The season I started watching Celtic, Aberdeen were champions. The season before that, Aberdeen again, the season before that it was Dundee United. Then in 1986, Celtic won it. Then Rangers, then Celtic again. In 1989 it was Rangers, then Rangers, then Rangers, then Rangers, then Rangers, Rangers again, Rangers, Rangers and Rangers again. Only ever missed a Rovers match once when watching Celtic. I managed to get two tickets for what used to be known as an Old Firm game. First Rovers game 1966, first Rovers away game 1967, Rovers season ticket holder circa 43 years on the trot. Yep, I’m your stereotypical Glory Hunter. You know your stuff, you.

I was at SMC at that period (1969-76) and you were either Rovers or Burnley. The school had the misfortune to have a catchment area including Hyndburn and, at that time, all the lads from Accrington, Rishton etc were Burnley fans. There was a roughly equal mix of Rovers/Burnley with a few Man Utd/Liverpool thrown in.

I am a member of Coventry Emerald Celtic Supporters Club and go to home games with them. Only because they pick up at the Warrington junction of the M6 which is only a dozen miles from where I live. Their pub is the Four Provinces on Allesley Old Road (CV5), they’re a decent set of lads and some of them go to the odd Sky Blues game now and again. A strange coincidence but I had a soft spot for Coventry when I was a young lad. They got promoted to the First Division in 1966-67 (I was at Ewood in March 67 when they beat us 1-0) and struggled to stay up for a few seasons after that. I sort of willed them to stay up and with my aunty’s family coming from Coventry, one of them there sent me up a City shirt. I wore it for football at school in Blackburn and, not unsurprisingly, I was the only lad there wearing one. Whilst Rovers were playing away, I twice went to watch Coventry in the early 1970s, firstly at Maine Road, then at Turf Moor.

When Venky’s purchased the club, you would have thought that the funds would have gone from their solicitors to either BRFC’s solicitors or those of the Walker family. Instead, and after some considerable effort and time, the payment of twenty odd million was traced to a Western Union office in some back street in Bradford. These are the places, often in off-licences and grocers type stores where you can send money abroad. Absolutely nothing fishy about that at all.

That Tottenham v Liverpool game was a joy to watch. Had me thinking back to Boxing Day 1963 when top flight goal scoring went through the roof. Liverpool seemed like they could score at will and, I think if they had kept their concentration levels up, they could well have won by a margin of five or six goals. Throughout his managerial career to date Ange has played the same way. Simply attack and with a high intensity. Fly at the opposition and make substitutions approaching the halfway point in the second half. At Celtic, he approached every game that way, home and away and in a 4-3-3 formation. Didn’t matter who the opposition was although, I appreciate, it didn’t really matter too much in Scotland with only really Rangers providing any challenge of any sorts. At Celtic, he was also key in quickly transforming the squad, identifying key players, including ones from the Japanese market where he had previously worked. It didn’t always work out but in Maeda, Kyogo and Hatate, Celtic still have three first team players who have been a Huge success. Fast forward to Spurs. They have a technical director who is responsible for recruitment for both the first team and their academy. Ange may well have some input but, in essence, the players will be chosen for him, rather than the other way round. True to form, Ange has continued with a 4-3-3 formation, home and away, both Premier League and in Europe. From August this season until the beginning of this month, he has only changed his formation twice, to 4-2-3-1. I think, however, that the penny has finally dropped, in that he has to set up more defensively, especially in the PL where there are some quality teams. The last four games he has played 4-2-3-1 but against Liverpool, you wouldn’t have really noticed. I have no love whatsoever for Spurs but, because of my Celtic connections, I do want him to do well. You never know what’s going to happen when Tottenham play, other than there’s usually a few goals. After a promising start with them last season, certainly a perception from their support that they were playing a better brand of football, they now lie in 11th place and some 16 points behind top spot. I fear he hasn’t too long left and I may just see what the odds are for his sacking over the next few weeks.

Haha, I’ll give 10 out of 10 for persistence 👍

I think you’re barking up the wrong tree with this mate. Hypothetical, I know, but if Liverpool and Man City switched to playing 4-4-2 with two wingers, two up top, with a faster, more direct way of playing and then had success say at Champions League level, they would sell just as much merchandise with this ‘new’ style of play as with the way they both currently play. Success and trophies drives crowds, attendances, tv audiences, subscriptions etc., not a particular style of football. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of folk are like sheep. The football industry is no different and as soon the game morphed into this ‘modern’ way of playing via the Continentals, all the sheep followed suit. It will change at some point, hopefully, but I would guess not for some considerable time.

Oh dear, Walker. You utter embarrassment. Rugby League supporters have a name for footballers..Grass Fairies. Walker’s action there will re-enforce that.

I started going to the Rovers in 1966 with my uncle, my dad having no real interest in football. I can only assume that both my uncle and my parents deemed it too risky for a ten year old to attend a game with such a high crowd, thus I missed out. One of my few regrets following the Rovers over the years, as I would have loved to have been there. Great little write up den, even if it is from a City perspective. The photos look superb. When there are massive crowds, games look so much more atmospheric when they are played in the evening.

Back on Boxing Day 1974, we had no marketing and very few season ticket holders and 21k home fans turned up. Back on Boxing Day 1977, we had no marketing, very few season ticket holders, nothing other than passion for both our town and our football club and thousands upon thousands travelled to Turf Moor. Folk these days, unfortunately, need a rocket up their arse to get down to Ewood. So you’ve got to look at sensible pricing and a marketing strategy instead. They haven’t done it since before Covid but Wigan Rugby, for many seasons, used to target one game each season to bring in a bumper crowd and they called it the ‘Big One.’ Loads of marketing, weeks in advance, by email, Facebook and the other Socials, schools, local companies and handing out some free or reduced price tickets. They also had an arrangement with the Heinz factory in the town and their employees, where they also received subsidised tickets. It was always a success and generally put 4 or 5k on the gate dependent upon who we were playing. That all takes effort, of course, and I don’t think there is anyone capable of such enterprise within the corridors of Ewood at this moment in time. I reckon we’ll end up with a crowd of around 24k, split being 17k home fans and 7k from Sunderland. Should easily be more.

On Boxing Day 1974 v Preston we had 24k on and Preston didn’t bring too many. Must have been at least 21k Rovers fans on. With a bit of imaginative marketing from those at Ewood and given it’s a game between two of the better teams in the league over the Christmas period, a crowd approaching capacity should be aimed for. As stated earlier in the thread, Boxing Day is THE day for top football attendances throughout England.

A post I wrote back in 2007 about John McNamee being the ‘turning point.’ RIP big fella.

I take my grandkids to football training now and again. They are coached to play it out from the back and to retain possession. They are told it’s ok to go backwards and play it back to the keeper. Gone are the days when one player, just one player would take a risk. I watch a few Witton Albion games each season, I think they’re currently 8th tier. They can play the possession based stuff but, thankfully, do mix it up with a long ball when required and also wing play when the winger actually beats a man and crosses the ball, rather than playing it safely backwards to a team mate. Things go round in circles and the old way (of sorts) will return at some point. It will help when Pep finally buggers off back to Spain. Hopefully not too long off.

Some great Tifo from the Green Brigade on Tuesday night, unveiled just before Celtic’s 3-1 win over RB Leipzig. A cracking performance from the team, needless to say.

He’s with the producers of the ‘Who do think you are?’ tv programme and found out Tuchel’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was born in Daventry, so he’s now more than happy with the appointment.

Mine still not sorted on my iPad. However, I’ve downloaded DuckDuckGo as my browser and it works fine on there.

One for Waggott to try and get his head around..

A cracking game of Rugby League last night between two very good teams. HKR have come on over the last few seasons and look real contenders these days. You feel they’re a club going in the right direction, on and off the field. Over all though, Wigan had the edge, a better defence and flair players when you need them. A real arm wrestle though and a great watch in front of 68k. Two lads came up to us, after the game, wanting directions to the tram stop by the cricket ground. Thinking they may be from Hull and needing more specific directions, I asked where they were from. Burnley came the reply. Oh, ****ing hell, said I. I know, one of the lads said, it’s a ****ing sh!t hole. I’m from Darwen, I said, I know that..😂

Have a look on footballkitarchive.com It’ll tell you all you need to know.

Bit of a half hearted penalty appeal by Spurs as Maddison ‘clashed’ with one of Brighton’s defenders. Nothing given. The Brighton lad then lifted Maddison up to his feet with Maddison, in turn, giving a ‘get off me’ gesture to him but without actually touching him. Cue the six foot plus, fourteen stone defender then falling theatrically backwards onto the deck, implying being hit by Maddison. Absolutely laughable, nothing said by either the referee or the tv commentators. It’s as if this soft, baby-like stuff has become the norm. I would get the Brighton ‘bloke’ in front of the cameras, after the match, show him the replay in slow motion and get him to explain just why he did it. Not a chance of that happening, so it will continue unabated. I’ve still got my rugby league ‘hat’ on from last night. Any one of the Wigan or Leigh players would have run through a brick wall for the cause, without flinching. What has made football players behave in such a wet manner?

My Wigan Rugby season ticket is digital and is able to be added to my wallet on my iPhone. Assuming my phone is fully charged in the morning, there is no way my battery is run down, even for evening kick offs. Two grandkids season tickets on my phone as well. This has been implemented this season and will also apply to Latics’ fans watching the football. A few teething problems in the week or so prior to the season starting, whilst the new system got up and running but as smooth as clockwork from then on. It’s the future and the way everything is going. So much easier although I do accept some of the older generation may find things difficult and prefer to do things the ‘old way’ and be given a choice.

When you get to the numbers bit, sing 4 3 1 2 or 4 2 3 1 and when we’ve beaten them, we could say we even sang our formation to your head coach and we still beat you. Just a thought.

Yeah, Nakamura was a cracking player who had around four seasons at Celtic. He arrived in 2005, so a couple of years before John Park was recruited by Celtic. Scored an absolute beauty of a free kick against Man Utd in the Champions League. Not really sure about any specific history John Park may have had with Japanese players although he may have been responsible for bringing Mizuno to Celtic whilst he (JP) was working at Celtic Park.