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[Ulidia]

Original, large single sheet soccer program for Belfast Celtic's first game on their tour of USA + Canada in 1949. This was for a game played in New York against a local select side:



This was the first ever tour to the USA by an Irish soccer side. This game caused significantly controversy back home in Belfast as the Belfast Celtic side paraded the Irish tricolour at the ground before the match.

More significantly, the tour marked the last hurrah of the great Belfast Celtic side as, despite being the most successful side in Irish soccer history, they withdrew from domestic football that summer following political crowd trouble at a game earlier in the season. Most expected their withdrawal would only be for a year or two but they never came back.


My favourite match worn shirt:



This is an Irish international soccer shirt from the 1920s, supplied to the team by the Athletic Stores in Belfast, a leading sports supplier of the era that still exists today. It is a heavy, woolen shirt. Until 1931, the Irish soccer side played in St Patrick's Blue rather than green.

[Copa7]

Originally Posted by Ulidia

Original, large single sheet soccer program for Belfast Celtic's first game on their tour of USA + Canada in 1949. This was for a game played in New York against a local select side:



This was the first ever tour to the USA by an Irish soccer side. This game caused significantly controversy back home in Belfast as the Belfast Celtic side paraded the Irish tricolour at the ground before the match.

More significantly, the tour marked the last hurrah of the great Belfast Celtic side as, despite being the most successful side in Irish soccer history, they withdrew from domestic football that summer following political crowd trouble at a game earlier in the season. Most expected their withdrawal would only be for a year or two but they never came back.


My favourite match worn shirt:



This is an Irish international soccer shirt from the 1920s, supplied to the team by the Athletic Stores in Belfast, a leading sports supplier of the era that still exists today. It is a heavy, woolen shirt. Until 1931, the Irish soccer side played in St Patrick's Blue rather than green.

That is great stuff. I love the Irish sweater jersey. I saw a book on Belfast Celtic once in London. I thought I would pick it up later, but I didn't know how limited British book printing were. I never found again.

I would love to see more soccer items if you have any.

[Ulidia]

Originally Posted by Copa7

That is great stuff. I love the Irish sweater jersey. I saw a book on Belfast Celtic once in London. I thought I would pick it up later, but I didn't know how limited British book printing were. I never found again.

I would love to see more soccer items if you have any.

Yes, there have been a few books on Belfast Celtic published over the years, some better than others although all have had limited print runs. Not sure, but guessing that the store you saw the Belfast Celtic book at in London was Sports Pages? This was a specialist sports, mainly football (aka soccer), store here in London which unfortunately closed a few years ago.

I'll post more soccer items of interest when I return home to Belfast where my collection is housed (I live / work in London) as soccer is my main interest. I collect the Northern Ireland national team and two Belfast clubs (Belfast Celtic and Crusaders) but these days only really go for pre WWII items, esp photos but they are incredibly hard to find. However, I also collect some continental European items from the 1950s and 1960s across various iconic clubs - Real Madrid, Benfica, AC Milan & Internationale.

[Southpaw]

One book about Belfast Celtic that is easy to obtain is 'Paradise Lost & Found' by Padraig Coyle. It's on Amazon US for a couple of bucks in paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lost-...9424034&sr=8-3

I read it a while ago, it's a good general history of the team, and the circumstances of their demise.

There's an excellent website about the team here:

http://www.belfastceltic.org/index1.html

There's a list of other books about them there too.

[mr2686]

Still my favorite non-baseball SI since it came out the day I was born.

[Ulidia]

Originally Posted by Southpaw

One book about Belfast Celtic that is easy to obtain is 'Paradise Lost & Found' by Padraig Coyle. It's on Amazon US for a couple of bucks in paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lost-...9424034&sr=8-3

I read it a while ago, it's a good general history of the team, and the circumstances of their demise.

There's an excellent website about the team here:

http://www.belfastceltic.org/index1.html

There's a list of other books about them there too.

I wouldn't recommend the Padraig Coyle book at all.

The better histories are by Mark Tuohy (published in 1979 to mark the 30th anniversary of their departure from football and reprinted in 1989 at the 40th anniversary) and one written by John Kennedy, also published in 1989.

Both of these books are simply called "Belfast Celtic" which can cause potential confusion. The Kennedy book is less good on historical matters but is lavishly illustrated with period photographs of the team over itssix decades lifespan and is visually excellent.

[Bosox Blair]

Type I photo of HOFer Hap Day from 1937-38 season:

[Ulidia]

I'm back to my family home in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the Christmas period and thought I'd show some of my football (soccer) items purchased this year.

Original photos of Belfast Celtic from 1937/1938, 1940/1941 and 1946/1947 seasons. These were amongst the most successful seasons in the history of Belfast Celtic. The 1940/1941 photo is particularly poignant for me as in April 1941 (towards end of the 1940/1941 season), the city of Belfast suffered two particularly bad air-raids by German bombers which decimated much of the city.

The photos from 1940/1941 and 1946/1947 may not necessarily be considered "type 1" in a technical sense but they are original creations from the time. All three images were taken and mounted by R. Clements Lyttle, the then official photographic studio of the Northern Irish government.









Also, showing a Northern Ireland (also known as Ireland) shirt worn in the international versus Scotland in the 1936/1937 season and the honourary "cap" awarded to the player. This particular player was Davy "Boy" Martin, a very famous footballer of the era. He was nicknamed "Boy" both due to his small physical stature and the fact he was a drummer boy in his teenage years (he was an orphan) for the Ulster Rifles (British army regiment). His career would ultimately end due to injury sustained in the Second World War.

The sports outfitters (Athletic Stores, Belfast) noted on the collar is still here but, after 100 years, the distinctive building on Belfast's Queen Street will soon be demolished to make way for apartments. All rather sad.













Happy Christmas to everyone from Belfast, Northern Ireland.