Before the kick-off at the weekend, I wrote an article where I suggested that our club should put the Ibrox club on notice about the behaviour of their supporters.
I said that we should be willing to take on the SPFL if necessary and ban their fans if there was disorder.
Whatever the punishment is for not giving them tickets, we should make it clear that we were willing to risk that and even fight it if the league body did in fact try to impose one.
The aftermath of the match has convinced me that the time for that has come.
The disorder towards the end of the game was severe. Worse was what came next, and it’s what came next which convinces me, finally, that this matter needs shutting down.
It is clear that the current situation is untenable. The decision to cut the allocations to the point where the away fans need to be surrounded in a ring of steel is clearly unsafe and it was manifestly obvious that it would be. Yet Ibrox was allowed to do this, and the police and the governing bodies rolled over for it.
So, as The Celtic Star pointed out in an excellent article yesterday, we have a limited number of choices about what we do in the future.
The allocation can be increased, a little, but that’s problematic.
Things can go back to the way they were before, which Ibrox will simply not agree to because it would involve a conflict with its own fans, we can continue as we are … or we can ban their fans altogether.
Clearly, continuing as we are is going to cause problems and those problems will haunt us all the way through the next campaign, setting up four potential flashpoints and putting our fans at risk.
If we, as a club, accept that then we are partially responsible for anything that goes wrong … that’s just an unavoidable fact. For the good of our fans we cannot accept that.
We know that things will not go back to where they were before; those days are done as long as Ibrox is digging in its heels, and I’ll get back to that later on and expand on it a bit because there’s a greater point to make about that.
Their club will certainly argue that the allocation we’ve been given is as high as they can go.
We cannot realistically give them many more tickets without renouncing our own policy of reciprocity, and even if we were willing to it would create two different standards of safety at the two grounds; their fans would be safer at our ground than ours are at theirs, so the club’s perverse position would be giving them greater security than our fans would get.
That’s obviously untenable for any number of reasons. Rule that out completely.
For the good of public safety, and for the good of our own reputation – there is an element of our support which is just dying to go toe to toe with theirs and unless we get rid of that element the only other thing to do is neutralise it by keeping the two sides apart – the argument shifts more and more in favour of refusing away tickets and banning them from our house.
I would ban them, not just on the basis that their own hard-core are anti-Catholic and anti-Irish reprobates but because it is increasingly clear that their views are reflected in the boardroom.
It is their demented statement, accepting no responsibility whatsoever and slandering our fans and the club itself, blaming police and stewards and stoking hatred, which convinces me that these fixtures are now inherently dangerous and unsuitable for away supporters.
There is creating a siege mentality and there’s putting your own fans on a war footing, and as far as I’m concerned that’s what they did.
If you are saying that the authorities did nothing to “protect you” then you are as good as telling people that they have to solve that problem by themselves and you don’t need to be Einstein to work out what the logical progression of that kind of thinking is. Their club, more than their fans, has made this an obvious call.
They are not the only ones who should be banned from Celtic Park.
The Daily Record’s sensationalist coverage of this has had a profoundly anti-Celtic bent to it.
They have regurgitated Ibrox’s comments without subjecting them to the slightest examination and yesterday they ran two separate stories which slandered our supporters without a scintilla of evidence.
The longer our club continues to tolerate that, the more of it we will be subjected to and fans are sick and tired of it and cannot understand why the club permits it.
I know we are not in favour of banning newspapers but there comes a time when enough is enough, and the fans reached that point long ago. We’re waiting on the club now to get there.
Totally agree.
But nobody needs ‘to be banned’ – which might cause an issue with the SPFL.
Simply state up front that any away tickets for Ibrox will be politely declined for next season – as the Celtic fans’ safety cannot be guaranteed.
Ibrox will promptly issue an angry statement – and quoting the same action.
Job done.
£100,000 deposit upfront for any damage to the stadium that will keep them away
I’d say, no, do ban them and to Hell with the opinion of the governing bodies. Very publicly state our reasons for doing so, make it clear that we will not invite intolerant bigots who wish us dead into our house ever again. They started this, we can finish it by showing the world just what their perverse hatred has caused.
Maybe we should just do away with the concept of “away supporters” full stop. No more rammies if it’s just the home fans there (except at the Debtdome, where they’ll riot at the drop of a sash). Maybe no more “blue pound” might make the other clubs actually brave enough to challenge these insane clowns at Liebrox? Perhaps these clubs could find a business model that doesn’t rely on 4 home fixtures against us and them? Or perhaps it might finally lead to some clubs going under and the herd being thinned (far too many clubs in the pro game for such a wee place).
I’m fairly sure that non- footie fans in these places woild welcome such an idea too….
Fully agree, and as to your point about journalists or certain newspapers I concur with that as well. Most of our sensible supporters rarely if ever buy the rags anyway so there would be no great loss but I would encourage any supporter with aa business not to subscribe to their advertising as well really hit them were it counts. As some of us know a once well known daily had a subscription of nearly 800,000 and it is down below 300,000 now and dwindling so they wont be needing as many journalists on their payrol and as their vile is only read by the opposition there is nothing to lose on our part. There is also the cost of policing them which would be a big saving for the club and make it a more pleasant experience for our own fans.
It’s a no brainer….ban them, sine die.
Celtic can’t be hostage to machinations at Ibrox. Back to the way it was or ban them until it is.
i have argued the case for long enough that these games should be played midweek. if the police and government had any moral fibre they would tell sky sports that under no circumstances they are played at weekends especially bank holidays. it is a disgrace that the ordinary public have to rearrange their leisure time due to a bigoted hatefest that is a blight on society in the 21st century. i agree that no away fans should be allowed in.
Ban “uncle Tom” English too for blaming it all on Celtic fans.
A precedent has been already set, the league and sfa, allowed the ibrox club, to ban our fans, so there is no legal grounds to oppose it, as for the daily record, they should have been banished, a long time ago.
After the 3-0 game I really enjoyed the day, the atmosphere, result etc, I did not miss the away support who only bring negativity to derby day, as witnessed at the weekend.
I really don’t understand anyone who wishes to invite our neighbours to Celtic Park to cause damage, attack our fans and club representatives and belt out racist and bigoted songs.
When they are not present there is less police required, entry and exiting the stadium is easier, there is no threat of violence, no racism and a better experience is provided for all.
Ban The Rangers.
They need us, hence the constant OF references.
We do not need THEM and the constant association via the OF shite diminishes us.
Time to pull the plug and let the huns fester in their own corruption.
Good riddance to the fascist scum.
No Tims at the Crumbledome and no huns EVER at CelticPark.
Don’t let them back in, it’s that simple, then we can enjoy the game for what it is, a football match not a bigot fest or a rerun of a 17th century battle that only they revel in.
Ban them forever! I rather not even play them! They live to hate and they have not need to change either is in brigadoon it’s ok as it’s an: o f” problem! Joke! No wonder they love that title as it shields them but everyone knows and I mean Everyone! That they are a perma raging, poisonous scum they will never change they are filled with hate and actually think the colour green justifies their vile hate and violence! They sicken me and make our great stadium unsafe for us kids! Remember they are next to our family section! Ban then Celtic it’s long overdue and sorry but no blighting about not going to that hellhole from win fan please! They dont want you there! And its extremely unsafe. Me personally I gave tickets away in the past for that cespit! Sekf imposed from there long long ago!So Ban them Celtic and tell the World why! ( tho they all know they are vile sectarian, racist filth)As I am sick of them getting a pass on their poisonous, hate filled hoardes Ban them now!
Self imposed ban on myself I mean
These are not fans of an OF. That club is deid and buried as evidenced by the daily rangers frontpage in 2012. The newco fans and papers are now a different type of animal. They’re not scum, they’re proper scum and they’re very proud of it. The papers have become a disgraceful propaganda medium through which their bigoted bias is normalised and the tv media fails to make objective reporting because its infiltrated by employee haters and pushers of a survival lie. Much like pretty much all governing bodies in Scotland and they’re too scared to challenge it as their own existence may be jeopardized by a hun rebellion. They were willed and buffeted by their strong hun representation to lose the Catholic/Celtic followers of their trash because of a strong unionist following but if the huns turn against them, then they’re gone too. They know this hence what we have now.
So it is time to stop entry to Paradise for them all. No doubt about it.
We, the Celtic fans and club, are being dragged into a conflict of bias misinformation and misrepresentation by newco scum while their newspaper/media support report and manipulate us into their hatred as the offenders. Their staunch aggressiveness is trying to tease us into responses that they hope will drag us in the gutter with them, where they and their reputation lives and consequential punishment is transferred to us.
It good that you’re finally committing 100% to this James because it truly is in our fans health and the club’s long term interest and reputation. Ban them.
The Herald and Daily Record coverage of Scottish football is a national embarrassment. How these people can look in the mirror and call themselves journalists is puzzling. Sadly it is time to allow home fans only into Celtic Park when we play them.
The horror stories from Celtic fans who attended the match at Ibrox a few weeks ago and how they were pelted non stop by missiles went completely unreported. On top of that our players and backroom staff were also subjected to non stop missiles and abuse.
They are a club who appointed a DUP member from NI as their PR man could you imagine the outcry if Celtic appointed any Sinn Fein member to any official position in our club.
Ban them from Paradise.
I have bn advocating this for ages it’s now getting far to dangerous so the only way is old firm games home fans only.
Yes, shut them out, it was their idea anyway. When you invite trash in your house don’t expect anything other than have to deal with it. If there are any rules about ticket allocations then they must be applied ‘across the board’.