Out on photographic assignments here in Tokyo, Japan, people often ask me where I come from, and usually they know one of three things about my home country of Scotland – whisky, golf and football. And with the football they usually only know of Celtic FC because of Japanese player Shinsuke Nakamura and his time with the Glasgow club. And in conversations here in exile, when the subject of Scottish football comes up, I’m usually glad to be left out of it.

But a year or two ago I got an email from an art director friend in Scotland who was working on a mammoth limited edition book about Celtic FC by Kraken Opus, and he remembered I’d shot a big series on Celtic and Rangers many years ago for the then classic Independent Magazine. And now, over 15 years or so later, my art director friend needed those same photographs of Celtic FC.

I dug out my negatives documenting a momentus time in the history of Celtic FC, when the old Kelly family who had owned and run the team were bought out by Fergus McCann. I’d spent many a cold winter night outside Celtic Park shooting the goings-on, I went to games, I photographed the unhappy Celtic supporters, the demonstrations, the banners asking for the board to be sacked. All shot on my Leicas, in black and white.

I remember photographing Fergus McCann as he arrived with his millions and his promises. I had to meet with him and a journalist at the Hilton Hotel at breakfast time. Fergus was there, being interviewed when I arrived. I sat down at the table, noded to the journalist, a waitress stopped by and asked what I’d like. Fergus interrupted her, “he won’t be eating”. I let it go, I was there to shoot. But if it were to happen tomorrow, I’d order some toast, some tea, and be damned. I remember him ordering his boiled egg from the waitress, “8 and a half minutes from cold water” he told her. Precise. I’m glad I wasn’t negotiating to sell him a football club which was on the brink of being owned by a bank. After breakfast was over, I asked him to stand beside a bust of a Roman Emperor type, I thought it fitted his no-nonsense leader approach.

So, I scanned my old negatives, being glad my filing system works and I could find them easily. It brought back memories for me. And the images were sent off to Scotland for this mammoth book project. Recently I found out that the book is completed and available from July this year, for the cool price of 1,700 GBP.

If football is your thing, and Celtic even more so, then take a look here and you can see the project, the work.  You can flick through the book and see some great imagery, old and new photographs of the Celtic history. My images form the pages called ‘The Battle to Save Celtic‘  in the chapter called ‘The Age of Nine Bosses’ and run from page 530-537. Take a look.

One image I’m glad to see published is that on page 530 of ‘Sack the Board’ sandwich board man. I can remember that day, the east end of Glasgow, prior to a game and this guy is walking about in the pea-soup fog wearing a sandwich board reading “Sack the Board, says Barton Football Expert + Visionary, Glasgow x”. I followed him through the streets, through the fog, shooting away. I believe one paper used the pic the next day if I remember correctly. I’m glad that image has had a second life, but I always prefered this frame…

As well as supplying my old stock images, the book company wished me to photograph Celtic, or Nakamura, fans here in Tokyo, Japan. I searched for a Celtic supporters club on the web, found an obscure listing somewhere, an email. Fired off a note asking to speak to someone. Within hours they’d got back to me, within days I was shooting portraits of a Nakamura fan in her bedroom, within a further few hours she had a whole team of Celtic supporters down in Shibuya for me to photograph. The Tokyo Celtic supporters club worked with military precision, if they said something would be organised it was. I was greatly impressed wiht their organisational skills and their willingness to help out for a project on their team, even though I could promise them no books.

But anyway, that’s enough about football on this blog.