THE GREEN BRIGADE RETURN: THE 5 QUESTIONS CELTIC NOW NEED TO ANSWER
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Like most of you, I was delighted to hear yesterday that The Green Brigade’s overdrawn and completely unnecessary collective ban from Celtic Park has finally been lifted.
Since the announcement, I have been told by some of the “usual suspects” who often read this blog but seldom, if ever, have positive words to offer something to the effect of: “Well, you got what you wanted, now shut up and stop slagging off the Board.
“In fact, you should be thanking the board for being so gracious after those 'Wee Neds' went mental with the pyro again at the weekend”.
Unfortunately for the board sycophants out there, things are not that simple, as I’m sure they themselves are aware, even if they lack the intellectual honesty to admit so.
I certainly will not say “thank you” to The Celtic Board for temporarily removing a problem that was entirely of their own creation.
The Green Brigade Are Back Where They Belong, But Many Issues Remain Unaddressed
There was something almost Trumpian in the wording of Celtic’s official statement yesterday which stated that the Green Brigade’s readmission to Celtic Park was dependent on their “unconditional acceptance” of the terms put to them by the Safety Advisory Group.
I’m sure I recall Trump making similar demands for an Iranian “unconditional surrender” a few weeks ago, before inevitably backpedaling, as The Celtic Board have done now.
On a side note, there’s still no word on what, if anything this “Advisory” organization has to say about the recent Smurf invasion at Ibrox. However, whatever they do eventually say will inevitably be ignored by a Rangers Board who seem to have accepted that it is easier and probably more lucrative, in the short term at least, for them to monetize fascism rather than it is to do the decent thing and stamp it out.
But anyway, enough about those mutants, back on topic.
Celtic’s statement yesterday, like so many from the Club this season raised more questions than it answered. There still remains a lot we don’t know, and I suspect the board are going to feel the need for a sudden surge of transparency.
That being said, I’ll ask the questions anyway, and let’s see if any of Dermot Desmond’s lackeys have the courage to attempt to answer any of them.
1) Will the Green Brigade members who have not had any charges levelled against them, which is near enough all of them, receive any form of apology or financial compensation from the club for the almost 6 months of Celtic home games they were barred from watching without any justification?
2) Will the safety advisory report submitted after each game also be open to members of the Green Brigade or nearby season ticket holders to make comment on what they perceive to be abuses of power from police or security staff? Will said report be made available to the public?
3) Have any Celtic security staff or Police been subject to disciplinary action for the visually documented cases of excessive force used against young supporters on multiple occasions this season? If not, why not?
4) When will fan media be allowed back into Celtic Press Events?
5) What assurances will Celtic’s security staff seek from Rangers with regards to ensuring their fans behave and participants in the on-pitch violence last month are barred, before giving them any sort of allocation for the next Glasgow Derby? Again, if no such assurances have been sought, why not?
There plenty more issues to go over, but those can wait until the summer.
For now, the Green Brigade know what they, and indeed all of us lucky enough to be able to watch the final 6 games of the season in person have to do:
Make some noise, and let’s win this league!
