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‘Police were completely over the top’ ‘something stinks’ ‘heavy handed abuse of power’ Celtic fans suspicious of London Road kettling

Celtic fans have hit out at the pre-match activities of Police Scotland at Sunday’s Glasgow Derby.

Around 10am it seems that a major operation was carried out on London Road that detained 90 fans from the Green Brigade with knock on effects for thousands of Celtic supporters.

That major route to the stadium was blocked off, cars and buses had to find alternative routes with many supporters arriving in the stadium after the match had kicked off.

Tensions between the Green Brigade and the club have been high in recent weeks following SPFL sanctions over Pyro, the club statements on banners and the refusal for a pre-match Tifo at yesterday’s match.

In more general terms agreeing to away fans returning to the Derby fixture hasn’t gone down well with large sections of the Celtic support while the silence over Alan Muir makes the club look weak and compliant.

When you mix those factors in with an appalling display from the team culminating in a late defeat there was plenty of hostility to a tweet from John Paul Taylor, the club’s Supporters Liaison Officer.

Publication of the feedback and a reaction from the board would go a long way to allaying the suspicions of many supporters, mostly Season Ticket holders.

There are a few areas between Parkhead Cross and the north-east entrances to the stadium where full searches for Piro could have been carried out with much less disruption, it seems that the Piro searches of away fans at the match were less successful.

There can be no doubt that relations between supporters and the club are at a low ebb, the Green Brigade and the Board of Directors view each other with suspicion.

This isn’t new.

Last season the Green Brigade section was empty with the stadium near silent as Hearts won at Celtic Park.

In season 21/22 there was a 30 minute silent protest as Ange Postecoglou’s side drew 0-0 at home with Livingston.

Going further back there was serious crushing at the 2 September 2018 Glasgow Derby, the first where the away allocation was reduced from 7,000 to 800.

On that occasion the initial reaction of the club was met with a massive wave of hostility.

CELTIC Football Club have issued the following statement following today’s game at Celtic Park.

We are aware of the issues caused by congestion prior to kick-off. We are pleased that stewards and police were able to assist quickly and we thank our supporters for their patience shown while the matter was being dealt with.

We will work closely with police to investigate and review this matter. The safety of our supporters will always be our priority.

Seventeen hours later the club performed a 180 degrees turn as the extent of the crushing became known:

CELTIC Football Club today issued the following statement with regards to events prior to Sunday’s match at Celtic Park.

‘The safety of our fans will always be of paramount importance and this is a matter which we are treating with the utmost seriousness. The Club, along with Police Scotland, will be investigating this matter fully to identify the causes and take the appropriate steps to ensure this does not happen again at Celtic Park. 

The Club and Police Scotland will advise of the outcome of this investigation once it is complete.

We are fully aware of the serious difficulties which arose yesterday for supporters, and we sincerely regret and apologise that so many fans were faced with this situation.

Yesterday’s match was the first occasion which featured new segregation and access arrangements.  

Our total focus now is to work with the Police in looking at these arrangements and other circumstances surrounding this particular fixture and to take the correct action to ensure this situation is never repeated. 

Our priority will always be to ensure our supporters enjoy a safe and positive experience at Celtic Park. We will be doing all we can to make sure this continues to be the case at all times.

The findings of the September 2018 were never made public, it is unlikely that the club will comment on yesterday’s events as they celebrate St Patrick’s Day across their social media channels.

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1 Comment

  • by Valentine's day massacre
    Posted March 17, 2025 10:36 am 0Likes

    I presume that those nice , neutral bizzies chaps and chapettes , were very worried that Celtic FC fans were about to cause carnage on the streets next to their own home stadium ? Fans whose team were 16 points clear in the league and 2 games away from winning another domestic treble were intent on outdoing the George Square celebrations and battles from a few years ago ? Yes , I can see where the Celtic fans were all desperate and determined to cause anarchy on the streets of Glasgow…..in the eyes of the plod !

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