FOOTBALL FOCUS - ROY AITKEN - Friday 28 July 2023

 Question & Answer Session with a true Legend - Roy (Feed the Bear) Aitken

Venue: Barras Art and Design (BAaD)

The early part of my football match days were spent watching some great Scottish footballers, one of my all time favourites was ROY AITKEN.

Therefore it was a bit special for me to be part of the audience listening to great stories from a  terrific era in Scottish Football

Roy came across as very honest and loyal to not only his Celtic team-mates but also to his old foes from rival clubs. and even referees.

Jock Stein gave him his debut for Celtic as a 16 year old schoolboy and also made him captain for a number of games when he was still a teenager.  Then he was a huge part of Billy McNeill's Celtic teams.  He was also selected by Alex Ferguson for Scotland. Three of the most iconic men of Scottish Football.

Although I never seen the start of Roy's career it was a pleasure to watch him for almost 10 years with Celtic.  During this time I seen him win 3 league titles, 3 Scottish Cups and 1 League Cup.  His teammates included Danny McGrain, Tommy Burns, Murdo McLeod, Davie Provan, Pat Bonner, Paul McStay, Charlie Nicholas, Frank McAvennie, Mick McCarthy and Mark McGhee.

I witnessed Roy playing for Scotland many times including: 

• captaining the nation to a 1-0 win over England at Hampden in 1985.  I was in the small schoolboy enclosure, ticket price: £2:00 got on the day of the game from the Ticket Office 
• at the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy in which I attended all three of Scotland's group matches

Away from football I also seen him win the Balloch Highland Game 90-metre sprint in 1983 or 84.

I was delighted when he was finally invited back into the club in an ambassador role in 2017.  There isn't anyone more fitting for the role as he has never said a bad word about the club.

Roy's Celtic career in figures - I seen 24 of his Celtic goals.

MATCH 1926 - Tuesday 25 July 2023

SEASON 2023/24

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP - Group Stage

Venue:  LESSER HAMPDEN

    QUEENS PARK  5  ELGIN CITY  0

Scorers:  Paton(4), Fox

Attendance: 676

Another Elgin City match to tick off another lower league ground.  This was my first visit to Lesser Hampden, a little ground next to Scotland's National Stadium which has been redeveopled into a modest all seated ground.

The ground consists of one neat stand and a directors stand which resembles a royal box with nothing behind either goal at present.  The main stand although small has very good sightlines for the spectators making it a present experience.

As for the match, championship Queens Park proved to be too good for Elgin and comfortably scored five with centre forward, Ruari Paton scoring four of the goals.

Personal note:

• New ground - taking my total to 119 (53 in Scotland)
• 4th time seeing Queens Park and 11th time attending an Elgin match
• The 406th different senior fixture attended.

MATCH 1925 - Saturday 15 July 2023

SEASON 2023/24

SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP Group Stage

Venue:  AINSLIE PARK

THE SPARTANS  1  DUNDEE UNITED  0

Scorer: Henderson

Attendance: 1,701

Start of new season and Dundee United started it the way the finished the old one - in the doldrums.

In contrast The Spartans are on the up. Starting their first season as a Scottish League club and they recorded a fine win over their opponents from two divisions above them in the league set up.

Spartans started well and scored an early goal. For the rest of the game, they were fairly comfortable apart from when they conceded a penalty in the second half however Tony Watt's poor strike was easily saved by Carswell who was named man of the match for his efforts.

Personal note:

• My 130th Scottish League Cup tie.  My first was one on 08-08-81 Celtic 1 St Mirren 3
• Second visit to Ainslie Park but the first time seeing The Spartans
• This was the 8th ground I've seen United play in, against their 8th different opponent

Football Focus ~ London Calling

 STADIA VISITED

Grounds:  8

Matches:  14

Teams: 15

FULL BREAKDOWN OF VISITS TO LONDON FOR FOOTBALL MATCHES SINCE 1986:

Ground 1: HIGHBURY STADIUM

1986 - ARSENAL  0  CELTIC  2 - DAVID O'LEARY TESTIMONIAL

1991 - ARSENAL  2  CELTIC  2 - PAUL DAVIS TESTIMONIAL

Ground 2: SELHURST PARK

Visit 1
1993 - Wimbledon  1  Manchester United  2 - Premier League

Visit 2:
1994 - Wimbledon  1  Manchester United  0 - Premier League

Ground 3:  WEMBLEY STADIUM (old)

 1994 - MANCHESTER UNITED  1  OLDHAM ATHLETIC  1 - FA CUP SEMI FINAL

1996 - GERMANY  2  CZECH REPUBLIC  1 - UEFA EURO 1996 FINAL

Ground 4:  WEMBLEY STADIUM (new)

 2009 WEMBLEY CUP TOURNAMENT

Ground 5:  EMIRATES STADIUM

 

2016 - Arsenal  3  Sunderland  1 - FA Cup 3rd Round

Ground 6:  The TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM

 

2019 - Tottenham Hotspur  1  Inter Milan 1 - Friendly

Ground 7:  LOFTUS ROAD

2020 - Queens Park Rangers  0  Bristol City  1 - Championship

Ground: 8:  LONDON STADIUM

 

2023 - West Ham United  1  Manchester United  0 - Premier League

MATCH 1924 - Saturday 3 June 2023

SEASON 2022/23

SCOTTISH CUP FINAL

Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK

CELTIC  3  INVERNESS CT  1

Scorers:  Kyogo, Abada, Jota;  Mackay

Celtic won their 41st Scottish Cup, completing the domestic treble for an eighth time.  Celtic had not previosly beaten a highland side at Hampden in three meetings with Inverness and Ross County however Inverness arrived at the final as a mid-table Championship side so were always unlikely to cause an upset.  Despite defending stoutly Kyogo scored his fifth cup final, in only his third final, to give Celtic the lead just before half time.  Abada made it two and although Mackay scored for ICT with a few minutes to go their were no dramas as Jota completed the scoring on 90 minutes.

Personal note:

• 4th time seeing this fixture in the Scottish Cup - 2 wins each, 2 at Celtic Park and 2 at Hampden
• My 19th Scottish Cup final - 18 including Celtic
• Last match for me this season - total games attended 47 - 38 Celtic, 1 Celtic-B and 8 non-Celtic

MATCH 1923 - Saturday 27 May 2023

SEASON 2022/23

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  5  ABERDEEN  0

Scorers:  Kyogo(2), Starfelt, Oh(2)

Celtic rounded off another successful league campaign with a champion performance against 3rd place Aberdeen, collecting the trophy at the end of the 90 minutes.

Player of the year, Kyogo Furuhashi was as sharp as he's been all season in front of goal and put his team two up before half time.  Unfortunately he limped off early in the second half but his replacement Oh Hyeon-Gyu also grabbed a brace after Carl Starfelt's first Celtic Park goal had made it 3-0.

Trophy day at Celtic Park as title no. 53 is celebrated in style.  The Green Brigade's tifo honours the two great pillars of the club, Willie Maley and Jock Stein.

Personal note:

• End of league season I attended 26 matches in SPFL Premiership making it 1121 Celtic league matches in my 42 seasons
• This was the 3rd Celtic v Aberdeen fixture at Celtic Park this season, overall I've seen this fixture 109 time in the league in three stadia - Celtic Park, Pittodrie Stadium and Hampden Park.
• This was my 136th Aberdeen match overall - 131 v Celtic, 2 v Motherwell, 1 v Airdrie, Inverness and Man Utd.

MATCH 1922 - Wednesday 24 May 2023

SEASON 2022/23

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: EASTER ROAD STADIUM

HIBERNIAN  4  CELTIC  2

Scorers: Youan(2), Nisbet, OG; Hatate, Oh

Attendance: 18,171

East Stand

A six goal end of season thriller.  Celtic were reduced to 10 men with just over 20 minutes to play.  Hibs took full advantage scoring three times in the final 15 minutes to record a win that will greatly help in their quest for European football next season.

In the main stand as usual for this fixture.

Personal note:

• 52nd visit to Easter Road
• 132nd Hibernian match overall
• 121st time seeing the "Battle of the Scottish Greens" since 1982

MATCH 1921 - Saturday 20 May 2023

SEASON 2022/23

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC  2  ST MIRREN  2

Scorers: Kyogo, McGregor;  Main(2)

First game at Celtic Park for a few weeks and the first since winning their 53rd title two weeks ago.  St Mirren were up for it but Celtic gave the impression off a side fulfilling their fixtures.  Celtic did atleast score two quality goals to cancel out two first half goal from Curtis Main however the same player had three further good chances in the second half which would've given the Paisley side a surprise win.

Personal note:

• 73rd time seeing this fixture overall, including 63 in league 
• 3rd time attending this the fixture this season all at Celtic Park
• Overall 74th time seeing St Mirren putting them 10th in the list of clubs I've seen
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MATCH 1920 - Sunday 7 May 2023

SEASON 202/23

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue:  LONDON STADIUM

WEST HAM UNITED  1  MANCHESTER UNITED  0

Scorer:  Benrahma

Attendance: 62,477

Second game in two days and second new ground.  From the bottom of the Scottish League to the top of English Football and two of most prestigious clubs.  The chance to visit the London Stadium for the visit of Manchester United was too tempting and although the Reds were not on form it was certainly worth it.

First time I seeing West Ham United in a compeditive match which they won thanks to an awful mistake from the Manchester United goalkeeper, David de Gea.

The stadium certainly unconventional for football as the sheer size of the ground makes it hard to fans to connect with the players however it is still impressive for a one off visit.

Personal note:

• 4th time seeing West Ham
• 173rd match in England, including 15 in London
• 75th Manchester United match, 4 of them in London 

MATCH 1919 - Saturday 6 May 2023

SEASON 2022/23

SCOTTISH LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Venue:  NEW DUNDAS PARK

BONNYRIGG ROSE  3  ELGIN CITY  0

Scorers:  McGachie(2), Gray

Attendance 2,057

Admission £10

Another lower league ground visited, so another Elgin match and another heavy defeat for the Highlanders.

A very basic ground with more grass than terrace and it felt like a ground from the first round of the Scottish Cup rather than a league ground but on the positive side a very healthy crowd.

This was the last day of the 36 game league season and there was still one issue to be decided. After goalless first half Bonnyrigg increased the pressure on their opponents in the second and quickly got their reward of the first goal.  There was no looking back and two more goals followed to secure their place in league two, confirming the wee Rovers in the play-off spot.

Personal note:  

• This was my first time seeing Bonnyrigg Rose and first visit to New Dundas Park, making it the 40th Scottish League ground out of the current 42 I've been to for a match.
• 10th Elgin match and still waiting for the first win (9 defeats and 1 draw)