Celtic Supporters Clubs of yesteryear

On my Celticbars site I have 516 CSC's listed. Going through my data base collated over the last 21 years, there are another 468 disbanded CSC's which have went to the Great Bus Park in the Sky. The CSC's listed at the moment are all active and spread over 48 countries. To find your nearest club, have a look here.

Supporters Clubs play a huge role in our Club. They are great to be part of if you move to a new place and want to meet new friends. Several generations of families continue to keep their CSC traditions going. Young children come onto a bus and feel part of the club. They grow up learning the stories and history of Celtic FC and their CSC. They in turn keep that tradition going when they have children of their own, whilst taking their auld da' with them who started the ball rolling for them. 

One of the reasons I never publicise illegal streams is if someone is in New York for example, I would rather recommend bars with a CSC's connected to them rather than a random bar. North American clubs pay a lot of money for Celtic TV. Most have a cover charge to make it affordable and possible. They deserve the custom from visitors, who in turn buy their merchandise and raffles, thus ensuring the continued running of the CSC. This also attracts new members who have recently moved into the area.

Special mention to all those who give up their own time to help run the CSC's. It is hard work but very enjoyable. To organise anniversary functions which attracts current and former players leaves a lasting memory for all those attending. The chance to hold the trophies provides special moments as we have seen recently with families getting their photos with the treble. With social media, this publicity further enhances the clubs reputation.

Brake Clubs

Supporters Clubs go way back to the very existence of Celtic FC. The first CSC's were Brake Clubs, named after the horse drawn carriages which carried up to 25 fans. The first clubs was started in 1891 with St Mary's & St Margaret's both claiming the distinction of being the first. Other clubs soon followed suit like St John's, St Francis, St Joseph, St Vincent and St Aloysius'. Some members paid 4d and some paid 6d to be allocated a space on the brake club. These would mostly be restricted to travelling to the Glasgow area and towns like Greenock and Dumbarton. They have left a great legacy with their splendid painted banners with their current favourite player in the middle. Often the player would be painted over with their latest star. One of these banners hung proudly in Baird's Bar for years. This was auctioned at McTear's in 2003 but never met the reserved asking price. A brilliant memorabilia for someone one day.

Brake Clubs would meet at The Gorbals then proceed in convoys to Paradise. Given the sign of the times, these horse drawn charabancs were full of working men having their escape from the harsh realities of their job and life in general. They were noisy and often alcohol fueled. I would imagine pishing in the street wasn't exclusive to the horses. I often wonder if my family were on these wagons. My Great Granny was born in East Rose Street and was living there in November 1887 when Brother Walfrid had the first meeting. From old Glasgow maps, her house was one of the closest to St Mary's Hall. We have tried to find out, to no avail, if any of our family were at that first meeting. We like to think they were. As an aside, my Great Granny married Duncan McIntyre who was an original member of Third Lanark FC and who was a team mate of the great Willie Maley. Duncan was once described as the one of the finest strikers in Scotland. He had an obituary in the papers 50 years after he played. Oh to have met him and listened to his stories. 

By the 1920s, the Brake Clubs were in a decline. The popularity of cars and trains made independent travel to games easier and more convenient. The Celtic bars in The Gallowgate would still have been an important part of early supporters clubs. Bars in The Gallowgate in the '20s & '30s included Cairns Bar, Cocky Borrs Bar, The Whitevale Bar, The White Elephant, The Wee Mans and The Victory Bar. Various members of Celtic FC were publicans in that area at that time. John Campbell owned a pub at 322 London Road at the corner of Boden Street in 1907 called the Villa Bar. Patsy Gallagher owned a bar at 42-44 Fulbar Street, Renfrew in1920 then took over the International Bar, Clydebank in 1925. James Grant owned The Grant Arms at 19 Argyle Street and Sandy McMahon owned The Duke Bar, 209 Great Eastern Road.

Celtic Supporters Clubs have always had a political side of things. Back in those days they would fly banners in support of Trade Unions and Irish Nationalism. The noise of a convoy of Brake Clubs, with the horses hooves on the cobbled stones and fans with their flags, horns and bells made sure they were heard. This lead to violence on occasions as sectarianism reared its ugly head. The other reason for the demise of the brake clubs was that so many of them were involved in attacks on the way to/after games that there was a major police crackdown on them.  Celtic (through Willie Maley) were publicly critical of the 'gangsters' in the brake clubs.  There's lots of newspaper articles from the 20s and 30s of brake clubs getting stopped on the way to Rangers games and all sorts of weapons being found on them.

Life after brake Clubs. 1940s

Towards the end of the War, football was slowly coming back on the radar with men returning from the conflicts. Football would soon be booming again with huge crowds and a renewed enthusiasm to get back to the games. In September 1944, Willie Fanning wrote to the Daily Record asking for fans to get in touch with the view to starting a supporters club. Within 12 months, they had set up a constitution to amalgamate other CSC's which by then numbered over 700 members. The first project The CSA did was to kit out the Celtic Park ball boys with a uniform. The Celtic Supporters Association was formed. Greenock Shamrock CSC precede the CSA, but from the information I have, whilst not definitive, the oldest CSC's still in existence are

Greenock Shamrock CSC 1935

Celtic Association 1944

Greenock Branch CSC 1945

Kirkintilloch CSC 1945

Port Glasgow CSC 1945

Johnstone No1 CSC 1945

Bellshill & District CSC 1946

Bathgate CSC 1946

Holytown CSC 1946

Shotts CSC 1946

Peter Scarff CSC 1947

Larkhall CSC 1947

Springburn No1 CSC 1947

Lennoxtown CSC 1947

Carfin CSC 1948

Rawyards CSC 1948

St Peters No1 West Belfast CSC 1952

With regards to other organised groups, The Affiliation was the the brainwave of Eddie McCafferty and was formed in 1986. Peter Rafferty was also a huge influence with The Affiliation and he was a great help to me when I first started the Celticbars site. Other supporters groups include The North American Affiliation, The Celtic Trust and Central South Wales and West CSC.

Lisbon 1967

Celtic became the first non Latin team to win the European Cup. On qualifying for the final, thousands made plans to make Lisbon their own. 12,000 fans went by bus, train and plane. With these filled up, a cavalcade of highly decorated cars left Paradise for the long trip to Lisbon. It was the first mass exodus of Celtic supporters in those numbers as travel became more accessible. Those who travelled will never forget that momentous time. The homecoming at Celtic Park will also live long in the memory for those who were there. Parading the trophy on an old coal lorry was just pure gallus Celtic.