A small band of Celtic supporters gathered outside McDiarmid Park stadium throughout Celtic’s fixture against St Johnstone on Boxing Day. The scenes were comical and good natured, as evidenced by our photo of the day feature that evening, which depicted one fan swinging from a tree with a cigarette in hand!
These supporters went to give the team a bit of backing and stood in a woodland area at the corner of the ground, where they could peer into the stadium due to a gap between stands. Anyone watching on TV would know that they remained outside and didn’t enter the stadium at any point. Naturally, police went to investigate the presence of a collection of fans letting off pyro, but they were content to allow the supporters to view the game from their external vantage point.
In spite of the above, the Daily Mail proceeded to write a bizarre story with the headline: “Defiant fans clash with police as they storm football ground to watch match after crowds were capped at 500.”
What the newspaper didn’t know was that Celtic FC’s Supporter Liaison Officer, John Paul Taylor, was present at the scene. He took to Twitter to clarify matters…
Just to clarify some inaccurate reports from yesterday. There was no clash with Police, no storm of gates, a handful of fans went to cheer their team from a an area which was away from the Stadium. Police were agreeable to this and fans dispersed at FT without any issue
— Celtic FC SLO (@CelticFCSLO) December 27, 2021
In times of triumph, tragedy, humour or otherwise – there is often a song that the Celtic support can sing to mark the occasion. In this circumstance, there is an Irish ballad often sung in Celtic friendly pubs which could be appropriate:
