The return of fans to Celtic Park has been an incredibly positive revelation and the atmosphere at Paradise has received international praise, particularly from representatives of our two most recent European opponents FK Jablonec and AZ Alkmaar.
The former’s manager thanked the Celtic support for providing an “unforgettable atmosphere”, whilst their goalkeeper revealed that he couldn’t focus before kick off because the atmosphere “engulfed” him. In terms of the latter, AZ uploaded a spine tingling video of the stadium belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone before the first leg of last week’s Europa League clash:
As great as the noise, colour and devotion of the Celtic faithful has been, the foolishness of a tiny few has unfortunately resulted in the club receiving a €7,000 fine from UEFA. The European governing body have issued the penalty after a young fan invaded the field of play, and another supporter lit a pyrotechnic device, during the 3-0 victory over Jablonec on 12 August.
Whilst no harm was done, UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary body have imposed a €5,000 fine for the invasion, topped up with a €2,000 fine for setting off fireworks.
Outside of Celtic, UEFA have also fined fellow Scottish club St Johnstone €3,000 after a fan set off a pyrotechnic during the Perthshire club’s 4-2 home defeat to Galatasaray. Saints have responded by closing a small section of the East Stand for Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off clash with LASK.
Having fans miss out on such historic nights is not something that football minded people wish to see, nor is it productive to cost one’s own club money. Therefore, it would be wise to adhere to UEFA’s charter, whilst encouraging the relevant organisations to explore ways of safely and legally accommodating the use of pyrotechnics, in the manner that Germany have began to trial “pyro sections” at Bundesliga matches.