Article
Lighthouse Point bar caters to Scottish pride with soccer
WHEN THE GLASGOW CELTIC PLAY SOCCER, LOCAL FANS TURN A LIGHTHOUSE POINT BAR INTO A PRIVATE STADIUM
egibson@MiamiHerald.com
Miami Herald (Sunday Oct 22, 2006)
Fiddling with a shortwave radio dial, scrounging for scores in national newspapers or ordering VHS tapes once were the only ways for devout Glasgow Celtic fans living in Florida to track their beloved Scottish soccer team.
”And then there was satellite television,” said John Paton of Plantation.
Paton and other men gathered around a 42-inch plasma television in Lighthouse Point on Tuesday afternoon said they still consider watching a game broadcast live in a bar full of cheering fans worth taking the afternoon off.
John L. Sullivan’s, 4460 N. Federal Hwy., is one of five spots in Florida where fanatics can catch an exclusive satellite feed of all the Scottish team’s games.
The bar has the honor because on game days it hosts the Southern Florida chapter of the North American Federation of Celtic Supporters Clubs, which owns exclusive rights in North America for the games.
To pay for the satellite contract, the club charges $10 a game. Season ticket holders pay a rate of just $5 for each of the 45 to 50 games.
Even with a few players injured, the Celtics shut out Portugal’s Benfica with three goals scored Tuesday in the second half. The two teams will have a rematch on Nov. 1 for another round of the Champions League tournament in which the top teams from national leagues around Europe face off.
An Irish Catholic monk who immigrated to Scotland founded the team in 1887 to raise money to feed Glasgow’s poor and as an alternative to Glasgow’s strictly Protestant Rangers. Although the Rangers didn’t make the Champions League this year, they remain the Celtics’ archrival.
Celtic fans tend to come from Irish or Scottish descent, and many of the club members in Southern Florida moved to the United States from Great Britain.
INBRED LOYALTY
”You’re born into it, kicking the ball when you’re small and singing Celtic songs,” said Tony Connaghan of Pompano Beach.
Two or three members at a time started arriving half an hour before Tuesday’s game. They shook hands while drifting toward the bar counter before gathering on stools and standing around tall wooden tables near the front of the bar.
With a cry of ”Cut the music,” the bar stereo system shut off. The 20 men’s eyes turned toward the television for the traditional singing — in the stadium and in the bar — of You’ll Never Walk Alone, the team song, before the game.
When Glasgow’s boys in green and white stripes started moving up the field, the crowd in the bar watched intently with arms crossed against their chests.
As the ball neared the goal with promising precision, they shouted advice at the players, warning them not to commit an offsides penalty.
A brilliant play caused the men to roar into booming songs. When they blew a shot, elaborate sighs and curses followed as the fans shuffled to the bar for another drink.
LEARNED TRADITIONS
Converts learn the traditions through practice.
Tim Steele of Pompano Beach used to follow the Rangers with his brother until he had a revelation.
‘I said to my brother, `We’re Catholic. Why are we watching the Protestant team?’ ” Steele said. “So I did a little research and switched. Now during the games, it’s like we’re not family. We’re rivals.”
Steele also taunts his brother in Dallas via text message all tournament long.
The Internet, however, has become a problem for the club, members said. Streaming video and instant scores online have shrunk the group of regular members, but those who come back said watching the game in the bar feels like standing in the stadium.
With about 50 federation chapters around the continent, that’s a lot of private stadiums.
Ian McKeown of Toronto checked the Internet for a local federation chapter before his Florida vacation.
”It’s always amazing when you can go anywhere in America and find a game,” he said. “You fit right in.”
(Source: Miami Herald (Sunday Oct 22, 2006)
(Article: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/15812105.htm)
FANATIC LOYALTY: John McTavish shows his team’s jersey and his fierce loyalty at the start of a soccer game being seen, via satellite TV, at John L. Sullivan’s in Lighthouse Point. The sports bar is host of the South Florida chapter of the North American Federation of Celtic Supporters Clubs.