Celtic -A Crack In The Support Needs Fixing.

Gorbals Diehard sends us this;

Rebuilding relationships between fans and the club is required urgently. To that end the demise of the GB in its current format is very sad as let’s be honest they were a tonic for many of the youths and the older bhoys like myself over the past few years providing a diversion from the poor football on offer. Dare I also say Celtic merchandising dept. benefitted? You don’t believe me? Celtic fc have bought the domain name, type in www.justcantgetenough.co.uk and see where you land?

Whether you like them or not the Green Brigade remain Celtic fans, they are not only singing and making banners but they are responsible for initiatives such as food banks and anti-racism. That’s the DNA our chairman referred to at the recent AGM and then qualified a reason for not paying living wage “to some of them it’s their 2^nd job”.

I personally would argue the GB has let themselves and the ordinary Celtic fan down by not properly policing their own group. The kettling treatment had Celtic fans fully united in support of their argument against the bill and the heavy handed policing. That truly is draconian and it is obvious the plc board have not actively supported any challenge to this. Amsterdam was a true exception and fair play to the PLC for this but was this down in part to TV evidence and the CSA? I fully accept the GB cannot look for support and then disobey agreements and pick and choose which stadium regulations they want to obey. If the club suffers as a result of them I suffer. So GB, please drop that nonsense, drop the pyros (albeit I had glow lights in Amsterdam!) and get back to doing what you got acclaim from me and others for. Bring back the thunder but leave the antagonistic banners, ultra fighting mentality (that’s sevco behaviour) and chants that upset the club’s image at home. Revert back to the humour and path Mandela himself showed, that you win through defeating your enemy with words and education not through conflict.

We have what the board affectionately call ‘Customer and ‘Product’. Well the criminalisation of fans for supporting their team through song is not much for either. Would you like to be filmed for 90 minutes by a policeman with a camera facing you as you watch a film at the cinema or at a theatre or would you claim civil rights are being disregarded?  The combination of events on and off the park led at Hibs last week to have fans fighting each other over a banner that never was even unfurled, stewards refusing entry to the stadium to fans wearing particular scarfs (Mandela scarves included and classed as ‘political’ a week after we paid memorial to the same man), stewards & police throwing fans out of the stadium for having the audacity to sing and cheer the team on and Focus police filming young fans singing after haranguing them for sitting in the wrong seats. This at a stadium barely a third full and sheets of rain and wind forcing all fans to climb to higher ground.  It was not a ‘Grand old team to see’. It was a depressing day in more ways than one and this is going to turn a lot of our fans away unless we the wider support force some discussions between the GB and the PLC. I hope the Celtic Trust or CSA can help work through a compromise, as to willingly want rid of them in entirety, as the PLC board seems to now be hell bent on, is a crusade with short term goals to me.

Product? Champions League qualification papered over cracks, poor signings and poor performances by a number of highly paid players and strange tactics and player selections by Neil Lennon contributed even more to a depressing CL campaign.  The 100 quid price drop was only a means to make sure the PLC retained the current season ticket sales. They knew fine well prices are over the top and have been for years. They took on board the feedback from the supporter’s survey as they fully knew season ticket sales would take a further drop if they didn’t. The prices are still too high but I think it’s been proven in recent years it doesn’t matter how much you reduce prices it’s not going to drastically improve attendances. Just look at New Year’s Day and see how many loyal fans ‘free tickets’ we will not be able to give away?.  The season ticket sales at the moment are fairly representative of the core support who will continue to buy season tickets regardless. The fluctuation in season ticket sales from that base level is entirely dependent on varying factors such as how the team are performing, any flair players that truly get bums off seats and the economy.  The Club has alienated itself from its support over many years now in terms of customer and lack of investment affects the park product. We have banned fans before investigations are complete, we had Thomas Crook the worst official travel agent ever, strong handed stewarding, poor customer service pretty much across the Club. The list goes on.

The current plc need to wake up or their cash cows (sorry customer or is it now consumers) will vote further with their wallets. That means less quality on the park, less enjoyment at Celtic park leading to smaller gates leading to smaller incomes. It really is a vicious circle. A current split Celtic support weakens everybody that is Celtic minded.  As for the game itself, played against a backdrop of Barcelona humiliation, gale force winds, torrential rain and Hibs playing 10 behind the ball, it was actually ok at times and Pukki scored (hurrah).

It is just my opinion but if we fast forward a week from when I first wrote this as a rant it has:-.

1. Been confirmed that none of the 5 arrested for damage at Fir Park are Green Brigade members despite 128 bans.
2. Been confirmed that FOCUS Scotland have filmed 7 Celtic fans singing Roll Of Honour and are to be tried in a court for the same so called ‘offence’ that other judges have thrown out and asked police to justify wasting court and their time and effort. The leakage of this story came weeks after they appeared in court.
3. John Paul Taylor (Celtic Liaison Officer) accepting that he was not engaged and in principle cannot understand the over-zealous stewarding at both Barcelona and the Hibs match. We even had one ghirl having her inhalers taken her off leading later to an attack, thankfully she recovered well. He truly has a job in his hand I wish him well but he has to stand up and truly be representative of the fans and not a board puppet.

I end with a quote from a man who not only cared about the club reputation but stood up for its heritage and its people. 

Sir Robert Kelly – ‘This Celtic Football Club is much more than a football club. To a lot of people it’s a way of life.”