Green Brigade still incurs the wrath of old brigade
Following a week that saw the boisterous and vocal element of the Celtic support kicked from pillar to post, all ears in the traditional media were straining to pick up on so-called IRA chants at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Saturday.
Any outsider picking up on coverage of the matter would have wondered why it had taken a complaint from Strathclyde Police to UEFA to highlight such an issue if ‘IRA chants’ were a regular feature of Celtic matches.
Interestingly there has been no detail on these so-called pro-IRA chants with only a single line in the Celtic Symphony indefensible in the current Celtic songbook.
By switching from ‘ooh ah up the ra’ over to ‘ooh ah Samaras’ the problem was solved leaving the old brigade of the traditional media to look elsewhere to justify their anticipation leading up to Saturday.
Typical of the reaction was the Herald who could hardly hide their anger as the travelling Celtic support backed their team to an important victory.
The Herald stated: “Mercifully, Celtic’s visit to Inverness on Saturday didn’t turn out to be about the Green Brigade, but it could have been.
“Everyone had their ears pricked to listen out for the pro-IRA poison they’ve belted out to bring so much trouble to Celtic’s door, but the controversial stuff was absent. Sure, there was some posturing. Fans sang “we’ll sing what we want”. They held up banners saying “Our music has survived through famine and oppression” and “Get up, stand up, don’t give up your rights.”
“All of that seemed to be setting a depressing context of stubborn defiance ahead of the chants and “add-ons” being heard again, but if there was anything, it was drowned out. Neither Northern Constabulary, Caley Thistle’s stewards nor the SPL’s match delegate reported anything of concern. In fact, they privately praised the Celtic support.”
Almost every Celtic home supporter is totally behind the Green Brigade apart from the occasional attention seeker.
Celtic Park without the bhoys of section 111 would be a cross between a morgue and a library. This season they even prompted the Jock Stein stand into song during a tedious 2-0 home win over Inverness Caley Thistle.
With chants like ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘In the Heat of Lisbon’ alongside some of their own ‘ultra culture tunes’ breathing much needed life into Celtic Park the Green Brigade are an essential element of the Celtic support.
They will lose nothing of their edge by combining their own contemporary chants to the traditional tunes that have long been part and parcel of supporting Celtic, songs that go back to the founding days of the club, defining the club and support within an often hostile Scottish society as recently issued government figures confirm.
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