For those of us around from the early days it is amazing to think where the time has gone. For more recent arrivals it is probably amazing to imagine that there was a time when there was no Celtic Supporters Club in New Zealand. Before 1984 news on Celtic was to come by and seeing the Bhoys on film was a rare event. Mike Carvill, one of our long standing members, recalls that prior to club being established the best way of getting information was a visit to the British consulate and a look at week old newspapers or obtaining a reel of film that might have some Scottish Football up to a month old. A far cry from the present situation. It is interesting to note that in the early days the aims of the club were more principally directed at the formation of a football team in New Zealand. The first recorded meeting was actually on the 31stOctober 1983 at the Carlton Hotel in Newmarket. The meeting was held to decide if it would be feasible to establish a Celtic Footbal team in Auckland. Those present : Phil Dunseath, James Miller, Joe Collins, Pat Magee (snr), Pat Magee (jnr),Mick Rielly, Peter Magee and Peter McErlean decided to go ahead and the first steps in establishing the club were taken. Joe Collins accepted the task of making enquiries as to registering the club with the soccer authorities in Auckland and Peter McErlean was to make enquiries with Celtic about setting up a supporters club. Over the next few months more meetings were held and the football games arranged and adverets placed in newspapers to gauge interest of potential members. On the 25th April 1984 the first committee was elected and the club got underway. Several friendlies were played and in Sept 1984 the club recieved membership application forms from the Celtic Supporters Clubs Assoc. in Glasgow. The New Zealand Celtic Supporters Club thus became a part of the global network of Celtic Supporters Clubsand arrangements were made for the first video night to be held in the Auckland Press clubin Albert St. The first item shown was fittingly enough The Celtic Story

At that stage the intention of getting a team into the local or even the national soccer arena was a main consideration for the committee. The chance came sooner than expected. The Grey Lynn club who played in the Northern league 3rd Division were experiencing finacial difficulties as well as having problems in attracting players. A proposal was made towards a form of merger and in 1985 Grey Lynn Celtic appeared on the NZ soccer scene. At this time too the video nights were becoming more popular with soccer deprived fans flocking to the Press club to catch up on not just Celtic matches but international and european matches that were never shown on local TV. The first really big event was the Celtic v Dundee Utd Scottish Cup Final in 1985. The match was shown a week after the actual match but a crowd in excess of 100 turned up at the Press club to create an atmosphere never before witnessed in New Zealand. It will probably surprise present day members to know that in the early days the video nights also included Scottish comedy shows and one of the biggest crowds ever was for a Billy Connelly show which did not screen on NZ TV untill the following year. However, at that time it was also realised that running a team in the Northern league and organising a Celtic Supporters Club was not only time consuming but required two different approaches. many members were Celtic Supporters first and foremost. Although interested in a local Celtic team their real concern was in seeing the "real" Celtic. Accordingly there was a point in time it became clear that the club would have to set up twodistinct though related sections. Some members concentrated more on the supporters club while some were more focussed on the Grey Lynn Celtic team although there was always an over lap in there concerns and interests. The football team continued to show the Celtic colours for a few years before becoming involved in a merger with Pt Chevalier FC to create Western Springs FC who are still sporting the hoops on the local soccer scene. The club continued to meet at the Press Club for regular video shows and at this time the monthly newsletter was published in magazine form. It contained club news and items such as "Game from the past", quiz and fan profiles as well as "Meanwhile back in the Jungle" which provided news on the goings on at Celtic Park.

The club delegate at the timewas Chic Doherty from Bellshill who regularly attended Association meetings on the clubs behalf and arrange for ticket assistance for members visiting Scotland. James Maher also from bellshill kept a regular supply of up to date videos flowing and the club became established as a place to keep up to date with Scottish Football and celtic news. Membership was generally around 80 although attendance at video nights often reflected Celtic's results. The start of the new decade saw a decline in Celtic's fortunes and an almost equivalent downturn in the clubs status. The Press Club closed down in August1990 just as the first video night of the new season had been arranged. The "Soccer Express" newspaper, which carried advertsfor and news of the club also folded at this time. For the next few years it was almost a one man effort to keep the club alive with a decline in membership and video nights being irregular and at different venues. Thanks mainly to Mick Maher, now our President, the club did stay alive and in 1994 some of the members decided to again organise a football team. There was still some dark days however. One of the first nights held in Kitty OBrien's was the day following Celtic's League Cup defeat to Raith Rovers. A dozen people attended and to say the atmosphere was sombre would have been the understatement of the century.

Luckily membership remained high and soon we were fortunate to have some new blood injected into the club with new arrivals from Scotland like Kevin Everett and Scott Morland. A new idea was suggested that we might be able to courier live games from Australia straight after the final whistle. This became a feature of the club although there never could be any guarantee as to the safe arrival of the tape. On one occasion customes stopped the tape checking and advised it would not be available until the following day. Scott Morland, knowing there was an expectant crowd in the pub, pleaded the case so well that the tape was released contrary to all regulations. By this time the club had switched it's base to the "Claddagh Irish Pub" in Newmarket, Auckland, which was the new pub of Margaret & Noel Kenihan. It was in the function room there that one of the most exciting moments of the club's history took place in 1998. Kevin Everett arranged for a live audio link up with radio Clyde to enable 100 members and friends to listen to celtic's championship clinching game with St Johnstone. The celebrations in the " Claddagh" would not have been bettered in the streets aroud Parkhead.

3 In recent years the social side of the club has expanded with BBQ's, Ceilidh's and participation in the ST Patrick's Day parade in Auckland and the "Round the bays Fun Run". This latter event has been used as a charity fundraiser and the club has provided more than $7,000 to charity in the last 4years. The club newsletter has steadily improved and Peter Cowley's controversial reports on the football team are eagerly awaited in each issue, especially when we won the domestic treble for the first time winning the League, League Cup and the Charity sheild for 1999-2000 season.

And of course we now have a "Hotline" service for members which provides the very latest in Celtic and club news. When the original committee was formed 18 years ago such a development would have been unimaginable. No doubt the coming years will see even more technological improvements which our club will strive to embrace for the benefit of our members. Being part of the Southern Hemisphere Federation of Celtic Supporters Clubs will no doubt help us obtain further advantages for our members.