A Grand Old Team To (Write A) Play For

Stage show tells the story of stopping the 10

- Tony Connelly

When Jim Orr started writing his play, Bend it Like Brattbakk, he never imagined it would take on a life of its own in the way that it has.

The reception from the initial run last year left him, and the cast, in no doubt that they had to put on another run of shows. And so they will take to the stage again this week to tell a story centred on one of the most important seasons in Celtic’s history.

The 1997/98 season was a momentous one for Celtic and will long live in the memory of all those who lived through it. The club had won 35 league titles prior to that year but the 36th title was amongst the most important.

Henrik Larsson and Harold Brattbakk’s goals against St Johnstone on the final day of the season, May 16, 1998, meant Celtic finished two points above Rangers. Wim Jansen’s side won the league title, Celtic’s first in a decade and, more importantly, stopped Rangers from making it 10-in-a-row.

For Orr, there are many successes in Celtic’s illustrious history that would translate well on stage, but he felt the experience of having lived through the ‘Stopping the 10’ season helped him capture the essence of what it really meant to Celtic fans.

“From a play point of view there were ups and downs throughout that whole season,” Orr told the View. “We lost the first game of the season against Hibs and then lost the second game against Dunfermline so it was an awful start and fans were furious.

“Jorge Cadete and Pierre van Hooijdonk had left, Paul McStay had retired because of injury and Tommy Burns had been sacked. Across the road, they had players like Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup and Jörg Albertz, and were spending millions on other players.