{"id":10118,"date":"2026-04-15T09:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/04\/15\/a-superb-history-of-glasgows-iconic-and-turbulent-bhoys-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:31:12","slug":"a-superb-history-of-glasgows-iconic-and-turbulent-bhoys-reviews-culture-socialist-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/04\/15\/a-superb-history-of-glasgows-iconic-and-turbulent-bhoys-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"A superb history of Glasgow\u2019s iconic and turbulent Bhoys Reviews & Culture – Socialist Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A\n

A supporter\u2019s book written from the heart<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jungle Days: Supporting Celtic in the 1980s by John Wight does what it says in its title. The book chronicles his support of the Bhoys in the one of the most turbulent decades of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Yet the tome delivers far more, giving a superb history of Celtic football club.<\/p>\n

Jungle Days evokes the mood of the time from the viewpoint of a fan on a supporters\u2019 bus travelling to the games from outside Glasgow.<\/p>\n

The drink and the characters flow from the book\u2019s pages. And the 1980s music of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and U2 provide the soundtrack to the journeys to Paradise\u2014Celtic Park.<\/p>\n

Wight is able to capture the supporters\u2019 collective memories of great Celtic days. One such day of celebration was 3 May 1986, when Celtic won the league at St Mirren Park in the final eight minutes of the season.<\/p>\n

When reading Wight\u2019s account, we are back on the open terraces. The pandemonium and pitch invasion in Paisley are all there in these pages.<\/p>\n

Wight blends memories of a supporter with an insightful historical analysis of why Celtic is so important to the Irish of Scotland. His accessible history of the club and its origins is superb because it accurately describes the discrimination faced by Irish immigrants in Scotland. <\/p>\n

In response to racism, the Irish established their own parallel social structures. This included setting up Catholic education institutes and charities as well as sports teams like Celtic.<\/p>\n

While Wight demonstrates his passion for the team, he nevertheless pulls no punches in his account of the historical tensions within the club.<\/p>\n

He observes that by the 1980s the charitable intent of its Catholic founder Brother Walfrid was replaced by business self-interest. Financial considerations became the paramount concern of the board. In a decade of Thatcherism, the board viewed the supporters as \u201ccustomers rather than custodian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wight makes parallels between the 1980s and contemporary dynamics between the ultras of the Green Brigade supporters and the current board. He says the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.<\/p>\n

This is a supporter\u2019s book written from the heart but also with a clear mind of a fan who understands that \u201cIf you know your history\u201d is not a cliche but a mantra to be lived by Celtic supporters.<\/p>\n

David McKinstry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n