Celtic’s Flare Thrower – Don’t be too quick to blame Green Brigade

UEFA are a law onto themselves, but one of our supporters is also guilty of sheer stupidity. Looking around the supporters in this photograph below hardly screams Celtic Ultras…

Flares at Villa Park
A Celtic fan shows stupidity and selfishness by a lighting flare during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Before we go any further, any witch-hunt directed at the Green Brigade could well leave those going in that direction with egg on their faces as there is enough evidence to suggest that the flare was thrown on the park at Villa Park for the section of seats closer to the pitch and occupied those with corporate tickets.

Celtic were today formally charged by UEFA after a flare was launched from the away section in our 4-2 defeat at Villa Park. The incident happened after Adam Idah’s equaliser and UEFA naturally picked up on it, and have now begun yet more disciplinary proceedings against the club.

Flare on pitch could mean fan ban
Stewards remove a green flare off the pitch during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

A heavy fine is guaranteed and a stadium ban for Celtic supporters for the second leg Champions League play-off  in Munich is a real possibility, to say the least.

This is bad news for all Celtic supporters especially after the club were hit with a two year suspension over the ‘behaviour’ of our supporters just a few months ago.

Let’s get one thing straight. UEFA are a law into themselves and are nothing more than a cartel who use clubs misdemeanours as a cash cow to swell their coffers. They are nothing but glorified parking wardens. There also a bunch of hypocrites who make the rules up as they go along and treat clubs differently and regularly turn a blind eye to much worse crimes.

But that doesn’t mean we can excuse this Celtic supporter’s own behaviour. We need to take responsibility for own action, even if it was only one supporter who has caused the huge problem for the wider support and indeed the club. This individual has totally spoiled it for the rest of the supporters who may now miss out on a dream trip to  Munich.

Here’s the Green Brigade at Villa Park – sitting in the top tier and well away from the area where the flare was thrown from.

Green Brigade
Green Brigade gesture prior to the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

We were on a warning, everyone knew that, but one person decided to give UEFA the ammunition they needed to act. That supporter needs to take a long hard look at himself.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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About Author

An ordinary everyday Celtic supporters hailing and still residing in Govan in the shadows of the enemy. I’m a season ticket holder. I Witnessed my first Celtic game in 1988 and have attended when I can ever since. Growing up in the 90s I witnessed Celtic at their lowest, and now appreciate the historic success we enjoy today. I enjoy writing about this wonderful football club and hopefully will continue to do so. I’ve always been a keen writer and initially started this a hobby. My ambition is to one day become as good an author as my fellow Celtic Star colleagues.

18 Comments

  1. Somebody knows him and must have the ticket number of the seat you can see people not pleased with him he not a fan or he should not have a chance to go to another game terrible people will miss out on a great trip yes this idiot but it’s been going on for years and the green brigade are far from innocent and the ultras they let activist use Celtic name weed them out if there innocent people round about them losing there season book so be it they see them doing it and turn a blind eye

  2. Hahaha
    So on this occasion the GB ain’t to blame.
    What poor journalism this is.

    So what about the countless other occasions resulting in countless fines?
    Oh it was them involved this time!!
    The board are to blame for not dealing with the GB years ago and now every time an issue like this happens, good Celtic fans with take issue this minority of fans.

    They don’t speak on behalf the majority of fans and we don’t want them moved to Celtic end of the stadium.
    They keep behaving like they do, remove them… plenty of good people on the waiting list will fill the north curve.

    Poor article here.

    • 100% agree.GB might look good on t.v but they’ve overstepped the mark far too many times.They do not have the support of the majority of fans in the stadium and they have contributed to killing the matchday athmosphere in the stadium more often than not with their non-stop singing of republican songs which prevents the rest of the fans from singing in support of the team.The flares and smoke bombs need to be gotten rid of full stop.Their behaviour at times is no better than that of a gang of thugs.The banners & TIFO’s are usually outstanding and draw support but otherwise we can do without them.On the point of the persistent singing of Republican songs…don’t get me wrong,I am all for remembering Irish history and celebrating it too but it has no place in a football stadium.And given that the majority of those singing Republican songs were most likely not born at the time of the troubles and were not involved in the troubles or the war then they ought to remind themselves of this fact snd realise their carry-on is tiresome now.Lets get back to the days when all area’s of the stadium sang songs together and were not constantly embarrassed by a minority section that have put themselves above all other fans.There is a very very long waiting list at the club of fans who would happily attend games and behave with respect for all others inside the stadium and the fans watching on t.v.

    • Sophie Johnstone on

      Shut up and eat your soup.The GB have never said they speak for anyone and it matters that on this occasion some idiot in corporate seats threw the offending flare and not the GB yes they’ve led us to the point a ban is possible but deal with the actual offender this time

      .If you think Celtic Park would be anything but a morgue without both Ultra sections then your sorely mistaken

  3. Your article attempts to divert attention from the Green Brigade to others including UEFA. The simple truth is that these antics have been going on for years, by the Green Brigade. In spite of numerous warnings from the club, they refuse to moderate their behaviour. Whether or not this clown is a member of the Green Brigade or not is irrelevant- he is a total idiot who has picked up this behaviour from the GB. The GB are now running the risk of being banned from receiving away match tickets any many supporters like myself believe that the club should now reluctantly pursue this course of action. Enough is enough!

  4. Valentine's day massacre on

    Throwing a smoke tube onto a pitch would be like tossing a bottle onto the playing field ! Plenty of people must have eyed the bunker nut culprit who did the deed ,so it should not take ages for Plod to find this cretin and make an example of him . Whatever monetary fine is coming Celtic’s way ,should be given equally to the bam of the year guilty moron …paid to Celtic FC.

  5. Long live the Green Brigade. They wound up Wee Winky Winky brilliantly at Villa Park. Michael Fagan the prowler was hysterical! I laughed a lot!

  6. Regarding identification of the culprit, it is not 100% indisputable who the hand holding the smoke bomb belongs to, it could be one of two, although it is not impossible that a person whose head is obscured from this view is involved. The evidence from this image alone probably wouldn’t stand up in court.

    However, to the left of the smoke bomb there is a woman pointing her phone directly at the smoke bomb and its holder at close range. She is very likely to have been taking either a photo or video, and this will probably identify the culprit clearly and unambiguously.

    The police and the club should be making every effort to identify and contact this woman to get hold of the evidence on her phone. They should then ban this fool for life from ALL football grounds and pursue him for recovery of any financial losses incurred as a result of his selfish stupidity. Decent, genuine supporters (who support the club rather than harm it) should not have to take the hit in increased pricing to cover the club’s losses.

  7. Using fines to swell the coffers? Don’t be ridiculous. The amount of money raised would be chickenfeed for one undernourished chicken compared to where the real money is. Whether this individual is a member of the Green Brigade or not is irrelevant; they have been party to this kind of outrageous behaviour for many seasons now, thereby encouraging it, and it’s probably going to result in a ban on visiting Celtic fans.

  8. The Green Brigade are up to their scrawny little necks, in collaboration with our Hun-friendly PLC. They have sold their souls for ticket privileges. The Green Brigade act like Huns. The PLC, under uber-Hun Lawwell, pander to the Huns at every opportunity. Two cheeks of the same erse.

    Hail Hail.

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