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Title: Champions – The Glory Bhoys
Release Date:1998
Review By: Kevtic Aug 25th 2010
Considering how important this season was the pre-season preparations didn’t go well. Celtic had gone through what felt like the annual pre-season manager change as relative unknown Wim Jansen replaced Dr Venglos in the dugout. Murdo McLeod came in as his assistant and, as if anyone could forget, Jock Brown was appointed as general manager and although it ended in failure it was a bold innovative move from the club but in this case they chose the wrong person for the job. On the park there was a procession of new players arriving with Darren Jackson, Craig Burley, Jonathan Gould, Stephane Mahe, Regi Blinker, Marc Reiper and some Swedish dude called Henrik Larsson all joining the hoops.
Two games into the season and we were bottom of the league after defeats to Hibs, including Henrik’s first contribution, a perfectly weighted pass to Chic Charnley to hit the winner, and a home defeat to Dunfermline. As the video jumps back to Celtic Park and the preparation for the St Johnstone game I had to laugh at the security briefing as the stewards are told that no matter what happens they don’t want any fan encroachment.
The victories start to arrive after a win in Perth and a montage of goals from Larsson, Simon Donnelly and Burley among others shows the team has picked itself up and starts to head up to the top of the after a 7 game unbeaten run and reach the top of the pile in early November.
The league campaign is interrupted with a UEFA Cup tie against Liverpool, one we weren’t expected to win and indeed probably there was a worry a heavy defeat could damage the hard won confidence but the extended highlights show how close Celtic came to pulling off a famous victory. Despite going behind to an Owen goal Celtic took the lead with a fantastic goal from McNamara and then Donnelly converting a penalty after Larsson was brought down by a youthful David James. As the game entered the closing stages it looked like we were going to Anfield with a 2-1 win until that McManaman run from the halfway line, that still has me shouting 'bring him down' at the TV, saw the game end 2-2. We can count ourselves unlucky in the return at Anfield, Donnelly missed an open goal and a Wieghorst shot was blocked on the line with claims for a penalty waved away. In the end neither team could find the net but Celtic had taken a lot of credit and confidence from the tie.
Off the park there was worrying news as Darren Jackson developed serious neurological problems but incredibly he was back in 9 weeks. There’s a great clip of him scoring at Aberdeen on his return and the sheer joy is there for all to see. In November Paul Lambert joined from Borussia Dortmund to strengthen the challenge.
Two huns games in quick succession saw a defeat at Ibrox followed by a Stubbs last minute equaliser at Celtic Park in a game that was originally cancelled after a car accident in Paris. This goal is often regarded as the turning point of the season for many. As the action swings back to Celtic Park who can forget Henke’s dart inside and beautiful curling right foot shot past the outstretched hand of Alan Main that sent us on our way. The shots of the crowd capture the feeling of tension felt by everyone of the 50,000 crowd. The new Celtic Park was still to be completed and the Jock Stein stand was still in the construction stage.
From there we are taken back to what was then called the Coca Cola cup, the league cup to you and me, and the cup final at Ibrox in November. A 3-0 win over Dundee Utd brought us our first silverware since the Scottish Cup win in 95.
As we return to CP the tension has gone up a few notches and there’s mass cardiac arrest as George O’Boyle misses a great chance to equalise on the stroke of half time. How he missed I’ll never know but I’m so glad he did. It’s back to the season review and the all important New Year derby. Harald Brattbakk, a Xmas capture from Rosenborg was in the line up and had a couple of chances to make himself an instant hero but not for the first time Andy Goram kept Celtic out but he could do nothing about Burley’s strike and he never saw Lambert’s until it was bouncing back out past him. An absolutely crucial win as at that stage we were 4 pts behind.
Further important wins came at Fir Park and Tannadice before a controversial draw at Tynecastle when Quitongo scored about 15 mins into injury time to equalise in a game Celtic should have won by 4 or 5 nil. The enigma that was Harald Brattbakk took centre stage scoring all 4 goals in a home defeat of Kilmarnock. He should really have had 7 or 8 though.
As Celtic once again reached the top of the table the self destruct button was pressed when it was revealed that Jansen had a one year break in his contract and the uncertainty that news can bring to a team. Fortunately it wasn’t to derail the title challenge but it was typical of how Celtic operated.
Defeat at Ibrox let the huns back into the race but it then became the title no one wanted to win. A 0-0 draw with Hibs at Celtic Park could have undone all the good work but the huns bottle crashed as defeats to Aberdeen and then at home to Kilmarnock on the Saturday gave Celtic a chance wrap up the title at East End Park Dunfermline on the Sunday. I was one of 9,000 who attended a beamback at Celtic Park fully expecting the team to return by helicopter with the league trophy finally secured but it wasn’t to be as a looping Faulconbridge header cancelled out Donnelly’s opener and it was down the final game.
I, like many others wasn’t worth a feck in the week leading up to that game. Every waking moment and probably a few sleeping ones were filled with thoughts of the game. The thought of the huns winning 10 in a row was almost too much to bear. The proud record we’d cherished for so long was on the verge of being taken away. It couldn’t be allowed to happen.
The camera’s return to Celtic Park for the final time and the most important substitution of the season takes place as Brattbakk replaces Donnelly in the 60th minute. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Tom Boyd picks up the ball deep in the Celtic half and moves forward looking for a runner, he gets one in the shape of McNamara and Boyd’s pass releases him in behind the defender. At the bottom of the screen you can see Brattbakk sprinting into the box and his date with destiny. McNamara’s slides an inch perfect cross and Harald doesn’t even need to break stride as he strokes it home and the title is ours. Cue bedlam.
I remember at the time the release of tension was incredible as a surge of pent up emotion was finally released as we knew the flag was coming home. It was then party time as a support and a club finally ended so many years of agony. The final whistle saw the team gather for a huddle in the centre circle to the soundtrack of the fans singing one of the best You’ll Never Walk Alone’s ever and even the team joins in at the end. It’s a shame there’s no footage of the fans mass huddle in the centre circle. A nerve wracking season that thankfully ended the right way. It was ‘cheerio to ten in a row ‘and 'Smell the Glove'. The parties went on long into the night and the walk into the town centre was a joyous occasion. There were many heroes that season but there were 3 players who stood out for me and that was Donnelly, Burley and Larsson. Their contribution was immense. It’s maybe not the kind of season I’d like to go through very often and watching it all over again still had me biting my nails but we got the right result and our proud record was intact.
Product Details
Production year 1998
Running Time 60 mins
Release date 15/06/1998
Catalogue No. CW061
Studio – Freemantle Home Entertainment