The Twelfth Day and Celtic Park of Colin Agnew.

Willie Drennan

Ballymena man Colin Agnew is a staunch supporter of Glasgow Celtic FC and has been since he was 7 years old. The strange thing about that is that Colin is a church-going Protestant who also supports Northern Ireland and Ballymena United. He is a one-off. Colin explained to me that when he was 7  Celtic won the European Cup by beating Inter-Milan in the final. His family didn’t have a TV set but he was able to watch the match on a neighbour’s black and white screen.

Colin was smitten by the glory of the occasion and he was mesmerised by the green and white hoops, well at least by the black and white hooped shirts on the TV screen. But it didn’t matter to Colin that there was an Irish Catholic and Irish Nationalist aspect to the identity of the Glasgow club: from an early age Colin was simply into people and friends first ( and of course football) over political and religious difference.  I’ve known Colin for many years and can vouch for his sincerity on this.

 When I asked Colin about how he dealt with the sectarian singing and chanting, that both Celtic and Rangers are renowned for: he told me the magic would disappear without it. He felt it was something not to be taken too seriously, or too literally, outside of the football ground: and believed that that was the case for most Rangers and Celtic fans.

He explained that he attended his first Celtic match when he was sixteen. He was able to get a ticket through his close Glaswegian friend: Celtic fan Tony Collins; an ex-British soldier boxing champion, turned evangelical gospel folk singer who lived in Ballymena for a few years. Tony managed to get two tickets for the Scottish Cup Final at Hampdem Park against the Rangers through his contacts in Glasgow. The only slight problem was that the tickets were for the Rangers end and they didn’t realise this until they were in the ground. Colin said it was a matter of shoving their Celtic scarves up their jumpers, singing along to the Billy Boys and The Sash, not cheering when Celtic scored and standing up to cheer when Rangers scored. Rangers won the game 3-2.

That didn’t put Colin off: at 16 it was too late to become a Rangers fan. Colin was enthralled by the atmosphere at the game: at the passionate singing of both sets of fans and is convinced that these ‘Old Firm’ games are the best in the world. Colin later lived and worked in Scotland for a few years, allowing him to regularly attend Celtic games and so solidified his love and connection. 

Colin has two sons who both follow if their dads footsteps by following Celtic , as well as Northern Ireland and Ballymena United. He recently took his youngest son Benjamin to see Celtic for the first and marked the event by writing and recording on CD, a song called ‘Benji Goes to Paradise’.  It is actually sung by his old Glaswegian folk singing fiend Tony Collins, that’s right he forgave him for buying the tickets for the Rangers end. As a Rangers fan just can’t quite get into enjoying it, I do fully understand why the quality of the recording, the lyrics and the tune make it is a hit among Celtic fans.

This was not Colin’s first composition and his other songs include a popular song for Northern Ireland fans which has been well promoted by the Sunday Life and received the blessing of the IFA itself.

What is also unusual for this Celtic enthusiast is that he has a great affinity with Ulster-Scots and Ulster Protestant cultural traditions. A few years ago Colin won a writing contest organised by the News Letter based on memories of the Twelfth of July. His printed story entitled ‘Memories of the Glorious Twelfth and Granny’s Conglomeration Sandwiches’ was a great read. It captured the essence of the Twelfth as a distinct cultural pageant and, first and foremost for Colin, as a time for family reunion.

 The family circle would gather at his grandmother’s house on the Twelfth morning in excitement and in anticipation of the big parade. Colin loved the colours of the banners and uniforms, the music of the bands and the Lambegs and fifes and checking out those he knew in the parade. In particular there was great anticipation of the arrival of Slaght LOL 475, to watch it cross Harryville Bridge, as that was the lodge his father was in.

After the parade it was back to his grandmothers for another feed of home-made food, conglomeration sandwiches and wee buns. As the distant sounds of drums serenaded from across the fields on the warm summer’s night (Colin recalls it always being sunny on the 12^th) the family made their own entertainment led by the storytelling and recitation skills of his colourful granny. Very fond memories indeed and Colin Agnew is probably one of the few people on the planet who sees no contradiction, or experiences any obstacles or pain in his enjoyment of both Glasgow Celtic FC and the Twelfth of July.  Too bad for Northern Ireland that he is just a one-off.