New York CSC President Jim McGinn takes a look back at the formation of his club.
The year was 1995 the month was May and a few tims in the metropolitan area heard that a small pub on the east side was going to show the Scottish cup final involving Celtic and Airdrie. The pub was Paddy Reilly's, a small neighborhood establishment with good Irish roots.About a dozen timalloys showed up for the telecast which Celtic won 1-0 courtesy of a Pierre Van Hoydonk headed goal.At the final whistle we celebrated wildly as Celtic had lifted their first trophy in yonks.It was also noted a couple of grown men had a tear or two in their eyes such was the built up emotions. During the post match celebrations a question was raised "Now that satellite tv is coming into the technology forefront why dont we form a club of our own, the NYCSC? There was Jim Breagy(who subsequently moved to Chicago), Pete Devlin, John Butterfield and yours truly.We saw no earthly reason why we could not give it a go and the staff at Paddy Reilly's had no objection to us using there premise.
John Butterfield was established as the club's first President and I took on the role as Director of Communications to get the word out that a CSC has been formed in the Big Apple. It was soon realized that Paddy Reilly's was indeed too small and our first move was to another bar on the east side(e29 & 3rd ave) called Fitzgeralds. By this time the club had over thirty members, At this time Francis McGinn(no relation) came on board as the club's secretary and we soon had a mailing list with over 100 names.
John Butterfield was established as the club's first President and I took on the role as Director of Communications to get the word out that a CSC has been formed in the Big Apple. It was soon realized that Paddy Reilly's was indeed too small and our first move was to another bar on the east side(e29 & 3rd ave) called Fitzgeralds. By this time the club had over thirty members, At this time Francis McGinn(no relation) came on board as the club's secretary and we soon had a mailing list with over 100 names.
After watching only a few games at Fitzgeralds it became apparent that we had to find another venue as the location & logistics of the tall buildings in the area were causing us massive satellite problems. We then moved to bar on the west side called the 'Triple Crown" only a stone throw from Madison Square Garden. While at the Triple Crown we held our first AGM as our membership had swelled to over 60.We launched the club hotline(212-946-5856) at this AGM and paid homage to Peter Gorman who had sadly passed on to Paradise. Peter was a staunch Celtic man and was a great benefactor to the NY CSC as we were going through our formation.
By 1998 we now had over 100 members and even the Triple Crown was unable to hold our increasing numbers from game to game. We now moved into a sports bar type format when we re-located to Boomers on w76 & Amsterdam ave. Francis McGinn was now our president and the club was flourishing. While at Boomers we saw the Bhoys lift their second trophy in the League cup final at Ibrox by beating a good Dundee United team 3-0. We also had Boomers bouncing when we beat St Johnstone 2-0 to prevent 10 in a row to the Dark Side. The celebrations that day will live with me till the day I die.
...In 1999 Eddie Cairney became our third president and our membership was at 120. We had our first annual Dinner dance and our guest of honour was Tommy Burns and his lovely wife Rosemary. In 2000 I was elected President and we held our second annual Dinner dance and our guest was David Hannah and his fiance.Our membership numbers were now dwindling as other clubs were being established. The Manhattan Bhoys CSC, Queens CSC, Yonkers csc & Bronx had all formed clubs.
...In 1999 Eddie Cairney became our third president and our membership was at 120. We had our first annual Dinner dance and our guest of honour was Tommy Burns and his lovely wife Rosemary. In 2000 I was elected President and we held our second annual Dinner dance and our guest was David Hannah and his fiance.Our membership numbers were now dwindling as other clubs were being established. The Manhattan Bhoys CSC, Queens CSC, Yonkers csc & Bronx had all formed clubs.
We were always involved in charitable activities. In the early days we made donations to St Aloysius Boys school in Harlem, we continue to sponsor a child in the Third World and we annually raised money for the fight against breast cancer.We donated $1000 to the Mark Scott Memorial to mark the murder of a young Celtic fan in Bridgeton.John Butterfield,himself, delivered the cheque to Mark's dad during a visit to Glasgow in what John said "Was a very moving moment".
In early 2001 we found ourselves moving once again. Boomers was being sold and the new owners were not really receptive to having a soccer fan club(as they called us) in their establishment. The Parlour(on 86th st & Broadway) was our next home and has been ever since. Now a day etched in all our memory banks is September 11th, 2001. Just a horrible day in history when over 3,000 innocent people lost thei lives due to an ultra evil terrorist attack on NYC. Well the Celtic Supporters Clubs of North America were going to get involved and raised $57,000 for the relief of the 9/11 victims and their families. The Parlour was chosen as the venue to present the cheque to the NY Fire Dept & NY Police dept as dignitaries from both departments were on hand to accept the cheque.There were not many dry eyes during this presentation, let me tell you. Representatives from all the CSC'c in the metropolitan area were on hand for this very moving ceremony.So, to conclude, we have remained at the Parlour and formed a good relationship with the bar owner & staff. Through the years membership numbers have dropped from 125 at one point to the current 32 members. We will do all in our power to keep the NY CSC's flag flying. Our notable visitors include
Rod Stewart
Billy Connolly
Tony Roper
James Martin(Still Game)
Dario Franchitti
Dermot Desmond(don't tell Brad)
