JIM MERVYN attended his first football match at the tender age of three. Seven decades later, he remains one of the most loyal supporters Celtic Football Club could ever wish for. Indeed, he has been instrumental in continuing the Irish link with the club.
Mervyn has lived through many of the club’s most memorable moments, notably the 1967 European Cup final, in which his favourite manager of all time, Jock Stein, whom he knew on a personal level, led his team to victory in Lisbon.
Due to this modest gentleman’s passion for football and kindness and generosity to others, he has enabled thousands of other supporters to experience the joys of supporting such a fantastic team.
The Celtic Former Players Association recognised his significant contribution recently at the Wellington Park Hotel in Belfast by making him an honorary member of the Celtic Former Players’ Association. To date, this honour has only ever been bestowed on past players. This tradition was broken for the man they describe as ‘one in a million’.
The Celtic Formers Players Association was founded by Joe Miller. His aim was to create a membership and union of all former players, in order to help support charities and any of their members needing help due to health issues. The former players willingly attend functions, and Legend Matches are arranged which allow the supporters to come and see their heroes play again.
In order to meet the criteria for membership of the Celtic FPA, the players must have played at least one full competitive match for Celtic FC. It does not mean you have to have won anything with the club, but that you officially wore the Hoops.
It is quite a strict criteria for membership, as many Bhoys have signed for Celtic through the years but have not played competitively. Consequently, Celtic legends such as former managers including Wim Jansen, Martin O’Neill, and Gordon Strachan, despite all their success, do not qualify to be members, as they never actually played for the club.
The award of honorary membership of the Celtic FPA to 'Big Jim’ is, therefore, unique: he is the only member never to have played for the club and yet it now allows him to play in any of the Celtic FPA Legend Matches in the future.
Mervyn was chosen to be the very first person to be made an honorary member in recognition of his dedication to Celtic FC by personally supporting all former players throughout his lifetime and for introducing Celtic to many young people in Belfast and throughout Ireland.
He has given them the opportunity to travel to Glasgow and to see Celtic play in ‘Paradise’. The fact that Mervyn managed to do this throughout the Troubles is also a great testament to his loyalty and love of all things Celtic. Indeed, for a great many families, this represented a little bit of relief from the tension of daily life at this difficult time in the North.
Quite simply, Mervyn is a greater Celtic legend than many who have played for the club. In his acceptance speech, Mervyn, in all his humility, thanked Celtic "for all the happy memories". His wife, Margaret, children Pamela, Jim, George-Paul and Margaret-Rose, grandchildren James, Fintan, Méabh, Ruairí, Jessica and Jarlaith, son-in-law Paul and daughter-in-law Tracy celebrated this moment with tremendous pride.
It really is a fitting tribute to a true legend who is an inspiration to all who know, respect and love him.
The Grange Football Supporters’ Club expressed gratitude to all who attended the charity gala in support of a very worthy organisation, PIPS. The generosity shown to support this invaluable service was overwhelming.
