Celtic fans got the campaign for change underway in spectacular fashion at Rugby Park on Sunday.
Added to that, we had a last minute winner to celebrate and a first glimpse of what could be a new winger to get excited about.
Saturdays SPFL results made it a perfect weekend all round for Celtic fans.
The 12th Man protest was a huge success.
The Green Brigade and Bhoys Celtic were to the fore creating the party atmosphere out on the concourse of the Chadwick Stand for the first 12 minutes and producing banners to get the message out.
Those that chose to take their seats for kick off did so without rancour.
MEDIA SUCCESS FOR PROTESTS
The coverage the protest garnered ensured its success. Sky Sports were all over it even before the game with cameras behind the Celtic end asking for fans views.
Unfortunately it looks like the guy they filmed screaming “Sack the Board” into their camera for several minutes at the top of his voice was left on the cutting room floor.
The 12th Man protest also dominated the likes of Footy Adventures video of his day out in Ayrshire.
As well as across the board coverage on the BBC.
And while this campaign will be entirely driven by Celtic fans alone, the wider football media are now watching and clearly getting the message.
RESTORED RELATIONSHIPS
The game itself could not have ended any better, cementing the relationship between the fans and the team, no problems there.
Brendan Rodgers got an incredible reception at the end of the match and Kelechi Iheanacho could not have dreamed of getting a better introduction to Celtic and boost for his confidence.
The only people left out of the general Celtic feelgood factor were sitting in the padded seats in the main stand, the target of the fans fury. With the Chairman finding something better to do than watch the club he drains £120,000 a year out of for his ‘ceremonial’ role.
We should have had this team together at the start of the summer and maybe Champions League qualification would have been achieved.
Sebastian Tounekti showed the trickery and directness on the wing that has been so sadly lacking this season without Jota and Nicolas Kuhn in the team.
Iheanacho demonstrated a rare confidence to step up and strike that injury time penalty given that he was a free agent when Celtic picked him up after torrid spells at Sevilla and Middlesbrough.
The exact sort of freshness Rodgers was pleading for throughout the summer.
THE TICKET SAGA
And while hundreds of Celtic fans pounded the streets in the pouring rain looking for gold dust tickets on Sunday, thousands of seats were left empty in the home end, as is Kilmarnock’s choice of course.
Tens of thousands of pounds lost again to the Ayrshire club.
The Killie fans that did turn up put on a convincing impression of another teams fans by singing about paedophilia for most of the game along with a few renditions of the local version of sectarian anthem Hello Hello.
“The decision taken to prioritise our own family support by cutting a second away stand for Old Firm games has been successful and we are very proud of the outcome,” Kilmarnock’s Managing Director Phylis Caroll told the 2023 Kilmarnock Annual Report.
“We have since witnessed an improved atmosphere for players, fans and townspeople in relation to these games. Meanwhile, the potential loss of income has not materialised, with an increasing number of families coming back each week.”
Quite the family atmosphere in the home stands.
ONLY THE BEGINNING
Oh how they loved that soft penalty in injury time that sent the Chadwick Stand into meltdown.
Onwards and upwards for Celtic fans.
A steering committee is being formed for the campaign to remove Lawwell, Nicholson and McKay, two of whom spent a very uncomfortable 12 minutes at Rugby Park praying the Sky cameras wouldn’t pan round to them while a “Sack The Board” banner was proudly on show at the front of the Chadwick stand.
The pressure will continue to mount until we get the leadership required at Celtic.
We have been ignored long enough, the Celtic board cannot avoid us now, our message is everywhere and its only just begun.
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1 Comment
by Pedro
This is proper reporting. No using of 50 words when 10 will do. The right amount of positivity. Calling out hypocrisy of not only our own club but others (the days of not being empathetic as such to smaller clubs but less hostile are over thanks to their CSA obsession- f*** ’em).
Revel in being a Celtic supporter and cram it when a decision sticks in the opposition’s throat, we’ve had enough that’s went against us in the past.
Hail f*****’ hail.