my first proper football/ Celtic experience

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve been to see football before (my brother currently plays for the town where i grew up) but its always been a small affair.

Tomorrow, however, a friend is taking me to see Celtic. It’s proper! they, like, even have their own shop in the city center!

Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure about it. Anything about it. i know i have to wrap up warm, but that’s about it. when i say i’ve seen football, I’m not sure I’ve ever made a full match

anything i need to know? top tips?

p.s. I’m talking about soccer- football, not American football, but i assume you’ve got that by now

2

My experience is with English football, but I’m pretty sure:

  • there will be a large crowd, both in the ground and outside (before and after the game)
  • there will be a strong police presence
  • there will be crowd chanting, some of which will be bigoted
  • Celtic’s colours are green and white (if you wear them, you will attract attention from both sets of supporters)
  • the crowd will criticise the referee
  • if Celtic are playing Rangers, this is known as an ‘Old Firm’ match and will sadly involve fighting between a minority of the supporters

Hope all goes well!

3

Glee sums it up pretty well, although tomorrow is against Cally Thistle, and so certainly doesn’t have the status of the Old Firm. I took a football newbie to a match just a couple of weeks ago…he spent half the time trying (and failing) to figure out what the chants & songs were about. And he was surprised by what he described as the ‘vitriolic passion’ shown towards the home side :wink: (and I’m sure Celtic will manage to outdo Ipswich on this one by a mile!)

Depending on your seat, you might have a fantastic view, or might be struggling to make out what is happening at the far end, especially in such a large stadium. And I’m sure you’ll fail to understand many of the calls for fouls, offside, etc., so just go with the crowd when they dispute every decision :smiley:

4

Don’t be surprised if a perfect stranger starts talking to you about the deficiences of the opposing team/manager/refereee/pitch/stadium. Just agree with what they say.