The Sevenpenny Gate: A Lifelong Love Affair with Celtic FC

This is a story seen through green-and-white spectacles. It begins when nine-year-old Glaswegian John Cairney walks through the boys' gate at Celtic Park and embarks on a series of football adventures that, over the years, take him all over Scotland and beyond. The Sevenpenny Gate is about a search for heroes, Celtic heroes. It is also the tale of an East End club of humble Irish origins that has developed into a worldwide brand and continues to command the devotion of its fans, even with the Celtic diaspora now spread across the globe. The development of Celtic is a cultural and historical phenomenon. The club means as much to millions around the world as it ever did to that nine-year old boy who bought his ticket and pushed his way through the sevenpenny gate into paradise.