Glasgow diary 2014: Introduction.

Last weekend, myself and Anto Gallagher continued our tradition of taking in one random game abroad a year by visiting Glasgow to see Celtic face Inverness in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Our early flight meant a 4a.m. start, but this put us in Glasgow city centre at eight, giving us ample time to decide what we should do with our solitary full day in Scotland’s largest city.

The answer was simple – visit two other relatively nearby stadiums: Ibrox, the home of Rangers, and Firhill, the home of Partick Thistle. Hampden Park was ruled out mainly because of time constraints and only partially because I find Scotland’s new away jersey aesthetically offensive.

Me chilling out in our Euro Hostel room.

We had originally earmarked this year for a trip to Borussia Dortmund and the Westfalenstadion, otherwise known as the Signal Iduna Park, but the announcement by New York electro-dance band Black Onassis of a Glasgow show on their UK tour was enough to convince us to alter our arrangement. For those of you who don’t know, Black Onassis is the brain-child of the self-exiled Kasabian founder, Chris Karloff – the band’s début album, to borrow the words of the LEGEN-wait for it...DARY! Barney Stinson, is “all rise.”

Anto and his maroon themed ensemble sitting on a park bench.

Returning to Parkhead also held personal significance for me as it has been 14 years since my father, Christopher Reilly snr., brought me for the first (and, up until Saturday March 1^st 2014, only) time. He committed suicide in January 2003 – four and a half months before Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final in Seville. 

That run contained some incredible games and results (the 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield occurred on my birthday), but I would trade them all to have had him with me at Parkhead to witness Leigh Griffiths score his first hat-trick since signing for the club in January.

But I wouldn’t have wanted him to come to Ibrox. He probably would have tried to burn it down or something.