{"id":3591,"date":"2017-03-03T00:34:01","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T00:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=3591"},"modified":"2017-03-03T00:37:26","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T00:37:26","slug":"final-whistle-blown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/final-whistle-blown\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Whistle Blown"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bertie<\/a>
Bertie Auld with Tom\u00e1s and Tommy Gemmell at a fundraiser for Motor Neuron Disease held in Tullamore by the Jimmy Johnstone CSC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The match is over, over early, the final whistle has blown
\nIts back to the dressing room, where he is among his own
\nLegends of the past that gave us the history we talk of today
\nWho played with a pride from deep inside that few who wear the jersey now play.<\/p>\n

Played as a child in wellies,then in boots too big by a size or two
\nIt never stopped him as he showed he would become the player we knew
\nMotherwell was his childhood club that he supported as a boy
\nBut it was Celtic who came calling who gave the world the player we did enjoy.<\/p>\n

The character of a David is seen in facing giants in the fight
\nNot the non contests against the smaller teams in which so many bask in the light
\nOur Tommy, he rose against the word of Stein, and proved himself as David, as the Man
\nNot against small clubs like Kilmarnock, but the Goliaths of Milan!<\/p>\n

Time took him to other clubs, he was to his Paradise to return once more
\nTo score against the club he have so much to before
\nSome, shame on them for shaming our club, heaped abuse from the stands
\nA true player gives his all for the club of the day, every real fan understands.<\/p>\n

But him, he was not bitter, loved the club, more than money it was worth
\nAnything was possible, as a player he felt he said, with the fans support
\nMet hostility on arrival from a few who did not like his faith
\nWon them over as the man he was, and thats what makes him great! <\/p>\n

When time came to hand up the boots, he did the circuit the fans to meet
\nI met him and drank with him in a pub on a Tullamore street
\nA story for the grandchildren, should I ever grandchildren have some day
\nThat I met,drank and lived to tell of Gemmell who for the great Glasgow Celtic did play!<\/p>\n

Background – <\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many Celtic fans I met Tommy a couple of times, when my Celtic Supporters Club the Jimmy Johnstone CSC brought them over for a couple of fundraisers for the Motor Neuron charities supported by the then dying Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone. I met him a gentleman, and on reading his life story was saddened to see the abuse he got from some players when he joined Celtic, and from some fans when he returned playing for another club.<\/p>\n

But he rose against all that, and above it, saw and remembered the majority of the decent players and fans, and held Celtic as a club dear to his heart until the day he died.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The match is over, over early, the final whistle has blown Its back to the dressing room, where he is among his own Legends of the past that gave us the history we talk of today Who played with a pride from deep inside that few who wear the jersey …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[308],"tags":[3549,3543,3547,3544,3548,3546,3545,898,2908,3542,2358],"class_list":["post-3591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituaries","tag-glasgow","tag-glasgow-celtic","tag-jimmy-johnstone","tag-jimmy-johnstone-csc","tag-jinky","tag-lisbon-lions","tag-motherwell","tag-scotland","tag-soccer","tag-tommy-gemmell","tag-tullamore","column","twocol"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-VV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":175,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/fermoy-international-poetry-festival-2014-gene-barry-defends-festival-and-reputation-decent-poets-vs-cute-hoors-and-the-poetry-cliques-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":3591,"position":0},"title":"Fermoy International Poetry Festival 2014 – Gene Barry Defends Festival and Reputation – Decent Poets vs Cute Hoors and the Poetry Cliques – Blog","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"10th July 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Gene Barry, of the Blackwater Poets, formerly the Elbow Lane poets, started the Fermoy International Poetry Festival. To which others tagged along, as it benefited them, taking advantage of the fruits of his efforts, until everything got official. And then, in a scene similar to how Fred Johnstone got shafted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fermoy International Poetry Festival - bringing poetry to the outdoors all over Cork","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Fermoy-Poetry-Festival1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Fermoy-Poetry-Festival1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Fermoy-Poetry-Festival1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Fermoy-Poetry-Festival1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":177,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/ethics-official-images-artists-egos-and-the-funding-issue\/","url_meta":{"origin":3591,"position":1},"title":"Ethics, Official Images, Artists Ego’s and the Funding Issue","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"9th July 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Writers often make their living from festival readings, and sales of their books at events. 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To a purist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From Cuirt in Galway, to the International Poetry Festival in Fermoy, official funding and involving officials seems to court trouble, feuds and strife!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Artists-Writers-and-their-Temperments.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Artists-Writers-and-their-Temperments.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Artists-Writers-and-their-Temperments.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Artists-Writers-and-their-Temperments.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Artists-Writers-and-their-Temperments.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":203,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/castlepallooza-rocked-in-the-rain-by-the-tullamore-rhymers-failing-to-make-fermoy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3591,"position":2},"title":"CastlePallooza Rocked in the Rain By the Tullamore Rhymers – Failing to Make Fermoy","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"3rd August 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It is with regret due to work commitments we failed to make the Fermoy International Poetry Festival and the Poetry Bus ran by organiser Gene Barry, but two local events we did get to make were the monthly Scene of the Rhyme in Joe Lees in Tullamore, and of course\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saul Philblin Bowman reading at Scene of the Rhyme","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Saul-Philblin-Bowman-reading-at-Scene-of-the-Rhyme.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Saul-Philblin-Bowman-reading-at-Scene-of-the-Rhyme.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Saul-Philblin-Bowman-reading-at-Scene-of-the-Rhyme.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Saul-Philblin-Bowman-reading-at-Scene-of-the-Rhyme.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/seeing-beneath-the-surface-at-tullamores-scratch-gallery\/","url_meta":{"origin":3591,"position":3},"title":"Seeing Beneath the Surface at Tullamore’s “SCRATCH” Gallery","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"29th November 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Tullamore's latest artistic endeavor is the brainchild of self proclaimed blow in Richard Brennan, the SCRATCH Gallery in Tullamore Library. 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