There’s a petition doing the rounds right now which urges Celtic to ditch Parks of Hamilton as our official team transport.
This is not the first time that the issue has come up, but there’s a new anger behind the suggestion, sparked because of that disgusting letter they sent to the First Minister and the disgraceful self-justifications that it contained.
I’ve long wondered about whether or not we should be doing business with that company; that Park is now chairman at Ibrox reeks of a relationship between the two clubs which is much closer than anyone ever admits in public.
I’ll be writing about that later on, on a wholly separate matter, but for now let’s just say that there’s a lot about the way things are done which disquiet me.
There are two things here; the first is that cosy relationship.
A lot of our fans – and I’m one of them, and I make no bones about it – want nothing to do with that club or anyone in it, in any way, shape or form. It’s an embarrassment to have any connection with them, and the dirt that’s on them – and there’s plenty of it – always seems to wind up on us.
Cutting that chord, doing away with yet another aspect of that relationship, is a good reason in and of itself for ending the contract with have with Parks of Hamilton.
Demonstrate the clean break by actually making one. It has merit. It has logic to it.
I was once less convinced by the other argument; that we put money in their pockets by putting money in his. It is hard now to dispute that some of our cash has found its way into their first team.
When it’s the directors keeping the lights on over there then it stands to reason that anything Park and his son inject into them is partly coming from our own pockets.
The sums involved will be marginal. But is that the point? If, when you bought your season ticket, they told you that even £1 of it was going to the Ibrox club, wouldn’t you raise 99 kinds of Hell over that?
This is what they are doing in effect; they are taking that money from you and giving it to them.
How can the board at Celtic Park think that’s okay?
A lot of our fans are “embarrassed” by this petition; I don’t mind telling you that I’m not in the least bit embarrassed by it. It raises a legitimate question. This is about symbolism and that stuff matters.
It matters more than some at our club want to admit.
There are some inside Parkhead who see this move as petty and small-minded.
Let me tell you, at Ibrox they wouldn’t even consider using a company owned by Celtic directors and nobody would even bother to question that. It’s only small minded if it’s not your own money that’s flowing into their accounts.
I daresay that’s why our fans feel so strongly about it.
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