The Salvation Army in my early life used to come round the streets on a Sunday afternoon singing “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus!”. (They also had a song called “Follow, Follow We Will Follow Jesus” a song that has been shamefully perverted by wicked people). And Celtic themselves have “Stand Up for the Champions” and other songs. There is basically nothing wrong with standing up!
Except there is at Hampden and away grounds. There is no problem at Celtic Park where people generally sit, except in their designated standing areas, but at away grounds and particularly at Hampden, the front row insists on standing, and thus the rows behind them must stand as well. This causes a problem for us supporters or er, maturer years, who find it difficult to stand for 90 minutes, with the additional problem at Hampden of having had to walk about a mile from the bus to get there. The police seem to lack the courage to make the first row sit down, and one would have to agree that at Hampden in particular, you don’t always get a good view from the front row.
There does not seem to be any easy solution to the problem – one old man is never going to persuade 50,000 to sit down! – and so with reluctance, some of us oldies have decided to forgo our ticket for Hampden a week come Sunday and watch the game on TV instead. It is a shame because watching a game in the flesh is always better than TV. Yes, on TV there are loads of play backs etc. but the price is that you have to listen to an awful lot of nonsense from commentators as well. Mind you, I have also in my time heard a fair amount of nonsense at games from supporters.
The only way of dealing with this problem – short of appealing to people’s sense of decency – is to have designated “sitting areas” where stewards and police will enforce the idea of an “all-seater” stadium. Naturally you would be allowed to stand up and cheer when the teams come out, or when a goal is scored, but otherwise you would have to stay seated – as indeed happens most of the time at Celtic Park. It is a shame it cannot happen at Hampden as well.
So TV it must be for the oldies, one fears.
David Potter
The solution is really quite simple.
There are obviously different types of supporters. From the ultras who want to wave flags, bounce, set off pyrotechnics etc.; to the maturer fans, as you put it, who simply want to sit and watch the match, and don’t want to be in with the ultras.
Most stadiums are big enough to cater for the two extremes and everything in the middle.
Hampden: the goal end is for those who want to stand and generate the atmosphere. The main stand is for those who want to sit. The North Stand is for those somewhere in the middle.
It’s madness that despite having established ultras groups for almost 17 years, there still isn’t a pragmatic ticketing arrangement that can make this possible.
It needs to happen. Fan culture has changed massively in the last 10 years and more fans are drawn to the ultra style of support. Given this is predominantly a youth sub culture, then it’s always going to exist now and trends suggest it will grow. Even at Celtic Park the current standing section is insufficient, it needs to be bigger.