I am a lifelong Celtic supporter ( 69 years) to be precise. For some reason, I have only recently stumbled on your website, The Celtic Star. The reason for this is probably the fact that I never believed that Celtic supporters were ever capable of being organised into a “Bona Fide” protest group. I have spent a lifetime listening to Celtic supporters moaning among themselves, berating the fact that, no matter what you do or say, protest from within Celtic ranks will be written-off by the majority of the “Blue leaning Press “, as paranoid ravings.
Before the Ten-in-a-Row season even began, like most supporters, I highlighted to all who would listen:- That every devious device, every dirty trick , every manipulation of the rules would be used to undermine Celtic’s attempt to win ,”Ten-in-a-Row “. That was, of course , before Lawwell, Lennon & Co. went into “self-destruct Mode”, rendering my theory as irrelevant. What has happened to Celtic in-house, however, only further highlights the fact that, even despite Celtic’s abysmal on-field displays, this has not deterred anti- Celtic elements from redoubling their own efforts.
Last year I was so disgusted by the lack of punishment being metted-out to Alfredo Morelos that I took the time to write to Humza Yousaf (Secretary of State for Justice) in the Scottish Parliament. I took this step because I knew that in both the SFA and The Scottish Referees Committee would conveniently file any protest in the dust bin. At the time, I did not realise that Humza Yousaf was indeed a Celtic supporter. He contacted me to state his position and that to openly act on such an issue would be political suicide. I obviously accepted his explanation.
The situation, this season, if anything has worsened. Morelos in games against Celtic, Dundee United and Hibernian was allowed to play-on (after sending-off offences). In some instances, retrospective punishment has been metted-out, but only after Rangers have three points in the bag. The Football authorities really do think that the viewing public are totally brainless and do not realise the deviousness of their actions. This week, again against St Johnstone the referee had another sudden onset of blindness when Roofe of Rangers should again have been sent-off after a career-threatening tackle . Once again , the referee is five yards from the incident and only a symbolic “yellow card”, is the punishment. Again Rangers walk away with a victory and three points.
You may think I am ranting-on a bit but I have spent a life-time witnessing Celtic and Celtic Supporters being cheated, deprived and laughed-at, when they had the audacity to flag-up corruption in Scottish Football and in British Society in general. You see , I come from a generation who went for job interviews (with excellent qualifications from High School or University) to be asked, ” What school did you go to”?” As soon as you mentioned a Roman Catholic school, the interview was effectively over.
The thing that annoys me most, however is that that type of Bigotry and Religious discrimination still exists in a more subtle manner. What Celtic supporter does not know :- That referees and officials are specially selected for special games, that a Penalty-kick or sending-off will be awarded against Celtic , that every fifty-fifty decision goes to Rangers and that Rangers are mysteriously awarded the most Penalty-kicks in Scottish Football year after year? What really baffles me , most of all, however, is that this type of corruption is allowed to persist without any organised challenge from Celtic FC in the first instance and then from Celtic supporters and supporters of other clubs.
The challenge from other clubs might be naive to contemplate, since unfortunately I think we all realise that they comprise mainly of “Rangers supporters without the bus fare”, who will do little to harm the bigoted environment they perpetuate. There must surely be some decent people among them , who like ourselves, witness this blatant bigotry week after week, and year after year , and realise that it is fundamentally wrong.
The challenge from Celtic must also be questioned. Surely Celtic’s management must realise that to overcome all this adversity, they must not only have a good team they they must have a great team. In recent years they came close to this but unfortunately that era appears to be over. Moreover, Celtic as an institution have often left themselves as easy prey to their mockers and enemies. During the Kelly/White regimes (which I suffered through) , huge sums of cash changed hands in Glasgow pubs, to get a job on the turnstiles of Celtic Park. This became a huge joke in the , “Blue Press”, when Celtic Park was bulging at the seems and Celtic would issue crowd figures of 40,000. Celtic, at this time ( especially during the War years) were accused of ,” Unpatriotic behaviour “, by defrauding the Inland Revenue. As you can see, at various times, it was not our enemies who were harming Celtic.
It is an insult to Celtic supporters and people of Roman Catholic persuasion to witness the SPFL, SFA and British Society support issues , such as :- “Give Racism a Red Card “, and “Black Lives Matter “, whilst perpetuating religious discrimination, bigotry and corruption within their own ranks. Are Religious discrimination and Religious bigotry not a form of Racism?
The purpose of this article is to ask why Celtic supporters and Roman Catholics have tolerated this abuse for so long without forming any kind of cohesive opposition? We have enough Celtic supporting MPs and MSPs in both Westminster and Holyrood to raise this issue and yet they remain totally silent, not wishing to rock the boat.
It is, therefore imperative that organisations such as yours encourage and give support to Celtic supporters wishing to finally put an end to the Bigotry , Racism and Anti- Celtic ethos which exists within Scottish Football and in general Scottish Society. It is time that these people and their hidden agendas are put into the public domain. It is time to ask all the awkward questions about:- Selection of Referees , the obvious bias of Referees (which should not be too difficult to prove from TV recordings ), Retrospective punishment (after points have been awarded0 and why neutral referees have never been sanctioned for, “Old Firm ” games , the number of Penalty Kicks awarded to Rangers relative to other Scottish teams etc. etc .
I therefore, respectfully request that you use your Forum in a positive fashion and give a voice to Celtic supporters who like me have attempted to fight this blight on our Irish Catholic heritage which has existed since 1888 and beyond .
Francis g. Thompson
Absolutely brilliant post.
Dallas
Well said sir. I have been saying the same thing you only have to go back to 2/1/21 to see this racism. Our team and officials went to ibrox to play a game but also go lay a wreath in memorial of many fans who lost their lives in that stadium. Hundreds of their fans chose to fire racist abuse at our club officials whilst laying said wreath not to mention our players. No one arrested on the day, and whilst the so called investigation is still on going one person has been arrested, and a further two for misuse of pyrotechnics. We are still expected to take the knee for Black Lives Matter for me we should stop doing this and when asked tell them anti Irish catholic hatred is indeed racism.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article.
Brilliant, very well said……
needed to be said sooner rather than later.
Catholic Lives Matter!
Anti Irish Catholic Hatred Is Indeed Racism.
understand exactly what you are saying,but unfortunately it is blaringly obvious that the Celtic board wanted rangers to catch up,Wil we ever know who or why did we not compete for the title and allow them to run away with it?
The simple answer is if Celtic had won the league and cup more the Rangers would be bankrupt come the end of the season. The two horse race without them after a couple of seasons would lead to reduced financial input into the SPFL .
ie T.V. revine,shirt, and kit manafacturers.
This does not fit with the current Celtic buissnes model. People like Dermot Desmond are not interested in Celtic supporters, it’s a toy to them. Unfortunately even their toys, hobbies and interests have to show a profit.. He’s in it for the long game, betting that in the not to distant future things will change in Europe, restructuring with one or two teams from Scotland involved. He will then gained access to the big money at a bargain basement price. After all he’s down to his last £2.2 billion.
Hi Gerry ,
Your business model theory has been held by the more inspired Celtic supporters for a long time .
Thanks for a valid comment ,
Francis G. Thompson.
Two excellent letters from two different people but one connection, being treated like dirt because they support celtic and are both Catholic i presume, I’ve lived with this all my life I’m 66,the club should take the spl, the sfa to task the way wee fergie did it, remember the cadette affair, they said we were paranoid then but the bunnet proved they were the ones cheating, its the same with the men in black now, its so obvious they think that they will never be touched, grow a pair of balls celtic and take them to task.
Religious bigotry is ignored in this country, its about time it was addressed and may I say Mr Neil Lennon did in fact bring this to the fire, but fell on deaf ears, time for action, Catholicism matters.
Respect to you, Francis G. Just one point I’d contend which is the assertion that supporters of all other clubs are really cream buns.
I have a frustration too, in that a lot of ‘supporters’ are not supporting. If we win our games in hand, beat them twice, throw in a couple of other slips (pun intended) then we are game on. To the backing track of the sound of bottles crashing.
Well said Francis!! As a supporter of the same age (nearly) as yourself, from an Irish-Catholic background, I heartily endorse all the points you have made so well. We have all seen the video evidence of instances when Celtic have been blatantly cheated (e.g. Motherwell should have had two red cards on Saturday, and there are umpteen irrefutable cases of no action being taken against the likes of Morelos, Bhougerra, and many others in Celtic games v Rangers for red-card offences over the years.) Celtic goals being disallowed for offside when clearly onside (Hartson in LCF, 2003, Cadete at Ibrox 1997 – vital goals which could and probably would have changed the destination of cups and championship titles) and many others. Why will our club not march up to Hampden Park, plonk the evidence on Neil Doncaster’s desk, and say “What are you going to do about it??” If the SPFL will not act, why not take the evidence to UEFA or even FIFA?
I fear your correspondent Gerry Timoney (above) has hit the nail on the head with the answer….the Celtic board see Rangers as a necessary evil, indispensable to Celtic’s continued financial wellbeing. The board have for years been content to keep Rangers at arm’s length, rather than using our financial clout to pull well clear of them and thereby reduce the championship “race” to a one-horse canter. This would reduce interest all round and result in diminished income, so Celtic have managed to keep just that one step ahead of Rangers – until the policy blew up in their faces this season. They could not have foreseen the effect of empty stadia, and a complete collapse of collective form at Celtic coupled with the huge improvement wrought by Gerrard and Beale at Ibrox. Rangers have the upper hand for the time being, but no doubt there will be another massive revamp in the mould of the O’Neill and Rodgers upgrades in the coming summer. Then the whole process will start again…
However, the original point remains valid: Celtic have been systematically cheated for years by agents of a corrupt system that will do us down at every opportunity.
Spot on, agree with every word,,same way Scotland will never receive independence,,