DON’T GO BACK TO THE EERIE & EMPTY BAD DAYS
Fans’ boycott 32 years ago hit McGinlay hard
PAT McGINLAY only spent one season at his boyhood heroes Celtic.
The midfielder finished that infamous 1993-94 campaign as top scorer with 12 goals.
Unfortunately for the bornand- bred Hoops fan hardly anyone was there to see it.
Few rememb e r the footballing details from a campaign overshadowed by protests and boycotts in the stands and a besieged board in the firing line.
On the face of it, this sounds similar to the current civil war at Parkhead that sees chairman Peter Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson in the punters’ crosshairs.
But the reality was very different back then.
While the club is very much in the black these days they were drowning in the brown stuff 32 years ago.
Back then, without a title in five years, Celtic teetered on the brink.
‘ Sack the board’ was the weekly message from the punters. Those who turned up.
Incredibly attendances at Parkhead dipped below 10,000 fans at times in that wretched campaign.
It was end-of-days stuff.
“Eerie” is how McGinlay recalls it. It makes the current problems at Parkhead appear of the first-world variety.
Yet McGinlay can certainly sympathise.
Firstly with the supporters – he is one after all. But also with Brendan Rodgers’ players who have to carry the weight of expectation on their shoulders every week with the added burden of unrest in the stands.
McGinlay remembers the toll the off-field drama took on dyed-in-the-wool Celtic men like captain Paul McStay, Pat Bonner, Peter Grant and Charlie Nicholas.
Even though the club are in rude health financially, he reckons the off-field drama will be having a similar taxing effect on modern-day Hoops heroes Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and James Forrest.
Yet, according to the 58-yearold, those players steeped in the club’s history and traditions are the key to riding out the current storm along with manager Rodgers. Last week’s meeting between the Celtic Fans Collective and board members, including chief executive Nicholson, has done little to ease the tensions emanating from the disastrous summer transfer window.
There’s little chance of the brassed-off punters getting their wish for heads to roll, though.
And McGinlay reckons the only way to move towards a peace pact is to turn up the tempo on the park again – and make sure the same mistakes aren’t repeated by those in the boardroom.
Speaking exclusively to MailSport, he said: “They just need to win games, win well and get the European campaign up and running. The Rangers situation is helping Celtic right now because I think it’s taken their situation off the back pages much of the time.
“But if you’re winning games, the rumblings will sort of quiet down a wee bit.
“Yes, I think the board should have spent a bit more money than they did.
“I can appreciate the fans’ anger. They wonder why they aren’t spending money on top players – which was made worse by missing out on the Champions League.
“They could have maybe bought a couple of players to get through that play-off to make even more money.
“It could have been a different situation for them.
“Hopefully the same mistakes won’t be made in
transfer windows going forward.
“The protests do bring back memories of my season there.
“I was talking about this recently at a charity event.
“But in my time it was a lot worse – because there were hardly any fans turning up at one point.
“It felt empty. A big stadium like Parkhead, it was very eerie.
“You did notice it because of the amount of fans who were there.
“When you’re playing in a big stadium like that but it’s pretty empty, then you actually hear more shouts.
“If the stadium’s full it’s just like a rabble. But back then you could hear the actual insults saying that you’re s**te!
“We were a close-knit group, which was really important. When players are in that situation you need to band together.
“The board get the stick but when you’re not taking chances and winning games, it can quickly change on to the players.
“So it is difficult. I don’t know if it affects the foreign boys as much but it certainly hits hard for the home-grown boys.
“In this team now you’re talking about the likes of McGregor, Tierney and Forrest.
“Going back to my time you had McStay, Grant, Nicholas, big Packie Bonner and Frank McAvennie.
“Guys who had Celtic running through their veins.
“They had a big say in what was going on. They had obviously been at the club for such a long time.
“Paul wasn’t very outspoken. He was more of a team leader on the pitch. A captain who led by example.
“Off the field he had to maybe get a bit of information for the others to understand what was going on.
“These boys who were steeped in the Celtic tradition – Paul, Charlie, Peter and Packy – were the ones who felt it more than me.
“But it was a tricky time for everyone. The bosses tried to keep it away from the players so it didn’t affect the dressing room as much.
“But there was no avoiding the situation. It was pretty grim at times.”
Fergus McCann rode to
When the stadium is full it’s a rabble .. but it was empty, eerie, you could hear the insults
PAT MCGINLAY RECALLS
DARK DAYS OF 1993
Celtic’s rescue. The board was removed.
As Br i a n
Dempsey famously stated, “the rebels have won”.
And Ce l t i c would go on and lift the Scottish Cup a year later before finally ending their nine-year wait for a league triumph in 1998.
But while the disharmony is back in the stands more than three decades later, the current footballing landscape is very different – with the Hoops targeting a 14th title in the last 15 years.
And McGinlay said: “I fancy them to go on and win the league again this season.
“Rodgers is top drawer, isn’t he? I don’t think you get much better than Brendan.
“They’ve got the players too. I just think the new boys are still trying to settle in.
“Benjamin Nygren looks a player but remember Jota is out, Tierney is still trying to find match fitness, Alistair Johnson is close to returning and when they all get up to speed with the new boys it’ll be a different story.
“If they start winning games again and invest in the January window then Celtic can move forward from this.”