Singapore CSC…
Singapore CSC was founded in 1999 by the late Tom Flaherty, Harry Murphy, Hugh Doherty, Michael Craig, Kevin Dickie, Mark McCann, Jack Wallace and John McCoslin. In Singapore in 1999, there were many Celtic fans with nowhere to go on match day. Their natural beginning began when Harry met young Tom in a Celtic chat room. They find out that Tom went to school with Harry’s daughter in East Kilbride.
Tom soon arrives in Singapore for his new job and has a beer with Harry. They formed a committee along with several other Celtic fans. Within weeks, more than 30 supporters had gathered. Scottish football was not shown on Singapore television. They knew the games were videotaped in Scotland, so Kevin Dickie had his mother record each game and have them sent via DHL. They will receive it next Thursday. It had to go through Singapore’s censorship board and I had to go to the relevant department to sign it. It was stamped as foreign by the censors.
The club decided they needed to find a pub that would agree to play the match tape. Mark McCann discovered The Yard, a small bar on River Valley Road. They were there for almost two years. But CSC, now known as “SingTims”, was growing and needed to find a bigger home. The owners of Molly Malone’s, a new Irish pub on Boat Quay, have come forward. It was the perfect place for them. By this time Martin O’Neill had become Celtic’s new manager and CSC was in full swing. Membership grew to 50 members as news of the club spread to Celtic fans in Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and other Southeast Asian countries.
Sing Tim is proud to be working with the Celtic Foundation in giving continued support to Walfrid’s Wish. said Sean Begley, who served as company president for four years.
“The Foundation’s continued support efforts remind us that Brother Walfrid founded Celtic to feed the hungry. We are committed to the Foundation’s cause for the long term. We very much enjoyed meeting Celtic Foundation CEO Tony Hamilton and Head of Revenue Jane Maguire in Singapore during our fundraising tour.
“We decided early on to support their efforts. Walfrid’s Wish provides a way to achieve the club’s original purpose. Our sons are among the best I have ever met. He is one of the most generous people in the world and we are fully committed to the work of the Foundation.”
In terms of membership numbers, it is not easy to maintain that number, but this is not unusual for CSCs with large foreign memberships. “Currently, we have 40 active members, or up to 120 members,” said Gerard Sillars, vice-chairman. When you think about it, it’s difficult to judge.” In the early days we had so many members that we had to reduce the number of people watching matches in the pub. ”
Harry said: “It was so much fun waiting for the tape to arrive, especially when we booked the pub and invited the members. Then we were holding our breath until the tape arrived.”
After 25 years, they have managed to catch almost every match across the available platforms. Members can stay updated through his Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp. They published their own newsletter, ‘The Sing Times’, which was hugely popular among members thanks to its witty coverage of the match and sidebar conversations about all things Scottish. Articles were written by some of our members and the newsletter was laid out by Harry’s wife Anna and his brother Martin about his IT. Sadly, Sing Times had to go on hiatus due to writers’ travel schedules and people quitting the magazine altogether. Murmur says there may be a podcast in the near future.
Sing Tim’s was invited to match nights by many pubs in Singapore. Over the years, they have nested in several watering holes. To their credit, the pub has gone to great lengths to make them feel welcome, going so far as to create its own private his lounge in Celtic colours.
Then I got a call from Rod Stewart. Harry thought it was a joke and hung up on his secretary. Luckily, she called me back and said, “I promise, Harry, Rod wants to come see the Sing Tims game.”
Rod was scheduled to be in Jakarta to hold a private concert and was scheduled to fly to Singapore for the match. He arrived in a limousine, slipped into a crowded bar, and danced and sang the night away with members and bar staff. All the fans who admired the star gave him hugs, cuddles and autographs. You’ll never meet a more generous rock star. Perhaps he felt that he belonged with the Celtic family.
As a non-profit organization, all funds raised through membership and merchandise sales were donated to charities in Singapore and abroad, including the Celtic Foundation. They fundraise for flood victims in Brisbane, Mary’s Meals in Malawi helps build 67 kitchens for food programs, i-India feeds and educates street children in Jaipur, Singapore Catholic Welfare Association is delivering Christmas gifts to people. Homelessness, charity work in Thailand and many other countries.
In particular, Harry, along with two friends from Glasgow, George Grace and Robert Reilly, embarked on an epic adventure to climb Mount Everest to raise funds for the i-India project. Everyone had a good time at the monastery, and the monks watched with amusement as the trio cooked strange dishes in the kitchen. I had yak tea. Nor was it a good idea to let the three old men climb the mountain. In some photos, they were tied to oxygen tanks while lying on camp beds. How much effort do people make in the name of Celtic!
The long-standing Sing Tim’s pubs were 1999: The Yard on River Valley Road, 2003: Molly Malone’s on Circular Road, 2009: Maddy Murphy’s on Orchard Road, 2009: Bojangles on Arcadia Road, and 2012: Balmoral. Bojangles at the Plaza, 2016: McGetti Guns. Robertson Key, 2019: The coronavirus pandemic. 2021: Hideaway on Arcadia Road, and they’re now at Maddie Murphy’s Irish Pub. They will always remember the members who are no longer with them. Tom Flaherty, George Grace, Robert Reilly.
David McIntyre – CelticBars.com
Excerpt from “Football Without Fans – The History of Celtic Supporters Clubs” (Celtic Bars) by David McIntyre. ‘Football Without Fans – A History of Celtic Supporters’ Club’ is now published and the print version and his Kindle version are available here. Check out the Celtic World Tweet video below for some amazing facts about Celtic support around the world.
Just before Christmas, Celtic Birds’ David McIntyre was interviewed by Celtic TV about his book ‘Football Without Fans’. Here is a video from his You Tube channel on Celtic TV. No matter where you are in the world, you can order the print or Kindle version from Amazon. Order your copy here.