LOCAL comedian and actor Tim McGarry remembers Cliftonville's bad patch: "It was called the 20th century," he says. The north Belfast man, whose family connections with the Solitude club stretch back to the late 1940s, has been a die-hard Reds fan since childhood.
"I used to be brought to Solitude as a punishment by my dad in the early '70s," Tim recalls.
"He'd say: 'If you don't behave yourself, you're going to watch Cliftonville'.
"I remember when there were six people in the crowd and, if we got a corner, we went mad."
Tim's father Philip was the club doctor and his uncle Kevin McGarry was a prolific goalscorer with the Reds during the 1950s.
In fact, Kevin McGarry's goal haul of 170 remains a club record to this day. Kevin went on to manage Cliftonville before becoming club president.
Tim adds: "Freddie Jardine, who must be 190 now, used to ring up my da about players with sore knees on a Thursday night to see if he could sort them out for Saturday.
"My cousin Johnny Campbell is now the club doctor and his nephew Brian Campbell is the kit-man. So there is a big family connection."
Due to a pre-arranged family holiday, the popular Hole In The Wall Gang member will miss Cliftonville's historic Champions League matches with Celtic.
"The embarrassing and shameful and horrible thing to say is that I booked a holiday with my wife nine months ago and I'm flying out on Wednesday, July 17 and flying back on Wednesday, July 24, so I'm actually missing both Celtic matches. I can't believe it.
"The divorce lawyers were consulted briefly... It's one of those things. I was there in 1979 when we won the Irish Cup.
"I missed the day we won the league in 1998 because I was in a police station filming an episode of Give My Head Peace at the time, so it kind of goes well when I'm not there.
"I'm really sorry I'm missing it, but if I'm not there we might sneak a result."
Tim's comedic expertise was called upon by Reds manager Tommy Breslin before a couple of big games last season.
"I told a few jokes to the players before the Irn Bru League Cup final against Crusaders where we won 4-0... I did the same before the Irish Cup final and they were still shite!"
Tim (above) attended the huge majority of Cliftonville's home matches last season and a handful of away games as the Reds clinched their first league title since '98.
"I was one of the Red Army in the '70s and '80s and I then stopped going," Tim says.
"Then, my kids came along and they're mad into football. So they're keen to go.
"When Eddie Patterson was manager I began to go a lot more often because they started to challenge again and they became a decent team. But last season was unbelievable.
"The quality of football was great and Tommy Breslin is just a brilliant man-manager and has done superb."
Tim's best memory of last season was Geordie McMullan's last-gasp penalty winner against Linfield at Solitude, while his two all-time favourite Reds players are John Platt and Chris Scannell.
While he won't be able to attend next Wednesday night's first leg at Solitude, Tim hasn't ruled out the Reds causing an upset.
"I think they can," he says. "The quality of Scottish football is not a billion miles away from the Irish League. If they have an off-day and we have a good day, you never know. And the crowd will be mad for it.
"Celtic will probably think they can beat us 10-nil at Parkhead, but it would be nice to come away with something."
? TIM McGarry will continue his hugely popular and regularly updated stand-up show Irish History Lesson in Belfast's Lyric Theatre on August 16.