Meet Gerry Currie, a 25-year-old football fan from Kilsyth who travels across Europe following lifelong team Celtic with his mother Annette.
Most people will tell you that travelling the world ranks high on their bucket list. Seeing the world has become our top aspiration, and is something only a handful of people manage to do in a lifetime.
For one young person, travelling the world has become a reality rather than a dream. Following his lifelong favourite football team Celtic, 25-year-old Gerry Currie has seen almost all of Europe, from Germany to France to Croatia.
What started as a trip to Manchester 14 years ago turned into the adventure of a lifetime for Gerry. The camaraderie that comes with following his team stretched not only to Celtic Park in Glasgow, but to stadiums across the world.
“My first game outside of Scotland was the short bus journey to Manchester in 2006 to see Celtic play Manchester United in the first group game of the campaign,” Gerry says.
“I’ve since been to Germany three times to Hamburg, Monchengladbach and Munich; Milan in Italy four times; Spain multiple times to Barcelona twice, Seville, and Villarreal; Aalborg in Denmark; Manchester a further three times; Malmo in Sweden; Molde in Norway; Dynamo Zagreb in Croatia; Paris in France; Anderlecht in Belgium; Sion in Switzerland and most recently Salzburg in Austria.”
Travelling to all these countries has meant that Gerry has seen some of the worlds most famous landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Rhine River and La Sagrada Família. But going to Croatia and Belgium were some of his highlights. He says:
“Zagreb was surprisingly one of my favourite trips, and the other one has to be Anderlecht. Out of the amount of times I’ve travelled I had yet to see Celtic win away in Europe and I finally got that in Belgium. What a feeling it was!”
But sometimes travelling is only as good as those you travel with, and for Gerry, travelling with his mother, Annette, is one of the best things about it.
"My mum and I have travelled everywhere together, she was the one who got me into going to the games,” he says. “It’s the best feeling having something you and your mum both enjoy and brings you so much enjoyment every weekend and weekdays."
"A lot of people are surprised when I say I go with my mum, but it was my grandpa who took her to the games to watch my uncle play when he played with Celtic in the 80s. It rubbed off on me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The gratitude and love coming from Gerry when he talks about these trips with his mum is palpable as he goes on to say that travelling together isn’t going to stop any time soon.
“I’m very grateful to my mum for taking me to my first ever Celtic game never mind taking me away in Europe since I was ten years old."
"She always thinks I’ll leave her to go with my mates because I’m older now, but that will never happen because I can’t be more grateful for everything that woman does for me.”
There’s so much more to being a loyal, dedicated football fan than just watching the home games, and no one can argue that Celtic fans on a whole are some of the most dependable and loyal fans across football worldwide.
Celtic fans have recently been awarded the FIFA Fan Award at the Best FIFA Football Awards for their 50th anniversary tribute to the Lisbon Lions, and are known to have the biggest fan following at away games last season. So it’s no surprise when Gerry says that travelling with fellow supporters “makes the atmosphere” of the trips.
Showing his love for Celtic as they play the best teams from around the world is something Gerry enjoys most about his trips, and what’s a better way to show that support than to follow them around the world?
“Going to the football to see Celtic is one of the things I was brought up in, but going away in Europe to see your team play the best of the best is a different kind of feeling. Feeling so proud to wear the colours of your team and show the rest of the world why we have the great reputation that we have. It’s phenomenal.”
