Celtic fans celebrate during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Q: It’s crucial how important the fans were. I suppose that you were able to know then but that’s sort of what you need in these big atmospheres, isn’t it?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, it’s just sheer passion. The supporters are having for this club. What they give to the team, it’s what makes it. I’ve said it many times before, the support, whether it’s financially or emotionally, what supporters give to Celtic is what makes Celtic what it is. So to have the support there with is always makes a huge difference. We see it domestically. We see it on the travel. We see it in Villa Park. I think the young player Morgan Rogers said he’d never seen it the way he’d like that in any game. So that obviously makes me very proud as a manager of the club. It’s not a surprise when you’re Celtic-minded but we just want to make sure that there are no barriers and no way for us to play and have that support so that we can play the very best we can.”
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)
Q: You don’t want it to become a distraction either with guys like us asking you about it all the time?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think in every which way the questions will come and I respect that. They have to because it’s a point to debate. People travelling, they need to organise as well. So yeah, there are many reasons why it’s good that the news has come out now because there was talk around we might not know until after the first game which wouldn’t have been ideal. So yeah, it’s really good news for everyone and then just to concentrate on the football.”
UEFA Champions League 2024 / 2025, Celtic Glasgow vs. Young Boys Bern YB – Celtic Park Glasgow, Alistair Johnston. Photo JOERAN STEINSIEK – Pyros from the Young Boys fans NOT from Celtic supporters.
Q: Does it come with a kind of warning that as repeat offenders you are in the last chance saloon then?
Brendan Rodgers: “I’m not sure they’re going to listen to me if I’m honest. So whoever that may be. But let’s hope. I think the game as a whole and it’s not just a small group of Celtic supporters. You see it throughout football. There’s this element of ultras and all this sort of thing. You see it throughout Europe. So it’s not just Celtic supporters. But my only worry is for Celtic and our club so that we can attain the status of what we have, which is an amazing club with the main support base and a club where the supporters can travel anywhere in the world and always be welcomed and those are always open for them. So that’s what we always want to have.”
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