Club history

Galashiels Celtic Supporters Club

The actual date when the club was first formed is a bit unclear however, the original founding members (Dan Doogan, Robert Headspeath, Johnny Sweeney, Frank, Matty & Richard Green) have agreed that the season 71/72 was when they started travelling as a group. To get to a game these members had to get a bus to Edinburgh and then a train on to Glasgow, and of course at this time you could stand at a game, the favourite place being the "jungle". In the mid 70's more people had joined the club and a mini-bus was being run to all the "home" games. The club then started getting members from other towns in the Borders, Peebles, Selkirk and Hawick and the club started running a 49 seater to games (when tickets were available) The club purchased an ex council mini-bus at an auction the (yellow submarine) which was used for "away" games and lasted for two years, another mini-bus was bought but turned out to be a pig in poke, and eventually had to be scrapped after malky smashed it a couple of times

The Club's membership has been fairly solid since the mid 80's, current membership stands at 252 as well as members from England, Italy and Ireland we also have as an Honorary member, the Irish folk singer Christy Moore.) and around 30 junior members. One of the founder members, Dan Doogan who, tragically died in 1995, designed and produced the club shield, this design is now also the club logo and is incorporated onto all club merchandise ie. t-shirts, ties, caps etc.
The club has always had a good "travelling" support for "away" legs of European games and Testimonials, with members travelling to such places as; Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Russia, England and of course Ireland. And more recently Seville, porto and Lisbon
The club now has shares in Celtic Football Club and this will hopefully provide for a secure future for the Galashiels club. Meetings are held on the first Friday of the month at 7.30 in the paradise rooms and are usually well attended, to decide club business and plan social events. The club has not just been about following football over the years, there are a number of annual events that bring together members and friends. Our Player of the Year Diner Dance's have always been a particular success with such players coming down as, Roy Baines, Tommy Burns, Peter Grant, Pat Bonner, John Collins and Jackie McNamara. The club has travelled to number of social nights in the city such as; to help celebrate Celtic's centenary year, they sponsored a stage play called "The Celtic Story" by the Wildcat Theatre Company in the Kings Theatre in Glasgow, a night out at the Walfrid restaurant, which included a tour of the stadium, we also had a family day out a Parkhead and if I remember right it was double decker we took that day (this will also hopefully be a future event) we've also had Fancy Dress nights, Race nights and, another favourite is the annual golf tournament, this is always a keenly fought contest! On a number of occasions we have visited other clubs for a night out and run buses to concerts. and the Lisbon lions charity nights have also been well attended and a great night

The club also sponsors the Braw Lads Junior 5 a-side Football Tournament with the teams playing for the Dan Doogan Memorial Cup. We have also sponsored local boxer Malky Gowans, a club member. The club has now set up home in the paradise rooms a haven for all celtic fans to come and enjoy the match or just a drink . covered in celtic memoribilia a must for any visiting celtic fan to the galashiels area it is located above reivers bar in galashiels . the last few social events that the club have had have been a great success and attracted celtic fans from far and wide long may this continue. Charlie and the bhoys and frank macavennie being at our last event. also the 3 number lotto which is drawn every Sunday at 4pm is another great success and should drive the bus prices down even more . and continue to buy more good things for the rooms new memorabilia. Just as I write this 2 new 40” plasma screens have been installed for your viewing pleasure. also a great day was had st pats day live music from s. dodds and joe hardie and brian mullin from omagh. and irish stew provided by greens diner. all making for a great day. last weekend also saw a great sat night with celtic vocalist john murphy appearing in the rooms a good time was had by all.