Celtic sent a very clear message to The Green Brigade last night, and in particular in light of their latest attention-seeking “release”. And the message is this; if they want their money back, they can have it. But if they want to return to Celtic Park that is going to mean abiding by the rules of the house.
All of them. Not just the ones that suit them.
And Celtic is entirely right to do this. There is more at stake here than the atmosphere in the stadium, and I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who think that’s the only consideration. It is not, and nor should it be.
The door to a return is open, but just a crack.
That, frankly, is more than I ever expected. These guys should be on their knees thanking people that the door hasn’t been closed firmly in their face already because their conduct towards club staff and fellow fans, their complete refusal to toe the line and obey the rules and their arrogance towards those at the club whose responsibilities they clearly cannot even fathom defies belief.
I don’t know whether The Green Brigade is really this stupid, or whether, as some seem to believe, they have been co-opted by radical elements who couldn’t give a toss about Celtic and only want to promote their own extremist causes, and you know what? I really don’t care any longer.
The sooner this matter is resolved permanently, and I don’t care how that’s done, whether it’s with them making a return or being shown the door for good, the better for Celtic … but that doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that it needs settled at all costs.
The club cannot afford to back down. It either imposes its conditions and enforces them or we’ll have anarchy in the stands. It’s that simple. Perhaps there are people amongst our support who would not mind that. They are in a very small minority.
I do not want a renegade fan group having the run of Celtic Park, and I don’t believe many people in the support do. Their posturing doesn’t impress me one bit. Their tactic of ignoring the club’s stated reasons for the ban, and making themselves out as though they are being persecuted doesn’t wash for one second with those of us who know the facts, and those facts are in the public domain.
People say they don’t believe the club. Well, that’s up to them.
When it comes to backing the manager, I’ll trust them when they do it.
When it comes to running this club on merit instead of using it to inflate the egos of various families, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Today there’s a report that says we’re looking for buyers for Gustaf Lagerbeilke in the January window; I’ll be posting on that later, because if it’s true that’s shambolic and plainly ridiculous.
But those are issues of policy and the club and I are at odds on that … in this case the club cannot allow some of the conduct that has taken place and they are entirely right to act.
I keep on seeing this “suggestion” that the club should “sort this out.”
Some of these people sound like mainstream hacks trying to blame us for the Ibrox ticket standoff; we keep getting told we need to sort that out too, but in both of these cases Celtic is in the right, Celtic has set conditions for a return to what there was before and Celtic will not budge until those conditions are met, it’s that simple.
The Green Brigade knows what it has to do just as the Ibrox club knows what it has to do. The door is open for a settlement of these matters … but that’s up to others to step up to the mark. Celtic’s position is crystal clear and in neither case is that position unreasonable.
I read a handful of comments yesterday from people who were at the game the other night bemoaning the lack of an atmosphere and demanding that the club basically back down over this matter just to get singing back at Celtic Park.
And the question that automatically comes to mind here for me is “What the Hell were you doing all night?”
The issue I have with this is the utter abrogation of any responsibility here.
They want the club to allow anti-social behaviour to go unpunished because they personally can’t be bothered to start a song. They want The Green Brigade in the ground to do what they aren’t prepared to do themselves and they don’t care what the impact is on Celtic itself.
And ultimately, the people making this demand aren’t accountable. They don’t have to deal with the consequences, not in any literal sense.
They don’t have to comfort members of our staff who’ve felt threatened at times.
They don’t have to worry about whether the club’s liability insurance will be needed if someone is hurt by a firework. They don’t have to field calls from the media and others asking if the club has any comment about fans flying flags supporting the PFLP.
If a section of the stadium is shut because of what goes on in the stands these same people will be screaming at the club not to take that lying down.
The same people already want us to pick a fight with UEFA and why? Because they’ve swallowed, hook, line and sinker the blatant lie that we were fined for flying the Palestinian flag.
UEFA itself has denied this and the blogs have covered it, yet to those people our club has behaved badly and shown weakness.
Instead of what? Telling them to piss off and inviting a major sanction that does real harm? I mean, how many braincells do you need in your head to know that’s utter madness even on the Ibrox Moon Howler scale?
To me this is like an expended version of the pyro debate, since it is in part connected to the pyro debate. That’s also one characterised by people saying the club has to “work with these guys to find a solution.”
Unless the club can change the law of the land, what exactly do people think the solution to this is? Are Celtic actually being asked to – and expected to – assist people in breaking the law? How can anybody think that’s a credible point of view?
The accusation that this is about flags – specifically that it’s about Palestine – doesn’t stand up for even one second of scrutiny. Just for the record, by the way, we’re not the only club whose directors are a bit leery of having this issue in their stadium.
No club on this island would want any part of this debate in their stands, and for a good reason; this is not one of those black and white issues, there is nuance here, there are issues peripheral to this which cannot easily be seperated from it, and the Cliff Notes “understanding” of this … it’s just not good enough.
Football grounds are not the place for a debate like this. Hell, if some of the smartest people on the planet can’t agree a way forward on it, or easily navigate it, some armchair revolutionary has no chance.
For God’s sake, The Green Brigade wants to fight with St Pauli over this because their fans have expressed some sensitivity to the plight of the Jewish people. To criticise them for that, to hold that against them, is both tone deaf and moronic, and emblematic of how extreme their position has become.
Bear in mind that not once have they expressed the slightest regret for that banner which upset many people connected to Celtic including one of our own players, and led so many, many of us to believe they endorsed that atrocity.
But even that tiny number in our support who would be perfectly prepared to do that should at least draw the line at the physical intimidation of our own club staff, because every one of us would be beyond pissed off if we found out that visiting supporters had treated Celtic stewards like that, and anyone who would condemn that and excuse this isn’t playing for the right team.
Celtic will get its way here because it has to.
When this game kicks off today there will be 50,000 of our fans inside the ground, and so any talk at all that the board has compromised the team by banning 200 or so … it’s absurd, absolutely absurd.
If the tens of thousands of us who are there can’t muster up the enthusiasm to get behind this team properly, then maybe we’re the problem, not the men and women at the club who had to take this difficult, but correct, decision and now have no option but to see it through.
I want the GB back but only if they stop letting off those stupid and dangerous pyros and smoke bombs. No more banners that cost the club thousands in fines from UEFA and maybe those irritating drums…. but unless they agree to abide by these conditions keep them out.
If they agree to them and are allowed to return the first breach of the conditions, the first pyros then ban them for life. It’s not about flags… they know it.
A wonderful article and top marks for telling it how it is and not falling for the propaganda of the GB and their sycophantic followers!
They attacked club employees 3 home games in a row, attacked fellow fans at away games and broke into the stadium all in the space of a month yet their apologists flog this tired lie they’ve been banned because of flags!
Can you supply evidence of this, these are very serious crimes you allege.
The Newton Mearns Gentrified Mafia. Are universally despised at Celtic Park. I’m talking about Peter Lawell and Dermot Desmond.
As for Just Stop Oil. They are good people.
An excellent article, James.
I’m surprised that Celtic would even consider letting the Green Brigade back, given its repeated failure – more accurately, refusal – to abide by the club’s own rules (which is a condition for entry to the stadium), UEFA’s requirements and the law of the land. The Green Brigade’s actings are a principal reason why strict liability is back on the agenda – if that is imposed on football clubs, and if the Green Brigade and their like are allowed into Celtic Park, the club’s concerns will multiply. Insofar as the Green Brigade thinks of itself as some kind of revolutionary vanguard it is arrogant and deluded. Let’s not be fooled by these people: they don’t turn up at Celtic Park to support the team, they attend to promote their own agenda. Keep them out, Mr Nicholson!
Brilliant article. The goon brigade doesn’t own Celtic Football Club like the rest of us we are just passing through the History of our great club. Celtic was here long before the goon brigade were even born and will be here long after we are all gone.
We should feel delighted and proud to be part of the history of Glasgow Celtic
That was the best article that I have read on this subject. You are spot on the GB think they are the be all & end all my advice to them take your refund & go!!!
I agree Celtic cannot accept anti-social behaviour. However, the issues should have been resolved a long time ago. To let this feud and impasse rumble on does us no good at all and is causing division amongst our support.
We should be united as a club.
It has become a running story and side show, in the MSM and now our board think its acceptable to make statements on the issue, via rags like the Record, who as you know, is no friend of Celtic.
We only have 1 SLO, which for a club with a fan base as vast as ours is grossly inadequate. We should have a team of SLOs to support and service the needs of all our supporters, including creating positive communication with all fans, including our ultra groups. We wpuld much better equipped to develop new initiatives to enhance match day experience.
I do also think the rest of our support should be more vocal at games with or without the bhoys or GB influence. We’ve become too passive. That has to change in my view.
Of course the GB has done wrong on occasion and we can’t ignore or allow behaviour that harms thd club, but the time has come to resolve this and all move forward as One. Remember the club belongs to us all.
Hail Hail
‘The club belongs to all of us….’ No it doesn’t! There is no ‘community ownership in Scotland except some isolated smaller clubs.
As a bronchitis sufferer the Green Brigade should accept no pyrotechnics. In addition they should cease immediately singing sectarian songs like Roamin in rhe Gloamin
For their part Celtic FC should not release statements through the Daily Record and The Sun as the vast majority of the Celtic support boycott both publications for their anti Celtic lies
Spot on
Great article correct in every point, well said
This blog gets it right again! Well done young man!
There’s one thing that’s sticks in my craw with all this and that’s that it’s a “collective punishment” on a group of individuals.
No it’s not, that’s the problem with a lot of the disinformation on this.
This ban applies to 200 people, not The Green Brigade as a whole. The club has had its legal team working on this for a while. It’s legal team. The term “collective punishment” is actually one I find offensive here when you consider events halfway across the world. I see The Green Brigade itself have used the phrase; talk about being tone deaf to irony.
I accept a lot of good points you make in your article James, but its time for the whole club to be unified. The situation has rumbled on far too long and its becoming a sideshow and the fans want unity.
The GB are no angels and some their
misdemeanoursti I believe to be fact, deserved to be punished. However, moving forward, the club need a better handle on the group and work closer with them, so their poor behaviour isn’t repeated.
The club are happy to profit from use their tifo displays in the superstore, so, work positively with them with progressive communication and actions.
We are all Celtic and need to be together, not divided.
Hail Hail
Given all the comments I have read elsewhere …I thought I was the only person who felt this way about the GB and the situation, but good have it confirmed that I am not
Absolutely spot on with every point made, we were singing long before the green brigade were formed and will be long after they have gone , if that’s the way they want to behave. There are plenty people waiting for a season ticket for that area of the ground . ?Coybig?
Great article as usual James, I think find it’s likely to be 55,000 Celtic fans inside the stadium today and a large DIET Huns support should hopefully see the capacity hit 60,000.
Oh there was a big crowd watching…and I mean watching…most didn’t even stand up when the team came out .It is positively geriatric we’re I sit… absolutely awfull..I was waiting for the dominos to come out at HT.We were all young once and a bit crazy.Some people forget that…and as for being non political? Wow!…This land is my Land by Woody Guthrie…Let the people sing?…I am nearly 70 and I am ashamed of our board . ..bring back the young people.They are the future of our club…not the board, not us oldies. But the young
Both the Green Brigade and the PLC are a toxic presence within Celtic Park. It would be better for the future of Celtic FC if neither group existed.
Hail Hail.
The fact that we are debating this Palestinian problem is madness. These scum have raped murdered women and children and called for the extermination of all Jews and Israel. There are thousands of British Christians who visit Jerusalem I was there 2 months ago and made welcome. One just has to look at the venom and hate on the streets against Jews worldwide. Celtic are a worldwide brand not a political organisation but the Green Brigade have a history of using their own language to promote their fanatical behaviour and madness which creates the thought that they represent what Celtic are about. They must be banned forever.
So all Palestinian people are scum are they? That says it all about you and your beloved board, eh!
Really? It’s all the Palestinians fault ?..75 years of brutal occupation,settler violence,Ethnic Cleansing,murders and rape, humiliation,Apartheid and now Genocide ..over 1million Palestinians jailed since 1967…the IDF murder with impunity .They jail people without trial for 20 years…they rape men,women and children in their filthy jails…if you burn a lions habitat,torture and kill it’s cubs…put it in a cage and starve it…then you make a mistake and dont lock the cage ..It’s out!…what is it going to do?
Every day since 1967 has been an Oct 7th for the Palestinians.. every single day.These people only want equality and justice…but they are up against a terror state and Genecide Joe….and his missiles
Going by the h/t score v Hearts it should be The Grey Brigade that should be shown the door.
A team that was purring before Rodgers return has been destroyed.
Took the easy option with his return and its been a disaster
Celtic are right but they should ban moronic drumming permanently!
Aye let’s all turn a blind eye to what’s happening in Israel.genocide by idf .no different from the Irish famine ,just different means
Dont talk rot mate, celtic is a fan based club, not a invesment tojo for dead suits.