Celtic finally showing backbone over SFA ref chief is great news; but what comes next is vital

By Euan Davidson

December 11, 2021

At last; after being tarnished on national radio by the chief of the SFA’s referees, Celtic have shown some backbone.

It took what seemed like forever, given the nature of what actually happened. Whether you think Crawford Allan was right or not (you’re on here, so I’m assuming not), let’s look at what objectively took place, here: the head of referees in Scottish football took to the radio, for the first time this season, to question calls that were made in a match.

To suggest it’s unprofessional doesn’t really scratch the surface there. If it had happened in the Premier League, the column inches on the subject, stacked up, would make a ladder to Mercury. It’d be chaos.

Opposition supporters who believe Kyogo was offside (how are we still discussing this?) will suggest we’re having our cake and eating it. We got the right call, and now we get to take a moral high ground over the SFA’s refereeing chief having an outburst on live radio.

To the untrained eye, maybe it might seem that way. But that removes the context here; if it was any team in the league, it’d still be deeply weird and suggest a bias. If Crawford Allan had regular air-time on the BBC to shellack his employees, then yes, it would be different.

But now Celtic need to act on this. I never thought I’d write this but a statement is needed, for this and more reasons.

Celtic need to respond to the tiresome narratives, the SFA and our league foes

When Celtic twitched to life over Leslie Deans’ bizarre comments [Daily Record], that too was encouraging. However, there needs to be a more open dialogue with fans over this.

As was often the case last season, fans are finding out about Celtic matters second-hand. In the interests of bridging the communication canyon between the board and fans, just let us in. The board have a free hit here; if they make some kind of statement or write an open letter to fans about how they feel about a number of issues, they’ll win favour.

It really is that simple. Seeing that Celtic are fighting against this utter nonsense from SFA figures and former Hearts chairmen is one thing. Actually hearing it from the club would add some trust that as fans, the club are in our corner.

The constant lazy, inaccurate narratives about Kyogo, the bizarre outbursts from the likes of SFA man Allan and Hearts’ Deans; there’s plenty to work with.

Again, asking for a statement from Celtic is the last thing anyone writing about the club from a fan’s perspective would expect to do.

But it’s needed. Finding out that the club are fighting against this wave of criticism is good, but there’s an opportunity for the club here, too.

What they do next is vital.

Read more: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou explains what he wants from supporters against Motherwell tomorrow