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Details
Title: The Dear Old Paradise: The Changing Face of Celtic Park
Author: David Potter
Published: Sep 2010
Homepage: Celtic Park
Synopsis
Exploring the history of the home of Celtic, this title includes details of famous players and managers. It re-lives the stories of the greatest games and tells the tales of the club’s struggles and desperate days. “The Dear Old Paradise” is the first book ever to be written about the world-famous stadium of Celtic Park.
Exploring the history through a variety of photographs, maps, diagrams and advertisements, some previously unpublished, this book gives an idea as to why Celtic fans all over the world call the ground ‘Paradise’. But a history of a ground on its own would be nothing without mentioning all the greats that have passed through it.
There are details of star players and managers and of games played at Celtic Park. It includes accounts of the first Celtic Park (1888- 1892) a few hundred yards from the present ground, the story of Parkhead’s greatest day when the European Cup came home in 1967, the prolonged struggle of the club to be allowed to fly the Irish flag in the 1950s and the desperate days when incompetent stewardship almost destroyed the club altogether in the 1990s.
There are also details of match day at Parkhead in the current era, and a few suggestions as to how the stadium can be made better in the future.
Above all, it tries to explain what the word ‘Celtic’ means to so many people, and why it is so important. “The Dear Old Paradise” is a must-have for all Celtic fans and for lovers of the beautiful game everywhere.
Review
It may not quite be the club’s original base but the ‘new’ Celtic Park has been home to the Bhoys since 1892. There have of course been many revamps and facelifts during the past century or so but in the ever evolving world of football it has, like nothing else, been a near constant presence throughout the history of the Bhoys.
A steadfast icon of Celtic identity, a detailed history of the stadium – and it’s relatively short-lived predecessor – has been long overdue. Thankfully that matter has finally been addressed.
Earlier this year the Celtic fanzine ‘Welcome To Paradise’ produced a fascinating series of articles which, thanks to meticulous research, provided a detailed and insightful account of the development of the ground. Now that good work has been continued with the latest book from respected Celtic historian David Potter – The Dear Old Paradise.
Celtic Park could ask of no finer biographer than the prolific Potter. With an encyclopaedic knowledge of the club’s history, the author has once again added another ‘must read’ to the library of Celtic books.
In The Dear Old Paradise Potter provides a chronological account of Celtic Park – from a huge hole in the earth to a modern 60,000 all-seater arena. The rise and fall and eventual rebirth of the stadium is covered in evocative detail. From the elegant Pavillion to the ambitious but flawed Grant Stand. We see the birth of ‘The Jungle’, the prolonged decline of the ground, the post-Hillsborough uncertainty and the Cambuslang farce. But this is much more than a story of mud and shingle or steel and concrete.
What makes Potter’s books such a consistent joy to read is his ability to seamlessly weave Celtic specific tales into a wider social and historical context. He creates a sense of time and place so crucial to the tale he is telling. Such a skill is vital in the story of Celtic Park and Potter, cutting through myths and romantic revisionism, expertly sets the scene as the fledgling but ambitious club set out to make their mark.
Set against the harsh industrial backdrop of 19th century Glasgow, the history of the place we call ‘Paradise’ proves to be as fascinating as any other aspect of Celtic history. It’s a tale of backbreaking hard-work, poverty, politics, greed, pride, violence and ambition.
We’re given a fascinating insight into characters who played a fleeting but key role in the ground’s history, such as prominent Irish nationalist Michael Davitt who laid the first sod at the ‘new’ ground. Potter also tells how the early years of the 20th century saw Celtic, Rangers and Queen’s Park embark on Scottish football’s equivalent of the space race as each club competed furiously to possess the finest ground in Scotland and host the highly lucrative England international tie.
Preconceptions about restrained Edwardian gentleman sportingly cheering on their team are smashed as the author squeezes the reader among the boisterous crowd on packed and exposed mud banked terraces. We’ve hardly entered the 20th century and there’s booze fuelled rowdiness, missiles thrown and players attacked.
While the memorable games and players who have graced the park are all recalled so too are many lesser known matches and incidents. These include a very early experiment with floodlights – lanterns hung on wires above the pitch – and the time Tom Maley narrowly escaped death when he became impaled on a railing after he and brother Willie crashed a tandem on the Celtic Park cycle track!
The Dear Old Paradise is another enthralling and informative read from a fine historian and captivating author. It is a very fitting tribute to the place we call home.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: DB Publishing (Sep 2010)
- ISBN-10: 1859837913
- ISBN-13: 978-1859837917
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 2 cm