Bishops' PR Calls For Break Between Catholic Church And Celtic FC

Bishops' PR Calls For Break Between Catholic Church And Celtic FC

Faith shouldn't follow a football team, says leading catholic

By Jenifer Johnston

The Catholic Church should question its 'outdated and offensive'
relationship with Celtic Football Cub and stop 'maintaining old
ideas in young minds'.

Peter Kearney, the official spokesman for Scottish Bishops, has
told the Sunday Herald he is 'sick and tired' of priests offering
prayers for Celtic victories at the end of Mass and the team's
players visiting Catholic schools.

He also wants an end to Celtic souvenirs being offered as prizes at
church events, saying the continuance of linking Catholics with
'one particular Glasgow football team' is 'outdated and offensive'.

Kearney, speaking in a personal capacity, said: 'It angers me when
I go to Mass and there's an announcement urging parishioners to buy
raffle tickets, perhaps for church repairs, and we're supposed to
rush forward because first prize is a football signed by all the
Celtic players.

'I've even seen football shirts from Italian clubs being offered as
prizes. Are we supposed to believe they're desirable because Italy
is a Catholic country? It would be laughable if it wasn't so
ridiculous.

'Why do so many priests and Catholics still believe because we are
Catholic we're all card-carrying Celtic supporters? I've often
heard priests offering up prayers for a Celtic victory against
Rangers. Even if it's meant as a joke, it's still aligning
Catholics with one team.

'It also angers me when Catholic schools invite Celtic players to
address assemblies and have a kick-about with pupils. It's
maintaining old ideas with young minds and should be stopped. We
may as well tell Catholics to drive one particular model of car
because that's a Catholic car.'

Kearney's comments come two weeks before a conference to be held by
the anti-bigotry group, Sense Over Sectarianism .

The Catholic Church has been accused of political blackmail in
recent weeks for announcing that it will advise worshippers in the
run-up to the Scottish elections to vote against candidates who
oppose denominational schools.

A spokesman for the Nil By Mouth anti-bigotry group said Kearney
had made 'serious and valid points'.

He said: 'Celtic were of course founded by Irish Catholics and were
one of the few teams to accept Catholics as players. They have
since then gained fondness in the Catholic community.

'However, Celtic have stated in recent years that they are a non-
religious and non-political institution. I think Kearney's comments
are understandable if he thought this behaviour by priests is
inappropriate or unprofessional. There is an issue about
stereotyping supporters of one team or another.'

Kearney added that the Scottish Catholic identity should not be
continually linked with supporting Celtic.

'We should be proud of our Irish history, we should be proud of our
Scottish history, but we should be ashamed of linking our faith
with a football team, whichever it is.

'There is a parish I know where the altar boys are Rangers
supporters. I wonder how they or their parents feel when they hear
prayers being offered up for a good Celtic victory on Saturday. I'd
rather we got away from promoting football altogether. It's a
minority pastime which gets far too much attention.'

Kearney denied Catholics with a strong Irish background would be
offended if Rangers souvenirs appeared in parish raffles. He said:
'I'm from an Irish background and it would not offend me or many
others I know.'

Yesterday, Celtic Football Club expressed surprise and bemusement
over Kearney's comments. Spokesman Iain Jamieson said he was unsure
what had prompted Kearney to lash out at the association between
club and church.

He said: 'Since our formation in 1888 Celtic have been open to all,
regardless of race, religion or political persuasion. Celtic make
charitable donations to a range of organisations based solely on
each organisation's aims. I would also stress that the club are
involved in several initiatives that aim to promote tolerance and
combat bigotry in all its forms. We already work with churches in
that respect and look forward to doing so in the future.'

Jamieson added that Celtic players were involved with sports
education programmes that brought together children from all faiths
(and none) in order to promote the sport of football.

The Rev Alan McDonald, convener of the Church Of Scotland's Church
And Nation Committee, said he could not comment on Kearney's views,
but added: 'The issue of bigotry, sectarianism and improving civic
life in Scotland is still very high on the agenda for the Church Of
Scotland.'

Celtic have a historical link to the Catholic Church from their
founding days. In order to alleviate some of the poverty and
discrimination faced by Irish immigrants, an Irish Marist Brother
in Glasgow's east end set up a team to compete with the already-
established Rangers side.

Brother Walfrid established Celtic Football Club with two aims: to
raise funds to provide food for the poor in the east end; and to
halt the growing friction between the Irish community and native
Glaswegians. In his mind Celtic was a club to be supported
Protestant and Catholic, Scottish and Irish alike.

It was a source of great frustration for the priest that Celtic was
pronounced with a soft 'c' by the Irish immigrants who were
unfamiliar with the word, but he had chosen the name as a symbol of
both the Scottish and Irish identity.

Copyright © 2003 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088

Ireland's fury as Celtic stars bar stages anti-queen demo

THE dad of Celtic star Anthony Stokes has hung a massive banner above his pub to protest at the Queen's visit to Ireland this year - claiming she "will never be welcome" in the country.

John Stokes put up the huge sign at his Dublin boozer saying Her Majesty and the royal family were banned from his bar.

And the 54-year-old has already been hit with complaints since erecting the hate-filled protest outside his Players Lounge pub earlier this week.

Last night he said: "I'm just warning her that she won't get served if she decides to drop in for a drink, to save me the embarrassment of having to tell her if she turns up, because it's a well-known pub and she might.

"I don't believe she has any right coming here whatsoever.

"When you hear the figures being thrown around about how much it will cost to bring her over, it's a disgrace. Surely money can be better used elsewhere?

"My mother died of a brain haemorrhage when she was just 51 and they told us she could have been saved if she'd had a hospital bed. Why are we spending that money on this visit when we could invest in hospital beds?"

Stokes - whose son has scored 12 times for the Hoops this season - admited: "I've had a few complaints already.

"One guy told me that his father had fought in World War One and that I was a disgrace, but it's my opinion. She has no right to come here."

But Irish Labour politician Ciaran Lynch said: "People should be positive about the visit. If you look at the last number of years, we've had Tony Blair visit, the Irish people voted overwhelmingly for the Good Friday Agreement, and times have moved on.

"In terms of international exposure it will be a fantastic way of promoting Ireland as a welcoming country. We should all be very welcoming of the visit."

The row is not the first time that Stokes' dad has been at the centre of controversy.

In January he faced jail if he didn't pay a £2,075 fine.

He was hit with the bill for refusing to pull down a shed at the pub - where a bouncer and two customers were shot last July.

Following the attack, Dublin City Council ordered the publican to remove the "unauthorised" shed and a wooden pole.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3463003/Celts-bar-stages-anti-queen-demo.html#ixzz1I5nrtCTR

Scotland fans accused of throwing banana in Brazil's Neymar racism row - Celtic Fans have previous

Mark Walters talks about debut at Celtic Park

A black day for Scots football

The Scotsman
30 December 2007

By ANDREW SMITH

Bananas greeted Mark Walters on his Rangers debut at Parkhead 20 years ago
MEMORIES do not always marry with the moments they capture.

When it comes to Mark Walters and his Rangers debut in the Old Firm derby exactly 20 years ago this Wednesday, that may be deliberate.

"It was a good day for me; a special one," recalls Walters, who signed for the Ibrox club from Aston Villa in a £1.3m deal on New Year's Eve 1987. "It was a great experience to play my first game for one of the biggest clubs in the world in front of 50,000 at Parkhead – the largest crowd I'd known since earning a schoolboy cap for England. I have shut out anything other than the positives of that day, because it was so exciting to make a fresh start at 23, after two years when my career was on the slide."

On January 2, 1988 Walters became the first black player to turn out for Rangers.

The abuse he was subjected to that day, and at Tynecastle two weeks later, ended any foolish notion that, while Scottish football was blighted by religious bigotry, it was at least immune to the vile expressions of racial intolerance then infecting the English game.

Whenever Walters' name is mentioned in this county these two afternoons are seared in the mind. They have come to define the winger's three-and-a-half years north of the Border; more than his artistry, more than a stash of medals or a goals to games average of one-in-three during his 100 matches.

"People ask me how on earth I could get through that first game and enjoy it," says the player, who made little impression that day as Rangers were beaten 2-0. "To be honest with you, being abused wasn't that much of a rarity in Britain at that time, even if it was more than I was used to.

"I am single-minded. I was brought up by my family to see every experience as to be welcomed because you can always learn from it what you need to be better for it."

Scottish football did not demonstrate such insight – either in terms of the authorities or the media. Clips on YouTube make plain the grim extent of the monkey noises and banana throwing Walters' presence at Celtic Park prompted.

Yet, though Celtic slammed the perpetrators, the Scottish Football Association remained silent. And oddly, in the press over the days that followed, there was scant acknowledgement of a virulent new strain of racism at football in this country.

It was just viewed as another manifestation of the contrariness that Old Firm hatred spews forth. "Only a handful of fans hurled fruit," said a comment piece in the Sunday Mail.

The match reports in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald made no reference to the treatment received by Walters. Indeed, the most vociferous condemnation of those who indulged in racist behaviour came in the form of letters printed in Celtic's own newspaper that week.

It wasn't simply in the written press that the issue was skirted around. Archie Macpherson, in his commentary for the BBC, was forced to explain a stoppage to clear bananas from the Celtic Park pitch. He did so by stating, matter-of-factly: "The game has been slightly held up… some assortment of fruit has been removed… you can see it in front of the Jungle."

Two weeks later, Rangers faced Hearts at Tynecastle and Walters was struck by a banana and was met with what the Glasgow Herald described as "deluge of fruit" (contrasting with the "mild outburst of fruit throwing" a fortnight earlier). On television that evening Macpherson famously held up a banana and stated what he had witnessed "made him ashamed to be Scottish".

Macpherson puts down the difference in tone to the obsession with picking away at the sectarianism woven into the fabric of the Old Firm rivalry. Throughout his long career, at least he is one of the few who can claim to have an admirable record on denuding those who would clothe themselves in such tawdry dress.

"There is a conditioning process with these derbies," he says. "We would listen out for sectarian chanting, scan for any disturbances in the crowd and consider the possible implications for public order if there were any violent incidents on the field. Racial taunting didn't enter my head as a contentious issue. I had been brainwashed by the religious divisions. I do not say this as an excuse for failing to acknowledge the infamous nature of banana-throwing but merely as explanation.

"On reflection, I should have been more vocal about it, as I have always been vocal about the other evil aspects that have attached themselves to this fixture. I, wrongly, saw the banana-throwing as in essence puerile; an insipid form of the Celtic support's capacity for a wind-up, at which they are the best in the business. If more had been made of Walters' treatment at Celtic Park, he might not have had to put up with so much at Tynecastle."

It is the very collision of sectarianism and racism that probably left the SFA and the media in a quandary over how to react to the abuse suffered by Walters. The governing body could hardly punish a club for their fans' racist actions when they had never dared bring followers of any side to book for any bigoted behaviour. Equally, how could the issue be highlighted in print without similar weight being given to the fact that, then, Rangers were still 18 months away from a first high-profile Catholic signing in the modern era?

To this day, predictably, there remain pathetic attempts to point-score among the followers of the Glasgow clubs over how much baiting Walters received. Gerry Britton was on the ground staff at Celtic back in 1988. Now manager of Stranraer and a leading figure in the Scottish Professional Football Association – work that involves schools' education programmes on sectarianism and racism – his testimony cannot be disputed.

"It was one of the very few days I fell out with fans of the club I grew up loving," Britton says. "It was bad enough having to hear it, and hearing that a fruit shop near the ground sold out of bananas, but it was truly sickening when our job the day after the game was to clear them away. There were dozens of them, scattered everywhere."




The mood in the country changed following Walters' treatment at Tynecastle, which came after he had made incident-free appearances against Dundee and Morton. SFA president David Will said all would be done to stamp out racism with the hope that "sensible supporters will let the minority know they shouldn't be so stupid in the future".

Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer condemned the banana-throwing as "intolerable social behaviour" and that his club "must be seen to take a stand against racism". Rangers also spoke out, operations executive Alistair Hood demanding the SFA act to "cease" "this kind of despicable behaviour".

"Mark Walters was struck by a banana and no matter how you look at it, this is missile throwing," Hood said.

In forcing Scotland to confront latent racial prejudices 20 years ago, Walters made life at least a little easier for the black players who followed him within these borders. Yet, the treatment meted out to Celtic's Paul Elliott only 18 months later, and the fact that since the turn of this century racist abuse directed towards Hamilton's Brian McPhee, Celtic pair Bobo Balde and Momo Sylla and Rangers' Marvin Andrews has resulted in court cases, suggests as a nation we are not as mature as we would like to believe. As does what happened to Paul Omoniyi, taunted with monkey chants while playing for West Park United under-11s in Dunoon in October 2005 – a case highlighted by this newspaper.

"I am not so shallow as to believe I made a real difference," Walters says. "If it hadn't been me it would have been someone else. If I made one person realise it is wrong to abuse a person because of the colour of their skin, that is something. But football reflects society. Prejudice is based on ignorance and many of those guilty of it have probably become educated because we live in a more ethnically diverse country. As well as that, there are laws now in place and CCTV cameras at all grounds. That means supporters just can't get away with the same abuse and behave at games as they might have done years ago. People might still say and do things in private, but in public..."

It is depressing to think that enforcement as much as enlightenment might account for Walters being the only black footballer in this country to have had bananas thrown at them.

Mark Walters joined Rangers from Aston Villa for £1.3m on December 31 1987 to become the first black player to play for the club. He was signed by Ibrox manager Graeme Souness.

He made his debut against Celtic at Celtic Park two days later, a match Rangers lost 2-0. During the game Walters was subjected to monkey chanting and some Celtic fans threw bananas on the pitch.

Gerry Britton, then on the groundstaff at Celtic, was one of the apprentices charged with clearing the bananas from the pitch the following day. "It was truly sickening," he recalls. "There were dozens of them, scattered everywhere."

Celtic player dodges National Service by pretending to wet the bed

Extract from Patrick Crerand's autobiography.

"When I got called up to National Service I didn't want to go. Somebody told me that a good way of getting out of it was to explain that you wet the bed. I said that I was a bed-wetter on my application form and then I had to go for questioning at an office in Buchanan St. The official asked me how serious my bed-wetting problem was. I told him that it was driving my mother to despair. So I was deemed unfit for National Service."

Police probe Celtic boss Neil Lennon 'race remarks' allegations

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12659077

Police are investigating allegations that racist remarks were made by Celtic manager Neil Lennon during Wednesday's controversial Old Firm game.

Mr Lennon's lawyer Paul McBride said the allegations were defamatory with no substance whatsoever.

The Scottish Cup replay saw touch-line and tunnel confrontations, 34 arrests inside the stadium and three Rangers players sent off.

The police investigation follows complaints from members of the public.

Mr McBride said: "These allegations are defamatory and outrageous with no substance whatsoever.

"This is a concerted campaign by malicious and despicable individuals to cause distress to Neil Lennon.

"Celtic Football Club and Celtic fans stand by their manager in the face of these vicious and unacceptable attacks."

A high level summit to discuss the Old Firm fixture, which Celtic won 1-0, is to be held next week.

The summit will involve ministers, Rangers and Celtic, the police and football authorities.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "We have received complaints from members of the public regarding allegations surrounding the events during the Old Firm match on Wednesday, which we are currently investigating."

Celtic in yet another racism scandal

Black footballer El Hadji Diouf was racially abused form the second time in as many weeks at Celtic park last night after being hacked down by a Celtic player close to the Celtic bench.

Celtic supporting bigots fined

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sc...6908-22953466/


Five men were fined and given football banning orders for religiously aggravated breach of the peace at the Celtic Park clash.

Three were in their teens, one was 21 and the fifth was 30. One of the teenagers convicted, Celtic fan Mark McMurray, 19, of Airdrie, got a two-year banning order and £300 fine for shouting and swearing inside the stadium.

McMurray claimed yesterday that the police had been "very heavy-handed".

He said he had only been singing a song called "Cheer Up Walter Smith"

Police hunt Celtic fan for racist abuse

Police are hunting Celtic fans who rained down racist abuse on a black Senegalese footballer at Celtic Park.

One Celtic fan on popular Celtic fansite Kerrydale Street commented that "The guy beside me was doing it as well." 

Another Celtic regular claimed "Over the years I have heard a number of players being racially abused from individual supporters and it really is sickening."

One Celtic die hard added "doesnt suprise me one little bit, there are too many thick stupid Celtic fans kicking about these days"

------------------------------------------

NEWS OF THE WORLD 27/2/2011

CELTIC supporters were outraged by the actions of the sick fan who made monkey gestures at Rangers black star El Hadji Diouf during last week's crunch Old Firm league game.

The man ran down a stairway from his seat in the Jock Stein Stand to taunt Diouf by the pitch and made jungle noises at the Senegalese winger as he was preparing to take a corner during Celtic's 3-0 victory at Parkhead. 

Shocked Hoops fan Paul McAteer, 30, said: "I heard him make the 'oooohhhh, oooohhh, oooohh' monkey sound and saw him arc his arms like a monkey. 

"We were all booing Diouf, but nobody could believe this guy. He was shouted at to get lost and ran back to the top of the stand. We were disgusted." 

Paul's brother Gary, 26, was also watching the SPL clash, and said: "The guy wasn't sitting in the front row but ran down and started acting like a monkey. He only did it for a few seconds, but that was enough. It was shocking. 

"Diouf is not exactly a favourite at Parkhead, but nobody deserves that. 

"Despite there being hundreds of police on duty, they appeared not to notice this, so well done News of the World." 

We've passed the shameful yob's picture to officials at Celtic and Rangers and Strathclyde Police are trying to identify him.

Parkhead bosses have contacted fans in surrounding seats, as well as supporters' clubs, to try to name the culprit. 

Another Celtic fan added: "We have no room for racist morons like this guy. He should be thrown out, no questions asked. 

"I was appalled he thought it was OK to make a fool of a man because of the colour of his skin."
Ged Grebby from charity Show Racism The Red Card said: "We are calling for a ban of between three and five years. 

"Nobody should have to see this. It is abhorrently racist." 

Strathclyde Police said: "Inappropriate behaviour of a racist, sectarian or any other nature will not be tolerated." 

And Celtic added: "The club will take the strongest appropriate action."

Celtic fans pledge support of Colonel Gaddafi's murdering regime

Many Celtic fans were vocal in their support on message forums on the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. Celtic fans like the one pictured below even paid tribute to the murdering regime by having their Celtic shirts emblazoned with name of Libya leader Colonel Gaddafi.

Celtic coach Alan Thompson given drink-drive ban

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12553825

Celtic coach Alan Thompson has been banned from driving for 16 months and fined £600 after he admitted drink-driving following an Old Firm game.

The 37-year-old was stopped by police on Kirkintilloch Road, Bishopbriggs, on the morning of 25 October last year.

Glasgow Justice of the Peace Court heard he had been out drinking the previous night after Celtic had lost 3-1 to Rangers at Celtic Park.

Thompson has a previous conviction for drink-driving dating back to 1996.

The court was told that officers pulled over Thompson's Range Rover and he was arrested after he failed a roadside breath test.

'Deep regret'

He was also originally charged with using his mobile phone while driving but prosecutors accepted his plea of not guilty to that charge.

Defence advocate Paul McBride QC told the court that Thompson was ashamed of and deeply regretted deciding to drive that day.

Sentencing the former midfielder, Stipendiary Magistrate Robin Christie told Thompson that he would be allowed to drive again after 12 months if he completed a drink-driver awareness course.

Thompson returned to Celtic last summer as part of Neil Lennon's backroom team.

He played a pivotal role in the Celtic team that reached the Uefa Cup Final in Seville in 2003.

He later played for Leeds United and was on the coaching staff of Newcastle United before returning to Celtic.

Public money was used by Jim Devine to fly to Celtic games, aide reveals

JIM DEVINE used public money to fund flights to see Celtic play in the Champions League - by claiming he was on constituency business.

The shamed MP travelled north for glamour midweek games in Glasgow, telling Parliamentary bosses that he had vital meetings to attend.


Former office manager Marion Kinley said: "Devine would fly up for Celtic midweek matches between 2006 and 2008.

"He would come up on Wednesday and fly back on the Thursday morning.

"MPs should have been at Westminster so Devine would make up an excuse that he had constituency business or kid on he was going to a funeral.

"And during the parliamentary recess, he would make an excuse to fly to London so that he could get a cheaper flight to go away on holiday."

Devine also made sure his staff did not benefit from the cash he was claiming on their behalf.
While he claimed £250 a month in expenses for petty cash for the office, he was so mean he didn't pay for tea and coffee for the staff.

Devine - who has a 2000 conviction for drink-driving - also claimed more than £10,000 in mileage while Marion was acting as his chauffeur. But he handed her just £60.

Marion, 47, said: "When I first started working for him, it was during recess. I would be driving him almost seven days a week, taking him to gala days at the weekend.

"The procedure was for mileage claims to be paid in MPs' accounts and they signed a form agreeing to pay the money to the person whose car it was.

"He was claiming hundreds of pounds a month for mileage and all I ever received was £60 for petrol.

"I think he saw me driving him about - and the costs I incurred - as part of my duties.

"The money went straight into the account and I never saw the money.

"I would tell him my car didn't run on fresh air and he would say, 'F*** off, I pay you enough'."

In March 2008, Devine persuaded a friend to call Marion pretending to be a freelance journalist looking into MPs' expenses. She is still bemused as to the reasons for the hoax.

Devine did not even try to cover his tracks and Marion discovered an email he had sent to the woman to set up the ruse.


Marion, who as office manager had access to the email account, went into an immediate state of shock and took time off for stress.

She said: "To this day, I can't understand why he did that. Maybe it was to avoid giving me a wage rise."

In her absence, Devine made up a series of lies about her. She said: "He told the rest of the office staff that I was being investigated by the police for making fraudulent claims.

"The office staff were embarrassed because they knew I was off work with stress. He then told people that I had a gambling addiction.

"But my colleagues knew I have only had a bet on the Grand National.

"I think he saw me as a female version of him."

Marion tried to return to work in October 2008 but Devine suspended her over allegations she had made false claims. She eventually quit in May 2009.

She also believes that her being on sick leave may have led Devine to claiming thousands of pounds in fraudulent expenses.

She said: "When I was off sick, he was not able to claim the miles I drove. That income stopped for him.
"He was down £300 or £400 a month and had to get the money from somewhere."

Marion won her fight to prove she had been unfairly dismissed by Devine last October and is still trying to get the £35,000 she was awarded against him.

Meanwhile, Devine will be sentenced in a month after being found guilty last week of two charges of false accounting. He could face a prison term of up to seven years.

Marion said last night: "I take no great pleasure from him facing jail. But he has got himself into this situation.
"It is incredible that a man of his age could be so stupid and arrogant."

Devine was found guilty of a charge that he got somebody else to complete three invoices from a cleaning company for £360, £360 and £2160.

The receipts, which he copied from one original blank invoice, were submitted by Devine to the Parliamentary authorities between 2008 and 2009.

The jury also found him guilty of asking printing company Armstrong to mark two invoices "received with thanks", to indicate he had paid for orders.

However, he never handed over any cash for the two ghost orders, worth £2400 and £3105.
Instead, Devine pocketed the money after submitting the receipts to the fees office between March and April 2009.

The jury cleared him of a third charge relating to £360 that he sought to pay a cleaner.

During the trial, Devine attempted to evade justice by blaming Marion.

He even accused her of forging his signature to pay herself a bonus of £5000.

She said: "I feel a tiny bit of sympathy. But if he had his way, it would have been me standing in that dock.

"He would have seen me go to prison to save his own skin. I have to think that he got what he deserved."
Disgraced MP could lose home

Shamed Jim Devine faces a bankruptcy order that could see him lose his home.

Marion Kinley has applied for a sequestration order after he failed to pay money awarded to her for unfair dismissal.

An employment tribunal awarded her £35,000 last October for breach of contract and unfair dismissal after Devine "bullied and harassed" her.

But Devine failed to pay the money.

Marion could have moved to have Devine sequestrated but rejected that idea because she didn't want to see him lose his house.

But she failed to have his £30,000 House of Commons "golden goodbye" pay-off seized by bailiffs.

It had been frozen pending the outcome of Devine and other MPs' trials.

The sequestration order hearing is to be heard later this month.

Marion said: "It is my only option left. I have exhausted all other avenues."

Meanwhile, a decision on whether Devine should keep his "golden goodbye" could be made by MPs tomorrow.


http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sc...6908-22920461/

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IF YOU KNOW THEIR HISTORY INVESTIGATES



Jim Devine was one of the MP's behind the disturbing and vile campaign to have Jock Stein awarded posthumous knighthood.


Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); 11/7/1998; McILWRAITH, GORDON
JOCK Stein and the Celtic board covered up allegations made against Boys' Club founder Jim Torbett, 

Mr Birt said: "There was a lot of hearsay and it wasn't until Jim came back that I got involved because things started up again."

He told how he took the allegations against Torbett to the Celtic board and Stein and even told the then vice-chairman, Kevin Kelly, about them at a meeting in his car.

He said: "Although there were people who spoke to me I couldn't go to the police without actual proof of the allegations. When I joined as chairman, I was told by Jock Stein to keep the name of Celtic Football Club clean at all times."




THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE
Scotland on Sunday 18/08/1996


Celtic Boys' Club appealed to the dreams of a generation of football hopefuls, but they have only made the tabloids in a seamy tale of manipulation and abuse, report AUDREY GILLAN and RON McKAY

IT ALL begins in a shrine, the walls adorned with artefacts and relics, all carefully arranged and devoutly displayed, past which the faithful shuffled and nourished their own dreams of immortality.

Here, paradise seemed tangible, just a short trip away. But the changing faces who gaped in awe at this display of devotion were gullible young boys who worshipped a team. They stared at the display of shirts and photographs, testimonials and autographs and believed the man who told them that they could look down from the window, across the city to the football ground in the East End and take all that lay before them.

Jim Torbett was 20 when he set up Celtic Boys' Club in 1966, seeking permission from the then manager Jock Stein to use the team's name. He was only a few years older than the lads who trooped through his living room. Boys who left believing, as he did, in dreams, certain that they were special, marked out for fame. Now 30 years on, those dreams have become nightmares for some, grown men marked forever by the shy but enthusiastic man who took them to the heights and then the depths.

John McCluskey is, in the unimpeachable judgment of former Celtic star Charlie Nicholas, the best young player he ever saw. Last week, McCluskey -who has fought drink, addiction and his own demons - was sitting in an upmarket Glasgow hotel, sipping cappuccino and waiting to make a statement to police that Torbett had sexually assaulted him. He had been so badly affected by the Dunblane massacre, he said, that he felt he had to make a stand.

Just two days before, the Daily Record had spread across five pages allegations that the boys' club founder had abused him. His allegation was supported by Ally Brazil, the former Ipswich and Spurs striker, another graduate of the Celtic academy, who claimed that Torbett kissed and fondled him when he was only 14. Within hours of the story hitting the streets, and the newspaper setting up its abuse hotline, dozens of calls had come in and another man - Frank Cairney, the man who had been brought in by Jock Stein to get rid of the smears and innuendoes which for years had hung around the boys' club - was also being named as an abuser.

Whispers that something was not quite right with Celtic Boys' Club had been around since its inception. Some boys passed through the
ranks unscathed, ducking slaps on the bum and over-enthusiastic spongings when they lay injured on the pitch. But others are alleged
to have suffered at the hands of a man who abused his position in pursuit of paedophile perversions. It seemed some of the weaker boys, those with less skill, less certain of a place on the first team, those with less parental guidance, became easy prey. They would be enticed back to Torbett's house with promises of meals and ice cream and sometimes less innocent pursuits would follow.

When Fergus McCann finally arrived in the halo of television lights at Parkhead in 1994 he knew that he faced a formidable task: rebuilding a stadium, a team and the belief of a support which had seen years of failed promises and dismal performance. What he did not expect -by way of an anonymous letter sent to him almost as soon as he was through the door - was a disturbing report of years of abuse at the boys' club. Officially, the club was entirely separate from Celtic but McCann appreciated that it was inextricably bound to Parkhead in the minds of the public, and indeed in the hearts of some of the players and former players - like Peter Grant, Paul McStay
and Tommy Burns - who had graduated from it to the big time of professional football.

McCann quickly went about trying to establish the truth, or not, of the accusations. He called in Jim Torbett and asked him to meet Celtic's lawyers and confirm or deny, in an affidavit which could be passed to the police, the accusations. Torbett repeatedly refused.

He asked Ally Brazil and John McCluskey to make their allegations formal. Brazil refused at that stage. McCluskey agreed, but only if his statement was not passed to the police.

Ironically, McCann was playing out, more than three years on, a sad little tableau which had occurred at Parkhead under the old regime, ruled over by the Kelly and White families. In 1991 the boys' club had been to Kearney, New Jersey - an annual tour to the Irish part of the state with players staying at the homes of Catholic families -and one boy, no longer at Celtic but now a professional player in Scotland, had alleged to his hosts and to his own family that he had been assaulted by the team's general manager, Frank Cairney.

The boy's father took him to Celtic Park to have it out with Liam Brady who was then only months in the job as team manager. The club's chief scout John Kelman was also present.

It was Brady's first serious and most affecting problem in a troubled time at Parkhead which did not last long. He listened to the boy, believed him, and insisted to the board that Cairney had to be removed, not only from the boys' club but from any association with the main football club. So, overnight, the man who was used to having his run of the place and the ear of the management, was cast out.

It was agreed, by Brady, the boy and his parents and the then Celtic board, that the police would not be informed. The young player was assured that the alleged incident would have no effect on his future career at the club. However, signed statements were taken by Celtic's lawyers from the four adults who had been on the New Jersey trip. All were sworn to silence.Cairney was now away from the football club and its nursery - business commitments was the given reason - but Jim Torbett was backplaying a major role, first as a fund-raiser then back with the boys' club. Torbett had maintained his connections with Celtic. Pre-McCann board member Kevin Kelly, still honorary president of the boys' club, is a fellow director of Torbett's company The Trophy Centre, and current board member Jack McGinn is an employee.

It is not clear why a man widely regarded as a child abuser was allowed back into a position of responsibility at the boys' club. Torbett had been kicked out in 1976 after being confronted by the committee and, according to Frank Cairney's account of the meeting, had broken down in tears and confessed. He was then summoned to a meeting with Jock Stein, at the end of which the big man physically kicked him out of the door. And just to ensure that the boys' club stayed clean the legendary Celtic manager brought in another man, Hugh Birt, as chairman of its committee.

Birt claims he was concerned about the behaviour of both Cairney and Torbett - who wheedled his way back in after Stein's death - and raised the matter with the club. Before he knew it Birt was asked to resign. When he stood his ground and refused, he says, Celtic withdrew his ticket to the directors' box and he had no option but to get out.

In spite of all these troubles, the boys' club, from humble beginnings in a hall in Maryhill, had become a great success and was now seen as a crucial feeder of players for the senior club. It used Celtic's training ground at Barrowfield for coaching and matches and became one of the country's most successful nurseries: its more famous graduates include current manager Tommy Burns, George McCluskey, Roy Aitken, Charlie Nicholas, Paul McStay, and of the present side Peter Grant and Simon Donnelly.

But although the boys' club was hugely successful, rumours still continued to surround it. Former players began to talk to the press, although none would go on record or make a formal complaint to the police. The New Jersey incident in 1991 was successfully managed by the club and it seemed that nothing tangible would ever be proved. And then, in 1994, the new regime swept into Celtic Park and the rumours flared up again. This time, the chairman was determined that nothing should be kicked under the carpet.

As McCann's investigation got under way, a lone Celtic fanatic Gerry McSherry, who resented the arrival of the new board, appeared
on a radio programme to question the transfer of a young player. Within days he had received a number of calls suggesting untoward behaviour in the boys club. After months of investigation, McSherry began touting what he called the Paedo Files round various newspapers and television companies and claims now to be under contract to the Record.

Last week, as the story developed from allegations against Torbett - who was suspended from the boys' club six days ago - to claims that Cairney fondled boys as they sat in the front seat of his car, many men with long associations with the club began to grow uneasy.

Former players backed Big Frank whom they knew as a "father figure" and Burns rushed out to Cairney's terraced home in Viewpark, Lanarkshire, after receiving a call from the man he considers a close friend. Leaving his house the manager was reported to have said: "He [Cairney] has the whole of my backing and that of Celtic Football Club to a man."

The following morning Burns must have been wishing he had bitten his tongue. Incandescent at his manager's assumption that the club would back Cairney, McCann issued a statement. "While I sympathise with Tommy Burns' personal position as a friend of Mr Cairney, the club cannot condone or defend or take sides in a matter which involves a criminal complaint," he said.

Burns himself claimed that he had been misquoted and what he had in fact said was: "He has my backing and I'm sure he will have the backing of several members of the first team who played for Frank at under-16 level."

Meanwhile, the allegations against Torbett went unchallenged. After hiding out at the east end home of William and Andrew Gilbert - two young men who had played for the boys' club - he is said to have left the country. Yesterday, their mother Susan said that Torbett was a close family friend - they sometimes travelled abroad with him and the boys' club - and that the allegations made against him were rubbish.

DCI John Boyd at London Road police station, who has four officers investigating the allegations, said that his team had been taking calls from a number of people who had not gone through the Daily Record. He added that the inquiry was at an early stage and that no arrests were imminent.

At Celtic Park, the management is trying to keep its head down and stop the scandal interfering with play. Footballers like Peter Grant and Tosh McKinlay - who came through the boys' club route - have nothing to say on the record. And the boy who made the complaint against Cairney? He's playing his cards close to his chest. The chants from the terraces and jibes from his opponents would no doubt be too much to take.