An SNP Councillor Should Be Asked To Explain His Apparent Slur Against Celtic Supporters.

Celtic fans are amongst the most politically engaged football supporters in the country. This is a fact.

There are various strands of political opinion running through our number, but nobody can deny that Celtic fans are switched on, that we care about political issues and that nobody has to tell us that we should use our votes and make our voices heard.

That’s why it never ceases to amaze me how many politicians have, over the years, gone out of their way to colossally disrespect us, and with an election looming next year and the SNP’s numbers pretty much in the toilet it’s probably not a great time for one of their elected officials to take a swipe at us when talking to the media.

As some of you will probably know, there was a proposal in front of Glasgow City Council recently about a “pop up bar” at Celtic Park. Celtic themselves opposed the policy because we saw stewarding issues and we’ve got our own bars inside the ground on match days to consider.

The club’s position is pretty easy to understand.

With the club not in favour of it, and the police having their own concerns, you can see that the idea was dead on arrival. There are a lot of valid reasons for turning the application down, and so there was zero need for any kind of gratuitous commentary.

Nevertheless, that is exactly what SNP Councillor Alex Wilson provided. “I don’t think football and alcohol are a good mix,” he said. “Particularly with this fan base.”

And I think we’re entitled to know exactly what he means by that.

It’s a needless comment, thrown in there just for the sake of it.

If you detect some deep-seated resentments towards us in there then you read it precisely as I have, and if you check the guy out, which of course I did very briefly, you’ll find out that he is actually a football fan … a St Mirren supporter going by his social media posts.

So that makes his dig at our fans all the more obvious.

People who serve on the licensing committee are supposed to be objective.

That kind of uncalled for and unsolicited commentary, that clear hint of prejudice against Celtic supporters as a whole – there is no other way to look at that – suggests strongly that he’s incapable of that, and I sincerely hope that he is not dealing with the club on weightier matters.

I don’t expect an explanation. I don’t expect an apology. But if he was my local councillor, I’d be voting for somebody else when re-election time comes around.

He’s not exactly a notable figure in the city’s governance; if you Google his name you get stories from three years ago about how he abandoned his wife and his autistic kids to shack up with another SNP councillor … so he wouldn’t be a great loss to the political or social firmament.

What those comments appear to reveal is a small-minded and petty attitude towards our fans that might spring from West of Scotland prejudice.

It might spring from being a follower of a small club with the natural envy of the big boys or he might just be a completely brainless dolt who isn’t even aware that those words reek of bigotry… I really don’t care what his motivations are.

If he wants to explain them I’m sure we’ll be happy to hear what he says, but honestly, I think that remark is pretty pathetic and so l’ll file this away until the local elections which, fortunately for him, are still some time away.

The general election is much closer and if he was an MP these would be very interesting comments to share with some of his constituents. When you consider that the Ibrox sect aren’t voting for these guys in the first place they need all the friends they can get.

In the meantime, if you feel like contacting him and asking for an explanation, go right ahead. His details are easy enough to find, although I’m not sharing them here. Google is your friend in this regard, and under the circumstances, I couldn’t offer you one good reason not to.