CELTIC FANS PRAISED BY DUTCH MEDIA, STILL VILIFIED BY OUR OWN
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 29 minutes ago
- 2 min read
One of the funnier aspects of seeing Celtic finally notch up a long overdue away win in Europe has been the exceptional reluctance with which the Scottish media has praised the performance. Every write up seems to be couched with mentions of a “weakened Feyenoord side” or a “home side that hasn’t turned up in Europe all season.”
I expect as much from the majority of our Scottish tabloid hacks, after all we all know which club most of them are in thrall to.
However, what is quite sad is the contrast between how Celtic fans were welcomed and praised by both Feyenoord and the local Dutch media last night. With Scottish club football so bereft of any advocates at the moment, and no shortage of detractors, It’s quite sad that, once again, it falls to foreign media to remind us of the brilliance of the Celtic support.
Celtic Fans Receive Universal Praise in Dutch Media, Barely a Mention in Scotland
In a time when Celtic fans, particularly those organized and currently protesting against the incumbent Celtic Board, are subject to more negative press and scare stories than ever before, and with the club doing nothing to defend us, its nice to see we at least have friends somewhere.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf singled out the Celtic support for praise. Saying that the visiting fans were “magnificent” and “at times they even out sung a far larger home support.”
Celtic took about 2500 fans to the De Kuip last night, and they enjoyed a victory that will live long in the memory.
For me it obviously invokes great nostalgia for the last time we won in The Netherlands, when Martin O’Neill led us to a 3-1 win over Ajax way back in 2001, enroute to our first appearance in the Champions League Group Stages.
But reading the news reports, or at least the English translations of them also inspires a little bit of melancholy in me.
I long for the days when our own media were as enthusiastic about Celtic and our fans being so well-received in Europe.
Instead, the likes of the Scottish Sun, chose to focus on “fireworks being thrown onto the pitch” and celebrity Celtic fan Rod Stewart’s choice of headwear for the evening.
Is it really asking too much for our mainstream press to give us just a wee bit of positivity, beyond the obligatory match report? As usual the match report, again, makes more references to the home side’s deficiencies that it does to Celtic’s amazing performance despite having effectively half a team missing through injury.
I’m not asking for the kind of fawning sycophancy they spew forth towards Rangers every day. Just a wee bit of balance would be nice.
However, one thing the Scottish press has never been good at when it comes to Celtic or indeed to Celtic fans, is balance, tempered by impartiality.