CELTIC TITLE PARTY: WHY IT’S OK TO INVOLVE OTHER CLUBS
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Mar 26
- 4 min read
As discussions begin over plans for a Celtic Title Party, there’s been quite a bit of anger online in the last couple of days. Most of this stems from the suggestion that another club was invited to be part of these preparatory talks.
Not Asking, Informing
The implication from some parties has been that Glasgow City Council had asked Rangers for their thoughts about an appropriate way to host the Celtic Title Party. However, I think framing it this way is slightly disingenuous.
For the record, Celtic do not need any other team’s blessing to organize a public event for their own fans.
However, as an act of good faith, it is customary in these situations to inform other clubs with large fan bases in the city where and when you plan to host an event such as the aforementioned Celtic Title Party.
Manchester United often liaise with Man City about such things, Liverpool with Everton and so on.
The Right Thing to Do
It’s just good practice to do these things. Firstly, in terms of public safety, its common sense that Rangers and their fans should know which areas they should probably avoid and on what dates and times.
Certainly, it would have been better for all in Glasgow had we known in advance about Rangers’ impromptu “Occupy George Square” riot a few years ago.
There is the insinuation from some in the media that Rangers will have some influence over where and when Celtic fans get to hold their championship winning celebrations. But I don’t believe this is the reality of the situation at all.
City Council Need an Attitude Adjustment
After all, from what has been made public so far, it seems that the biggest obstacles to a Celtic Title Party come not from Rangers or any other club, but from Glasgow City Council themselves.
The council have made quite the fuss over the alleged costs of clean-up and repairs after Celtic’s last title party. No statistics were available however on how those costs stand up to those incurred by the mass orgy of monument molestation we saw in George Square when another team last won the title.
Council’s Poor Choices
In particular Glasgow City Council seemed to make a big deal of the fact that 73,000 pounds went on repairs to Mercat Cross, an historic building in the area.
Judging by the state of many other far better-known historical buildings in Glasgow, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that much of those repairs would have already been necessary long before any Celtic Title Party.
Creative Accountancy
The Council also emphasized that need to spend 25,000 pounds on staff hours and other council resources, to clean up litter, make light repairs and temporary road closures.
This again, is disingenuous on the part of Glasgow City Council.
The implication from the wording of the statement is that Celtic fans cost the council an additional 25,000 pounds with the mess they made. That’s not really how it works though, is it?
By “staffing costs”, I’m going to assume they mean wages. Last time I checked, clean-up staff get paid the same rate regardless of where they clean. Unless they employ the same financial management team as Rangers, Glasgow City Council probably knew fine and well that those regular staff wages would have to be paid out regardless of whether any Celtic title party took place or not.
Lots of Litter, But Not a Bin to be Seen
This also conveniently glosses over the fact that Glasgow City Council chose not to provide any temporary litter disposal facilities for the previous Celtic title party. A few wheelie bins, or even just a skip, placed in the proper area could probably have negated a lot of these “clean-up costs”.
There was some damage of public property, and that’s out of order. But it was minimal compared to other events hosted by other clubs and associated groups.
The Big Angry Orange Elephant in The Room
Of course, there is an easy response to any criticism Glasgow City Council level at Celtic or their fans for the cost of public celebratory events. Every summer, not just in Glasgow but around Scotland, we are subjected to the sectarian, racist hate parades of the Orange Order. I wonder how much it costs to clean up after each of those.
I also wonder how much it costs for so many police to stand there and play “spot the Rangers top” amongst all the hangers-on, all the while doing their professional best to resist their natural inclination to hum along to “The Sash”.
The Economic Power of Celtic
Even if you take Glasgow City Council’s temper tantrum at face value and accept that the last Celtic Title Party cost them over 100,000 pounds, that is a drop in the ocean compared to the economic benefits Celtic and our supporters bring to the city. Estimates place Celtic’s annual contribution to Scotland’s economy at around 165 million pounds.
I’m going to go ahead and speculate that those numbers might just be a wee bit higher than the annual economic input of The Orange Order and their flute bands. Though admittedly policing a Celtic Title Party probably isn’t as much fun for the average Glasgow police officer.
Celtic Title Party Will Happen Regardless
The reality is, on the day we win the league, fans will congregate, there will be song and dance, and probably a fair bit of drunkenness. This will happen, regardless of what Glasgow City Council, Rangers or anyone else says. It is in the best interests of all parties to make sure it goes smoothly.