Celtic fans are a different sort from those across town. I’m glad to be on our side.

I have a good friend who supports the club from Ibrox. She is a very good friend and a very intelligent person, and our friendship goes back decades.

Yet she says the usual things like she hates Celtic, and gives no tangible reason for the hatred. This is why, for the most part, we steer clear of football chat. She is caught in the cognitive entrenchment that is typical of so many of their fans.

She berated the Celtic support last May for trashing Glasgow Cross. She berated me in particular when I wasn’t even there. Obviously, she would know I wasn’t there because that’s not my thing in terms of how I celebrate, but envy is a powerful emotion and I was the low hanging fruit for her ire on that particular day.

Trashing a place and celebrating a title win are different things to different fans.

Yes, we have things to learn about how we behave in these situations and how we should consider retail owners, residents and pedestrians, and I myself would like to see an organised celebration space that is safe for everyone and not inconvenient for anyone.

However, at no time during our celebrations have we stabbed, glassed or otherwise assaulted each other to the best of my knowledge, nor have we damaged public property to the extent that statues failed their topple tests in the aftermath.

I won’t even go into the fact that the George Square bloodbath took place illegally during a worldwide pandemic lockdown. Anyone who considers that they ‘celebrated’ their title win in George Square in 2021 has some serious issues to address.

My friend recently commented sarcastically about our support for Palestine, confident in her assertion that the average Celtic fan doesn’t understand what’s going on in Gaza.

It was said in the style of someone who believes that the current situation in Gaza is a new thing, and to be fair a lot of people are looking at the situation through the lens of 7th October 2023, but of course they are both ignorant and lazy and are being sucked in by big media and their not-so-subtle use of language.

I put her straight and she was quite visibly shocked at not only the history of the genocide of the Palestinian people, but our deep-rooted and long-standing support for them, be it flying flags or giving financial or emotional support, or just generally showing that we care about people who are being wiped out on a daily basis while the world stands by, and that this began long before 7th October 2023.

They profess to know everything about us but haven’t paid attention to the decades of Celtic fans’ visible and tangible support for the people of Palestine. These are the people who are now flying Israel flags purely because we are flying Palestine flags. These Israel flags were never there before, were they?

I was reminded of these things the other day when I read that the Ibrox support booed their Muslim players for taking a minute to break their fast during the game at Den’s Park on Saturday, after which Rule Britannia rang out.

It’s despairing stuff and it’s not in the least amusing.

As ever, they believe their players are fair game for their hate, as is anyone who threatens the hate-filled quagmire they call home.

At a moment in time when there is the prospect of a takeover if they clean up their act and bin the racist, sectarian hate-filled songbook and behaviour, Saturday showed again that they don’t know how to and don’t want to, and they proved it with their disgusting disregard for their players of faith.

I’ve written before about the abuse of players, where people consider them to be fair game because of their wealth, as though that protects them mentally from abuse. It’s dangerous.

I honestly cannot think of two more different fan bases, and I am glad beyond measure that I sit on the side of morality, decency, inclusivity and all the rest of the things they rail against. For the sane Ibrox club fans, it’s an uphill struggle against the hate brigade, and I have sympathy for them in having to be associated with that.

Being a Celtic fan is being on the right side of history.

Being a Celtic fan is looking forward, not looking backward.

To quote Joe Hart, ‘Celtic is a feeling’. It truly is, and a wonderful one at that, which is why it warmed my heart to read a piece yesterday by Paulinha Jaczek on the blog. Paulinha is new to the Celtic family. I laughed when I read that she was angry when her relative pointed to Ibrox and asked if that was where her beloved team plays. I would have been too Paulinha. I would have been too.

To Paulinha I say welcome, and Hail Hail!

Michaela Rodger is a Celtic fan and sometimes writer from Glasgow. She has written for the blog several times before, and we’re glad to have her back.