BRISBANE CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB
"CEAD MILE FAILTE"
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(if Carlsberg did Celtic weekends this would be it)
Starring : THE CELTIC FC SQUAD
TONY MOWBRAY
PETER LAWWELL
WILLIE WALLACE
JOHN CLARK
ANDY LYNCH
PETER GRANT
MARK VENUS
TONY HAMILTON
IAIN JAMIESOM
GREIG ROBERTSON
BRIAN KELLY
BRISBANE CELTIC SC
BCSC MASCOT LENNY
THE GAP FC
Plus A Supporting Cast of 20,000 CELTIC FANS
Starring : THE CELTIC FC SQUAD
TONY MOWBRAY
PETER LAWWELL
WILLIE WALLACE
JOHN CLARK
ANDY LYNCH
PETER GRANT
MARK VENUS
TONY HAMILTON
IAIN JAMIESOM
GREIG ROBERTSON
BRIAN KELLY
BRISBANE CELTIC SC
BCSC MASCOT LENNY
THE GAP FC
Plus A Supporting Cast of 20,000 CELTIC FANS
"A WEE BHOYS DREAM"
A Wee Bhoy's Dream
Once upon a time . . . . . . . .
A homeless Koala Bear was adopted by the Brisbane Celtic SC, his was named Lenny after their hero Neil Lennon who for many years played for that great Scottish/Irish side Celtic FC.
Lenny was chosen for the role of travelling ambassador for the Supporters Club and was knitted a green and white hoops scarf with a Celtic badge to wear at all times. Occasionally he enjoyed trips to special events, parties and even overseas travel, such as skiing in New Zealand, three months on the lash, in Dublin and Donegal, and two special trips to Celtic Park to see the beloved hoops.
As time went by Lenny found himself spending more and more time in his box, as the economic crunch which swept the world meant, foreign holidays were few and far between. At times it was very hot lying in a box in tropical Queensland wearing a blinking Celtic scarf, but Lenny never complained and was happy to have a comfortable home and as Koala Bears sleep for 23 hours a day, he didn’t have much time for moping about.
This is his story . . . . . . . . . .
Lenny was awakened from a deep sleep to the sound of sobbing; he peered through the air holes of his little box and could see committee members Johnny, Brian & Andy crying, with a poster of a small ginger haired man ripped into shreds. In between sobs, they shook their heads in disbelief saying “We Flipping threw it away” or “I can’t believe we handed the flipping title to them rotters in the blue , for flips sake”
(nb The Film script was re-edited to receive a U certificate)
Lenny was very saddened to see the bhoys so distressed, and wished he could do something to fix their broken hearts. Suddenly something moved in the box, it was an old bag of dried vegetation that Lenny had intended to smoke one day. The green vegetation said in an Irish accent, "I am ancient shamrock, picked from Johnny’s old family farm in hallowed Sligo many, many years ago and given to Johnny on his Holy Communion day. I have been given the powers to make just one wish come true, what would your wish be Lenny".
Lenny began to explain, but suddenly started yawning uncontrolably; he had been awake for 59 minutes and was struggling to stay awake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Johnny got a surprise phone call to say that Celtic were coming to play Brisbane Roar over the weekend, and wanted to train on Brisbane Celtic Football Clubs training ground at The Gap. Johnny, Brian & Andy's depression and bad mood suddenly lifted and lo and behold the sun shone brightly again after many many days of black cloud and rain.
Friday 10th June
The next day Johnny went to The Gap Football Club and met Ronnie Hawthorne, Celtics Head of Operations, with him were two of his boyhood heroes Willie Wallace and John Clark members of the famous Lisbon Lions team of 1967.
Later that day Greig and Brian from Celtics coaching academy, turned up and thanked him for helping to organise the Celtic coaching clinic along with numerous others for a four day period over the weekend at The Gap. That night Brisbane Celtic FC were due to play top of the table Old Bridge FC, the side who had beaten Celtic 6-1 in their last game. The Celtic Bhoys beat them 2-1 in a memorable game in which all of the lads played brilliantly and boosted our chances of making the Grand Finals.
Saturday 11th July
Johnny was up bright and early to meet his committee members Brian and Andy as they had been invited to attend the Celtic press conference at the team’s hotel, The Conrad Treasury. It was attended by Scott McDonald, Tony Mowbray and Peter Lawwell, at the end of the press conference the Bhoys were invited up to meet with and have their photos taken with the Celtic lads and pose with the Translink Cup, the trophy which they were to play for on Sunday.
Later that day they headed back up to The Gap FC to greet Celtic FC to an open training session for the Celtic fans. 1100 happy Celts watched their heroes train, and then sign autographs and pose for pictures for all of the excited crowd.
Johnny and the gang then headed to O’Malley’s Irish Pub in the CBD, which is the base for Brisbane Celtic Supporters Club. They had arranged to meet ex Celtic legend Andy Lynch in there to introduce him to the hundreds of travelling interstate Celtic fans who made the journey to Brisbane. Johnny then DJ’d for the crowd with one of his extra special Celtic/Irish sets which had the crowd raising the roof, lots of beer was partaken in a fantastic evening of Celtic entertainment.
Sunday 12th July
Bleary eyed everyone was back up again bright and early and down to O’Malley’s for a Breakfast with Andy Lynch for 300 hungry guests from Celtic Supporters Clubs from all over Australia, Willie Wallace also popped in to say hello to Andy.
At
11am Johnny and Andy hosted a question and answer for the guests, Andy was in brilliant form as he regaled the audience with some fantastic stories from the 1970’s. At midday Johnny warmed up the decks and another sing-a-long session was soon underway, at 2pm they headed up to the ground, and were gobsmacked to see Celtic fans everywhere. As they approached Caxton St they roared with laughter at seeing a poor rickshaw cyclist struggling to get up the hill with two fat Celtic fans in his carriage. Caxton St was jam packed with Celtic fans drinking and singing in the warm afternoon sun.
Inside the Suncorp Stadium was like a mini version of Seville, with three sides of the ground packed with Celtic fans with the home fans only occupying one end of the ground. YNWA rang around the stadium as the players came out, as 20,000 Celtic fans enjoyed the novelty of watching Celtic FC play whilst enjoying a cold beer in the sunshine.
Three cracking goals ensured Celtic lifted their first trophy of the season, and historically their first under new manager (and the Bhoys new best mate) Tony Mowbray.
After the game it was back to O’Malley’s as Johnny DJ’d from 6pm to 11pm, the pub was bursting at the seams with good natured Celtic fans who sang their hearts out all evening, which was at times deafening. They were also joined by a constant stream of Irish and Scottish Pipers, which delighted the hundreds of fans. BCSC Golden Ghirls Niki & Kathy organised two raffles and managed to raise $1240 for BCSC charity fund, and penniless Brisbane Celtic FC benefited from a much needed injection of $3000 as O’Malley’s sold out of all their T-shirts made up to commemorate the game.
Monday 13th July
A relaxing day with big hangovers doing nothing other than attending a fantastic evening Coaches coaching clinic put on by Celtics Greig & Brian, with a view to building long term relationships with Brisbane’s football community.
Tuesday 14th July
Celtic had requested a private training session prior to flying out, so Johnny , son Liam and Gerry Burns joined members of the Gap FC in being stewards and hosting a tough Celtic training session on the teams last day in Brisbane.
Johnny had been given a pair of Artur Borucs boots on the Friday as a gift from Celtic FC, and was determined to get them signed by his hero. At the end of the session there were sponsors shirts and memorabilia laid out for the players to sign. Johnny managed to get Artur to sign the precious boots, and briefly put them back on the table whilst he had his picture taken with the great man. Unfortunately Georgious Samaras was working his way down the table signing everything and only went and signed his name of both of Arturs boots. Luckily after being scrubbed frantically he managed to remove Sammy’s unwelcome signature from the precious boots .
Better was to follow, when Celtic's Iain Jamieson organised for the three Brisbane Celtic members to have our picture taken with Tony and the whole Celtic first team squad. More photo's followed, Aiden, Sean, Scott, Tony Mowbray (again) Peter Grant, and Johnny even got Willie Wallace to sign a copy his picture taken on Friday with himself and John Clark, he wrote ‘To Johnny, All The Best, Willie Wallace, 67’ how good is that eh?
Johnny and the Brisbane Celtic Bhoys and Ghirls were last heard discussing the weekend, saying it must have been a dream, things like that dont happen in Brisbane and we would probably wake up soon.
Later that Tuesday afternoon Lenny awoke from a five day deep sleep to find pictures of him with Celtics Scott McDonald and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell tucked up in the box next to him alongside the bag of shamrock.
“Where the flipping heck did those pictures come from” said Lenny, slowly he vaguely began to remember his wish, and then thought “ Nah this is too flipping farfetched, even for a talking glove puppet, they'll think I’ve been on the funny fags if I was to mention this to Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato head, Woody and the rest of the toys tonight”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Did it really happen, no of course not! But they all lived happily ever after.
THE END
Once upon a time . . . . . . . .
A homeless Koala Bear was adopted by the Brisbane Celtic SC, his was named Lenny after their hero Neil Lennon who for many years played for that great Scottish/Irish side Celtic FC.
Lenny was chosen for the role of travelling ambassador for the Supporters Club and was knitted a green and white hoops scarf with a Celtic badge to wear at all times. Occasionally he enjoyed trips to special events, parties and even overseas travel, such as skiing in New Zealand, three months on the lash, in Dublin and Donegal, and two special trips to Celtic Park to see the beloved hoops.
As time went by Lenny found himself spending more and more time in his box, as the economic crunch which swept the world meant, foreign holidays were few and far between. At times it was very hot lying in a box in tropical Queensland wearing a blinking Celtic scarf, but Lenny never complained and was happy to have a comfortable home and as Koala Bears sleep for 23 hours a day, he didn’t have much time for moping about.
This is his story . . . . . . . . . .
Lenny was awakened from a deep sleep to the sound of sobbing; he peered through the air holes of his little box and could see committee members Johnny, Brian & Andy crying, with a poster of a small ginger haired man ripped into shreds. In between sobs, they shook their heads in disbelief saying “We Flipping threw it away” or “I can’t believe we handed the flipping title to them rotters in the blue , for flips sake”
(nb The Film script was re-edited to receive a U certificate)
Lenny was very saddened to see the bhoys so distressed, and wished he could do something to fix their broken hearts. Suddenly something moved in the box, it was an old bag of dried vegetation that Lenny had intended to smoke one day. The green vegetation said in an Irish accent, "I am ancient shamrock, picked from Johnny’s old family farm in hallowed Sligo many, many years ago and given to Johnny on his Holy Communion day. I have been given the powers to make just one wish come true, what would your wish be Lenny".
Lenny began to explain, but suddenly started yawning uncontrolably; he had been awake for 59 minutes and was struggling to stay awake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Johnny got a surprise phone call to say that Celtic were coming to play Brisbane Roar over the weekend, and wanted to train on Brisbane Celtic Football Clubs training ground at The Gap. Johnny, Brian & Andy's depression and bad mood suddenly lifted and lo and behold the sun shone brightly again after many many days of black cloud and rain.
Friday 10th June
The next day Johnny went to The Gap Football Club and met Ronnie Hawthorne, Celtics Head of Operations, with him were two of his boyhood heroes Willie Wallace and John Clark members of the famous Lisbon Lions team of 1967.
Later that day Greig and Brian from Celtics coaching academy, turned up and thanked him for helping to organise the Celtic coaching clinic along with numerous others for a four day period over the weekend at The Gap. That night Brisbane Celtic FC were due to play top of the table Old Bridge FC, the side who had beaten Celtic 6-1 in their last game. The Celtic Bhoys beat them 2-1 in a memorable game in which all of the lads played brilliantly and boosted our chances of making the Grand Finals.
Saturday 11th July
Johnny was up bright and early to meet his committee members Brian and Andy as they had been invited to attend the Celtic press conference at the team’s hotel, The Conrad Treasury. It was attended by Scott McDonald, Tony Mowbray and Peter Lawwell, at the end of the press conference the Bhoys were invited up to meet with and have their photos taken with the Celtic lads and pose with the Translink Cup, the trophy which they were to play for on Sunday.
Later that day they headed back up to The Gap FC to greet Celtic FC to an open training session for the Celtic fans. 1100 happy Celts watched their heroes train, and then sign autographs and pose for pictures for all of the excited crowd.
Johnny and the gang then headed to O’Malley’s Irish Pub in the CBD, which is the base for Brisbane Celtic Supporters Club. They had arranged to meet ex Celtic legend Andy Lynch in there to introduce him to the hundreds of travelling interstate Celtic fans who made the journey to Brisbane. Johnny then DJ’d for the crowd with one of his extra special Celtic/Irish sets which had the crowd raising the roof, lots of beer was partaken in a fantastic evening of Celtic entertainment.
Sunday 12th July
Bleary eyed everyone was back up again bright and early and down to O’Malley’s for a Breakfast with Andy Lynch for 300 hungry guests from Celtic Supporters Clubs from all over Australia, Willie Wallace also popped in to say hello to Andy.
At
11am Johnny and Andy hosted a question and answer for the guests, Andy was in brilliant form as he regaled the audience with some fantastic stories from the 1970’s. At midday Johnny warmed up the decks and another sing-a-long session was soon underway, at 2pm they headed up to the ground, and were gobsmacked to see Celtic fans everywhere. As they approached Caxton St they roared with laughter at seeing a poor rickshaw cyclist struggling to get up the hill with two fat Celtic fans in his carriage. Caxton St was jam packed with Celtic fans drinking and singing in the warm afternoon sun.
Inside the Suncorp Stadium was like a mini version of Seville, with three sides of the ground packed with Celtic fans with the home fans only occupying one end of the ground. YNWA rang around the stadium as the players came out, as 20,000 Celtic fans enjoyed the novelty of watching Celtic FC play whilst enjoying a cold beer in the sunshine.
Three cracking goals ensured Celtic lifted their first trophy of the season, and historically their first under new manager (and the Bhoys new best mate) Tony Mowbray.
After the game it was back to O’Malley’s as Johnny DJ’d from 6pm to 11pm, the pub was bursting at the seams with good natured Celtic fans who sang their hearts out all evening, which was at times deafening. They were also joined by a constant stream of Irish and Scottish Pipers, which delighted the hundreds of fans. BCSC Golden Ghirls Niki & Kathy organised two raffles and managed to raise $1240 for BCSC charity fund, and penniless Brisbane Celtic FC benefited from a much needed injection of $3000 as O’Malley’s sold out of all their T-shirts made up to commemorate the game.
Monday 13th July
A relaxing day with big hangovers doing nothing other than attending a fantastic evening Coaches coaching clinic put on by Celtics Greig & Brian, with a view to building long term relationships with Brisbane’s football community.
Tuesday 14th July
Celtic had requested a private training session prior to flying out, so Johnny , son Liam and Gerry Burns joined members of the Gap FC in being stewards and hosting a tough Celtic training session on the teams last day in Brisbane.
Johnny had been given a pair of Artur Borucs boots on the Friday as a gift from Celtic FC, and was determined to get them signed by his hero. At the end of the session there were sponsors shirts and memorabilia laid out for the players to sign. Johnny managed to get Artur to sign the precious boots, and briefly put them back on the table whilst he had his picture taken with the great man. Unfortunately Georgious Samaras was working his way down the table signing everything and only went and signed his name of both of Arturs boots. Luckily after being scrubbed frantically he managed to remove Sammy’s unwelcome signature from the precious boots .
Better was to follow, when Celtic's Iain Jamieson organised for the three Brisbane Celtic members to have our picture taken with Tony and the whole Celtic first team squad. More photo's followed, Aiden, Sean, Scott, Tony Mowbray (again) Peter Grant, and Johnny even got Willie Wallace to sign a copy his picture taken on Friday with himself and John Clark, he wrote ‘To Johnny, All The Best, Willie Wallace, 67’ how good is that eh?
Johnny and the Brisbane Celtic Bhoys and Ghirls were last heard discussing the weekend, saying it must have been a dream, things like that dont happen in Brisbane and we would probably wake up soon.
Later that Tuesday afternoon Lenny awoke from a five day deep sleep to find pictures of him with Celtics Scott McDonald and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell tucked up in the box next to him alongside the bag of shamrock.
“Where the flipping heck did those pictures come from” said Lenny, slowly he vaguely began to remember his wish, and then thought “ Nah this is too flipping farfetched, even for a talking glove puppet, they'll think I’ve been on the funny fags if I was to mention this to Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato head, Woody and the rest of the toys tonight”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Did it really happen, no of course not! But they all lived happily ever after.
THE END
