8/42 - Celtic Park, Glasgow

20th May 2018
Ground Number: 8
Ground: Celtic Park, Glasgow
Home of: Celtic FC
Match: Celtic V Republic of Ireland
Score: 2-2
Attendance: 59000

This would mark the final ground of the season for us. What a way to finish though. We decided to take advantage of cheaper than usual tickets today to tick Celtic Park off the list. The occasion? Scott Brown's testimonial match. Love him or hate him there's no doubt he's been a fantastic service to The Bhoys and today was a great occasion. The invited opposition were a Republic of Ireland XI.

Even on approach to Celtic Park it's an impressive sight. This place is massive. There are fans parking literally miles away as parking is so scare close to the ground. Thankfully we didn't have to worry about that today as we were getting dropped off and picked up. Result! Another thing to note is there were supporters bars everywhere! You won't find it difficult finding someplace to drink. 

This isn't Alloa. There are more than two turnstiles here for a start. Finding where we were meant to be a challenge in itself. We chose to sit in the North Stand but before that there was the small matter of finding the Club Shop as there were pin badges to be bought! I say Club Shop. Let's just say there's not a portakabin / shipping container to be found here. Instead it's a bona fide superstore and it's mobbed with even a queue to get into the place! Eventually we find our pin badges but they were embarrassingly small! Even the Cowdenbeath one is bigger! Poor show Celtic.

Off we go to find our seats then and there are stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. I'm pretty sure I felt my ears pop on the way up! Anyway, having conquered Everest we found our seats and the view was nothing short of magnificent.

Celtic Park is a fully enclosed arena with the Jock Stein and Lisbon Lions stands behind both goals, the North Stand (where we were situated) and the Main Stand which was a single tiered affair which housed the tunnel, changing rooms and other facilities. Celtic know how to put on a show. Today there were singers, fire and the obligatory singalong to "You'll Never Walk Alone." It was all very impressive.

This was typical testimonial stuff. It wasn't the fastest paced of games but it wasn't meant to be. It was played out in good spirits and there were two strong teams on show. There was also the added highlight of several Celtic legends taking part in the game including the great Henrik Larsson.

To everyone's surprise Ireland decided they were going to make a game of this and duly took the lead. Leigh Griffiths got Celtic back into the game shortly after. Half time and it's 1-1.

Sadly today we didn't sample any food as we just weren't hungry. Instead we stayed in our seats and took in the breathtaking views from our seats.

Into the second half then and, as mentioned, Ireland weren't just going to roll over. They regained the lead and to be fair the home fans game them warm applause. Celtic did equalise late on, Scott Brown got his standing ovation, everyone got to see Larsson again and at full time the treble winners got to parade their trophies. Time for us to make an exit.

Celtic Park is an undoubtedly impressive stadium. Probably the best in Scotland. However, I still admire those 233 folks at Central Park, Cowdenbeath, as much as I admire the 59,000 people here today. We all love the same game and yes the facilities are more impressive here but the love of the game brings us all together every Saturday. (Or Sunday, Monday or whenever games are played these days).

That's it for this season. I wonder what next season will bring.