I watched Hearts batter Pat Fenlon’s Hibs into submission at Easter Road last month. They are not a good team but they have elbows and commitment, often the key resources in a football game. With our interest in the League Cup and Europe curtailed, and the league title a sure thing, it is enormously important that we remain in the Scottish Cup into the New Year.
Attitude is the most important attribute for Celtic this weekend.
Things you don’t expect to do when you start blogging: I took four calls from journos yesterday asking if I knew a Celtic fan prepared to go on record as an IRA supporter! I don’t, for the record, not one, so no one else should bother checking. Lack of support for that organisation and, where support exists, an awareness that representing yourself as such, is not inconsequential, will explain the dearth. Just as it’s not inconsequential when you represent your club. I can’t see many inviting the consequences.
I also got a call yesterday and a faxed copy of a contemporary Celtic View (yes, a fax) from a fan who was beside Jock Stein when he went into the crowd at Annfield that day in 1972. It was all very cordial, of course, no one argued with Jock.
Jock was at the height of his powers. Five years from the European Cup win, two from his last final and four months since losing a European Cup semi-final on penalties, he had yet to lose a league as Celtic manager. His comment in the View, “The Wreckers are chanting about things that have nothing to do with football” was respected, Celtic fans went back to football matters. But this was 1972. News from Ireland was despairing. Rangers fans (and according to newspaper reports, Hearts fans) were chanting “UDA” without censure, Celtic fans eventually retorted.
This is all sooo last century, apart from the consequences, of course.
Sharp focus for Sunday…
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CQN Annual:
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Well Lhads..been a pleasure as always.
TBJ…not drove a bus for a while, but im sure I could find my way to govan:)
Now…where’s that banner
HH
Boycott Swinecastle …..the Jambo pigs are desperate for cash …
Sir Paul
Kiddo.. I am Surprised at Ye!!
Ye Made a Booboo..
Ye called those Guys who called ye up oan the Telephone……..
JOURNALISTS!
Doncha Know that.. Eric Arthur Blair.. Properly , defined Whit a “Journalist”… IS?
Miny years Ago.
When He Proclaimed..
“A Journalist ,is Someone who Prints.. Something.. that ..
Someone Else, does not Want tae See ..in Print”,,, or woids tae that affect.
Paul,babe..
There is No Wan Journalist in Scotland.. ( Mebbe.. the Irrepressible ..and Unshuttable-Up… Mr.Phil.. but.. HE, is an Irish Man.. so, he disnae Coont)
Right?
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
Oh.. fur the Folks who dae not Know.
Eric Arthur Blair.. is or Wiz… GEORGE ORWELL.
Ole Kayal injured again …vacillates between crapness and injury
How much longer do we have to pay this joker
Remember him bursting into the team ….demanding a new contract …receiving one ….failing to kick a ball thereafter
PF
I would if I could. . But fly back again in 60 days so alls good.
any links to this hum gathering going about?
Intolerance 1,
Celtic fans 0
In the latest attack on Scottish football fans’ freedoms, Celtic fans are being demonised for waving a banner that was allegedly ‘disrespectful’
Following Tuesday’s Champions League match against AC Milan at Celtic Park in Glasgow, football’s European governing body UEFA has confirmed that it has instigated disciplinary proceedings against Celtic for what it describes as ‘an illicit banner of a non-sporting nature’. In turn, Celtic Football Club released a statement on Wednesday announcing that it intends to hunt down those fans responsible for ‘showing clear disrespect’.
So, what was the ‘illicit banner’ and ‘disrespect’ that has caused a storm in the Scottish media and further afield? It was a banner depicting Scottish warrior William Wallace and Irish Republican hunger striker Bobby Sands, side by side.
The intention behind the banner unfurled by the Green Brigade, a group of Celtic supporters, was to highlight the hypocrisy of the Scottish government, which is currently jailing Celtic fans for singing Republican songs in commemoration of Sands – a man the fans consider to be a freedom fighter yet who is labelled a terrorist by the Scottish authorities.
Alongside the portraits of Wallace and Sands was a slogan: ‘The terrorist or the dreamer; the savage or the brave? Depends whose vote you’re trying to catch, or whose face you’re trying to save.’ The Green Brigade statement issued in response to threats of bans and arrest said that ‘the point being made was that it is both hypocritical and discriminatory to celebrate the Scottish nationalist struggle while criminalising the Irish nationalist struggle’.
The statement went on to say: ‘Ultimately, due to the subjective nature of what anyone may deem offensive, it is both dangerous and absurd to create a law based upon offensiveness.’ The law the Green Brigade is referring to is the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act, introduced by the current Scottish National Party (SNP) government 18 months ago. Under the act, football fans found guilty of expressing offensive words at football games or online face penalties of up to five years in prison.
Celtic’s chief executive, Peter Lawell, described the banner as ‘nothing more than clear disrespect for the club and our supporters who now face another UEFA charge’. He went on to say how the club had been inundated with complaints from Celtic fans who found the display offensive. Yet every Celtic supporter I have spoken to found the banner to be not only witty, but a brilliant retort and two fingers to those who would criminalise and demonise Celtic fans simply on the basis of the songs they sing. While there may be some fans who side with the club’s owners and management on this, there is no doubt that a very significant section of Celtic fans are right behind the Green Brigade in its refusal to bow down and accept diktats from on high regarding what fans can and cannot sing or what banners they can fly.
The specific song that gave rise to the current dispute is ‘The Roll of Honour’, a lament commemorating 10 Irish republicans who died on hunger strike in Long Kesh prison in 1981. These men, as the Green Brigade points out, died fighting in a bid to be recognised as political prisoners and not mere criminals. In Scotland today, it is deemed illegal and criminal simply to commemorate them. The number of fans arrested and charged for singing ‘The Roll of Honour’ continues to rise every week.
However, before ‘The Roll of Honour’ was deemed worthy of censorship, it was another song – ‘The Boys of the Old Brigade’ – which was targeted as unacceptable. This is a well-known song sung by many Irish and anti-imperialists commemorating the Irish War of Independence from 1918 to 1921, which eventually liberated 26 of the 32 Irish counties from British rule. But it won’t stop there. The list of songs proscribed and deemed offensive will continue to grow because the new law rests on a subjective definition of what constitutes offensiveness. In other words, this law allows the Scottish police and government to label as offensive and illegal literally anything they deem to be so.
So ridiculous and arbitrary is this law that the Scottish minister responsible for drafting it stated that, in a certain context, Celtic fans ‘blessing themselves in an aggressive manner’ could be deemed offensive and illegal, as could rival Rangers supporters singing ‘Rule Britannia’. The irrational and nonsensical logic of this law appears endless. More importantly, the authoritarian consequences of the law are becoming ever-more apparent as prison cells continue to fill up with young football fans found guilty of singing the wrong song.
Perversely, this criminalisation – not only of Celtic fans, but of Scottish football fans in general – is being carried out under the guise of promoting tolerance and diversity. Under the SNP government, tolerance has come to mean that people must be polite and nice to each other. This means that not only political statements, but what one might refer to as traditional football banter is now deemed fair game for vilification and punishment. In other words, tolerance – which one would assume implies freedom of speech – has come to mean its very opposite in Scotland. It has come to mean closing down any speech, singing, assembly or public display that those in power dislike. We are seeing the bastardisation of tolerance via the draconian treatment of working-class football fans.
Undoubtedly, it is those Celtic fans expressing sympathy for Irish republicanism who are currently bearing the brunt of what is now an all-out assault on liberty. But be warned, it will not be long before the anti-freedom consequences of this law impact on other football supporters in Scotland, too. This warning alone should be sufficient reason for everyone who follows football in Scotland or Britain to lend their full support to the Green Brigade and Celtic supporters more broadly, who are daring to stand up and fight back against a vicious attack on the right to sing and chant what we want.
Kevin Rooney is a writer and teacher based in London.
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/intolerance_1_celtic_fans_0/14358#.Upi-n3VFBjq
‘Blessing oneself in an agressive manner?”
Blessing yourself with your right hand while clubbing someone with a baseball bat with your left hand?!
HH!!
Green man
Being a govanite I could show you the way …. ;)
If I had a Euro for every comment directed at me about tight scotsmen I would be a multi millionare. Guess where I have lived for the last 34 years.
Is there room at the back of the bus for me along with the BIFFO’s and Cute Cavan *******
There has to be more important things to be picking issue with.
Tallybhoy
Blessing oneself with a smile on ones face would offend them
Please note the following for the match at Tyncastle
http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/news/2013/november/199875/
What’s the craic with the Huns miscalling us last night ….some nonsense paedo comment or something
Why do they persist with this arrant nonsense .l
That’s my CQN annual just arrived. Gave it a quick scan, its a Xmas present so only peeping, there’s a lot in there and looks great value for money.
A Xmas must…..now off to the pub…see you later………
n … Sir Paul..
Ah hiv restrained.. Ma Commonsensical… Instincts..
And.. Hiv Refrained frum Commentin’, oan the Latest.. Nonsensical Action. of Which..Poor Old Celtic, hiv Fallen Victim ..
and Which hiz bin Meted oot.. By the Bhoys of the ,, Grim Ole…. G.B.
And Ah wull Continue tae , Dae that..
and This is …
Because,it is an Action that is Far too Painful tae fur Me tae Cogitate.OAN.
Fur, Ah .. Suffer Fools.. No Gladly..
At awe.. At awe!
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
Pfayr
Because they can.
It seems some think that no one on here is anything other than a board sychophant?
Blair switch project @LWordsmith 3m
@mcginleybhoy @paullarkin74 @BTWCelticShow Anyway times up for today, have a lovely evening.
Pol MacFhionnghaile @mcginleybhoy 2m
@LWordsmith @paullarkin74 @BTWCelticShow no argument as G says just usual sticky board sycophancy – you on CQN by any chance?
winning captains
CQN Annual arrived today many thanks.
HH
Coincidentally I updated my public petition 01491 blog to include quotes from Assistant Chief (later Chief) Constable Campbell Corrigan of Strathclyde Police, who was believed to be one of the architects (not the Great One) behind the OB Act.
ACC Corrigan’s praise for “excellent atmosphere he hopes will be replicated across the force” following the 2011 CIS Cup Final went largely unnoticed by the MSM with the exception of Spiers then working for the Times.
Cough during the Minute Silence and the press will be on you like a ton of bricks if you are a Celtic fan but sing bigotry by the bucketfull if you are 25,000 Rangers fans and the police and Scottish Justice Minister will just think it is a wonderful advert for the game.
Oh yes and Celtic FC officials, directors and it has to be said manager will say nothing about it.
And the Scottish Parliament are asking people such as Corrigan and MacAskill if they should bring in a register for Freemasons/Orangemen in our justice system!
Here: http://www.tomminogue.com/blog7.php/petition-01491
BRTH
I’m quite obviously an ardent board fan
Me and Neganon are right in with them :-))
Celtic fans should only go to home games.
This country and its slanted agenda should not be rewarded for it’s bias towards us.
Starting with Hearts.
Lets pay that Edinburgh jury back.
JUST ARRIVED…….
just in case any of you kind people have not seen it I have copied here a notice re the Legal Fund which is on the Trust website.
If, like me, you are not a follower of Twitter you may have missed the announcement of the amount of money which had already been donated to help fight the disgraceful miscarriage of justice which was handed down in the Dutch court last week.
So here are the figures:
Bucket collection Celtic Park 23rd November £26,280.00
Contributions paid directly into the Bank Acc
or sent by Paypal to the various organisations
including the Trust £13,215.66
Total on 27th November £39,495.66
A truly magnificent effort and thanks again to everyone who contributed.
I think this shows if any proof was needed, the depth of feeling around this issue and that we as Celtic Supporters will not allow these young men to walk alone.
Justice for the Dam Bhoys!
Thanks again to all who contributed to this. Keep an eye on our website and I will also keep you updated.
Yours sincerely
Marie
Marie McCusker
Secretary
if you try to get into Tynecastle and Sniffo the wee Sniffer dog sniffs out your flares you’ll get lifted on a breeches.
things have gone to shi*
none of this would be going on if the scum hadn’t screwed up and rotted away
any chance the dutch hun could be prosecuted for aggressively beating the crap out of celtic fans, the scum prosecuted for aggressively fu&^ing up Scottish football, the smsm being prosecuted for being aggressive apologists
it all brings to focus how awful the passing of two great minds is ; pmcb and pmcc
Willie Collum will referee Hearts v Celtic, just like the last time where Celtic were rampant
and even got a penalty.
Caution CSC
eddieinkirkmichael
“……on the right to sign and chant what we want”
Kevin Rooney may be a writer and a teacher but he does not understand or follow the logic of his own argument. He does not understand the concept of free speech either.
fan-a-tic
Agree with you re. the Jam farts, but surely if we genuinely want a more competitive league we should be happy going to places such as Aberdeen, Tannadice, Inverness, Easter Road at least.
Others wiill have different grounds they might include on my list – I don’t go to Motherwell (though it’s easy travel for me), nor Kilmarnock and after the St Mirren chairman’s idiocy I wouldn’t go back to Paisley despite working there happily for many a year.
SFTB
First of all Hugs and Kissses Mwahhhhh
In answer to you questions yesterday I blame no one but myself for being disagreeable
I will leave the ‘everybody else is to blame’ to the usual suspects
My Dear, Dear Kojo…..
Or Should I Call You Aslan ?
With Your Return To This Sainted Blog…
Winter Has Been Banished From The Fair Land Of Narnia….
The Wicked Queen Ena Has Taken To Flight….
Spring Is Bustin’ Out All Over…..
Love Is All Around…..
(‘Cept In Kilbowie Kelt’s Cold,Cold Heart)
I Concur With Your Suggestion That Darnell Should Get A Regular Run Of Games In Midfield….
He Has Come Into The Team And Immediately Looked The Part…..
Much As We Saw With Victor…..
His Passing Is Crisp And Accurate….
And Like Victor,He Is Ready To Make Useful Forward Passes To Pick Out Attackers…
A Bonus Is That He Looks Very Comfortable At LB Also…….
It Is Also An Opportunity To Bring In Rogic….
Now That He Is Fit Again…..
And Needs To Play First Team Games….
Before He Goes To The Brazil WC With Australia….
Did You See That Patrick Twardzik Is Away Off On Loan To Livingston…
And His Brother Is Still Recovering From Complications Following His Herniae Surgery..
Cannot See Either Of Them Making It Into The First Team Now…..
Perhaps We Could Punt Ledley In The January Transfer. Window….
If We Are Going To Get Any Fee For Him
WhadaYaThink….?
tet,
Iv’e been watching the hun link.
Amateurish to say the least, maybe desperate.
Some not bad pertinent questions being asked from the floor.
A good laugh listening to their cover ups to protect sdm
He is behind this…guilt trip or ego?
Celtic Mac
Ye goat THAT right,pal..
Free Speech IS ..a .. Concept!
It jist Disnae woik as Weel..in Practice… as It ..
Wiz.. well….
CONCEPTUALIZED!
Is it a Right?
Hmmm… Ah wid Argue that…. it is FAR,FAR, from being.. THAT..!
as…
THAT , is Very .. Debatable.
Kojo
Still.. Laughin’
bsr
16.25
Police Scotland’s tactics and strategy for a high profile Scottish Cup tie in the home town of our national government buildings will, doubtless, be a closely guarded secret.
Nevertheless, how confidently can we all guess whether Superintendent Kenny MacDonald’s specialist search dog will be sniffing fans at the Celtic end or the Hearts’ end this weekend?
Kojo
It has its’ limits. You do not have to be Oliver Wendell Holmes, to appreciate that.
winning captains
CQN Annual arrived thanks
I haven’t posted on the recent events – been too busy but I also thought it would be wise to wait and see how I felt after a few days.
In some ways I agree with Paul’s earlier article. It is a slow train wreck. But that’s were I depart from his views.
This is a full on coordinated assault on celtic fans. So we have the following situation.
– widespread and open corruption with internet leaks being judiciously ignored by all and sundry in Scotland.
– also being ignored in celtic. BRTH have the board continued to speak to you? Are you making progress?
– we have the odious OB act and massive amounts of police time and cost being spent victimising and criminalising celtic fans.
– celtic aiding and abetting the police force in this too
– celtic caught lying about not getting safety certificates from GCC – who denied there was any issue on safety certificates. Based on this lie the board banned the GB
– we now have UEFA saying that perfectly legal banners are illicit. I wonder why that is? Celtic then jump on the bandwagon. The GB like it or not have a point.
– the police decide what is offensive or not and of course the Huns find anything that celtic fans do offensive so why don’t we cut to the chase and just close our club down?
– now the police are going to search celtic fans entering the game on Sunday – this time for fireworks but of course they have done this before.
Meanwhile the new Huns are still singing the famine is over with impunity and still breaking regulations and rules all over the place.
Not a peep from celtic.
So what is my point in posting all this. Well it seems celtic fans need to be squeaky clean compared to others a even that isn’t enough. Celtic fans political views are now also being criminalised. This is simply nazi style subjugation of a minority. Those of your willing to vote for independence really are kidding themselves on here.
As for celtic – well for me this is now close to the end game. My club have aided and abetted the Huns and have been covering it up with their silence. They are willing to sacrifice their supporters on the alter of this and on the whim of the police and SNP government.
They want us to only sing corporate songs and only say nice things while emptying our pockets as much as possible.
The media continue to ignore the shenanigans at Ibrox but will circle round us at any given moment. Our club just put up with that.
Why should I continue to support celtic? Let’s face it football in Scotland is clearly as legit as Wrestling. Plus we are simply being criminalised for attending celtic games.
Well the only reason I can think of is out of sheer defiance and to start to protest against all this. But of course we are not allowed to protest anymore.
So celtic fans are at war with our board and with the country. How will it end??
greendreamz
16:56 on 29 November, 2013
JUST ARRIVED…….
just in case any of you kind people have not seen it I have copied here a notice re the Legal Fund which is on the Trust website.
………………………….
While the amounts collected were great and top marks to everyone who took part including that Team 1 crew in the Kerrydale Suite who did a marvellous job (they know they are), a word of caution!
My costs for defending the case that gave rise to my petition (a simple Sheriff Court case lasting about 5 days) was £70k and an arbitration my company was involved in ran up legal costs from memory of about £180k!
My view of litigation is summed up in the saying “litigation where you go in as a pig and come out as a sausage”
The bucketeers will need to be called on many more times and benefits etc should be planned now as the legal costs for defending 5 in Holland will run into Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds!
IMHO of course but based on a fair bit of experience.
GuyFawkes
Ultra confidently.
Nazi style ‘subjugation of a minority’ involved making them into soap and lampshades.