Mystique: ( Miss-steek) adj.: An aura of heightened value arising from beliefs that impart special powers or mystery.

So now you know. Me? I remember it as a perfume but it has to be said that whenever someone writes the full history of Celtic, it’s a word that crops up throughout the narrative on frequent occasions.
I sometimes think that  JK Rowling might be the only author who could convey the mysticism and fantasy of our great club and even then she who gave birth to Harry Potter might struggle to keep it credible.
How else can you account for the Empire Exhibition Trophy or the Coronation Cup or the sight of the Lisbon Lions in full flight or Stopping The Ten??
Better still, if you’d approached Hollywood twenty years ago and said that you had the script for a story wherein a football team who had relinquished their title the previous season to a resurgent force on the cusp of a heavily-financed revolution were able to rise up by their bootlaces under the tutelage of a returning prodigal hero to secure a double-winning triumph………….then you’d have been shown short shrift…even if you’d had Harrison Ford agreeing to take the lead as Billy McNeill!
Celtic’s magical Centenary season was sealed on the 14th May 1988 when the Bhoys added the Scottish Cup to the League title they had bagged just weeks before.
Twenty years on from that momentous day, the Channel of the Champions is bringing you a night or two of such ’88 nostalgia that you’ll be looking out your  Bros cds!
There are two vintage productions going out on Tuesday night with In Praise Of Cesar starting off the party at 7.30 and then at 8.00   A Grand Old Team relates the tale of those supporters who would travel from Ireland for the ‘Tic matches.
Straight after that, there’s an interview with The Bear, Roy Aitken who captained Big Billy’s charges that season.
However, the exciting news for all you bhoys and ghirls is on Wednesday evening at 8pm and it’s the programme that we’ve been hinting about for weeks now………
………….The Birthday Bhoys!
CelticTV have produced the outstanding story of one of the greatest seasons in our history.
Players from the era such as Mark McGhee, Chris Morris, Frank MacAvennie and Andy Walker  alongside the hero of the hour, former Celtic manager and still, current legend, Billy McNeill have graciously given of their time to reflect upon the magic and mystery that was that tale of a hundred years.
It’s easy to look back now and accept what the Hoops achieved in ’87-’88 but for those who were there and who participated it was no easy ascension to be crowned the Kings of Scottish football.
Indeed, The Birthday Bhoys captures perfectly the heavy weight on a Celtic side who had been left in the Souness slipstream from the season before and to whom raising aloft a trophy,  any  trophy in the wake of a huge anniversary such as the Centenary was to bring a pressure that can either make or break a team.
To say that the Bhoys responded magnificently is to understate the case. In fact, they responded like a Celtic side imbued with all of the character, strength, flair and never-say-die attitude that has always been the very cornerstone of this club.
There are lashings of great footage, heaps of fantastic memories from supporters and players alike and we’ve even managed to talk to the brains and talent behind the musical, The Celtic Story  which for a month in June 1988 at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow was the hottest ticket in town!
In short, there are more highlights than Peter Grant’s ‘80s’  hairdo and if you miss the knees-up on Wednesday then you can catch it on Friday at 10.15pm.
When it’s all over, you’ll be knee-deep in leather trousers, dancing to When Will I Be Famous and chanting….Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!…..Out! Out! Out!
Top this for  a crackin’ story JK!