KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 18: Celtic Fans during a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Fourth Round match between Auchinleck Talbot and Celtic at BBSP Stadium Rugby Park, on January 18, 2026, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Yesterday, the Green Brigade issued their latest communiqué regarding their ban from attending Celtic matches, a ban which has now stretched into an astonishing – and frankly absurd – nineteen games. It began as five. Then, for reasons that still defy understanding, Celtic extended it.
Now, very few people believe it will be lifted before the end of the season.
Even under normal circumstances, that would be dreadful. Even in the most benign context, you would recoil at the collective punishment of more than 200 supporters for the alleged actions of a tiny number. And I continue to stress alleged, because no proper process has established guilt beyond that small group.
This is a choice Celtic have made. This is the road they have deliberately taken, entirely in keeping with the catalogue of disastrous decisions this club has made throughout this campaign. At this point, we should no longer be surprised by Celtic’s capacity for self-harm.
It is blindingly obvious that if you are involved in a title race this tight, you deploy every available weapon. Yet this board will not properly back the manager with the players he needs to compete on multiple fronts. Given that, why should we be surprised they refuse to recognise the need to return Scotland’s most vocal supporters to Celtic Park, where they belong?
The Green Brigade statement deserves careful reading.
It suggests that people inside Celtic Park recognise the absurdity of this situation and want it resolved. I believe that. It is impossible for everyone inside the club to be this blinkered, this committed to inflicting further damage on the season. I am certain there are senior figures appalled by how this has unfolded. I wish some of them would speak up, speak out, or better still, walk away and tell the truth on their way out.
Perhaps that is emotional. Perhaps it is better that those people remain inside, arguing behind the scenes, raising objections, forcing uncomfortable conversations. One would hope that sanity eventually prevails. But we all have doubts, because there are also people inside the club who have no interest in resolving this amicably and clearly believe that if they bunker down long enough, the problems will simply disappear.
What is clear is that very senior figures are determined to reach the end of this season without the Green Brigade returning.
After that, they will almost certainly offer those seats to people on the waiting list. That would effectively kill the ultras section. Some inside the club appear to want exactly that outcome. The Green Brigade statement raises the obvious question: who are those people? It points the finger, directly, at two names – Michael Nicholson, the invisible CEO, and Mark Hargreaves, Celtic’s head of security.
The statement alleges a longstanding personal friendship between the two. That is easy to believe, given everything we have witnessed at Celtic Park. This site has lamented it for years: too many jobs at Celtic have gone to or are going to The Friends of The Man.
Watching how this club operates sometimes feels like watching a cautionary documentary about a lottery winner who starts a business and gives all his mates senior roles, only to discover none of them can actually do the jobs.
I am not saying every appointment lacks competence, but too many lack the elite skill set a club of Celtic’s stature should demand. That is a major reason we are in this mess, and Michael Nicholson himself is the walking, talking embodiment of that culture.
It is entirely plausible that Hargreaves holds his position because of personal relationships. It is the same reason Nicholson got his job. The same reason Mark Lawwell ended up at Celtic Park. The same reason members of the Strachan family found roles here despite résumés that would not merit positions at a club of this size. It explains the endless internal promotions. It explains the insular hiring.
Celtic is run less like a modern football institution and more like a shoddy bowling club. That rank amateurism is exactly why our problems will only deepen as other clubs modernise and professionalise at pace.
The North Curve and others have done serious work highlighting Hargreaves’ background and the troubling questions surrounding it. It is obvious that someone like this should not occupy such a role at Celtic. Yet here he is.
The Green Brigade statement also suggests that serious opposition exists within the club to the open-ended nature of the ban and that Hargreaves has issued an ultimatum: exclude the Green Brigade, or he walks.
That detail actually offers some comfort. Nobody makes that threat unless they feel pressure from more than one direction. If Hargreaves believed his position was secure, he would not bother.
What is astonishing is that nobody at Celtic has called his bluff.
This is one of the simplest decisions an organisation like Celtic will ever face.
Look at where we are. The board is under siege. The club is losing money due to the Not Another Penny campaign. We are in a title race potentially worth £20–30 million in competitive advantage if we emerge as champions and reach Europe’s top competition next season. One of the club’s greatest assets is the Celtic Park crowd. And last night, at times, the place sounded like Janefield Cemetery.
All the directors had to do – to ease tensions, to heal divisions, to lift the mood – was sit down honestly with supporters and resolve some of these issues. Instead, they let them fester. They allowed the rot spread.
They escalated it into a full-blown crisis.
Returning the Green Brigade would energise the team and the manager, and unite the support as we enter the decisive phase of the season. It is better for Celtic itself. It is the first real step towards bringing us all back together.
And so to me, the choice is obvious.
The choice between bringing the Green Brigade home and placing this club on a total-war footing for the run-in, or protecting a deeply insecure functionary who feels entitled to issue ultimatums, is no choice at all.
He is a hireling. Celtic could replace him tomorrow.
Twenty people could walk in and do his job. He possesses no rare or irreplaceable skill set. If we advertised his role there would be a queue of suitable candidates round the block and they would not be as petty, vindictive or as self-serving as this man appears to be.
If this is the only obstacle to the Green Brigade’s return, then it is no obstacle whatsoever.
Frankly, if he wants to walk away from a highly paid job in a fit of pique, let him go. Celtic would not be worse off.
What is unacceptable is prioritising fragile egos and protecting a tiny clique over the best interests of the institution. This is why I call these people selfish bastards. They put themselves ahead of Celtic.
They bend the club to suit their needs instead of fulfilling the duties their titles demand.
I have never been angrier with the people running this club. Their conduct is abysmal and their credibility is shot. Their moral right to govern Celtic no longer exists. This club cannot continue as their personal fiefdom.
Enough is enough. And if boycotts are what it takes to shift them, then so be it.
If they can do this to the Green Brigade they can do it to anyone.
They masquerade as Celtic fans, they are nothing of the sort! Not another penny will come from my pocket til they are gone.
The GB are not coming back unless they make serious concessions. I read the statement. They will not accept any member of the police being involved with security. They are blaming Hargreaves for 40 celtic fans getting lifted by the local police in Bologna.
They still have a pigwatch campaign which is embarrassing to real Celtic fans.
The Falkirk match the GB were out of order yet they never address this and give their story..why not?
Your story is flawed James and you obviously have no confidence in the collective. How can the club sell off the GB season tickets if there is a boycott of STs. The boycott is obviously a non starter.
The GB need to grow up and have proper talks with the club. I think they are waiting for regime change but no board will accept them as they are while ultras sections are getting closed off all over europe!
Mr. Mojorisin is your real name Hargreaves
No. Its Jim Morrison. I thought everybody knew that! 😉
Nah Jim Morrison was anti- establishment the direct opposite of you so you sully his name by using it.
Mr. Mojorisin
says:
January 31, 2026 at 11:47 am
The GB are not coming back unless they make serious concessions. I read the statement. They will not accept any member of the police being involved with security. They are blaming Hargreaves for 40 celtic fans getting lifted by the local police in Bologna.
They still have a pigwatch campaign which is embarrassing to real Celtic fans.
The Falkirk match the GB were out of order yet they never address this and give their story..why not?
Your story is flawed James and you obviously have no confidence in the collective. How can the club sell off the GB season tickets if there is a boycott of STs. The boycott is obviously a non starter.
The GB need to grow up and have proper talks with the club. I think they are waiting for regime change but no board will accept them as they are while ultras sections are getting closed off all over europe!
———–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg
Have said this in response to your blogs James , I’ll repeat ( you need to walk away ) we. Need to send a message by boycotting every game , people will say we’re hurting the team , if it makes change happen then it’s for a better future , if we finish out off the first two but change happens then we get over it & with the proper people in charge we rebuilt, financially we’re in a good place , it would not take long to get back to were we were , I won’t say back to were we belong, you have to earn the right to be on top , I believe we can do it HH .
Do you really think a boycott will force the present regime to fall on their swords and leave the building? Are you assuming that they have feelings that will get hurt and force them to change their stance? For I don’t, they will batten down the hatches and ride it out.
Just how long will the boycott have to last before a sensible conclusion comes to pass?
Said this before, all the away games , boycott. Hit the away teams, clubs as well, they dont give us full allocation so take none and dont spend a green pound anywhere and you watch the clubs ringthe phones off the hoooks at parkheid!!! Not another green pound anywhere in scotland,
Once again, DD has the ultimate say. Both he or his son could end this absurdity tomorrow. But as usual, hell will probably freeze over first. Just another example of the Desmonds using Celtic as their plaything. Another blatant act of neglect and self-sabotage.
In other news, tomorrow will be interesting. Will Nicholson be at the game OR will he be busy working on getting a couple of signings through the door before the window ends on the 2nd February? I think we all know the answer to that one. We will see tomorrow.
Anybody on the waiting list who accepts one of those seats is a fu cking traitor scab whatever you want to call them
Hargreaves is probably a Hun .ex polis FFS..defo a mason..he’s probably deliberately banned the GB to help his beloved sevco ..get that rats picture wae the red stripe through it up anaw
Is this the reason Wilson was appointed?
Personally, i think the Green Brigade are finished at Celtic Park. I don’t agree with some of the things they do, pyro etc but they certainly bring energy, noise and colour which is sadly non-existent at the stadium during this time. I suspect that if no meaningful dialogue is held for an end to this which will mean they have to toe the party line, then its over. It’ll be interesting to see how the parasites frame this when it comes to renewal and what they do with that section of the stadium. 19 games, thats nearly half a season, its not looking good, and in my opinion theres not much they can do about it. Sad state of affairs indeed.
I totally agree with rip sevco any Celtic fan who is on the waiting list and takes a season in the green brigade seats in my mind are disgusting individuals and should be ashamed of themselves
Heard there’s a Board meeting called after tomorrow’s game.
Agenda;
Transfers – only item allowed is who can we now sell this window?
Transfers in – next subject. Completed staff work all done. No action required.
Green Brigade ban – let’s not waste time and eff them
Key priority item for this meeting , gents ( and Sharon, of course)
Pricing for the Stuttgart tie with Points to consider
– above or below the Old Firm prices?
– discounts for kids? Remember, it’s after eight on a school night so for their good it’s a no
AOB – Enjoy the cheese and Port, folks and remember, after tomorrow night, we can all relax.
Totally scunnered.
I don’t blame only the board for this. If Celtic fans don’t back the green brigade by staying away to support them, the board get the message the supporters are behind their decision. The fans staying away would also sort all the rest of the mess out and force Desmond’s hand but it will never happen. No point in complaining if we all bloody don’t do something about it.
I’m convinced that someone from Celtic FC visits the major Blogs like this one and ” reports ” back to the Board… If this is the case…Would it be possible for the major Blogs to invite the support to vote and show their opinions on the suitability of the Board ?…Then the ” lurker” can report back the outcome…which I’m convinced will be a huge negative for them….Maybe its a daft idea…but I thought I’d ask.
The guy letting off the flares is no Celtic supporter and the others have been held hostage by him. The GB should police themselves and stop the more dangerous activities.
Their enthusiasm is definitely missed so the ban is hurting the team which should be the last thing they should want to do.
Seriously this could come down to a few idiots and the rest are too scared, hip or apathetic to sort them out. For all we know they could be agents provocateurs as we do not know how deep the anti-Celtic bias goes.
There is a Children’s hospital in a less salubrious area of Glasgow which has a road leading to it with some of the highest “sleeping policemen” in place to counter joyriders and speeders and is a nightmare to drive.
So the authorities punish everyone for the sins of the few as it is much easier to deal with rather than confront those responsible.
Ironically these few idiots are helping support the board as the ban means there is no cohesive attack at the matches while the GB are not there and the board seem quite happy to sit it out and take the much reduced brickbats coming their way.
The GB are being played.
Yes Joe, I agree with this. The GB in their present form is unacceptable and they are harming the team alongside the board. The demographics of the Celtic support have changed. Probably since around the time we stopped the 10 in a row going to Ibrox. There was no GB section then and the backing for the team was fantastic. The current ST holders seem to need the GB to cheerlead them.
Ultras are getting sections closed all over europe. No ultras to face us in Rotterdam. 10,000 locked out. The GB need to wisen up. They are no longer allowed to police themselves for obvious reasons and have gone in the cream puff.
Do the GB think they can oust the current board and the new folk running the club are going to allow complete anarchy at CP?
40 fans arrested by the Italian police in Bologna and the GB are blaming Hargreaves for not sorting everything out for them!
It’s all about Jobs for the Bhoys. Nicolson is pig headed enough, same as DD, same as PL, to stubbornly defend and retain his mate an la DD with NL. And Isn’t Chris McKay also a school friend of Peter Lawwell?
Celtic Football Club….
THE FUCKIN LAUGHING STOCK OF SCOTLAND, THE SCUMMY UK, EUROPE, THE WORLD, THE FUCKIN UNIVERSE…
At least us supporters are decent though thank fuck !
There is stubbornness on both sides here. The GB cannot expect to be allowed to self-police (why should they get special treatment). And the Board need to appreciate and make allowances for the passion and energy the GB bring to games.
I agree that the Celtic support is an asset that we need to use to its fullest extent to help the team on the pitch – what I would like to understand though James is how you reconcile this with your call for a boycott which would first and foremost hurt the team? And if the Board lifted the ban on the GB would you be asking the GB to boycott games?
Gonna have to get the cardinal in on this one i think. Am right out of options now.
Tomorrow there are 2 matches in the SPFL, and all 4 clubs involved have a sizeable ultras element within the overall attendances. Falkirk ultras, one of the most organised, large in number, and who exist and operate with the blessing of the board at Falkirk FC, will be inside Celtic Park while the Green Brigade section remains a silent reminder of our board’s contempt for fans who love the club more than they ever could and who visually and vocally express their desire for the current board to be gone ASAP.
Hibs ultras will be present at Easter Road without restrictions also as will the Onion Bears.
Every club that has an ultras following has fans outside that group who have a positive view of them and some who have a negative view. That’s universal. Although Falkirk’s ultras are generally viewed positively by their fellow supporters (and the club itself) today, they weren’t too popular to begin with. A lot of fans complained about the drums that were/are a constant feature at every match but over time the positive effect the Falkirk ultras had on the atmosphere overall won over most of the initial detractors and attendances began to rise. Most of the additional fans who came after the formation of the ultras were Gen Z youths and most took up seats as close to the ultras section as possible.
Today clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts will play in front of crowds that include sections of ultras. It’s a cultural phenomenon that gives primarily young people, but not all are, a sense of belonging, a sense that they’re part of something special within the wider support who aren’t viewed as “others” but equally important fellow fans.
Since the Green Brigade were banned from Celtic Park by entities in the boardroom the feel-good atmosphere that used to prevail, even in tough times like when Sevco briefly took over 1st place in the league has gone. When was the last time the stadium bounced with 60,000 fans – backs to the field of play and arms around each other’s shoulders – chanted “Let’s all do The Huddle!”?
The Green Brigade didn’t just make up a tiny corner of the stadium singing songs and waving banners that were exclusive to them. “Lets all do the Huddle!” and just about every other chant or song that spread throughout the whole crowd began with the Green Brigade and spread in every direction from there until the whole Celtic support raised the roof as one body of people, united and connected through their love for Celtic FC and to boost the morale or show appreciation for the team on the pitch.
The Green Brigade have done nothing that every other ultras group in Scotland hasn’t done also. They certainly haven’t rained down Buckfast bottles and various other projectiles on an opponent’s goalkeeper or at every corner-taker of the opposition. Yet the Onion Bears and whoever else were involved in those despicable antics at Ibrox when we visited there – broken glass in the penalty area holding the match up for 10-15 minutes while it was cleared – are welcome at every stadium in Scotland.
But at Celtic Park ALL ultras of all clubs are welcome except for those who love and support Celtic FC. What a fcking insult to those banned fans and common sense and logic!! This board can’t GTF out of Celtic Park once and for all quick enough for me. There’s no way that current boardroom is a hun-free environment.
Incompetence doesn’t even enter the equation with regards to the banning of hundreds of die-hard Celtic fans. It was a choice at the time and remains a choice today. All ultras welcome except our own. A fcking disgrace.
Hear hear !
The board are so weak they can’t accept any criticism whatsoever hence the ban on the Green Brigade.
Back the Green Brigade sack the board.
It’s glaringly obvious that the ban is nothing to do with the alleged offence.
Does anyone think that the GB would be banned if they were singing songs in support of the board?
I’m a guy who believes in mediation in disputes, now when the two sides are supposed to want the same outcome, which in this case is success for our football team, then that should be easy. The people here who are refusing to work towards reconciliation with the core support are The Board, I myself think that the GB are probably one of the best behaved group of Ultras in Europe. But some people, including one guy who regularly comments here, plus the board, hate them for having the cheek to have political opinions and are very critical of the way the board are running our club. Five guys have been charged with Breach of the Peace, their homes are raided and they have to report to a police station everytime Celtic play at home. WTF, there are individuals accused of murderer out on bail with less onerous conditions.
Any arsxxole on here defending Nicolson and Hargreaves are not genuine Celtic supporters.
The major issue is the GB refuse to be policed. They hate police as is obvious with the cowardly pig watch. They want no police or armed forces in the Celtic support. They think getting searched for taking illegal paraphernalia into the stadium is police harrassment. They get kids to take fireworks in then bleat about the kids getting their hoods pulled. I have seen this myself. I guess you are never in the standing section micmac.
Celtic took 100,000 to Seville with no arrests. 2000 Celtic fans go to Italy last week and
40 ” fans” get arrested by local police in Bologna charged and ejected from the country and the GB blame Hargreaves for this. You couldn’t make it up.
Im all for reconciliation but the GB must take responsibility and they have no intention of mediating. They pretend nothing happened at the Falkirk game but are silent on it.
Lets hope it all comes out including cctv footage after the court case!
I can’t be bothered with infantile rubbish like”Pig Watch” or Pyros, But banning 245 people from the ground because 5 individuals have been charged with Breach of the Peace is overkill to me. As far as Bologna goes as I read it, there was one Celtic supporter arrested for resisting arrest and scores of Bologna and Celtic fans were given Daspo’s which as I understand it are the equivalent of banning orders and on the spot fines, after a brawl outside a bar. Didn’t seem to be anything dramatic and was called an incident in the local press. As I’ve seen in the past, visiting Italy for a football match isn’t a very nice experience, and the Italian supporters are not very welcoming to say the least.
The crisis at Celtic these days needs common sense and cool heads, this should come initially from Nicolson and Hargreaves, but quite honestly these people seem to have no common sense and no management skills.
Hargreaves isn’t a Chief Inspector any more, he is in position to keep Celtic supporters safe not to pick a fight with over enthusiastic and what the Board see as “anti establishment” young supporters at any opportunity.
Ghreen Floyd – Post of THE FUCKIN DECADE !!!
Do the excluded supporters, who have not been accused of breaking the law or policy, have any real recourse to a legal claim against Celtic ? It seems that the CEO and his new tame ex school friend are pushing them into it. Anyone now ?
IMO Ultimately the GB have been banned because of their unwavering support for Palestine. The board and millionaires within our club have long been uncomfortable with the positive response around Europe to the GB effort to highlight the genocide, cruelty and lawlessness of the Zionist state. The friends if Isreal inside the Celtic board were just waiting on the perfect excuse and the “incident” at that Falkirk game was it. The GB will NEVER be back unless the board is gone. Job done.
Personally I would welcome back the GB and as soon as possible James, but they must stop getting involved with these flares as it would be only a matter of time before innocent people are seriously hurt or even killed.
Unfortunately DD is behind this fit of pique with the Green Brigade.
DD Junior let it slip with his rant at the ‘Socialist’ anti-establishment nature of much of the GB output.
Uncomfortable words of home truths for a privileged Junior to have to contend with especially
now that Daddy is letting you play with his prized ‘train set’.