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The
Bhoys of Croydon Celtic Supporters Club was started in the dark and dismal days
of February 2000 when John Barnes reigned supreme? and Inverness Caledonian
Thistle were marching onwards in the Scottish Cup. The less said about
those days the better...
The
club was started as a number of us used to meet regularly in the Alma Tavern in
Addiscombe to watch The Hoops and we thought it would be a good idea to form a
club. The exact reason for forming a club varied according to who you
spoke to. Some wanted to promote Celtic in the area, others wanted to be
officially associated with Celtic in some way, while others wanted to use it as
a platform for travelling to matches. Everybody wanted to watch the game
with other Celts and in the best Celtic tradition, have a bit of a laugh and a
drink or two at the same time.
After
some months the attendances at games grew and the management of the pub
changed. The new management and some of the Alma regulars were not as
taken with our repertoire of songs and we felt it was time to move on. A
meeting was held and we felt that we needed to move to somewhere bigger and
probably with an Irish landlord who would be more appreciative of our vocal
renditions. So the Broad Green Tavern in West Croydon was chosen and we
were enthusiastically welcomed by the management there.
Since
moving to the Broad Green Tavern, the club has gone from strength to strength in
terms of the number of people who regularly come along to watch the games. From an original twelve members there are now more than fifty.
A brief move to the Tir Na nOg Bar in Thornton Heath from 2003-2004 where the Club had
its own clubroom allowed the club to grow even further. The Club was then
given the opportunity to return to the Broad Green and in a position of strength
we now have our own room in the pub and are televising more games than ever.
The
2009/10 season saw the Club reach it's 10th Anniversary and we
held a function to celebrate this milestone on in February 2010 with
special guests Frank McAvennie and George McCluskey.
The
aim of the Club is to enjoy games and support Celtic together as well as travel
regularly to matches at Parkhead and indeed further afield. We are always
open to new ideas and input, and even more so to new people who want to take an
active part in the running of the Club.
Hail
Hail
Bhoys
of Croydon
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