How the most distant Celtic Supporters Club was founded!

Even in the winterless north of New Zealand it gets a bit cool at 4am on a May morning so the green and white scarf draped around Stevie Deacon’s neck was for once providing more than just decoration. In the course of his job Stevie often made the trip from Whangarei to Auckland but never at this early hour. However this was more important than a normal business trip. As he headed out of the door into the dark Northland morning he grabbed one other important piece of clothing – a sombrero. A few minutes later he was picking up Dave Hepburn. Another brief stop at the local hospital to pick up the last 2 passengers who were coming straight off a night shift and then hitting the road south for the 2 hour or so journey to Auckland.

At the same time some 160 kilometres south of Auckland Scott Young was setting out northwards for the City of Sails. Scott was certainly not a morning person and would not normally be venturing into the chill Waikato air at such an early hour. However this was no normal day and he had to make sure he got to the West Auckland suburb of Oratia in plenty of time.

By 6am when Stevie Deacon’s car was in the northern suburbs of Auckland Mick Maher was just getting out of bed. He had not had much sleep that night. The previous evening had been busy getting the Oratia Utd clubrooms ready. Kevin Everett and Karen had actually done most of the organising and the venue was looking fine but there was always the concern that things might not go smoothly. Mick’s two sons, Stephen and Sean, were not good risers on usual school mornings but on this occasion they were up and dressed and ready to go by 6.15am. Their school uniforms on this morning were topped up by a sombrero.

Just after 6.30am all three cars were arriving at Parrs Park in Oratia. The park itself was still dark but at the end of the little road leading into it the Oratia Utd Clubrooms were lit up. Inside was another world contrasting with the dark West Auckland morning outside. Around 200 people watching a gigantic screen with pictures of a sunny Andalucía evening. Then the moment everyone had been waiting for – with the Fields of Athenry in the background Paul Lambert led Celtic out for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.

It may seem strange to start the story of a club that has been in existence for more than 25 years with an event that happened a couple of decades after its founding but that game in Seville and the efforts made to bring it to the fans showed how far the New Zealand Celtic Supporters Club had come.

In 1983 such an occasion would have been unimaginable. Live football was almost unknown in New Zealand and video recorders were in their infancy. It was a video however that provided the spark to get the idea of a Celtic Supporters Club off the ground. Mick Reilly’s wife Marie had just recently returned from a visit to Scotland and had brought with her “The Celtic Story” video. One Sunday afternoon Mick invited a few Scottish and Irish friends around to watch the Video over a few beers. An enjoyable afternoon made many of those present think how good it would be if watching a Celtic game could be done in Auckland.

next >>