Legends and Supporters | Celts Around the World |
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Meet Russia's biggest Hoops fan and founder of Celtic Shatura
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By: Mark Henderson on 13 Jun, 2018 11:01
“I started to follow Celtic when I was a young boy. Year by year, Celtic became a bigger part of my life. All my life, I was interested in Scottish and Irish history and history in general. Over the years, Celtic became an obsession. “Three years ago, I decided to start Celtic Shatura in my hometown as I wanted to bring Brother Walfrid’s dream and the Celtic philosophy here, as that is part of the make-up of every Celtic fan. “My town is rural, with a population of around 30,000, but I founded Celtic to help the local community in our hometown and carry out charity work. For example, the players at our club try to help local children at a rehabilitation centre in our hometown. Every New Year’s Eve, over the last three years, we have gone to this children’s centre and brought them presents.” Three years on since their formation, Celtic Shatura have already reached the heady heights of the third tier of Russian football, and the club has also expanded, operating teams at various age-groups. Along with running the club, Denis, who works at the local power station, manages the team. He is a busy man. “I founded this club and I am also the manager and coach,” he said. “I have friends who help me but I am the manager and the owner of the club. We were an amateur football team who played at a regional level. In the first year we finished third and in the second season we were champions and last year, 2017, we started playing in the third division of the Russian championship. It was a huge step for us, going from an amateur football team up to such a high level, but we have some really good players.” Seeing a name like 'McGoalach' on the back of a strip in the Russian third tier would come as a surprise to most football fans. The name holds a far greater meaning to McGoalach than just sounding Scottish, though. ““It was around 10 years ago,” he said. “Some of my family were surprised, but my mother said ‘It’s your life, you have to do what you want! It’s like a mirror into my world as Goalach is a Scottish word for loving. When I took this surname, I thought it was fitting as the love and care of our children is one of the biggest characteristics in our family. “For example my Great Granny had eight children and she brought them up herself without my Great Grandfather as he was fighting in the Second World War. So this is a strong tradition in my family, caring and looking after children.”
From Celticfc.net (Oct 2012)
Russian Celts meet their heroes
By: Mark Henderson in Moscow on 02 Oct, 2012 09:27 IF you go to Siberia, you will see us there…The global reach of Celtic´s fanbase never ceases to amaze. No matter the remoteness of the location, it´s almost certain there will be a presence of Hoops supporters.
And this was reinforced once again in Moscowon Mondaynight as two Russian Celtic fans, Vitaly Kovalchuk and Irina Tolstosheeva, stood outside in the cold waiting to catch a glimpse of their heroes as they boarded the bus after training.
Vitaly, who hails from Moscow, and Irina, originally of Siberia, were rewarded for their dedication by getting snapped with several Celtic players including Paddy McCourt, Georgios Samaras and Scott Brown.
And hearing the couple were still seeking tickets in the away section for tomorrow´s UEFA Champions League tie against Spartak Moscow,the club quickly moved to ensure they would be joining the rest of the Hoops faithful in the Luzniki Stadium to take in the action.
Speaking to the official Celtic website, Vitaly explained how their love affair with the Bhoys began.
"I have been supporting Celtic for around 10 years now," he said. "My team, Torpedo Moscow, has the same colours – green, black and white. I also have an interest in Ireland and Irish culture so there are those connections, too.
"This will be the third time I have seen Celtic. The first time I saw them was against Spartak in 2007 and then I saw them against Dinamo in 2009."
Scott Brown is Vitaly´s favourite current player, while Irina is a big fan of Georgios Samaras, and both were genuinely thrilled to meet their Hoops heroes last night.
And Vitaly reckons Celtic are capable of causing the Russian runners-up problems – aslong as the Scottishchampionsavoid conceding an early goal.
"Spartak are not a brilliant team just now so Celtic have a chance," he added. "Spartak don´t like playing a harsh, physical game, so if Celtic don´t lose a goal in the first 30 minutes I think they will have chances in the match."