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Details
Title: Celtic Minded 2
Author: Joseph M Bradley (editor)
Published: 2006
Synopsis
This follow-up to the succesful Celtic Minded carries on from where the original left off. While it touches many similar socio-economic, religious and political themes to the first book this work also includes more straight forward football related articles. It also eloquently responds to some of the questionably motivated criticisms of the original.
The list of the contributors is again varied and impressive with James MacMillan and Dr Joseph M Bradley joined this time by Tom Campbell,
ex-striker George McClusky, Wolfe Tone singer-songwriter Derek Warfield, Irish Post columnist Joe Horgan and many more.
Review
Probably one of the most controversial books about Celtic and Celtic supporters ‘Celtic Minded’ is essential reading for those of us who believe the Hoops are so much more than just a football team.
On another hand, it’s quite a landmark in football writings. Academic yet accessible, it shifts away from the mundane simple middle of the road writings that fill up the shelves on football, and instead goes for a fresh cerebral approach.
With contributions from Dr Joseph M Bradley, composer James MacMillan, Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell and many others the book is essentially a collection of essays about what it means to be part of Celtic.
Critics sniffed at the “overt Irishness” of the book and while its contents will not be everyone’s cup of tea many of the points raised within its pages are valid.
At times it can be heavy going and some contributions are naturally superior to others. Its certainly not a book for those who don’t like their football-related literature to stray too far from the pitch.
But for those with a keen interest in Celtic FC as a cultural institution this is at times a fascinating and thought provoking read and you can’t help but wonder if the real reason many in the Scottish media criticised this work was because the truth can really hurt.
As in many other countries, football in Scotland involves not only kicking a ball and winning trophies but issues relating to finance, power, politics, religion, community, humour, popular culture and identity.
The first Celtic Minded book (2004) explored aspects of the supporting culture that revolves around one of Scotland ‘s biggest sporting institutions, Celtic FC.
Celtic Minded 2 takes that story further with serious, witty, informative and reflective research and views on Celtic supporters’ history, experience and culture.
This book emerges from a series of wider football and society studies by Dr Joseph Bradley, a lecturer in Sports Studies at the University of Stirling.
In the book Dr Bradley has written an extensive thesis exploring the Scottish Executive’s campaign ‘One Scotland Many Cultures’ in relation to football. Each of the other contributors provides an essay exploring aspects of the culture and identity of the Celtic fans.
Celtic Minded 2 constitutes a wonderful examination of what a football club means and represents to a community.
Contributions originate from people from varied social, religious and ethnic backgrounds including from Ireland , Canada , England and Scotland : from members of the worldwide Irish diaspora and from those attracted to or simply interested in the meaningfulness of Celtic fan culture.
This book reflects upon the descendants of the Irish in Scotland who contribute to modern Scotland as a multi-cultured society. It is a book that challenges much of the established and embedded knowledge especially reflected in the media that exists about sectarianism, ethnicity and football in Scotland.
The book aims to contribute to a better understanding of key aspects of modern Scottish society.
Celtic Captain Neil Lennon says: “Having read Celtic Minded 2 I am convinced that its contributors have captured the true essence of Celtic and articulated the very soul and passion that constitutes this great club’s support.”
Celtic Minded 2 is stimulating, thought provoking and a significant contribution towards Scotland holding up a mirror and understanding itself.
Keep The Faith
When Celtic Minded was published back in 2002 it was greeted by the majority of fans as a long overdue analysis of our collective culture. After years of Celtic websites attempting to discuss the club and its ethos on an intellectual level it was a pleasure to see a similar approach being adopted in the grown up world of published authors.
Until this point Celtic books, great reads though many of them are, had concerned themselves with mainly historical content. It was a bold move by Joe Bradley to discuss Celtic and Celtic culture as it is today. Certain individuals in the press opted to condemn some of the essays for their “drooling, dripping Irishness.” However, the target audience loved the content and it’s hardly surprising that Bradley has returned to his theme.
Celtic Minded 2 follows a similar structure to the first book. The first 60 pages are written by Bradley with a variety of contributors filling the remaining 200 odd. As a lecturer of Sports Studies at Stirling University it’s perhaps unsurprising to find that Bradley’s contribution is the most academic and meticulously referenced. There’s an inverted snobbery put about by some that claims this attempt to offer an intelligent analysis of Celtic ethos isn’t what the bhoys in the jungle would have wanted to read. Utter mince. Bradley superbly dissects the anti Irishness hidden under the surface of the Executive’s “One Scotland Many Cultures” campaign. He exposes the exclusion of the Irish immigrant in the history of those who settled in Scotland and his thoughts on why this is sadly the case make for fascinating reading.
However, it’s Bradley’s comments on Aiden McGeady that are the real highlight of his essay. He slaughters the hypocrisy of the Scottish press who revelled in their condemnation of McGeady’s decision to play for Ireland whilst at the same time hailing Nigel Quashie (for example) as a great Scottish Internationalist. Almost every comment by the Scottish hack pack was negative and Bradley strips away the crap to show the anti Irish racism inherent in many of the reports. Leckie, Traynor and Leggat in particular should hang their heads in shame.
If there was one criticism which could be levelled at the first book it was that it was a difficult read in one sitting. The variety of styles from the different contributors tended to give it a somewhat uneven feel. This “unevenness” is still present this time round. With such a variety of contributors from every walk of Celtic life it’s inevitable that some will suffer in comparison with others. To prevent this I tried to avoid reading too much of this book in one sitting. It benefits greatly from dipping into it and then putting it to one side before returning to it at a later time. This allows each contribution to be judged on its own merits. And this time round almost every essay sparkles.
From the foreword by Neil Lennon through to the closing words from Willie Maley every contributor offers something. The 22 essays are split into four sections entitled, “Value and Meaning”, “Contemplated Fandom”, “Culture And Identity” and “Against False Witness About Us.”
“Contemplating Fandom” contains some excellent essays from fans – Eddie Toner’s being a particular highlight. It also includes a few pages from Herald journalist Karen Giles which mentions Celtic only once and probably wouldn’t have been missed had it been omitted. This section also contains the best contribution in the book – former player George McCluskey writes with such passion and knowledge about Celtic that you feel it’s only a matter of time before he’s doing a regular column for a fanzine or newspaper soon.
“Against False Witness About Us” rebuts the countless negative articles about Celtic and those from a Celtic background. Irene Reid reviews the treatment Neil Lennon has received since he joined Celtic. Her comments on the press coverage make for compelling reading.
One of the areas that the first book seemed to miss was the whole issue of rebel songs and this has been corrected this time round. Brian Warfield provides a strong defence for the singing of rebel songs as part of Celtic culture. Given the chairman’s recent letter to the support it will be interesting to see if the club shop stocks this one. It is also pleasing to see much more weight being given to the faith aspect of our identity.
With Artur Boruc being taken to task for blessing himself (or was it smiling or making gestures that nobody witnessed?), the ongoing attempts at appeasement by the board and the frankly unbelievable scenes of Celtic fans shaking their heads when they hear a Dutch journalist refer to Celtic as a “Catholic club” a strong defence of Celtic culture is sorely needed. This book, along with the original edition, provide just such a defence. The Celtic ethos is hard to pin down but Joe Bradley and his contributors have come as close as I have seen to articulating what it means to be a Celtic fan.
Sometimes you can be condemned for attempting to define what is and what isn’t part of the Celtic Ethos for fear of being exclusive. “Celtic Minded 2” is unashamed in its willingness to clearly state what is involved in being a Celtic fan. Of course we are an inclusive club but what makes us special is that which we are inviting others to be part of – our Irish in Scotland heritage, our political affiliations and our religious beliefs all meld together to provide that special something that sets us apart from your Arsenals or Leeds or any other run of the mill well supported club. There’s a growing band of Celtic fans who seem to be hell bent on divesting the club of its cultural “baggage” as they call it. They appear to want nothing more than a hollowed out football club rather than this wonderful momument to the Irish in Scotland Catholic experience. We are not a special club because we play in green and white hoops – we are special because of where we have come from and who we are. Bradley and his fellow contributors articulate this brilliantly.
If he had managed to include a chapter on the influence of the Internet on the modern day fan this would been a 10 out of 10 read. Mind you maybe that’s just because we spend far too much time on the net. As it is we’ll need to settle for 9/10.
Celtic Underground
Product Details
Editor: Joseph M Bradley Paperback released: 2006
ISBN: 1 902831 93 4
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