“We’re not half of anything….unless there’s money to be made” read the banner in the North Curve ahead of Celtic’s 2-0 win against St Mirren. Whilst amongst the usual imagery weaponising child abuse, theRangers support scrawled their own messages to their boardroom members on bedsheets. “Money over morals” and “No d£rby friendlies” were two of the banners on display at McDiarmid Park, when second-placed theRangers beat St. Johnstone 1-0.
It takes a lot to get fans of theRangers and Celtic to agree on anything, the respective boardrooms however managed to do just that, as they agreed to head to Australia and take the Glasgow Derby outside of Scotland.
Now it appears theRangers may be having second thoughts and that is pleasing on so many levels, but for Celtic, those in the boardroom should also take note.
Celtic as a brand is undersold. We as a club have a worldwide Irish diaspora to tap into, and one we fail to satisfy if truth be told.
All across the World Celtic fans climb out of bed at the most unsociable of hours and tune into watch Celtic. They do that whoever Celtic play, it’s not something exclusive to a Glasgow Derby.
Our history, our ethos, our colours and our songs are our unique selling points. The creation of a club to feed an ostracised Irish immigrant population is something every Celtic fan is proud of. Our charitable roots are something we hold dear and others are attracted to the romanticism of all of that. Yet we risk that reputation being sullied by associating ourselves with a brand built on intolerance, hate and entitlement from the other side of the city, by pushing a long-dead ‘Old Firm’ brand as the main attraction. Now is a chance to end that for good.
While Celtic remain in Scottish football, we will face theRangers sometimes as often as six times a season. For television contracts that should be more than enough to satisfy the appetite of broadcasters and advertisers, anything beyond what is contractually obligated therefore can be given up and instead we should focus on selling Celtic as a stand-alone brand.
The opportunity arose when the previous incarnation of a club that played out of Ibrox was liquidated, instead we mourned the £5m loss a season at boardroom level, rather than seeing the multitude of opportunities that closing coffin lid offered us.
While the Celtic support danced a jig on the grave of a dead rival, we as a club, through five-way agreements and now trips to Australia, breathed life into that corpse. Yet look at what we’re in bed with. Manchester, Barcelona, George Square and now Belgrade have witnessed what journalist Ian Archer described as …
“This has to be said about Rangers, as a Scottish Football club they are a permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace. This country would be a better place if Rangers did not exist.”
Well, they did die yet we’re attempting to resuscitate them.
From a footballing perspective we need to see the damage benchmarking ourselves to one team in a two-horse race, rather than clubs in other European countries, does to our progression as a football club. Our embarrassing European performances show that staying a step ahead of a local rival doesn’t not prepare us for football beyond our borders. Instead, it keeps our wheels stuck, spinning in the mud, unable to progress as the footballing world embraced a revolution this century and we remain far behind the curve.
🇦🇺 | Ange’s Tournament#BREAKING@RangersFC penalty for pulling out of Ange’s Homecoming is set to be double the amount they were getting to be a supporting act, plus penalty.
Due to a legal mechanism being used it will be £2mil (250k participation fee x2 and a £1.5mil fine).
— 🍔 Gastro Celtic 🍀 – 胃腸炎 (@Gastro_Celtic) March 18, 2022
Meanwhile off the field via our own custodians an association remains with a rival we should want no part of.
In Scotland we may be able to explain where Celtic and theRangers differ, but that is an argument we struggle to win, particularly when those who run the club feed the support one message, of not being half of anything, while on the other hand are happy to revitalise a two sides of the same coin sales pitch to the rest of the world.
When we do that, we are lumped in with them, with their behaviour and their intolerances. It’s an association that stains us and we need to cleanse ourselves of it.
Celtic as a club of course needs to make money and trips abroad to places like Australia and beyond is a way to do it, but we don’t need them attached as a support act to do so. That approach is both short-sighted and ultimately damaging to Celtic. Instead, we need to realise what we have, what is unique and what we can project entirely positively and without the negativity that comes with an association with a rival who are stuck in the 17th century.
READ THIS...£1m Penalty to the Rangers – If they are ‘Too Feart’ to play Celtic in Sydney
If anything comes of this shambolic decision to head to Australia, with theRangers in tow, and the fallout from it, it should be a long overdue awakening that an association with Ibrox holds us back from maximising the potential of our own football club. We missed an opportunity to cut those ties in 2012 – in 2022 we have another chance.
Surely this time there has to be someone, somewhere, who can see the opportunity here, and that to distance ourselves once and for all will mean long-term growth and opportunity, with just a little effort and planning, rather than a short-term buck at the expense of our reputation.
Niall J
For your information Niall, The real fact of the matter that the Irish were not accepted in Scotland during the potato famine was nothing to do with religion. What it was to do with was financial. Before the Irish arrived on these shores the protestant population was earning affordable wages say at that time a pound per week. When the Irish arrived they were willing to work for half of this so driving down living standards for the people who were already living here hence causing divisions between two. These are facts and you would do well to read them at your first opportunity.
JD
Your spot on in everythingb you say been saying this since that decision was made, utter disgrace and they will cause mayhem ! Its what the poison do! So no need for hindsight here,either pull out or tell organisers no! smsm loving this bs and our club well clowns like bankier endorsed this absolute disgrace we nerd to stop it, I lived in Sydney for 8 years God help them well the huns show up, I be over in Australia at this time but will give Sydney a miss, disgraceful from that board and they know it!
We are a true world supported club living over there I saw it first hand they are not! We dont need need this! As we be dragged into their poisin ! It cant and never should be allowed disgraceful!