Has the troublesome teenager matured into a responsible youth?
Last night’s win over Hearts will be remembered for many things but amongst the emotions of the evening the relief of finding out that there hadn’t been a fatality is to the fore.
From the moment that Anthony Stokes dinked in the second goal it was obvious that something serious had happened at the junction between the Lisbon Lions and North Stand.
The euphoria of the goal was quickly lost as a section of the stand cleared, paramedics arrived and the Green Brigade were silenced.
To a man (and woman, Andy and Richard) they stood silent, distracted from the match as a fellow supporter was fought for their life. More and more fans cleared away from the area with the attention of supporters around the stadium drawn to the drama.
It could have been anyone, the guy you nodded to every week, the supporter next to you in the Ticket Office or Superstore. Someone that had stuck with the team through the miseries of December, celebrated Sammy’s goals at Ibrox, cursed Willie Collum at Hamilton and looked forward all day to the Hearts match.
As the players turned the screw on the park putting in their best performance of the season there was a horrible guilt watching the action knowing that one of our own may have drawn his last breath and been taken from his family.
Imagine the horror of family and friends excited by the result being taken aside to be told that a loved one had died at the match.
The scene looked grave as one paramedic could clearly be picked out pumping away at the casualties chest. More paramedics arrived.
After twenty minutes of treatment it looked tragic as a stretcher removed the supporter from the stadium… with The Green Brigade breaking the silence to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone.
It was a poignant moment.
The remainder of the match was played out in front of a slightly subdued support.
Despite a third and fourth goal being added the memory of seeing a supporter stretchered out of the match after 20 minutes of treatment remained.
Thankfully back home and on-line there was no news of a fatality, a stroke was mentioned but message boards weren’t swamped with RIP’s.
Having been the sole supplier of atmosphere for most of the season The Green Brigade encountered some competition last night.
The toe-tapping to their songs and chants from around the rest of the ground was met with sound as supporters in various areas burst into song.
They were watching a team develop in front of them, there was players to admire and indentify with. Biram Kayal going off to a fantastic ovation, the much maligned Charlie Mulgrew excelled, Thomas Rogne played like a veteran, Scott Brown looked a £4m player and up front there were two strikers expecting rather than hoping to score.
Celtic Park hasn’t been a harmonious place over the last couple of years.
Football can change in a week, any Celtic manager is three defeats away from a crisis, but the thunder is almost back and inspired by The Green Brigade there’s passion in the stands with the players realising the extra dimension that can come from some of those once empty green seats.
Get well soon Robert Coyle.
Billy Davies warns Kelvin Wilson of Forest duties
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Unfortunately some of the Maroon Scum had other songs, while this guy fought for his life.Not worth repeating, but worth noting.
Rab Coyle one of the best celtic supporters and possibly one of the best human beings on the face of GOD,S GREEN earth. GOD bless you KYLE. ALL OF THE CARMYLE BHOYS ARE PRAYING FOR YOU MATE.
get well soon robert hail hail,ynwa
Joe
Granted the fact a man was fighting for his life and hopefully will now recover. please please however donor promote a bunch of NEDS stuck in the past with crap songs if the now an embarrassment to our institution. We were all silly wee boys once but the reason my brother missed out on ibrox was due to the fact these idiots can’t behave themselves.
From Wolfe Tone to Michael Collins to Bobby Sands to Gerry Adams. Not one would stand for the same. These wee uneducateds think they would all hug each other.
It’s time for the real Bhoys to stand up, be counted and BRING BACK THE CELTIC SONG !!
ps haven’t seen you since the black cat barca hope you’re well
DJ
Get well soon Robert Kyle.
Don’t think the Green Brigade came of age they have always been ahead of the rest of the fans, i think the crowd now know how valuable the group are to Celtic its took time but thank god we see it now hail hail
A nice article Joe. Let’s hope the season has an equally happy ending.
Hail Hail
lovely article Joe – football is amazing and we love it but it is not more important than life and death – question – how structurally sound is the stadium where the GB jump up and down ? – i hope it is designed well enough to take the relevant load as it would be a major problem if somehow the steel and concrete failed in that corner
I’m not sure if the semi literate post from Dave attacking the ‘uneducateds’ is meant to be a joke or is just the ranting of an imbecile but I think the Green Brigade were fantastic last night as they have been all season. As regards the bile that emanated from the Edinburgh bigots even they outdid their previous with the chant of ‘you only sing when your breathing’ as the fan was treated for a cardiac arrest. Still what would you expect from a pig but a grunt.
dave not sure what you on about green brigade was at that end worry about the hearts fans the songs that thet sang total scum that is why they are called the wee huns scotlands shame part 2
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