The visit of Glasgow Celtic

Glamour Scottish football club Glasgow Celtic was in Brisbane this past Sunday. They played Brisbane Roar as part of their pre-season preparations, & a few of us went to the match. It ended with an easy 3-0 win for the Scottish giants.

After church finished late morning, me & my brother BT joined a few others (including Ivan C, Nigel & Terence) for lunch at South Bank before heading to the stadium. I ordered fish & chips, which proved to be very ordinary - one of the worst I've ever tasted. Anyway, we then took a train to Roma Street station. The place was packed, & we saw plenty of Celtic colours around (green & white hoops). We then walked along Caxton Street in Paddington, & the pubs there were filled with more & more football fans in green & white. We could hear lots of British & Irish accents around us. No surprises there, for Glasgow Celtic has plenty of support among the Scottish & the Irish.

From Caxton Street, we soon arrived at Suncorp Stadium & found our seats for the pre-season friendly match. We had to divide ourselves into 2 separate groups, seating in 2 separate locations. The winner of the pre-season friendly takes this year's TransLink Cup as part of the Queensland Roars Against Racism Campaign. There was some pre-kick off entertainment with bagpipes & didgeridoo, which gave the event a multi-cultural flavour. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh's appearance just before the kick-off drew loud boos from the crowd. I joined in the booing!! (& to think that I actually voted for her in the state election earlier this year!)

The stadium was more than half full, & the vast majority of the fans were Celtic supporters! Imagine Roar being hugely outnumbered for support in their own stadium! A lot of Celtic supporters flew from overseas, from the UK, Ireland, & other places like NZ, the US & Canada. More British & Irish accents could be heard.

Once the match started, Brisbane Roar took control for the first 10 minutes or so. Thereafter, Glasgow Celtic got themselves into the match & scored 2 goals just minutes before half-time through their New Zealand striker Chris Killen. The second goal, in particular, was a result of good team work between 3-4 players. It highlighted the gulf between the clubs. Glasgow Celtic were really cruising, & scored the third goal through their Japanese midfielder Koki Mizuno, who had just came on as a substitute. It was all to easy for Celtic, & it summed up Roar's ineptitude.

Aside from the result, & aside from having some beer spilled on my pants & feet during the Mexican wave, it was certainly a good day out.