Club announce return of beloved Celtic View magazine, with some key changes

By Euan Davidson

August 19, 2021

Celtic have announced the return of the UK’s oldest club football magazine, the Celtic View. Albeit, with some fundamental changes.

The Celtic View, published since 1965 [Celtic Wiki], had seen a cease of production due to the pandemic. The brainchild of former director and chairman Jack McGinn (the grandfather of Scotland star John McGinn), the View published weekly until Covid-19 hit.

Now, it’s back [Celtic FC]. The club announced this morning that the beloved magazine would return, but as a quarterly, 100-page publication.

The next issue features captain Callum McGregor on its front cover. There are interviews with new boss Ange Postecoglou, as well as the CEO, Dominic McKay.

It’s a welcome return to news-stands for the View. Still, its change to a quarterly is a really interesting move. Whether that’s a permanent change remains to be seen, but it certainly makes sense in the modern publishing landscape.

The View, which came into being after Jock Stein’s first attendance at a board meeting, is also available online.

Welcome back, the Celtic View, after an unfortunate spell on the sidelines

Really, Celtic fans are gifted for choices of media outlets. 67 Hail Hail are just one of a number of Celtic-dedicated websites. In print media, there’s the Alternative View, the Celtic Fanzine, and of course from the club itself, the Celtic View.

That’s before we get to YouTube and Podcasts.

While, yes, the View is obviously written from the club’s perspective, it’s been an informative, interactive guide for supporters for a very long time. The letters section represented the first real message board, decades before online forums were a thing.

It’s also useful for longer-form interviews, in an age where clips and soundbites make headlines. From that perspective, the View has remained a good read even in the internet age.

So, to see it come back is a good thing, in and of itself, but it’s also a signal of further normality. With supporters back at matches, and the club winning games, we’re starting to see the good times returning.

The move to quarterly publication is an interesting one. Given the competition for Celtic news online and in print, it probably makes sense to put a longer, more in-depth magazine out there.

Read more: Celtic boss explains notable squad absence