A little piece of Celtic history was made when the very first Huddle took place 25 years ago today. On July 23rd, 1995, during a pre-season tour of Germany, a pre-match ritual that stands to this very day was made by a Tommy Burns side captained by Tony Mowbray in the absence of Paul McStay.

Playing in what was more like a public park than a football ground 3,000 plus turned out to see Celtic take on Kickers Emden in a pre-season friendly. That would be where Tony Mowbray along with his team-mates would start a tradition that has become such a powerful symbol for Celtic fans the world over.

At the time the thought behind it was to promote togetherness and help the team bond before a match. Celtic were going through hard times. Being saved from extinction the previous year and with no silverware since their centenary season, it would help build comradery and provide a visual show of unity.

The huddle is not only used by every age group of the Celtic team going all the way up to the first team but in the last ten years, it has taken to the stands with Celtic fans standing arm in arm with one another doing the huddle as they watch Celtic strut their stuff on the pitch. On an Electric European it is one of the best sights in football to see 60,000 fans taking part in the huddle.

Speaking years after creating the Celtic Huddle, Tony Mowbray told CelticTV he was proud of starting this particular Celtic tradition.

“Every player likes to leave something that people can remember them by and maybe the Huddle is mine at Celtic. I’m delighted to see it’s still going strong, because it’s a brilliant way of uniting the players and the fans. It’s in the fabric of Celtic now.” -Tony Mowbray

The huddle has become a special moment for every Celtic fan. The players may change over the years, managers come and go but the one constant you can be sure of is when Celtic take to the field, you will be sure to see a Huddle and the Celtic fans responding with a wall of noise.

Here’s to the next 25 years of Huddling!

Hail Hail

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