“Don’t worry, be happy”? Really?
A four word answer from The Green Brigade today, to a scathing statement from Livingston. Everything about that response is moronic and childish and downplays a serious situation, a serious situation for our club, our fans and for The Green Brigade itself. These guys either just aren’t getting it or they just don’t care.
Celtic fan allocations are getting slashed across the boards, for just about every away ground in the country already. Ibrox started this, for their reasons, but a lot of the other clubs have reasons of their own and those reasons have to be respected to an extent. A lot of it is being driven by demands from their own supporters, and that was the catalyst for the Livingston statement.
It comes on the heels of one from Hibs. And one from Motherwell. Before that there was one from Hearts. You get the drift. All about one group of our fans. One. A tiny number of our vast support. That is surely not a tenable position.
Celtic already have concerns over the way they’ve behaved in and around our own stadium and the way they’ve treated our own staff. The spectre of what they might do to get us severely sanctioned in Europe hangs over the club like the Sword of Damocles.
And everyone knows it’s a matter of time.
I know a lot of people are highly resistant to the reality of this, but we’re fast coming to another crisis point here. The Green Brigade have become a serious problem for Celtic, and one that the club is going to have to deal with, and probably not in a gentle way.
They have no respect for anybody; not for the league, not for the rest of the clubs, not for our own supporters or for anyone at Celtic Park. They won’t listen. They won’t accept that the rules apply to them. They act as if they have a right to behave as they see fit.
The banners which Livingston have an issue with are only part of the problem. They’ve hinted at problems involving a security gate, and they cannot have been pleased by the pyro at all.
So this already impacts on the ordinary fan who just wants to go to games, and especially away games. Supporters’ buses are dying because the away match experience has been eroded to the point where some of them don’t bother any longer.
Part of the problem is that some of our fans are just not willing to respect the rules of the house when we visit other clubs and those clubs don’t want that in their grounds, and I can understand why.
I’ve been hypercritical of the Ibrox support in recent weeks, and for good reason, but we have problems in our own house. They are different problems, but that doesn’t mean we can simply ignore them. The Green Brigade are unlikely to commit a hate crime, but they’re already breaking the law most weeks and that needs to be acknowledged.
This isn’t going to end, not until it’s brought to a bad end, and I can only conclude, with great sadness, that as things stand the club will eventually do it, because they have no choice. They’re not being given one right now. How do you deal with people who won’t recognise limits and will ignore regulations and act as if they have a divine right?
No such right exists, and Celtic has already sanctioned them during this campaign as if to prove it. It’s a matter of time before another, and quite possibly permanent, solution is applied. I wonder at times if there’s not a certain inevitability about it.
James, alluding to one of your earlier blogs today. Just imagine a banner being unveiled under similar circumstances at a match against another side at Livingston which read ” God save the king”
WTF was ‘smuggled in and displayed’?
The worrying thing, James, is that you alone seem to be the voice of reason among the bloggers. Are Joe McHugh n Lubo, etc. seriously saying this antisocial behaviour by these immatures is acceptable? Ban them now, Celtic, forget about a match atmosphere, we have enough without these …. insert your own word
Why did we let them back in? This is Celtic’s fault for doing so. Ban them 4 life, problem solved.
What has happened to us being fans that were appreciated everywhere. Was at the St Pauli game on Saturday, huge crowd, best atmosphere I’ve felt for a long time.Heavy metal fans, no arseholes…. That should be our mantra….No fecking arseholes will be tolerated…..time to give the young team a lesson in what it means to be a Celtic fan
What a ridiculous statement ! Are you back on the Bucki ?
Should never have got back in.
Any Celtic fan in any other part of Celtic park behave in their fashion,you would rightly be banned.
Cardboard cut outs,that wouldnt last 2 mins in the old Jungle.Refuse to re-new their season tickets.
Back in my younger days when Celts weren’t hardly any trophies our away days to support Celtic were just that. Giving our all to motivate the team to give 100% where skill might have lacked. Yes we sang our historical songs too but it was all Celtic orientated. It goes hand in hand. We wouldn’t be there without Celts and vice versa. Let’s get back to supporting our team as one voice.
But but but no pyro no party. I appreciate the green brigade when they are lifting the atmosphere and spurring the team on. At the moment though,and the past while. They create more bother than good. Acting like spoiled kids. Not tell me what to do blah blah blah. End of the day,the club has the power as they well know. Books took off them and sitting on the pub watching the games every other week. It’s what will happen
Don’t agree with the pyros or any damage caused, didn’t see much wrong with the banner,
but Celtic Park is a morgue without them,
Pyros are everywhere in Scotland and a young boy was injured at St Johnstone v Dundee at the weekend, arrests should be made. The scenes at Dundee a few months ago when The Rangers visited and the match being delayed for sometime wasn’t dealt with by the SPFL or SFA. This isn’t just Celtic’s problem but is a problem in Scotland and throughout Europe.
Those people who talk of the Jungle as if everyone just cheered and sung and otherwise behaved well have got short memories. One of the Jungle Tims got us more or less thrown out of Europe in the 1980’s, when throwing a bottle and giving a Rapid Vienna player the chance to put on an Oscar winning performance, collapsing and holding his head as if he was mortally wounded, as the bottle landed 2 yards away from him. . We would probably have had another.European Trophy in the record books if it wasn’t for the eejit who threw that bottle., So don’t give me that P%sh about the Jungle being so well behaved.
At last James, I can agree with you unreservedly about the green brigade, not that I’d imagine you’d lose any sleep either way. That the other bloggers think their reply of ‘don’t worry be happy’ is devastatingly witty and clever, is perhaps the most surprising thing about this, I tend to your view of ‘moronic and childish’. Sadly, I think they just don’t give a toss about anyone else supporter wise, which is bizarre given their action and help for immigrants, Palestine etc, and that its all going to come to a bitter end before they ‘get it’. Maybe there is just not enough ‘LOOK AT CLEVER ME’ in towing the line when it comes to safety, or in being decent guests at the homes of others, even when they have went against the grain to make you welcome.
The GB add so much and can be brilliant for the club, the ultras have been petitioning for a while to have the whole Jock Stein stand. While this could be spectacular unfortunately they are kids and are far more likely to mess it up before that becomes a reality.
They are close to another ban, which hurt the team last time. It’s not hard to respect other club’s stadiums AND ours surely? Just behave ffs.
Been critical of the GB for a while now, it’s obvious they think themselves above the rules. Pyro, safety issues and The Sam Song are all things that need addressing. Don’t get me wrong, TSS is a great song and one I love to sing, but would prefer it be lft to the pubs. Rebel songs at the football should be ones that tell a story, there are plenty of them.
But, I don’t get the outrage over that banner on Sunday. It was excellent and very relevant being on Easter Sunday. If the GB were causing safety issues fine, raise it. But complaining about that banner is pathetic. I suggest Livingston as a club educate themselves a little.
Yeah crucial part of a season where the bounty is £60million and you want us to shoot ourselves in the foot ban the only fans that bring an atmosphere.Both the board and the GB really need to get their heads together but their mistrust of each other will always get in the way
Who said anybody wanted this? NOBODY wants this.
And you’re dead wrong about the board. It’s their house. They decide who gets tickets and special sections in it. If the GB won’t recognise the power dynamic here they really are gonna end up banned.
Celtic are the only team that our fans stand up for the oppressed. The green brigade are no worse than any clubs ultras. Good on them I am up in the years and have went near and far to watch the hoops. They are proud off their heritage and sing the songs that their families before them found solace with the discrimination and abuse they endured in Scotland for decades. I’m from Belfast my mum is scotch and I know the life she had while growing up was attrocious. So maybe the ones running them down should thank them because they are as welcome at park head as any fan. I for one and many others are proud off them. Don’t hear much sevco fans calling for the ban on the onion bears who sing anti Irish Catholic songs every week off their hymn sheets. Hail hail
Livingston diving in now that they won’t have Celtic at there place for a season or more . With regards the GB why must we listen to nothing but the rebs at away games ,we have multitudes of songs to sing in support of the team and I am off Irish decent on both family sides . No excuse either for the flares , that smoke from them is toxic and will surely do harm to someone’s health . But I hope a compromise can be reached with them and that board ,as we witnessed the atmosphere’s non existent without them . Hopefully we will get a result on Sunday , and we will definitely need them for the home game .
The GB are no angels as we know. However, the club should be proactive with the group and work with them as they should do with other supporter/client groups.
This, I believe would foster stronger relationships and a better match day experience. We have 1 solitary SLO which is merely a tick box position. The GB and Bhoys create a vibrancy of noise and colour and have elevated and enhanced our atmosphere considerably over the previous 18 years. I grew up as a young fan with the Celtic End and jungle and this is our modern day version. They are so important.
The truth is, our out of touch corporate board have no interest in any of our supporters unless they are try to sell us merchandise and the corporate clients.. no, no, no, Celtic exists because of the supporters.. the ordinary fans like thd GB and Bhoys and North Curve. As the Great Paul McStay once said.. Celtic Football Club is the fans, without them there is No club.
We need good people who can relate and work with all of our supporters, not just the ones with money. Also, the club have been happy to profit from GB displays and tifos by selling them in frames in the superstore over thd years.
You write some good articles but taking the side of the club, who have done nothing to promote a good working relationship with our fan groups is way off in my view. We all should be as one. Hail Hail
The club has done nothing to promote a good working relationship with fan groups?
Absolute nonsense, showing how little you understand this. Just in terms of The Green Brigade, they get off with more than any individual supporters bus would. They have their own section of the standing. They got rail seats for it. They frequently sit down and talk to the club about tifos and other displays … what you have just said betrays total ignorance of how much the club has done to faciliate this lot, and all the club asks is that they obey the rules of the house.
Of course the club has created a standing section, on the recommendation of the Celtic Trust, i believe, and the group should adhere to better behaviour and many things they do frustrates me. However, the club do not do enough to work with supporters including the GB in a proactive manner..you wont convince me otherwise. The fact we have 1 SLO to service the huge support we have is testimony to poor supporter engagement. Feyenoord for
example, has 4 SLOs.
You are claimimg you are more informed on what the club does than me, but do you honesty think they do enough..and your use of language describing them as “this lot” clearly highlights your jaundiced and unbalanced view on the GB. They are Celtic supporters like the rest of us and although they are not above the law, and should be held accountable, I, for one, hope for a positive resolution moving forward. An outcome that bans the group from attending our games is one that has a negative effect on our match day atmosphere, that was clearly evident earlier this season. I’m sure we can both agree on that. We have enough opposition to our beloved club, without it existing within. Hail Hail
No, I’m not claiming to be “more informed.” I just know how to interpret the information without clouding with the bias of “I hate the board so I will never agree they are handling this right.”
If the GB are rightly banned-for years of sheer thuggery-there is a simple solution to the atmosphere problem. Move CSCs into that area. People that can be trusted to behave. Most of all though, do away with the so-called ‘safe’ standing section. Reinstall regular seats. This would have 2 benefits:
1 Overcrowding in that section would no longer happen.
2 Any troublemakers would be easily identifiable. This would put an end to the pyro problem.
Hail Hail.
Regardless of my opinions on the board, I just want the club to be as one and it to be best Celtic it can be.
None of us are angels, we all make mistskes, including you, I’m sure.. I believe if the relationship between the powers and the people who are club, the supporters, were stronger, behaviours would be much better and of course, I concede they should be.
Peace to you.
Peace
Hi James
Again you are on the money on this matter. 3 days before the most important 90 plus minutes of our season – the Green Brigade are taking up airtime again. No for Celtic but for themselves. Pyros are dangerous and someone, somewhere is going to get badly hurt, and god forbid killed. Why the need? I am 68 and my first Celtic game was in Feb 1964. I have seen Celtic fans support their team, sing them to victory, win championships against all odds in 79, 86 88, win the cup in 65 without GB. In those days every celtic fan was in the green brigade. If wannabee revolutionaries looking for a cause want to support celtic all are welcome, but it is the club they are representing, not their personal beliefs. I have no problem supporting a reunited ireland, a palesttinian state and social justice. I remember when we used to sing we shall overcome’ because we are a cause club – but self indulgent narcissists are going to prevent celtic getting support in away grounds- that is the hard facts of their behaviour. Time for a facts of life conversation with this group
Whoever is right and Whoever is wrong – And I no longer attend so cannot really comment on who is right and who is wrong…
But PLEASE – PLEASE – PLEASE – PLEASE – PLEASE…
Can we all fix this out at the end of the season and not this critical conjuncture of it !!!!!