Why Celtic? For those of us in America it is the question we often receive as we gather to watch matches with our friends and fellow Celtic supporters. After all, when there’s the every-popular English Premeir League to watch, why does a team from Scotland appeal to you so much?
What I’ve discovered is a collection of fans with varrying stories as to how they fell in love with this club, but one common thread — Celtic is a club that is built on passion, pride and charity and that combination has led us all to be hooked on the hoops.
That love of the club has led us here today…the foundation of a site dedicated to all things Celtic FC from right here in America and across the pond as well. From Scotland to England to mainland Europe and back to the shores of Lake Michigan — we’re all here to bring you opinions, analysis and most importantly to celebrate the club we all love.
But who is this we that I’m speaking of today? Well, let us introduce ourselves:
Andy Coppens, Co-Expert: A verteran of digital media, I have vast experience covering multiple sports and have experience in the soccer world an Assistant Editor of 32flags with a focus on the international game. Most importantly, I have been a fan of Celtic since I began to get serious about soccer as a spectator (and less so as an actual player) in the mid-1990’s. While Celtic were in the middle of intense battles with that other Glasgow team, my love for the Bhoys in green just to happened to be cemented around the same time of Henrik Larsson’s arrival at Parkhead. My initial interest in the club was spured on in part by Irish heritage and my Catholic background, but it was the style of play and the ethos of the club that hooked me for life.
You can usually find Andy and some of our fellow contributors enjoying Celtic matches as part of the Chicago Celtic Supporters club.
Kevin Kennedy Ryan, Co-Expert: It’s an old adage, but many of the best often are, that Celtic is more than a club. The founding principles of the Celtic Football Club from charity, to inclusivity and standing up for the dispossessed ring as true today as they did in 1888. Sports teams come and go, have been bought and sold, can go through rebranding and renovation, but pride and passion are innate. It is the founding principles of the club which spur our fans on to be the best in the world, through exuberance in the stadium to their charitable actions outside. This culture cannot be artificially manufactured and that is what makes Celtic so special and why I love this club.
Mark Nabong, Contributor: Mark learned to love Celtic in the typical way: by meeting a Scottish paleobotanist who talked about the Club. Mark started following the hoops in the summer of 2000, which proves that he truly has the luck of the Irish* for two reasons: 1) Martin O’Neill had just signed on as gaffer, and 2) Celtic highlights were available for the first time on the web, in glorious 60p resolution. The first major signing that Mark remembers is Neil Lennon and the first Old Firm match he remembers is the 6-2 Demolition Derby, which is amazing because he doesn’t really much else of his life from back then. Mark lives in Chicago and somehow managed to watch the whole 2-1 win over Barcelona in 2012 on tape delay at AJ Hudson’s without finding out the score ahead of time.
*Mark is not Irish.
Matt Rhein, Contributor: It is ironic that Celtic bring Matt such joy, as his first experience with them was a place he long associated with misery. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Matt had been a “Celtic fan” but with high speed internet years away, he mostly experienced Celtic in short highlight clips and the occasional European game on American TV. He first saw the Green and White Hoops in person at Cleveland Browns Stadium, a place that previously only brought him misery. When Chris Sutton’s goal was enough for Celtic to defeat Boca Juniors and Matt’s team actually won in Cleveland Browns Stadium, Matt’s love for Celtic went from interest to infatuation. Over the past few years, Matt has becoming increasingly interested in advanced stats and analytics in Soccer and has been gathering stats for the SPFL for two seasons now at The Backpass Rule.
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