Eddi Reader

I have two clear memories involving Celtic from when I was really young. The first is of Jimmy Johnstone, watching the power and skill of this wee fella taking on all comers while running the length of the park, no one could get the ball. I’d sit fascinated and infected by my da’s enthusiasm. 

The other is the Atletico Madrid game [in 1974] where players were getting battered stupid on the park. I was a bit older by this stage. I was in my teens and this was the early 1970s. What still stands out was seeing how appalled people were over that game; my da was disgusted.

The sentiment of the day was how could anyone call themselves sportsmen behaving like that; no one could believe that kind of violence on a football pitch. It really went against what the game was about and was pretty shocking at the time.

This is an extract from ‘We are Celtic Supporters’ by Richard Purden. Check it out on Amazon.