Glasgow Councillor calls out Celtic and The Herald over Green Brigade ban
Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Kilmarnock v Celtic - Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Britain - April 16, 2023 Celtic non-executive Chairman Peter Lawwell in the stands before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
They say that the first casualty in conflict is the truth.
In the context of the daily atrocities being carried out in Palestine the ‘conflict’ between Celtic and a group of 200 supporters is utterly trivial. But the same principle applies.
Over the years there has been an unhappy truce between the Celtic board and the Green Brigade. Neither party really likes each other but realised that they had to sort of coexist.
The Celtic board welcomed the colour, noise and atmosphere but were concerned by some of the songs, some behaviours and the politics promoted inside their stadium.
For the Green Brigade the make up of the Celtic Board of Directors is wholly at odds with their ideology.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Glasgow City Council and the club alone will have to answer why they are banning supporters who are opposing war crimes and genocide https://t.co/4fTMRcJm51
— Cllr Ruairi Kelly (@RuairiKelly_) October 31, 2023
There is little doubt that there has been behaviour issues at recent Celtic away matches, notably Feyenoord and Motherwell.
Why action can’t be take against the individuals involved seems to be a mystery. Apparently the ticket-less Green Brigade were behind trouble at Easter Road on Saturday yet there has been no reports of arrests or the release of CCTV to identify the troublemakers.
Celtic’s various messengers were quick to list six recent incidences that have been deemed unacceptable by the Celtic board.
There is a distinct lack of evidence in many of them, no reports of court action or police activity over threats and attacks on Celtic staff, no action taken over forced entry into Celtic Park.
Drawing in the threat of closure from Glasgow City Council has been disputed by Councillor Kelly.
On the record Celtic haven’t said a word about the situation, relying on their messengers to take one side of the dispute to the public.
It seems that the situation has gone too far for any middle ground to be reached, leaving the club with empty seats and an information vacuum going forward.
