Yesterday, every single person who went to Celtic Park did so for a match that was live on TV. In the middle of January. In freezing temperatures. At a crap kick-off time that undoubtedly inconvenienced a lot of supporters, especially those travelling from far away.
You cannot overstate the dedication of fans like ours. It was bitterly cold yesterday, but it was even colder on the last two midweek nights when we sat in sub-zero temperatures watching football. And let’s not forget the travelling fans who went to Dundee and endured that awful display.
When Brendan Rodgers had his little pop at the fans a few weeks ago, I was surprised at the backlash. People were pretty angry, and the themes I heard repeated were about how those in the stands that night turned up in the freezing cold, gave their backing for the most part, and deserved better than to get slagged by the boss just because he was still smarting from the criticism over the Ibrox display.
I do agree with some of what Brendan said, though. There’s a section of our support that can be entitled, intolerant, and less supportive of players and the team than they should be. But I also understand why people were annoyed at the manager for expressing those sentiments the way he did.
What must they think, then, of the self-important, smug, and condescending statement issued by the Green Brigade last night? It essentially sought to tell the rest of the fans at Celtic Park how they should behave on match days. If they want to talk about entitlement, let’s have that conversation. If they want a discussion about how best to support the team and the club, bring it on.
For starters, I think it’s entitled to demand another section of the ground for themselves—at great expense to the club and displacing other fans in the process. I think it’s entitled to lecture supporters who show up week in, week out, about how they should express their support. I think it’s entitled to act as though Celtic Park was a morgue before they came along and would return to one without them.
And the best way of supporting Celtic? I’d suggest that doesn’t include smoke bombs and flares, which the club has repeatedly asked them not to use, which break the law, and which endanger other fans and themselves.
They might not believe that, but it’s true. The best way to support Celtic isn’t by engaging in street fights with rival thugs like it’s the 1980s, either.
Their claims about being stymied by Celtic are disingenuous. If the club keeps them on a short leash, it’s because it feels it has to. The pyro display behind their banner at Dundee shows why. And they can spare us the denials of involvement; most of us were not born yesterday and aren’t entirely stupid. Sure, they haven’t used flares or smoke bombs in Europe since UEFA warned them, but they don’t deserve credit for behaving just because they fear outside sanctions.
Ultras think they’re special. It’s the same at every club. They behave as though the rules don’t apply to them, and that’s why so many clubs that embraced ultra culture now regret it. Celtic persists with this experiment despite its flaws. To be fair, the Green Brigade does tremendous good for the club and even more for the surrounding community. That’s undeniable.
But it grates on a lot of people that they so often seem indifferent to the rest of the fanbase. And now they’re lecturing that fanbase.
No, thanks. If they’re looking for a case study on what happens when a supporters’ group overplays its hand, they should take a long, hard look across the city at the Union Brats. They tried their coup d’état and were stunned to find out how little of the support actually cared to join their bandwagon.
The Green Brigade cares about many things, and they embrace many causes. The problem is that it’s easy to confuse people who support those causes with people who support them unconditionally.
They see themselves as special, and the proof is in their tone when addressing the rest of the fans. But that attitude is exactly what loses them friends and influence, as the Union Brats are finding out the hard way.
Are there fans at Celtic Park who could take a chill pill? Of course there are. We’ve all sat near someone who slags off every player in a Celtic strip for 90 minutes. It’s tiresome, and I genuinely wonder why they bother going at all. They don’t seem to enjoy it much.
But for the rest of the fanbase, it’s ridiculous to lecture them about supporting the team. Many have followed Celtic for longer than the average Green Brigade member has been alive. They didn’t need advice on how to support the club back then, and they certainly don’t need it now.
Action Images via Reuters/Russell Cheyne
Their statement is 100% true though!
Don’t forget their constant signing of IRA songs. They are an embarrassment to the club and the biggest mistake the board made was giving them their own standing section.
Spot on!!!
Well said James, and another good article.
Like so many Celtic fans, I’ve supported our club for many decades and I always try to be very respectful towards the wide range of opinions we hear inside the stadium and of course, in the modern era, that we read about across many platforms.
There are, as you say, so many that turn up at games and criticise every misplaced pass, cross or shot and to be completely honest, it’s a pain in the erse!
However, fans pay their money and rightly or wrongly are entitled to an opinion. Though it doesn’t mean any fan or sections of fans should feel any more empowered or entitled than others.
The GB, from what I read, do some tremendous work for charity and other groups, and bring a great atmosphere to our games…but if they truly believe they are better than the rest of us, continue to bring fines and negative publicity to our club whilst patronising the bulk of our fanbase, then it won’t end very well for them !
The club will always be bigger than any ultras or “entitled” sections of our fanbase ! HH
And just what songs do they insist we sing?
2 hours of Republican and anti-monarchy songs, or will it be okay to sing Celtic songs just for a change?
The Green Brigade is all about the Green Brigade, it’s not about supporting the team.
SPOT ON
You nailed it Slugger
Absolutely spot on with this article, James.
They also constantly sing songs, glorifying an organization who were responsible for killing innocent people, and bringing heartache to countless families . They want to condemn Israel, and Britain but want to sing about the IRA, you honestly couldn’t make it up. They are the biggest hypocrites out , and an embarrassment to the club.
I agree that the political songs are not needed at Parkhead goodguy…
However The IRA were very very much needed to defend their communities for sure…
In any right minded society they wouldn’t be needed –
But then – When did The Unwanted Brits ever create a normal bloody society in the countries they are occupying yet are unwanted – I.E. The Island of Ireland…
If any invader comes to my house or you’re house to loot it, burn it out, trash it, then you and I call the cops and they stop it before it even starts so they do…
Nationalists in The Six Occupied Counties of The Island of Ireland never had any such protection from their police force, in fact they stood by and watched it all happen, hence the need for The IRA…
While I agree that Parkhead is not the place for The Reb songs these days these rebel songs of these heroic freedom fighters must be sung and passed on in pubs by the live bands and the drinking clientele to the younger generation for sure
Should Rebel Freedom songs be sang at Parkhead… I’d say no – Don’t give our haters the chance…
Should Rebel Freedom songs be sung in Pubs… Hell aye – ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY !!!!
Absolute garbage.. with a warped, dinosaur mind like that, then the goldfish bowl will remain the same for another 100 years. The ira are cold blooded killers, there is no such thing as good killlers, your logic as well as the clowns that sit in the green brigade is away with the ferries.
Ma logic must be away with the ferries to The Island of Ireland then !
Nowhere in my post do I say there are ‘good killers’ Mr Goodguy…
Absolutely nowhere –
I simply cannot condone such actions towards innocents be it by The Brit Army, The UDA, The UVF, The IRA and The RUC…
Aye the good Auld RUC then goodguy – Ya know, them that got knighted by the old lady whose corpse was dragged around Scotland and England for days (her family organised it so I ought to respect that but it wouldn’t be a member of our family for sure)…
That nice old lady who bestowed knighthoods on cold blooded killers…
Maybe not that nice an old lady after all then ‘Sir’ !!!
In what way was she not a nice lady, have you met her ? . The fact of the matter is, she was a law abiding citizen, who was born into a family from no fault of her own. The queen was actually a nice person. The same garbage is said about the pope, these ignorant people say fuck the pope, the pope is a terrific person who spread the work of god. It’s racist bigots who hate the queen and the pope. There is an education for you.
The Green Brigade do a lot of good stuff which I heartily admire but they’ve brought back all the IRA shite which is endlessly pumping out of their section and which we could well do without as it is THE ONLY THING that allows people to paint us as the other arse cheek for Rangers*
If you ever wanted proof that the term ‘hun’ is neither religiously motivated nor targeted at only one set of fans, the Green Brigade adequately demonstrate that by regularly behaving like huns.
Celtic park was a morgue when the Green Brigade was banned and The Bhoys joined them in solidarity, absolutely dead,a library,a huge gaping hole in the Celtic Park experience that killed it.
The GBs statement is basically echoing BRs words about mass moaning ,as you point out which is a vicious circle that doesn’t lead to confident players or work environment for them.
Imagine you got bood and moaned at in work for every little error you made , you’d hand in your notice.
The GBs statement is spot on 100% bar the bit about staying on after the match as there are a miriad of reasons why folk can’t do that.
Less moaning please,more engagement with singing ( I can’t understand why there’s no singing from everyone)and ultimately push the team to greater heights not get on their backs.
Oh and another thing this accolade of European nights at CP being the best could be under threat if folk don’t start singing and making more noise.
No not moaning at our team but jeering the opposition and backing our team 100% all through the game.
CP without the Green Brigade their constant noise,color ,messages and encouragement would make life much easier for opposition teams and reduce the CP experience to that of any English premier League library.
Ps.Im not a member of the Green Brigade or Bhoys.
I’ve been a supporter since the early 70s, this isn’t a boast or an attempt to insinuate that I am a “better” supporter than anybody else, I enjoy some of what the GB do and disagree with some of it also but who is anybody to tell me how to support my team? I’m a bit long in the tooth to be banging a drum, if I want to sing along I will, but the pyro thing and some songs I can also do without. Where are you going to find 60,000 people agreeing on anything? Football to me is an outlet, a chance to celebrate, have a bit of fun and forget about the mundane day to day stuff….. but now I’m being lectured about what to do and how to do it?. I don’t think so.
I agree wholeheartedly with VOLP, we need the Green Brigade’s enthusiasm and backing to enhance the whole Celtic Park experience. They have said nothing wrong in their statement, it is not patronising, condescending or any of those descriptions and they have made valid points about our sometimes much too passive support.
I’ve been a supporter for over five decades. I don’t need a lecture from idiots.
I really wish they would fk off and take all their political shite with them.
If the GB and The Bhoys would cut out the pyrotechnics and stop getting the club fined then the club may consider working with them to create a whole stand like they proposed. It wasn’t always the case but the ultras are the atmosphere at the ground now, when they were missing it was brutal. They need to remember that most fans have been around longer than they have and don’t need advice on how to support Celtic
Does anyone honestly believe that Celtic would give over the Jock Stein stand to a bunch of spoiled wee weans and ruin the matchday experience for those in the Kerrydale and Number 7 lounges who are paying top price for their tickets?
While I do think Green Brigade gets ideas above it’s station at times, and goes OTT in retaliation with their own manager as if it’s a power struggle (which incidentally doesn’t do much for player morale either) I completely agree with their request for better support. As a club who claim to have the best fan base in the world and are ‘faithful through and through’ they certainly don’t appear that way the way the atmosphere plummits if they haven’t scored in the first twenty minutes, or the boos if the other team happen to have a period of pressure etc. unless they’re playing amazing and scoring lots of goals. But when players arent playing their best or are a bit shaky underconfident, that’s exactly when they need support the most. The fan base is supposed to be the twelfth man, but if fans are booing them or showing displeasure it’s only going to effect the players badly. Celtic are so used to winning and being dominant, it’s like the fans are now spoiled. I don’t think they could handle supporting another team….even someone like Man city or Arsenal who still have games where they lose at times. So I think the green brigade are quite right to ask for better support. It’s what they’re all about and is all with the intention to improve the atmosphere and so the team. There are too many moaners who don’t really support the team. If the green brigade were demanding use of pyros, or boycotting something for little reason, I’d be the first to go against them. But they have a massive point and its all for the good of the club.