John Reid,the Celtic chairman and former Home Secretary celebrates St Patrick's Day, laments his team's defeat, takes part in talks on national security - and scoffs his grandchildren's Easter eggs

The Scottish Cup replay between Celtic and Aberdeen takes place on Tuesday and as Celtic chairman, I head to our home ground. Politics are tame compared to football. In politics, a week is a long time. But in football, it's an absolute age. There's the equivalent of a general election every week. We move from the heights of euphoria to the depths of despair in the space of minutes.

Never truer than when salvation or defeat comes in the dying seconds of a match. With a full 90 minutes to cram the action into, you would think that fate would spare us that heartstopping final minute. That's what makes football what it is to the neutral observer. But we're not neutral observers. We're fan(atic)s.

Celtic gained the right to this replay courtesy of a late goal in the final few seconds of injury time at Aberdeen. Euphoria and salvation. Tonight, in the replay, we dominate completely - and lose everything by one goal. Cup exit and despair. At that moment, I am not club chairman, just another Celtic fan.

My heart goes out to our fans, many of whose week depends entirely on this result. I understand that feeling, I share it. To the avid supporter, it's health-undermining stuff. Who said sport was the way to a longer life? Not if you're a football club chairman. As Bill Shankly once said, football is not a matter of life and death - it's much more serious than that. Oh, for the quiet, healthy and stress-free days in the cabinet!

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