Over the moon about a play of two halves

They hailed from Scotland, Ireland, and every corner of the globe.

Most were Celtic daft, while some (it says here) were just plain daft.

The Celticade stretched from the Campsie Fells to the Pyrenees – rolling like a green carpet across Europe.

Those who couldn’t afford the plane travelled on slow boats and long-distance lorries, in battered vans and buses, on rusty bikes and blistered feet, in used cars and trains that never ran on time.

The fans lived on borrowed time and borrowed money, arriving in Lisbon with a fistful of escudos and a heartful of hope.

They were married to Celtic and pregnant with passion.

So runs the promotional script for “The Lions of Lisbon”, a drama based on the stunning 1967 achievement of Celtic, which is playing at Eastwood Park Theatre on September 3 at 7.30pm.

In classic Jonny Watson fitba-hyberbole fashion the script continues, unabashed: “The club was their kith and kin, their neighbour, their best friend, their ticket to immortality.

“They came clutching floodlit memories. They came over broken glass and stones, walking on water and living on a prayer.

“They came in search of paradise, and found it in Portugal.”

A full cast of ten, plus live band, recreate the humour, passion and occasional calamity that accompanied a Glasgow and District XI showing Europe’s finest how the beautiful game should be played ... Glasgow style.

Subtitled “A play of two halves” the drama is by Ian Auld and Willie Maley, directed by Martin McCardie, and features (pictured) two of the best-known actors in popular Scottish drama - Frank (“Lennie” in River City) Gallagher and ex-Wildcat mainstay Dave Anderson, plus others.

Standard tickets are £18, and the content is suitable for ages 14 and over.

For booking info visit www.eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk