We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing earlier this week of lifelong Glenman Bertie Taylor, at the age of 95 years old. We pass on deepest condolences to Bertie's family and friends.
This interview with Bertie appeared in the Belfast Telegraph in October 2021. We believe it is a fitting epitaph to a great member of the Glentoran family and are proud to reproduce it by way of a tribute.
Genial Glentoran fan Bertie Taylor has a host of tales to tell
÷ 92-year-old Bertie has been a regular at Glentoran games since 1939 ÷ Monaghan boy recalls rushing home from game during Belfast Blitz ÷ Dedicated supporter has toasted 15 of Glens’ 23 Irish League titles ÷ Proud grandfather would dearly love to see redeveloped ‘third’ Oval
Passionate Glentoran supporter Bertie Taylor is 92 years young.
Born in county Monaghan early in 1929, a love affair with the Cock n’ Hens started when the Taylor family relocated to Orangefield in east Belfast, where Bertie’s father milked cows for a living.
Bertie first went to his beloved Oval on his 10th birthday, became a regular the next year and has now been following the team for over EIGHT decades. He was there for Tuesday’s crushing defeat against Linfield and loves travelling to away games with grandson Scott.
He is a wonderful man with a remarkable memory and is the type of loyal fan that helps make the Irish League what it is.
Throughout our conversation, he brings up specific matches that are etched in his mind like the 2003 Irish Cup Final when Roy Coyle’s exhilarating side were going for the clean sweep only to lose 1-0 to Coleraine at Windsor Park.
“That was a good Glentoran team to watch and we had players like Colin Nixon, Paul Leeman and Gary Smyth who had come through the ranks which has always been important to our club,” he says.
“How we didn’t win that Final, I don’t know. I remember the actor Jimmy Nesbitt going crazy because his Coleraine team won!”
Bertie could write his own movie script about his life roaring on the Glens.
“It was in 1939 that I was allowed to go to the Oval for my tenth birthday,” he says, smiling at the thought.
“Before I was 10 years old, I wasn’t allowed to go because my mother was very protective of the family. After that, I would go regularly.
“I remember during the Second World War being at a game against Derry City and the air raid siren went before the match was over and I ran home as quickly as I could. That was the last game I saw at the old Oval.”
The reason for that was because in the Belfast Blitz of 1941, the famous football ground was bombed by Adolf Hitler’s Luftwaffe planes. It would be several years before Bertie and the Glens supporters would return to a newly built stadium. With plans to modernise the current ground, one of the oldest Irish League fans around is keen to see the redevelopment take place.
Bertie says: “I want it redeveloped. I’ve said to my grandson Scott, if I’m spared I’d love to see the new Oval because that would be the third Oval I’ve seen. The first one was before the air raid and the second one is the one we have now. I have lots of great memories from this ground but it’s time the supporters had an up to date stadium.”
Glentoran have won the League title 23 times in their history.
Bertie has been alive for 15 of them yet his most cherished recollections come from European adventures with the standout an iconic 1977 tie against Italian giants Juventus, managed by Giovanni Trapattoni with legendary players Dino Zoff, Gaetano Scirea, Claudio Gentile, Marco Tardelli, Franco Causio and Roberto Bettega.
“The best times were when I followed Glentoran in Europe. We played some great sides over the years,” he says.
“I remember going to see us play in Italy against Juventus who had some marvellous players in their team. When we got back from the match, we were told not to go to bed because there was an air traffic controller strike the next day and we were leaving at four o’clock in the morning for Berne in Switzerland. That was some trip!
“When that match was over, Dino Zoff gave our goalkeeper Dennis Matthews his top and Dennis wore it playing for Glentoran for the rest of that season.”
When asked for his favourite Glentoran player, Bertie rhymes off a list of contenders, but finally it comes down to two of the club’s all-time greats.
“Jim Cleary and Billy Caskey,” he says. “What a player Jim was. Nobody could put a through ball into another player’s path like Jim. He always had that touch of class and I adored Billy Caskey too for the way he played. What a heart he had.”
The best opposition player?
“A fella called John McKenna who played for Linfield in the 1940s,” declares Bertie.
“He tore Glentoran to bits every time he played us. He went across to Huddersfield Town and was a Northern Ireland international. More recently, Glenn Ferguson for Linfield was very good.”
Asked what Glentoran means to him, Bertie replies: “It means everything. I still love going to the games with my grandson Scott.
“The results don’t matter just as much as to me now as they used to do, but I still like to win, especially against Linfield because they are the biggest matches.
“I want to keep going to the games for as long as I can. The Oval feels like home to me.’’
Bertie with his grandson Scott