The book begins with a
challenge to the reader which
immediately gets to the heart
of what Celtic Football Club has
meant to so many generations of
supporters.
'Close your eyes for a minute
and try to envisage your life
without Celtic. Not just the
Celtic you watch play football
for ninety minutes, the Celtic
you talk about every day in life,
the Celtic you think about every
other minute and the Celtic
that pours out of every vein
in your body, determines your
mood swings, dictates your
friendships, commands your
social life and often attracts the person you marry
to spend the rest of their life with you.
'It shapes your life, your ethics, your morals,
your principals and often your politics. It shapes
your very existence. You cherish the days your
father took you to your first games and you, in
turn, gift the same devotion to your children and
so it goes on. For eternity.
'Pause and imagine your life without Celtic. Take
away everything that Celtic has given you in life.
Who would you be?'
And from that starting point the author goes on to
catalogue in fascinating detail the events and figures
central to Celtic's birth and development. It is a book
that any historian would be rightly proud of.
Sweeney explained: "I'd been doing research in
the Mitchell Library for a few years and then, about
three years ago, around the time of the 125-year
Mass at St Mary's, my mother was
ill and she'd actually just gone
into St Margaret's Hospice the day
before the Mass. And I said to my
mother that I was going to write
a book,
"And I suppose the inspiration
was in trying to imagine life
without Celtic in the same way as
trying to imagine life without your
mother.
"Life without Celtic is
unimaginable. I think we can
often just take it for granted, but
as supporters we've got to take it
back to the beginning and realise
and understand our history.
And the book is all about
cherishing the memories of how
Celtic began and passing on those memories to
future generations, to let them know how it all
began."
Celtic: The Early Years originally began life as a
history of the original Celtic Park, but then developed
and expanded into a comprehensive of the first five
years of the club, until they moved to the site of the
present Celtic Park in 1892.
And those first few years is, for the author, the first
era of Celtic and one that merits this level of research
and attention.
"The original ground is where Brother Walfrid
watched Celtic play," Brendan explained. "He never
saw Celtic play on the site of the present Celtic Park.
He actually left the Glasgow the same week as this
Celtic Park was opened, so he never saw Celtic play
at the new ground."
The starting point of the book is the details of the
formation and development of St Mary's parish in
Glasgow, an integral part of the Celtic story, and
finishes with an account of the new Celtic Park in
1892,
In between are nearly 500 pages which brings an
incredible story to life.
And as Brendan Sweeney explained: "Billy McNeill
always refers to the Celtic story as being a fairytale
and he's absolutely right. And hopefully this book
tells that fairytale but with the facts behind it as
well."
Celtic: The Early Years by Brendan Sweeney
is published by CQN Books and is out now. It's
available to buy in official Celtic stores.
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