Our Story
The city of Coventry has a long history of Celtic supporters, due to its large Irish population. In 1961, there were 20,000 Irish-born residents of Coventry, according to the census. Through the years, there have been various CSCs in the city.
Coventry Emerald CSC was formerly known as Coventry Irish CSC and was originally based out of Flannelly’s Bar on the Holyhead Road. Not much is known about the CSC prior to the renaming as a lot of the people involved have changed over the years; however, we know that early meetings in Coventry were held in either the Polish Club or in Finbars.
The main pubs used in Glasgow at the time were the Heilan Jessie and The Squirrel. We also know that the Coventry Irish CSC was the only CSC in Coventry to maintain transport to every Celtic home game. However, travelling numbers had dwindled, and there was a desire to rekindle interest among Coventry-based Celtic supporters.
The members discussed a change of club name, and on 24 September, 2011, we agreed to the suggestion of Coventry Emerald CSC. In the early days, it was a small band of regulars attending games by minibus, but soon we made some lasting friendships with other CSCs south of the border and started to grow.
For the seven years, the CSC owned its own minibus and has been running travel to almost all domestic games, while a number of our members have been travelling regularly in Europe too. The days of the minibus were numbered, however, as membership now stands at over 150 and we are regularly running a 50-seater coach to weekend home games and matches at Hampden, in addition to nine-seaters or cars for away games, due to ticket allocations.
We are the only CSC in the West Midlands that runs regular travel to games.
In 2018, the CSC thanked Flannelly’s for their support and entered a new partnership with the Four Provinces on Allesley Road, which has helped the CSC grow and provide a regular home to watch all Celtic matches. Alex and his team have been supportive, and there are regular live bands on too for like-minded people to enjoy. In 2021, we formed a partnership with Norton’s of Digbeth, as Birmingham lacks a venue close to the city centre to watch games.
Meanwhile, our membership outside of Coventry has been growing, with a steady group being picked up in Digbeth en route to Celtic Park, as well as a few other locations on the way up the road. This partnership with Norton’s is still in its infancy, and we hope to build a strong base for Birmingham-based Celts and visitors alike to watch games.
