Death puts football in perspective, as Celtic fans are presently aware.

The spectre of death is not dissimilar to the air we breathe. Its presence is constant and obvious, yet largely undiscussed, especially when we go to Celtic Park.

In the case of dying, it can be as though ignorance will somehow fend off its inevitable approach. Events this week and today show the futility of this.

There are two scenarios where this mistaken bubble is burst; the passing of a loved one, something that escapes the notice of society as a whole. And, of course, the death of a notable figure, especially at a young age.

The disaster in Spain involving Liverpool’s Diogo Jota – and his brother Andre Silva – gives such an example, and it is a reminder of the fleeting nature of existence.

From a Celtic perspective, almost no-one alive now would have witnessed the tragedy of John Thomson, but its impact was surely no less profound, and lives on in the club’s collective memory.

In our youth, it is easy to believe we will live forever. Even, in Thomson’s case, where symbols of a destructive war still looked large in public consciousness.

And for our sporting heroes, perhaps this is even more the case. We celebrate athletic success as showing the fittest of humanity, so to lose someone of this ilk can strike home all the more.

The 1931 devastation which befell Thomson, his family and the wider Celtic community is obvious. The desire of thousands to attend his funeral, making the long walk from Glasgow and elsewhere, is testimony to this.

And yet then, like now, through sadness and tragedy, the only option is to look to tomorrow, whilst remembering and preserving the echoes of those that have gone before.

All football fans – especially those who frequent Parkhead – have a sense of history and heritage, whether it is their club’s or their own. The presence of those family that started your footballing love affair never leaves supporters of all clubs.

At Celtic Park, the visual symbols are obvious. Simply walking up the Celtic Way and seeing bricks and stones named for those long gone shows the connection between sport and memory.

The challenge in all such situations is to make the sadness which understandably accompanies these events have meaning. And this involves embracing the reality that there will one day be a conclusion for us all.

Living your life as a celebration of now – alongside thoughts for others and the future – is the best way to try and exist, even on those days when perhaps it feels difficult. That means appreciating small things, as well as embracing occasional big moments when they come.

Sadly, it is not difficult across the years to think of Scottish football people that have too soon departed this world, whether during their playing career or at a young age; Johnny Doyle, Phil O’Donnell, Tommy Burns, Norrie McCathie and Davie Cooper to name but a few.

And now at Liverpool, to that list is added Diogo Jota. He played at a club indelibly linked with one particular Scottish manager: Bill Shankly. His most famous quote is of course “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”

Yesterday’s horrible events disprove that. Nothing matters more than life, and the positive influence that the living can bring to others around them. But football can be an important part of that, creating communities and togetherness that unite otherwise often disparate peoples, which is partly what the Anfield Ayrshireman truly meant.

Today sees the funeral of a Celtic legend, John Clark. A Lisbon Lion and part of the club’s fabric for decades, his passing was a very different experience from Jota and Silva. However, the outcome was the same for them all, and one which eventually waits us too, whatever your personal belief of what comes thereafter.

And so to each of them goes the wish ‘Requiescat in pace’, and anyone else who today may be mourning. It is the best that we can hope for, and if it follows a positive life, surely what we can expect too.

Matthew Marr is a Celtic fan and historian, and a long-time contributor to the site. He is the author of the book The Bould Bhoys: Glory To Their Name and runs a series of Celtic history tours which you can check out here.