Beijing Celtic Into The Unknown  

It wasn’t too long ago but Beijing Celtic FC set an unprecedented and historical landmark for amateur footballers.  

Beijing Celtic, formed by Irish ex-pats in China, became the first ever amateur football club to tour North Korea when they visited Pyongyang in October 2003.   

Celtic’s squad included Irish, English European and Chinese players and their tour itinerary included a match against the State run Travel Company and five-a-side tournament against locals teams and a side made up from international aid workers and diplomats. 

North Korean football, like the country itself, is shrouded in mystery with the national side rarely competing in the World or Asian Cups though they have entered the 2010 World Cup.   

Just like England, North Korea’s greatest days can be traced back to the 1966 World Cup when the Korean’s captured the imagination of the English public and enjoyed great support as they beat Italy and led Portugal 3-0 before falling victim to the brilliance of Eusebio in the quarter-finals.  That was the last time the North Korean national team played in the finals of the World Cup. 

With the Korean borders closed the idea of any football team visiting the country seemed remote but the Celtic tour was arranged by another Beijing resident, film producer Nick Bonner.   

Bonner made the extraordinary documentary The Game of Their Lives in which he traced the surviving members of the North Korean World Cup team and even took them back to their 1966 stamping ground of Middlesborough.   

That film has achieved cult status amongst football supporters and inspired the Beijing Celtic club to try and visit North Korea.  Bonner’s connections enabled the tour to go ahead and the club party, including 21 players, left Beijing on October 25, 2003 with Bonner saying, “It had never been done before.  It was a batty but beautiful idea.  We told the North Korean authorities it was about friendship and understanding.”   

Bonners comments were endorsed by JB Terrins, a Celtic player from Armagh.  He said: “This country (North Korea) has been isolated for so long.  A large element was just about showing these ordinary young guys that foreigners are not necessarily hostile, that we can easily get on well together.” 

In the spirit of friendship the tourists, who at that time played in the Third Division of Beijing’s International Friendly Football Club competition, decided they would take it easy and not embarrass their hosts in the eleven-a-side fixture against the State Travel Company.  

The tourists provided the kit to be worn by their opponents and the Red Cross were on hand to dispense the half-time drinks.  Of course the Celtic players had forgotten exactly what constitutes an ‘amateur’ footballer in a state such as North Korea and our boys were soon chasing shadows doing well to only lose 2-0.  “Oh, well thrown lads,” was the sarcastic after-match summing up of Nick Bonner. 

The after match five-a-side tournament turned into a seven or eight-a-side informal celebration with tourists and hosts evenly mixed into different teams.  This was followed by the predominately Irish Celtic party introducing their Korean counterparts to the ‘craic’ with music and beer well into the night.   

The Beijing Celtic tour hasn’t been replicated since and North Korea remains isolated and still at odds with the rest of the world but maybe they should just send in the footballers again and forget about the politicians?