The Bhoys from Seville

The Bhoys from Seville was the nickname given to the Celtic team that participated in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup campaign which culminated in Celtic's defeat in the final after over 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to Seville in Spain to support their team. [cite web | author= | title="Celtic, Porto make overdue return to spotlight" | work=Sports Illustrated Media| url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2003/05/20/uefacup_preview/| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Chick Young | title="Celtic did Scotland proud" | work=BBC Sport Media| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/2932406.stm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

The name "The Bhoys from Seville" is a play on words from the book and film "The Boys from Brazil", the nickname of Celtic F.C. which is "the Bhoys", and the location of the UEFA Cup final. As the first Scottish team for 16 years to reach a European final and the first Celtic team to reach a European final since the 1970 European Cup Final, the team was compared to Celtic's European Cup winning team in 1967, the Lisbon Lions. [cite web | author=JOE McHUGH | title="ROAR LIKE THE LIONS AND WE CAN MAKE HISTORY" | work=The Sunday Mirror| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20030427/ai_n12865513| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Magnus Linklater | title="If myth is an ancient tale of gods and heroes, then Celtic's Lisbon Lions are immortal" | work=The Times| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_linklater/article1134589.ece| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=PETER JARDINE | title="O'Neill scents Catalan spirit The dream draw sends Parkhead boss on a journey down memory lane - but the toughest test yet awaits his Bhoys from Seville " | work=Daily Mail| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2393678.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=| title="MARTIN'S LAST STAND" | work=Irnwurks Media| url=http://www.irnwurksmedia.com/scotcup005.htm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=PAUL FORSYTH | title="Hartson lion in wait" | work=Scotland on Sunday Media| url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=481072003| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Background

Celtics particpation in the UEFA Cup came as a result of defeat in the Third Qualifying round to Basel (3-3 aggregate score with the Swiss team progressing to the Group Stage with one Away goal). During the 2003 Uefa Cup competition, goalkeeper Rab Douglas and defender Bobo Balde both featured in twelve matches, which led the team in that category. They both missed the 2nd leg of the first round against FK Sūduva. Douglas conceded twelve goals and had six clean sheets. Celtic outscored opponents 26 to 11 on their run to the final. Striker Henrik Larsson scored eleven goals, including a hat-trick in the first game against FK Sūduva.

The motto "V for Victory" was coined during the campaign as every team Celtic faced; FK Sūduva, Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo, VfB Stuttgart, Liverpool, and Boavista, each had V in their name, with the exception of the team Celtic played in the final, Porto, although it was highlighted that the game would be in Seville. [cite web | author=JON WEST | title="Douglas: It's V for victory Keeper's Seville superstition " | work=Liverpool Echo| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3449878.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Chick Young | title="O'Neill the miracle worker" | work=BBC News| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/2878121.stm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Roddy Forsyth | title="European V-sign may be lucky omen for Celtic" | work=The Daily Telegraph| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2003/03/22/sfncel22.xml| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

In another reference to the letter V, for the days leading up to the game the "Daily Record", a Scottish tabloid newspaper, sent an open topped double decker bus to Seville with the slogan "Here V Go" on the side of the bus.

First round v. FK Sūduva

The first game of the campaign was against Lithuanian team FK Sūduva. Sudūva stated that they could not send a scout to Glasgow to spy on Celtic to prepare for their match and had to watch videotapes of Celtic. [cite web | author=| title="Scottish trip too much for FK Suduva" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0916/celtic.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Celtic all but won the tie in the first leg at home in Celtic Park on 14 August 2002 which they won 8-1, with Henrik Larsson scoring a hat-trick. As well as Petrov, Sutton, Lambert, Valgaeren and Hartson each scoring. [cite web | author=Rob Wright| title="Celtic hammer Lithuanian side" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/0919/celtic.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] Martin O'Neill rested a number of players for the second leg, with first team regulars such as Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon, Joos Valgaeren and Stilian Petrov all being left in Glasgow along with club captain Tom Boyd, whose wife had just given birth to a baby. [cite web | author=Amanda Fennelly| title="O'Neill rests his big stars" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/1002/celtic.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] Celtic won the second leg 2-0 and went through to the second round on an aggregate of 10-1.

econd round v. Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Celtic's next opponents were English side Blackburn Rovers, who at the time were managed by former Rangers player-manager Graeme Souness. The tie was dubbed the "Battle of Britain".

The first leg of the tie was at Celtic Park which resulted in a 1-0 win for Celtic, though some commentators stated that Blackburn had dominated the game. After the game Souness was quoted as saying that Blackburn should have won the game and that it was like watching "men against boys" and further stated before the second leg that if Celtic scored one goal then Blackburn would score three. Celtic went on to win 2-0 away from home in the second leg with goals from Larsson and Sutton to the joy of the 8,000 travelling fans. [cite web | author=Greg McKevitt| title="Celtic ready to take on Europe - Sutton" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/1115/celtic.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=| title="Celtic and Blackburn relish Uefa Cup showdown" | work=The Independent| url=http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/european/article139529.ece| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=| title="If Celtic score one, we'll score three" | work=The Scotsman| url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1266782002| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Third round v. Celta Vigo

Martin O'Neill received a two game touchline ban after he was sent from the home dugout during Celtic's 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo; this was later reduced to a one match ban after an appeal. The second leg finished 2-1 to Celta Vigo and Celtic went through on away goals. [cite web | author=Tom Grealis| title="Celtic to appeal O'Neill ban" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2002/1205/celtic.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Johnny Proby| title="O'Neill ban reduced" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2003/0207/celtic01.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] John Hartson scored the only goal in the second leg for Celtic. This was the first of 2 defeats for Celtic on the way to the final.

Fourth round v. VfB Stuttgart

The opponent for Celtic in the fourth round was German Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart. As in every round before this Celtic had the advantage of playing the first leg of the tie at home. Celtic won the first leg but had to come from a goal down after Kevin Kuranyi scored in the 27th minute, but were 2-1 after 2 goals from Paul Lambert and Shaun Maloney at half-time. They won 3-1. In the second leg Celtic went 2-0 up after the first 14 minutes, but after a comeback and a late goal VfB Stuttgart won 3-2. Celtic won 5-4 on aggregate.

Quarter-final v. Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool were competing in the UEFA Cup having finished third in Group B which also featured Celtic's conquerors in the qualifying round Basel, who finished second. The first leg of the quarter-final game against Liverpool took place at Celtic Park on 13 March. This clash was again billed as the "Battle of Britain". The first leg ended 1-1 with Larsson scoring for Celtic but the away goal giving Liverpool the advantage going in to their home tie at Anfield. The game was marred when Liverpool player El-Hadji Diouf spat at a Celtic supporter. Diouf was later fined £5,000 at Glasgow's Sheriff Court for the incident. [cite web | author=| title="Diouf will not face assault charges" | work=Radio Telefís Éireann| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/1116/dioufe.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

The return match at Anfield took place the following week on 20 March. Celtic won 2-0, with the goals coming from an Alan Thompson free kick and a strike from John Hartson.

emi-final v. Boavista F.C.

Celtic won the semi-final to stop an all Portugal, and all city of Porto final, with Larsson scoring in both legs of the tie. In the first leg Celtic went a goal down with an own goal from Joos Valgaeren in the 48th minute. Larsson pulled a goal back 2 minutes later but then missed a penalty in the 75th minute. The 1-1 draw was Martin O'Neill's 50th unbeaten match at Celtic Park, a record of results that stretched back to Ajax in August 2001. 60,000 fans attended that match at Celtic Park. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=388690 60,000 at Celtic Park] ]

In the return leg, Henrik Larsson scored in the 80th minute winner, [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=388750 Boavista 0-1 Celtic] ] to win the game 1-0 meaning Celtic would go through to the UEFA Cup Final, with a 2-1 aggregate score.

Celtic fans and Seville

The race for tickets

Tickets for the match had been selling for £500 in the lead up to the game and Celtic fans were warned to avoid the estimated 700 fake tickets that were circulating before the game. [cite web | author= | title="Seville warning for Celtic fans" | work=The Scotsman| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3027885.stm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=DAN MCDOUGALL | title="Carnival time as Bhoys invade Seville" | work=The Scotsman| url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=571292003| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Travelling to Seville

There was a scramble to arrange travel to Spain for what was called "one of the biggest events in sporting history" and Celtic fans travelled by plane, car, bus, train and ferry in order to get to Seville on time. [cite web | author=DAN MCDOUGALL | title="Carnival time as Bhoys invade Seville" | work=The Scotsman| url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=571292003| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the club compete in the final at the Estadio Olimpico in Seville in southern Spain. [cite web | author=Andy Hall | title="Celtic in Seville: A picture special" | work=The Guardian| url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/gallery/0,8561,972767,00.html | accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author=Michael Grant | title="YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE; Seville The aftermath" | work=The Sunday Herald| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20030525/ai_n12582662| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

The fiesta in Seville

Thousands of Celtic fans partied in Seville during the days leading up to the match. Many of the supporters congregated in the Cathedral area of the of the city.

The final v. F.C. Porto

::"See main article 2003 UEFA Cup Final"Celtic lost the final match 3–2 to Porto after Porto became the first team to win a trophy on the silver goal rule to claim their first UEFA Cup. The bad weather meant that the game was played at a relatively slow pace which seemed to favour Porto, and led to a number of rash challenges from Celtic, one of which led to Joos Valgaeren getting a yellow card on 8 minutes. After this it was very much a stoic affair, until 32 minutes into the first half when Capucho played in Deco, but he could do no more than fire his shot straight at Robert Douglas. Straight after this attack Celtic broke on the counter with Henrik Larsson putting Didier Agathe through on the right but his cross was too high for Chris Sutton. Larsson had a chance to make it 1-0 on 35 minutes, but he was unable to get enough contact on the ball. Porto came close on 41 minutes when Deco moved past Bobo Balde to go one on one with Robert Douglas, who saved Deco's shot with his legs. Porto finally found a way through on 45 minutes when, after some great work from Deco, Derlei followed up Dmitri Alenichev's shot which was saved by Robert Douglas, to give Porto a 1-0 lead on the stroke of half time and his 11th goal of the competition.

Porto's lead did not last long after the restart as Celtic equalised when Henrik Larsson met Didier Agathe's cross to send a looping header in over the helpless Vítor Baía to get his tenth goal of the tournament and his 200th Celtic goal. However within 5 minutes it was 2-1 when Deco's through ball found Dmitri Alenichev who scored. Just 3 minutes later Celtic equalised once again through Henrik Larsson when he headed in Alan Thompson's corner. After this the game stagnated until a couple of minutes from time when Jackie McNamara's errant pass found Dmitri Alenichev, however he shot over.

Normal time ended with the game at 2-2, the ensuing periods of extra time saw cagey football from both sides and Celtic were down to ten men when Bobo Balde was dismissed on 95 minutes after his second yellow card. On 112 minutes Derlei reacted quickest to a Robert Douglas block and rounded McNamara to make it 3-2. Porto managed to hang on even after having Nuno Valente sent off, thus ensuring that Porto had ended their 16 year wait between European trophies. [cite web | author= | title="Match Report" | work=ESPN| url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=98023&cc=5739| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author= | title="Fan Award" | work=FIFA| url=http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/awards/gala/0,2418,73590,00.html?articleid=73590| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

The team for the final

Viewing figures

The viewing figures for the cup final were as followed:

*Match average - 8.3 million, 34.8% audience share;
*Programme average - 7.8 million, 33.6% audience share;
*Viewing peaked at 10 million for the quarter-hour 10.00-10.15pm.

The BBC Head of Football, Niall Sloane said: "We're delighted that so many people tuned in to follow a British team's progress in the final. We're only sorry that Celtic didn't win." [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/05_may/22/celtic_figures.shtml Celtic's UEFA Cup final encounter against Porto peaks at 10 million viewers] ]

Celtic fans win award for being the best in Europe

The exemplary conduct of the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville (not one single supporter was arrested) and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA "for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour". [cite web | author= | title="Celtic fans get Fifa award" | work=BBC News| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/3313371.stm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author= | title="UEFA FIFA Fair Play Award 2003 - Celebrating Celtic pride in the heart of Andalusia" | work=FIFA| url=http://access.fifa.com/en/article/0,0000,73589,00.html| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

UEFA communications director Mike Lee expressed disappointment at the jeering by the Celtic support during the presentation of the cup to Porto, stating: "It was particularly disappointing to hear the Celtic fans jeer the winning side as they received the trophy. One expects a great deal of noise from both sets of supporters during a game. Indeed, it contributes to the atmosphere of the occasion, and Wednesday night was no exception. However, I do not know if it was necessary to jeer the winning side so loudly just as they were collecting their trophy." [cite web | author= | title="UEFA condemn Celtic followers' jeers during trophy ceremony" | work=The Scotsman| url=http://sport.scotsman.com/football_european.cfm?id=586702003| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

After the match Henrik Larsson said in an interview that he was disappointed to have scored two goals in the final and still come away with a runners up medal. He was named man of the match.

The Porto manager, José Mourinho led his team to the Champions League title the following year, before moving to Chelsea.

Seville FC fans travelling to the 2007 UEFA Cup in Glasgow noted that the visiting Celtic fans left them with a "great impression" of Glasgow. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6654893.stm BBC News- "'Viva Espana' on Uefa Cup night"] ]

Legacy of the Bhoys from Seville

The support of the Celtic supporters that the teams performance during the campaign provided the inspiration for a number of books, television programmes and DVDs. This included a book called "Over and Over" which documented the experience of the travelling fans, the official video and DVD produced by the club was entitled "The Road to Seville" with the DVD edition including a bonus disc featuring the full away match with Liverpool at Anfield. [cite web | author=Manfred Lurker | title="The Road to Seville; Celtic FC" | work=Not The View| url=http://www.ntvcelticfanzine.com/reviews/review%20road%20to%20seville%20dvd.htm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] and a television programme and subsequent DVD produced by ITV took its name from the team and was called "The Bhoys from Seville".

"The Bhoys from Seville" DVD focused on the fans and their endeavours to get to Spain and see the final. The DVD also contained broadcasts from Scottish news programmes from Seville and a tribute piece to the Lisbon Lions. [cite web | author=Manfred Lurker | title="The Bhoys From Seville; Scottish Television DVD" | work=Not The View| url=http://www.ntvcelticfanzine.com/reviews/review%20bhoys%20from%20seville%20dvd.htm| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007] [cite web | author= | title="Scottish TV - Review of 2003" | work=Scottish Television| url=http://stv.lumison.net/content/mediaassets/pdf/STV_Annual%20Review%20Preview%200304.pdf| accessdate=12 June | accessyear=2007]

Campaign results

ee also

*History of Celtic F.C.
*UEFA Cup 2002-03
*2003 UEFA Cup Final
*Hampden in the sun

References