Celticunderground:the Celtic Football Fan Podcast

This Saturday sees the first visit to Glasgow this season by the team from Midlothian. We don’t have an especially warm relationship with the team often referred to as the lesser version of a certain Glasgow team and the obvious question - has it always been thus? Well, listen to this tale from Matthew of Hail Hail History to find out.Enjoy…The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Robert Austin Thomson played for Celtic from 1929 into the 1930s alongside club legend Jimmy McGrory.  His finest year in a Celtic jersey came in 1931 when he was the star of the cup final against Motherwell.  Thomson lived a life of excess and died suddenly at the age of just 30 leaving a wife and two young children.Here’s the story.For more on our history go to https://www.thecelticwiki.com/Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Celtic pulled the rabbit out of the hat that Andrew H mentioned on here and brought in players on the final day of the window - lifelong Celtic fan Luke McCowan and Belgian prodigy Arne Engels.Signed on the last night of the window, the players both made their debuts in the comfortable Glasgow Derby win and then met with the press this week.We have the audio and video from the meetings with the fan media.Enjoy…Thanks for reading The Celtic Underground Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecelticunderground.substack.comIt’s the international break and there is therefore still some football going on and we decided to use this two week fallow period to chat with a former Celt who is still playing at international level and down in the EPL.In his chat with Andrew, Ryan covers his time at Celtic and gives an insight into how fraught a transfer window can be. He also disc…

This weekend the Celtic legends secured a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. This charity game saw thousands of pounds raised for the respective foundations. It was also another chapter in the annals of the famous links between both clubs and Celtic’s experiences at Old Trafford.We therefore thought it appropriate to sneak out another tale from Hail Hail History Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Sometimes small actions can have big consequences. 8 September 2024 is151 years since the opening of Sacred Heart Church in Bridgeton. Without this event, there is a chance there would be no Celtic.For more information, follow Hail Hail History Enjoy…The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Celtic’s First Cup Final (Glasgow Exhibition Cup)Season1888-1889 not only saw Celtic’s first competitive game, but Celtic’s first, second and third cup finals. It would be a year of learning, losing, wining and controversy starting with The Glasgow Exhibition Cup, held to coincide with the International Exhibition of Science, Art & Industry.For more information, follow Hail Hail History Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thecelticunderground.substack.comEveryday is a school day as they say and we’re trying something different so if it doesn’t work out, we’ll have another go!For your listening and viewing delights we have a mixture of prsentations (allegedly).If you are a paid subscriber to the platform, you can watch or listen to the podcast featuring Andrew H, Ross Hall and Harry B was we discuss the …

Down to businessAnother tale from the Celtic WikiIn an ideal world, Celtic would never have been formed, because in an ideal world there would have been not poverty and discrimination.But we don’t live in an ideal world and this tale from the Celtic wiki talsk about the formation of the club and how/when we changed from a charity to a business.For more on our history go to https://www.thecelticwiki.com/Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

St Mirren 0 - 3 CelticCeltic travelled all the way along the M8 to visit St Mirren in Paisley and ran out 3-0 winners.The scoring began inside 3 minutes and from that point on Celtic looked comfortable and were never in any danger of dropping any points.  Three games into the season, three wins and no goals conceded (the only goal against so far was against Hibs in the League Cup).It was two midfielders and a defender who got the goals today and the post match discussions with Brendan were all about whether we’d sign players and would they be the standard he is seeking.We have the post game review and the post match presser by Brendan.  He’s in a good mood but bery pointed.  He knows where the issues lie and so do the executives.Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Celtic comfortably beat Hibs 3-1 in the Premier Sports League Cup fixture at Celtic Park today.Following the game Harry B and Andrew H discussed the game and the general positivity about the club.The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Nineteenth season! Let that sink in. 19 seasons most of you have been listenning to this guff. Will you never learn? There are listeners to this podcast who weren’t born when it started. Goodness - there’s even a football club playing in the top flight that didn’t exist when this podcast started. (You can pick up this podcast for free on this Substack app, apple, amazon, google, spotify or wherever you get your podcast listening.)The Celtic Underground podcast gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror and thinks “who’s that old bugger looking back at me?” It looks on with a paternal smile as some of the whippersnapper podcasts trumpet their new guest providing “exclusive insight” into an event of days gone by knowing that we interviewed that guy years ago when we both had all our hair and all our marbles. Enough of this maudlin meandering, we’ve got a new season to discuss!On Sunday 4th August at 4:30pm the proper football returns with Celtic hosting Kilmarnock in our defence of the SPFL Premiership

If you’ve been online recently you will have noticed an increase in the number of bloggers and tweeters (or whatever people or X are called these days) review players and talent. One of the best of these guys is Ross Hall (the scout, not the hospital).The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In this podcast, Ross takes us on a journey that has seen him give up a succesful finance career and jump into the world of scouting and how and why he uses stats and uses his own eyes. Who does stats best and how they can be used to the benefit of Celtic. The chat went on for so long, we decided to postpone the analysis of the Celtic squad to next week. You never know, by then we might have actually signed an outfield player. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

A Rough JusticeAnother tale from the Celtic WikiIn March 2011, Celtic & Rangers engaged in “The Shame Game”.  It was a match that involved Rangers players losing the plot and finished with the hyperbole of Alex Salmond summoning then CEOs of Celtic and Rangers (Lawwell & Bain) to a summit to discuss the bahviour of both clubs.At the time The Human Torpedo recorded this slice of Celtic History from The Celtic wiki to look back at troubled games from the past, starting in 1949-50 season.Enjoy…Thank you for listening to The Celtic Underground Substack. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

If you’ve not already done so, please listen to Part 1 of this two part interview with Andrew H Smith on what it was really like being inside Celtic before, during and after the McCann revoltion. As he says - Fergus was a man on a mission and a man with a singular vision on how he wanted Celtic to be as a club and Andre was there, every day, documenting the process.Enjoy - This is exclusive to paid subscribers for 1 month. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

The Man Who Couldn’t Be BoughtAnother tale from the Celtic WikiWhat is it about Jimmy McGrory that makes him one of, if not the, greatest ever Celts?He’s our all time leading scorer with 522 goals in 501 games and holds the record for the most goals in a season, with 62 goals from 46 games.  Although he was only five feet and six inches tall, he was renowned for his prowess and ability for headers. His trademark was an almost horizontal bullet header, which he performed and scored with regularly, and which earned him the nicknames "the Human Torpedo.”A man the Garngad - St Rochs and Celtic, when Arsenal came calling, despite the best efforts of the board, he couldn’t be bought.  “Jimmy McGrory of the arsenal doesn’t sound right.”Enjoy…The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecel

We debated long and hard as to whether to publish this podcast because no matter waht we did, we couldn’t resolve the sound distortion issues - especially with Eddie’s mic. Ultimately we decided - what the heck. The worst of it appears to be at the beginning and the end.So this is a free podcast from Celtic Underground. It can be picked up wherever you get your podcasts as well as on Thecelticunderground.substack.com.There’s loads of paid and free content coming over the next few months with at least one bit of audio every week.Enjoy…The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts direct to your inbox and to support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

French FarceAnother tale from the Celtic WikiThe Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup was a short-lived Inter-League football competition organised by the French Football Federation that would see teams from the English Football League and the Scottish League compete against teams from the French League.The original idea was to have four teams from Scotland and four teams from England competing together as one nation competing against eight teams from France. Due to the objection by the Scottish League this ruling was cancelled.Two separate trophies were cast - one for Scottish clubs competing against French clubs and one for English clubs competing against French clubs. Individual clubs could not win the competition, so each country was awarded 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.Due to disagreements as to when matches should be played, neither of the matches between Celtic and Reims took place.Enjoy….The Celtic Underground Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support ou

The Rebels have won4th March 1994 and Fergus McCann and Brian Dempsey step out into a dark and rainy Glasgow night to make the famous declaration - The game is over, the rebels have won.Jubilation abound and tonight, as we publish this tale from The Celtic Wiki, we remember one of the unsung heroes of that takeover battle - John Keane who sdaly passed away today - 16th June 2024.John was the honourary Chairman of Celtic and he got that role because, with no ownership and no certainty that he wouldn’t lose every penny, John stepped up and paid £1m to the bank to save the club from the ignomy of administration and pave the way for Fergus to take over the club.In tribute to John, we’re therefore publishing this classic tale.Here’s a link to the club’s statement on the passing of John - https://www.celticfc.com/news/2024/june/16/celtic-pays-tribute-to-john-keane/Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substac

Working at Celtic During the McCann Revolution   Fergus McCann came into Celtic Park and changed everything.  He changed the board and replaced family inheritance with business acumen.  He changed the ground from seats on Terracing to a 60,000 seated stadium.  He built all the foundations that have now established Celtic as THE premier club in Scotland.  He is one of the greatest Celts in history.   The transformation in Celtic pre and post March 1994 was incredible and one of the few people with a front row seat both before and after was Andrew Smith.  working at The Celtic View he was part of the team who had to put out the messaging of the old board and their proposals for a move to Cambuslang.  He was then part of the McCann messaging as he sought to transform Celtic through a share issue and the building of a new stadium.   The tales from Andrew are incredible, and his impersonations aren't bad either.   This is a 2 part podcast.  Part one is out on our standard feed and part two will be available on The