The head of the International Champions Cup has been slabbering to the press today, telling them that in order to maintain our “international presence” that we have to take games against Sevco on the road, and play one abroad every couple of years.
No, no, no, no no.
How many times does this need to be said?
How many times does it need to be pointed out? Celtic fans have exactly zero interest in, or enthusiasm for, this ridiculous idea. Even before the death of Rangers we did not recognise the Old Firm tag as one that applied to us. We absolutely do not want to give legitimacy to it now that one half of it is gone.
To play a Sevco match abroad ties our club to the Survival Myth.
It is unacceptable.
It can never happen and it will never happen.
The Survival Myth itself is about to be torpedoed and wrecked. It is about to be washed away.
Why would we endorse something we know is a lie, built on a foundation of sand, and which is about to collapse?
Celtic’s international presence is just fine. Our support abroad is not “dying out.”
As long as Celtic has roots in the Scottish/Irish diaspora – and we always have and we always will – the notion that we will “die out” is arrant nonsense. We are not, as Rangers were once described, a “provincial West of Scotland football club”; we are an institution with reach far beyond that. Our supporters make friends wherever they go. We are cosmopolitan, inclusive and international. We chose, years ago, to be outward looking, not insular, narrow-minded and closed off.
Charlie Stillitano has one interest in us and only one; money.
A decision to play Sevco abroad would legitimise the worst kind of nonsense and the most blatant lies. It would sell off pieces of our soul for chump change. It would be alienating to our domestic support base – without which there is no club to talk about. We are the lifeblood of it.
The simple truth is that it’s not in our interests to play such a match. It would bring no benefit to our club at all; the only ones who would benefit are King and his people, giving them a momentary hit and a little much-needed exposure. It would rend Celtic in two, creating the very split between the fans and the board which so many have worked hard to heal.
There is not the remotest interest in this amongst the troops.
It’s a dead duck. It’s as simple as that.