|

Johnny Doyle of the Celtic

Daniel McDonagh

Thursday, October 19th, 2006

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 In the sky over Parkhead
Shines bright, a heavenly star,
Whose soul still graces the grassy turf
Of dear old Celtic Park.
His heart, he gave to Celtic,
The fans, oh they would sing
So, here’s to Johnny Doyle,
The Rebel on the wing.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 As a Celtic man and player,
He was faithful through & through,
And Johnny would savor his moments,
Against the red, white & blue,
Up the wing, he would run past
The tough, tackling Rangers defenders
And to the byline, he would cross the ball,
To McCluskey, Celtic’s centre-forward.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 He played his part in the infamous 4-2 Old Firm game
As his sending off left the Celtic down to10 heroic men,
But Celtic’s spirit brought them back from a 2-1 defeat
As victory that night, won the Celtic the League.
He will be remembered forever for the goal
That he scored against Real Madrid,
When he out jumped two Spanish defenders
And headed the ball into the back of the net.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 John’s life as a Celtic man
Was lost to us in the year of ‘81
As Parkhead mourned the passing
Of a faithful Celtic son,
His prize possession was to wear the jersey
Of Celtic’s green & white,
Over Parkhead’s sky, in the black of night,
His star will shine so bright.

Notes

‘Twenty five years ago today, a gallant young Celt died in a tragic accident, whilst rewiring the loft of his home in Kilmarnock. Johnny Doyle arrived at Celtic Park as a 24-year-old, in March 1976 from Ayr United. He hailed from Viewpark, in Uddingston – the very same area of Lanarkshire where Jimmy Johnstone first pulled on a pair of football boots. He wasn’t the greatest player of his generation, but you’d need to search far and wide to find a more committed one. Nor was he adverse to the odd run-in with officialdom, and he wasn’t unfamiliar with the odd red card or early bath.

His most memorable sending-off came in the momentous 4-2 title-winning game against Rangers on May 21, 1979 when the famous chant of “10 men won the league” was born. Another more sombre Doyle-related chant eminated after the league win of 1981/82, when The Faithful remembered their departed hero, with the sombre but celebratory chant of “We won the league for Doyle”. Johnny was tragically electrocuted at his home on October 19, 1981. He died a Hoop.’

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/johnny-doyle-of-the-celtic/