regularly turned up to watch games in the stadiums. However, things changed with the boom of televised football. The introduction of subscription packages altered the anatomy of global footballing culture with fans flocking for the various packages offered by Sky and the likes.
Subsequently, other broadcasters followed the bandwagon.
Not even the most astute football expert Paul the Octopus (may he rest in peace), could have foreseen the serious ramifications this exploitation had. What this meant was that clubs didn’t need to taste relegation or a trophy drought in order to face financial troubles, TV revenues would still bring fiscal success in the grand scheme of things leading to a blanket of underperformances across the United Kingdom.
In addition, there was a lack of international recruitment by Scottish Clubs. You know the multiculturalism you find in Spain and England where the backroom staff and players would comprise of people from different footballing cultures? Scotland was far from that. For a long time, not a single manager in the Scottish Premier League came from outside the UK. The ripple effect was youth players not getting a taste of the tactical and technical evolution that was taking place beyond their borders. Scottish football was falling between the cracks.
Coming back to our beloved Celtic, some may blame their fall from grace on poor international marketing or Rangers’ demotion to the third tier of Scottish football. Well, for those who may not be familiar, in 2012 Rangers were consigned to liquidation after a debt crisis. No group of fans were happier to see their rivals dumped out of the SPL than the Celtic fans. Henceforth, the Bhoys accrued a quadruple of league titles as they swept past the other league sides. In terms of testing themselves, even the Celtic supporters who wanted Rangers gone hoped for their promotion in order to restore some parity in the league.
Their prayers were answered when Rangers secured promotion into the Scottish Premier League for the upcoming 2016/17 season.
It is without question that every Celtic fan would like to relive that infamous night in May 1967, Lisbon. In early 2016, the club’s board ended the tenure of manager Ronny Delia (just their third manager not from the UK) and in stepped his successor, a flamboyant ex-Liverpool manager. With one of the most coveted talents in Europe including young full-back Kieran Tierney, the acquisition of French wonderkid Moussa Dembele and an old challenge in the form of a dignified Rangers side, it could very well be the time for Celtic to rise from the ashes, prove to the world that Scottish football can still mix in with the big boys thereby answering the fans’ clarion call for continental football.
Nevertheless, they’ve got their work cut out for them.
