email:  TheCageToTheJungle@hotmail.com


website sponsored by Big Red Dog and Pete Digger of theTemple of Fiddes II CSC (NE Scotland)

15th May 2008

This is a brand new venture for us. If you are looking at this web page you will most likely remember that very infrequent, lovingly produced fanzine of the same name.The editors of TheCageToTheJungle venturing forth into the realms of the world wide web, a scary prospect for bhoys and ghirls who struggled to use a typewriter properly (and scissors and Prittstick and Lettraset and... ) all those years ago.










Back in the days when The Cage To The Jungle was an active fanzine (infrequent, but active nonetheless)we never, ever considered ourselves to be as hard hitting or renowned as The Wee Red or Not The View but we had our place amongst the Cliftonville and Celtic supports. At times it was hard work and time consuming but the feedback and encouragement from our fellow fans made it all worthwhile.

Things have moved on dramatically in the football word. The terracings we loved haved been replaced by grandstands and the finances in the game have gone crazy. The cover price on our issues of The Cage was a measly 50 pence...

Would anyone ever have believed this wee publication would surface again on the world wide web? Our "archivist" in the north east of Scotland has kept quite a plethora of old stuff which will be scanned and posted on here in due course. Real "tears to a glass eye" stuff but one thing remains from the "rare auld times" our desire to see Cliftonville and Celtic producing the goods on the field of play.

As those involved in writing and producing our fanzine now reside in countries far and wide, Big Pat decided it would be rather fitting if someone closer to our spiritual home of Solitude wrote a wee introduction piece to set the ball rolling. Our thanks go to our friend of many years, Liam Murray...

When you look back at the early 90's it certainly wasn't a great time to be a Red Hoop. Celtic in the shadow of a dominant Rangers team were in a crumbling stadium and hurtling towards bankruptcy whilst the old Board kept their hands in their pockets and their heads in the sand.

 Over in Belfast things were not much better. Billy Sinclair, hard as he tried, just ran out of ideas and a sizeable amount of the Cliftonville support ran out of patience with him. The Reds had let the years of their trophy famine extend into double figures and at the same time were setting a world record on just how many times a team could lose a penalty shoot out.

 But it was not all doom and gloom. Despite everything the fans never lost hope and whilst consoling themselves with memories of glory days in the past they still had hope in their hearts of a change in fortune and better times ahead. And sure, no matter how many times the Blue Dogs beat us it never stopped us slegging them and having a laugh at their expense.

At times like these it was not only essential to "Keep the Faith" it was all the more important to spread it as well. From the shadow of the Mourne Mountains emerged a giant of a man and along with a few Scottish comrades produced a humble little pamphlet from which a legend was born. There had always been a strong link between both sets of fans but this fanzine just cemented them and in Cliftonville's case introduced them to a whole new wider audience.

 Like any fanzine of the time it was packed with a mixture of humour and serious articles that concerned the fans at the time. They also engaged an artist to create cartoon caricatures of both sets of players and I can tell you the Reds players certainly thought theirs were brilliant. Time has erased from my mind just how many issues were produced, or for exactly how many years it ran, but the content and quality improved with every issue and like its sister fanzines Not the View and The Wee Red its publication was always awaited with great anticipation.

With the emergence of the internet the fanzine network waned and although some made the successful move online, the rest just faded away. It was with great delight that I learned of the plan to scan the old fanzines and put them up for a whole new generation of fans to enjoy and I was personally honoured when the Editorial team asked me to write this introduction to the website.

 I hope that the kids get as much enjoyment out of them today as we did back then. I would ask them while sitting in these newly built stands to first of all to look around them in these much more successful times and take nothing for granted. Winning trophies and competing in Europe is all very fine but it wasn't so long ago that the very existance of both Clubs was in doubt.

 The people that produced these fanzines, and indeed all those that bought them, played no small part in ensuring that the Clubs did not die and continue to go from strength to strength. That should never be forgotton as we look to the future with great enthusiasm.

 But for the record both Clubs remain "Grand old teams to play for and Grand old teams to see."

WHY NOT CLIFTONVILLE FC?
the north east of Scotland's Bhoys first trip to Solitude
Cliftonville v Distillery 20th April 1991

Ex Celtic managers and friends.



"I'm Supposed To Be At Home!"
WONDERFUL WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN.
The fact that we lost 7-0 in the 2nd leg of our first venture into the UEFA Cup, to a classy FC København side, doesn't hinder the fact that it was one of the best expierences of my life in following Cliftonville. We were small in numbers (80-100) but described by FCK fans as the most fanatical they'd seen since Celtic and 10,000 of them singing 'Cliftonville' in the magnificent Parken arena will live long in the memory...
Five other highlights of Copenhagen....
1. The 'bowel' Rigsby, the only living Cliftonville-Rangers fan in the world, calling all the girls in København 'sister'.
2. The Red Army and FCK Diciples taking over Nyhavn, the trendiest area of København, and charming everyone from horny Swedish girls to Aussie tourists.
3.The players, Eddie Patterson and Tommy Breslin coming over to us at the end and being genuinely moved by the singing and chanting.
4.The supporters of FC København. the DISCIPLES who looked after the Red Army and swapped badges scarves and shirts, and even when their 'youth wing' of casuals tried to attack us at the end (shitebags), the leader of the main casual group sought us out and apologised!
5. The Cliftonville flags when we walked into the ground. Austria, Danmark, Bawnmore, Castlewellan, Randlestown, Lower Ormeau Reds, (loved the Basque & Palastinian touch Barney) and my wonderful woman managed to capture photos of them all.




Our Danish football correspondent Rune Reggelsen Skjold fairly had his eyes opened that evening. Here are his thoughts on it all...

IT WASN'T THE GAME - IT WAS THE CROWD

How an ordinary Dane ended up watching football in a whole new way...

I admit it -I didn't have any expectations on that Thursday night at Parken. For two reasons: First, I'm from the island of Fyn, pride home of Odense Boldklub (OB), so I don't really care about FCK. Second, after 4-0 to the Danish side two weeks prior, I thought the game would be almost over before it began. I was wrong. Well not on the pitch. I'm sorry, but FCK was the better team that night. Far better. But I admire the Cliftonville-spirit. The Irish guys looked like they enjoyed themselves. At least for the first 20 minutes. They really wanted to show the World – or at least Denmark and Ireland, that they were in the UEFA cup to play football and do it well. Impressive. Although, after 90 minutes it was farewell Europe – and some farewell I must say. But I believe the players had won something. Admiration from the crowd in Parken, the Irish and the Danish. And they deserved it.But it wasn't just the player’s attitude and spirit that impressed me. The Red Army off the field did indeed put a nice touch to the game. Never have I seen – or heard – so few people make such a noise. Singing from first to last whistle, after the game and on the way out of the stadium. Even though their team lost 0-7!?! As a standard Danish football fan I'm not used to that. I don't know the official number of Cliftonville-fans, but I guess there were about a hundred. How they managed to make so much noise, I don't know? How they managed to be able to sing all the way through the game, I don't know.?And how they could keep up the spirit, I don't know? But that probably impressed me the most. I'm a quiet football-fan myself. I usually don't shout all through the game, jumping around swinging my t-shirt over my head. But I think the people who do are funny – in a good way. For someone like me it’s great to see someone give all he or she has to support the team and make some noise, even though the score is 0-7. I will never be the kind of fan who sings through the whole game. I'll probably just sit down if my team is losing 0-7 (yes, I will even sit down if half time-score is 0-3). But I will always remember the spirit I witnessed on and off the pitch from around 111 Irishmen and- women. So I was truly wrong. That game – and what a game - didn't finish until long after the final whistle. And just to let you know – I did even sing a bit in the last ten minutes. COME ON YOU REDS!!!


This is turning into a "tribute" Sean's Pics !!!
This is a link to Sean's Pics. Go on, go on, go on!


"Oh when the Saints..." Fuck did we look young!

Legends of the unspoiled sponsorless Hoops





help required on these photos ???
supplied by Colin McMaster many, many moons ago



If you can't laugh at yourself (1973 style). First scarf/first scarf with patches/ first Hoops. Still have scarf, still have "wings" badge on bar scarf, do not have said Hoops anymore and thankfully the black bathroom tiles are long gone!

Cockles and Muscles Alive Alive Oh!
(we went to Dublin once)Saw The Wolfe Tones in The Wexford Inn the night before the game, a fantastic evening. Have to try and find the ticket stub...

View all previous printed pages of the fanzine.

Issue One front...     p2...    p3...    p4...    p5...    p6...    p7...    p8...    p9...    p10...    p11...  p12...  p13...  p14...  p15...  p16... 

Issue Two front...     p2...    p3...    p4...    p5...    p6...    p7...    p8...    p9...    p10...    p11...  p12...  p13...  p14...  p15...  p16... 

Issue Three front... p2...    p3...    p4...    p5...    p6...    p7...    p8...    p9...  p10+11...  p12...  p13...  p14...  p15...  p16...  p17... p18... p19... p20...

Issue Four front... p2... p3... p4... p5... p6... p7... p8... p9... p10... p12... p13... p14... p15... p16... p17... p18... p19... p20...

the free poster with issue 4 is the image to the left of the programme cover displayed above

Issue Five front... p2... p3... p4... p5... p6... p7... p8... p9... p10... p12... p13... p14... p15... p16... p17... p18... p19... p20... p21... p22... p23... p24... p25... p26... p27... p28... p29... p30... p31... p32...

Issue Six front... p2... p3... p4... p5... p6... p7... p8... p9... p10... p12... p13... p14... p15... p16... p17... p18... p19... p20...

Issue Seven front...

Issue Eight front...

Issue Nine front...

Issue Ten front...

Issue Eleven front...

Issue Twelve front...

Issue Fourteen front...     p2...    p3...    p4...    p5...    p6...    p7...    p8...    p9...    p10...    p11...  p12...  p13...  p14... 
p15...  p16...  p17...  p18...    p19...  p20...  p21...  p22...  p23...  p24...  p25...  p26...  p27...  p28... 

Issue Fifteen front...     p2...    p3...    p4...    p5...    p6...    p7...    p8...    p9...    p10...    p11...  p12...  p13...  p14...  p15...  p16...  p17... 

some of the above are pretty shite and need to be repaired

August '97 front... p20...

the above "p20" is the greatest fanzine piece ever, ever, ever written
Irish Post Soccer section under the heading
More than one team in Ireland



Previously unseen material

Unused issue 6 front cover

Unused issue 15 front cover when Hibernian visited Solitude wearing a wreck of a shirt design

Scannage Miscellenii
for no apparent reason and in no particular order

1980 Scottish Cup final programme
TAL Issue One 
The Wee Red Issue Thirteen
The Wee Red Issue Forty One

Turf Luck !!!
"there's more to life than Bookies you know,
but not much more..."

We all like a wee punt on the fitba', don't we?
Need to emulate this winning bet more often.
scan of betting slip


Whilst listening to the Dundee United game on Radio Scotland, The Man Behind The Wireless was busy looking through his old football comics, these images are from the very first Match Weekly (vol 1 issue 1 Sept 6-12 1979 price 25p).
A caption competition for a picture of Tommy Burns "talking" to Sandy Jardine. Interesting, can't wait to see if he finds the prize winner on this one...
Anyway, some nice wee snippets from yesteryear.