Celtic fans' petition on dropping Parks buses already gathering pace

By David Walton

March 11, 2021

The Celtic fans’ fresh petition regarding the club’s use of Parks of Hamilton is already picking up some momentum.

The petition, posted two days ago, has urged the club to cut ties with the bus company. This is due to the fact that it’s owned by Rangers chairman Douglas Park.

In recent days, Park has tried to bring Celtic into his own team’s problems. In a letter sent to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Park hinted at an unbalanced approach in the government’s approach to Rangers in comparison with Celtic.

Celtic then responded with a statement of their own. They effectively dismissed the “Old Firm” tag and stated that Rangers fan behaviour isn’t their problem.

However, the club uses Park’s company in order to get to both home and away matches. It’s a deal that’s been in place for years, but supporters appear to have had enough of it.

A petition to halt it on change has already amassed over 2.5k signatures. The petition states that “We, the supporters demand that the board of Celtic Football Club cease all business ties linked with Douglas Park and Parks of Hamilton. Celtic will no longer use Parks of Hamilton coaches.”

Not a great look for Celtic; fans’ petition shows exactly how many feel

Park founded the organisation back in 1971 and is currently Scotland’s largest privately owned motor dealership groups. Therefore, in a way it’s no surprise that Celtic use them.

But with the way Park has tried to bring us into Rangers’ off-field problems isn’t on. It would send a strong message from the club if they cut all ties and backed their supporters here.

Granted, it’s important to remember that we don’t know the particulars of the contract between the Hoops and Parks. Whether it’s as simple as simply backing out isn’t exactly clear to us on the outside.

Celtic Park / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Even so, it’s something many fans feel strongly about. And it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this petition crank right up in popularity in the coming days and weeks.

Celtic have been criticised so strongly this year for a lack of communication with supporters. Even worse, they had driven many of us to sheer apathy with some of the boardroom verdicts.

It’ll be interesting to see if anything comes of the increased pressure to part with Parks. But one thing’s certain from all of this, the support isn’t happy.