Scotland v England
Celtic Park
Glasgow, Scotland
18 November 2014
This was easily one of the most eagerly awaited matches that I have attended since following England. The last time we played in Scotland the match was at Hampden Park in the 1st leg of the Euro Championships Play-Off for the 2000 Finals in Belgium/Holland. The match ended in a 2:0 win for England and gave us a sufficient cushion for the 2nd leg at Wembley where we lost 0:1, going through 2:1 on aggregate.
Celtic Park, Glasgow. England have not played here for over a hundred years, but have previously played 5 games here:
9 Apr 1904, Home Championship, Scotland v England W(0-1)
7 Apr 1900, Home Championship, Scotland v England L(4-1)
2 Apr 1898, Home Championship, Scotland v England W(1-3)
4 Apr 1896, Home Championship, Scotland v England W(1-2)
7 Apr 1894, Home Championship, Scotland v England D(2-2)
This match was to be played at Celtic Park because Hampden Park was out of action due to the alterations done on it for the Commonwealth games in the summer. The capacity is about 60,300 so the England allocation was always going to be quite a large one. In fact we ended up taking just over 5000 but there were stacks of seats empty at the away end in the 'Lion's of Lisbon stand'.
Theo Walcott having missed almost a year of football through injury makes a welcome return
The atmosphere was electric for this encounter and easily the most passionate friendly that I'd ever seen, The PA system banged out classic Tartan tunes such as 'Flower of Scotland', '500 miles' and 'Coming down the road' and from the minute that GSTQ was belted out by the English and booed by the Sweaties, it was 'game on'. The English taunted the Scots with "F*ck Off Scotland we all voted Yes" and then a 20 minute long rendition of "F*ck the IRA", which was more to do with the game being played at Celtic than the opponents being Scotland.
Scotland 1 England 3
Attendance: 55,000
Day 1 was spent in Central Glasgow visiting the Necropolis, People's Palace, Bridgeton and Celtic Park.The Tron Steeple is all that is left of the original St Mary's Kirk that was burnt to the ground after a particularly riotous evening by the notorious Hell Fire Club in 1793. The building behind it is the Tron Theatre.
This free standing clock tower is known as the Tollbooth Steeple and dominates the area of Glasgow Cross. It was part of a larger structure and also the Chamber of Commerce.
Standing on the west side of Cathedral Square Gardens - opposite Barony Church is the mounted statue of King William III (1650-1702), champion of the Protestant cause, and here surprisingly dressed in traditional Roman attire, baton in hand.
Provand's Lordship is the oldest house
in Glasgow, dating back to 1421.
Glasgow Cathedral from the Necropolis. The first stone built Glasgow Cathedral was dedicated in the presence of King David I in 1136.
The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian feature which has up to 50,000 people buried there. Many famous people have monuments raised in their memory, the most famous one is John Knox who is credited with being the founder of the Protestant movement in Scotland. His is just on the left of the Reverend Duncan Macfarlan above.
The bridge linking the Cathedral to the Necropolis is called the Bridge of Sighs due to it being the route of funeral processions!
After leaving the Necropolis I head down the High Street in the direction of Candleriggs to collect my match ticket. By an incredible stroke of good fortune I bump into the Mrs Hesketh the 3rd and we collect both of our tickets, a total saving of £50 as the real Mrs H was unavailable but what a likeness😊
Argyle St - full of Christmas shoppers
Just on the edge of Glasgow Green is the old Templeton carpet factory which has now been sold off (6.7 million) to help build 143 new flats in East Glasgow.
The Doulton Fountain just in front of the People's Palace. It was built in 1888 commemorating the reign of Queen Victoria
The People's Palace and Winter Gardens
Nelson's 43.5 m tall Monument on Glasgow Green was the 1st civic monument to commemorate Nelson's victories following his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805
The People's Palace
My favourite displays inside the People's Palace were Billy Connolly's Banana Boots and Rab C Nesbitt's stringy vest.
The Single Ender from a Glasgow Slum
Winter Garden
It's Beer O'clock on match day, so we head
to the Crystal Palace on Jamaica Street.
Later, we head to 'Sloans', supposedly the oldest pub in Glasgow!
After a few more scoops we head East to the Ranger's stronghold of Bridgeton. The Bridgeton Umbrella above.
Crimson Star, Bridgeton
Celtic Park
View from the Lisbon Lions Stand
Craig Mac's flag
While the band played the tune to " Follow England Away", the English faithful changed the lyrics. One of the funniest incidents occurred after England's opening goal which prompted a young kilted Scotsman to attack the English end; he 'danced' his way passed 4 stewards before being dumped to the ground in a big messy heap by the 5th.
After the game the Police took no chances, herding the English down the London Road for a 2/3 mile trek back to the city centre. On passing Bridgeton we were greeted with applause and UJ flag waving by the local loyalist's.
On day 2 which was the day after the match I crack some last minute sight-seeing before the planned stadium tour of Ibrox at 1130. First up is the Gallery of Modern Art on Exchange Square.
I was pleased to see that the Duke of Wellington sat proudly astride 'Copenhagen' was donning his usual headwear.
Glasgow Rangers tour of Ibrox Stadium
I get the subway to Ibrox from Buchanan
Street and head to the club shop.
Outside the Bill Struth Main Stand
The Main Stand in all of its glory
John Greig MBE
"We are the people"
Outside of the famous Louden Tavern
Davie Cooper
Jim Baxter
The quintessential Rangers' bar
Ibrox hall of fame
The Director's room
The manager's office as Bill Struth intended it.
The Sandy Jardine Stand
The Rangers' home changing room with the Captain's shirt directly underneath the Queen. This portrait was presented by Terry Butcher during his captaincy. The original is above the door.
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