The Celtic board are in the latest of their many disputes with the Green Brigade.
The group have been attacked by Dermot Desmond after defying a stadium ban to attend Celtic’s fixture against Kilmarnock.
The ban had been imposed after ‘safety concerns’ stemming from an incident with a steward. The club have been as public as they could be in their criticism of the group, which is situated in the standing section in Celtic Park’s North Curve.
Yesterday, the Green Brigade said that they were ‘deeply cocnerned’ by the fact that they would have no representative at the upcoming meeting with the Safety Advisory Group.
And now, the Celtic Fans Collective has come out in defence of the GB ahead of tomorrow’s AGM.
Celtic Fans Collective sends ‘urgent letter’ to club over Green Brigade dispute
The Green Brigade have played a leading role in the in-stadium protests pushed by the Collective, but they are only part of what constitutes the recently-formed group.
The Collective also represents CSCs from all over the world, as well as fan media outlets including 67 Hail Hail.
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So their support for the Green Brigade is significant.
The letter proposes four steps to ensure a fair process towards resolving the current spat between the club and the group:
- Immediate reinstatement of dialogue with the Green Brigade and their representatives.
- A pause on all sanctions until the supporters can present evidence in a fair process.
- Club support for a Celtic Fans Collective representative (and/or legal counsel) at SAG meetings.
- A credible process for addressing supporter safety concerns with acknowledgement and follow-up.
The letter goes on to say: “As we write this letter we have been informed that three supporters have been targeted by police at their homes this morning in dawn raids…
“A very unwelcome return to the dark days of the Offensive Behaviour Act when many football fans, including Celtic supporters, were arrested and charged only to have their charges dropped or to be found Not Guilty at subsequent and delayed trials.
“In what is a really shocking development, we are aware that the offenses for which their doors have (literally) been kicked in is Breach of the Peace – not assault or anything more serious.
“This together with the timing of this outrage leads us to believe there has been significant collusion between the Club and the police and is no more than a well-timed publicity stunt the day before the AGM and designed to cause division among Celtic supporters.
“The Club are undoubtedly aware that no trial will take place otherwise they would not have jeopardised a fair trial with their unequivocal public statements that there was an ‘assault’ carried out by an identifiable group of people.
“On this basis we are absolutely certain that the charges against these young men will be dropped or will fail to stand up in court.
“Notwithstanding the behaviour of the Club and its officials, which we utterly condemn, we remain willing to engage as outlined above.
“We would welcome an urgent response.”
Celtic statement on Green Brigade ban
What else has the Celtic Fans Collective done since its inception?
The Collective has mobilised Celtic fans to a greater extent than we have seen at any point in the last two decades.
Through supporting protests via fans remaining in the concourse (against Kilmarnock), anti-board banners (against Partick Thistle) and fans remaining silent (against Hibernian), they have made fans’ unhappiness at the board front and centre.
This forced Michael Nicholson’s hand to organise a sit-down meeting with the Collective at Celtic Park, where questions could be put to him and other board members.
Unfortunately, lots of questions remained unanswered after the board’s responses – don’t be surprised if this process is repeated at Friday’s AGM.
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