This weekend is going to be great. When the teams walk onto the turf at Celtic Park for the match the atmosphere will be electric. It will be loud, it will be passionate and it will give our players every bit of encouragement that they need.
Celtic Park will be intimating without being hateful. It will celebratory not supremacist.
When the two teams walk onto the field at Ibrox the atmosphere will be very, very different. The malevolence will palpable. You will be able to taste it in the air, and especially if our club has won the previous two encounters.
The singing will be vile. There will be the tension of barely suppressed violence in the air.
There are those who thing the absence of away fans will spoil the “spectacle.” This is largely nonsensical. What it will do is highlight the stark difference between two separate sets of fans and two different ways of following their clubs.
If you blindfolded a total novice and stuck him in the crowds at either game he or she would be able, immediately, to tell that the mood at one was markedly different than at the other, and this is not about one side being on top and the other playing catch up … that difference is found in the ethos, culture and identity of the two clubs.
I might be in the minority, but I would never have their fans back in Celtic Park again. It’s only when you experience the atmosphere without them that you realise the sheer toxicity they bring to the whole experience. I was stunned at how good the Parkhead game was that night in February last year when we pulverised them.
I had always thought that the game would have a different feel to it without them, but the actual raw experience of it exceeded my expectations by miles. And whilst I’ve sat in opposition stands to watch Celtic and been a “neutral” at three Edinburgh derbies, I will not, willingly, sit in the Ibrox crowd for any reason, far less for one of these games.
There are fans who don’t believe that games against the Ibrox club hit their heights without rival supporters.
I accept the view. People are entitled to that opinion.
But we should be hammering home the point that this feels like a different, a better, fixture without the hate surrounding it.
If there was a way to leech it out of their support they would be as welcome as any other fans … until then I honestly would prefer it if this was the “new normal.”
THEY should never be allowed to pollute the atmosphere at Celtic Park again.
They do so by their very presence; Fascists in The Holy Ground spewing their litany of filth.
Sine Die I say.
Who ye kiddin, thats just tbh, cringy, righteous bullshit ?! Although ah think the ibrox crowd are worse, Celtic Park wont be without it’s own hate at this game, or any other against them. Nonsense man.
Without their fans present to focus our hatred on it will be slightly diminished in that regard, but nevertheless the bitterness will still be there from our side. I have always worshipped the ground that they are going into and that will never change. I curse every last one of them.
I’m particularly looking forward to:-
Fk you Rangers we’re gonna win the league
Totally agree!
Sometimes I find it difficult to rise above childishness. How funny would it be if sevco took to the pitch to met by a Green Brigade banner which read:
Paradise welcomes the worst ever CL team.
No hatred. No sectarianism. Just a fun fact.
A fun fact that would get well and truly under their skin.
I like it Jimmy, a very good idea.
@ Jimmy R. Nah, there should be an ‘acceptable’ level of hatred when we’re playin them.
Totally agree, no more huns at Parkhead. We’ve played abroad and at away grounds with few if any Celtic fans present. We’d obviously prefer to be present but that’s not always possible. So to keep our ground hun free and
Infected I’d accept none of us face the dangers of going to ibrokes.
Remember, it was all down to them. 7000 Bhoys celebrating was too much.
My biggest concern will be the use of green smoke pyros ! Obviously there will be only one set of fans inside Paradise ,so the SMSM will have a field day in their reporting of Celtic fans and dangerous toys causing havoc ! Don’t give them the slightest chance to criticise when the emphasis should be on Celtic destroying the Rangers !
Totally agree with this article James. If you are in a minority of not wanting that horde of hate at Paradise then it will be a very large minority, though I personally believe it’s the majority and a large one. It’s not about having away fans, it’s about the bigotry, the hatred, the sectarianism they bring. Those songs should not be welcome anywhere in society. The fact that the media and press raise their voices over the songs of hate and call it a great atmosphere at the midden should mean that their not welcome either. Paradise will be bouncing and what a sight to see and be part of. Pure joy.
It has to change and if they change their behaviour, their kulture of hatred and evidence that at the midden over a period of years at the cauldron of hatred then that’s a different consideration but I wouldn’t count on it. Nobody needs that in their life and no one should be reporting on it with glee and expect favour.
@Jimmy R. Great shout Jimmy
Ain’t gonnae happen mate. Certainly no in the foreseeable future. They have too much of an element in their support AND board steeped and invested in it. Though my earlier comment was toungue in cheek, ah believe wherever they go, bigotry and vitriol are camp followers and the way ah see it, its the serial haters, that make people hate in return. And ah personally hate them (that element, not all), for that.
The Rangers* have a bitter, critical mob around them, that’s why it was an advantage to them in the Covid season to have the crowd omitted, whereas it was a disadvantage to Celtic to lose their positive support.
Delighted to hear you say you don’t want them in Celtic Park. They are horrible people full of hatred.
The JEALOUSY FROM THEM IS NOT FROM NORMAL LIVING HUMANS.NEANDERTHALS EVERY ONE OF THEM,LIVIN IN THE PAST.WE ARE THE NORMAL PEOPLE,AND ALWAYS WILL BE.