I remember this day like it was yesterday. The booing of Fergus McCann by the Celtic fans on Flag Day in 1998 was one that I remember to this day but never really fully understood.
Sure I knew about his dispute with players like Pierre van Hooijdonk and Paulo di Canio and how he never offered them improved deals at the club.
I even remember Fergus McCann following through on his vision for Celtic Park but never really understood the booing on that day.
Of course, I knew why, but couldn’t get my head around why it was done.
And this has been brilliantly explained by the ever-excellent Jim Orr on A Celtic State of Mind. Orr blamed the absence of social media as one reason for it but absolutely nailed
Media lies contributed to the booing of Fergus McCann
Orr said (A Celtic State of Mind), “So what happened back then the fact that you didn’t have the internet back in 1998. You didn’t have social media back in 1998.
“So the fans get the information from the newspapers and get information from the radio and information from TV.
“And there’s a perception that maybe they were a wee bit biased against Celtic. The fact that the Daily Record had pictures of Fergus McCann and Saddam Hussein beside each other.
“So they controlled the narrative back in the day. And we talked about Terry Cassidy and when he spoke to the fans at a Save Our Celts meeting, and people would say, ‘Well, this has happened and that has happened.’
“And Terry Cassidy would say, ‘Who told you that?’ and he would be told the Daily Record and he would say, ‘Do you believe the Record?’
“So I think fans are far more informed these days.”
Fergus McCann is a modern-day Celtic hero. Without a shadow of a doubt, there should be a statue outside The Celtic Way proudly standing beside Brother Walfrid for what the Canadian did for the club.
As for the booing, those fans who took part in that will know that what they did was wrong. They will know the media were at fault for printing falsehoods about our club at that time and that is the reason why outlets like the Daily Record are floundering to this day.
Karma is, as they say, a bitch.
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