GROWING up on the Emerald Isle, Anthony Stokes can remember Glasgow derby days vividly. As a Celtic supporter, it was always a big occasion for him. He never missed it on TV.
But when he saw the throngs of people decked out in green-and-white and packing into pubs, the Dubliner rapidly realised the significance of the game, like so many other of his countrymen.
At Paradise on Sunday, the city rivals will do battle for the fourth time this season, this time in a vital league clash. While Stokes is now involved in the action for his boyhood heroes, he knows the match’s importance means most of Ireland will be watching, some crammed into his own Dublin pub.
“I watched all the Glasgow derby games as a kid,” he told this week’s Celtic View in an exclusive interview. “They showed most of the games at home back in pubs in Dublin, but the Celtic and Rangers games would always pack them out.
“It would be like Ireland playing. Everyone comes out and they are all in their strips and their colours. It’s a massive day out every time.
“This one will be huge. Every Glasgow derby game back home is a big game. With the league title being so tight at the minute every derby will be massive, so I am sure we will be getting the backing of the support from 90 per cent of the people in the Ireland.
“We have a pub back in Dublin and my Dad runs it, so we have a few of the Celtic supporters’ clubs in there as well, so I'm sure they will pack out the place and be supporting us over there.
“The pub tends to be full to the rafters on a Glasgow derby day, so I don’t know if my dad will be able to get time off and come over.
“Speaking to people at home, they are very confident in the way we are playing and the style we are playing in at the minute. Things are looking up but we just have to take each game as it comes and try and get the points on the board.”
Despite his tender age of 22, Stokes has already sampled several other derby matches in his career, including those on Tyneside and Edinburgh. Yet he insists nothing compares to the frenzy when Glasgow’s big two collide.
“It’s just the atmosphere and the rivalry between the two clubs,” he explained. “I think it’s a completely different game – the pace is more frantic and the tackles are harder. It’s probably the atmosphere that changes everything about it.
“I think the first 10-15 minutes are always hectic. It can be a bit scrappy at times, there are always tackles flying in. I think you just need to try and settle into the game and then after 15-20 minutes, when everyone gets a second breath, it tends to settle down a bit. For 90 minutes, they are normally hectic anyway.
“In all these big games form goes out of the window. It will be a very tough game, but we have gone to Ibrox and played very well against them, so if we can do that at home with the crowd behind us, I think we should be confident of getting a good result.”
Read the full and exclusive interview with Anthony Stokes ONLY in this week’s Celtic View. On sale from Wednesday, February 16.
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