Seven Celtic fans face trial over support of the IRA at Celtic Park

Paul Duke, 37, Ross Gallagher, 29, Christopher Bateman, 28, David Gallacher, 22, Sean Cowden, 21, Kieran Duffy, 18 and Greg Robertson, 28, have all appeared in court charged with the offence.

The seven men are alleged to have behaved in a way that "is likely or would be likely to incite public disorder" by singing a song in support of the Irish Republic Army (IRA) at Celtic Park.

All pled not guilty when they appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court, represented by Paul Kavanagh and a trial was set for next June.

Duke and Gallagher, from East Kilbride, Bateman, from Irvine, Gallacher, from Glasgow, Cowden from Rutherglen and Duffy from Coatbridge, are accused of singing the song, the Roll of Honour, at the champions league qualifier match against Elfsporg match on July 31.

Gallagher, Bateman and Robertson, from Glasgow, are accused of singing the song on August 3, at the first game of the season against Ross County.

Robertson faces a further charge, with Gallacher, of singing at a home game on August 24, against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/green-brigade-members-to-stand-trial-over-ira-song.1387297439

Celtic punished by UEFA for Terrorist banner

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/celtic-fined-50-000-euro-for-green-brigade-banner-1-3232518

Celtic have been fined 50,000 euro for a banner unfurled by the Green Brigade before their Champions League match against AC Milan,

The banner, which was reported to UEFA, featured a picture of William Wallace alongside hunger striker Bobby Sands which included a statement “the terrorist or the dreamer”.

UEFA’s control and disciplinary body met today to issue the penalty, which equates to £42,000, following a series of delays due to a “backlog” of cases. A statement on the club’s website today confirmed the penalty.

It read: “Clearly it is extremely disappointing that the Club must pay another sizeable penalty following the actions of a small minority, particularly given the previous assurances which were made to the Club and the widespread understanding of the likely outcome of such actions.

“Regrettably, due to previous charges being brought against the Club, again following the actions of a small minority, the fines imposed by UEFA are increasing in scale.

“It goes without saying that such actions must stop now, before the Club receives a competitive sanction or one which would affect our supporters attending European matches.

“We are Celtic supporters and we must now move on and look ahead to tomorrow’s match against Hibernian. We are sure our fans will come together, unite with the Club and support the team with the commitment and passion we are famous for, ensuring that Celtic Park once again provides a positive footballing occasion for all.”

Celtic were fined £4200 by UEFA earlier this season after their supporters set off fireworks in a Champions League qualifier against Cliftonville. They were also fined £21,000 18 months ago after fans unfurled a banner before a Europa League tie at Udinese that read: “F*** UEFA.”

It came shortly after Celtic were found guilty by UEFA of “illicit chanting” by their fans during the Europa League match at home to Rennes and fined £12,700.

Celtic bosses slam ‘embarrassing’ hooligans

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/5315541/Celtic-bosses-slam-embarrassing-Fir-Park-hooligans.html

RAGING Celtic chiefs last night branded yobs who went on a £10,000 wrecking spree an embarrassment to the club — as they red-carded more than 100 fans.

Hoops bosses took the hardline stance after being outraged by the thugs’ behaviour at Motherwell’s Fir Park on Friday night.

The vandals smashed seats, let off smoke bombs and scrawled IRA graffiti, as well as abuse aimed at chief exec Peter Lawwell.

And last night a spokesman for the club said: “Events such as these do not represent the Celtic support or the club. These events were an embarrassment to our football club and are absolutely indefensible.”

The Green

Brigade — who gather in section 111 of Celtic Park — insisted the fans involved were not their members.

But furious Parkhead chiefs have now banned 128 supporters from all of the club’s matches while they probe the mayhem.

Another 250 season ticket holders will be kicked out of the section used by the self-styled ultras.

A Celtic spokesman confirmed the club — who are footing the bill for the damage — had issued “precautionary suspensions against 128 individuals” following the shocking scenes at Fir Park.

He added: “These suspensions will cover matches at Celtic Park and away matches.

“In addition, the club will be relocating around 250 season book holders in Section 111 to other areas within the stadium, or offering refunds covering the remainder of the season to those who do not wish to be relocated.”

Celtic chiefs have launched their own probe into the vandalism and Police Scotland are also investigating.

Hoops bosses have already given the ultras — who claim to add atmosphere — one reprieve this year after reversing a decision to shut section 111 over complaints about safety breaches. A source said: “Celtic have identified individuals involved and those people face indefinite bans from attending games home and away.”

Officials from Celtic and Motherwell worked together before the game to ensure the ultras were given seats together in front of the stadium’s police control room.

But the plan failed when the fans moved into seats in the lower section of the South Stand, forcing other supporters to sit elsewhere.

A source added: “The club has been told of incidents involving good, honest supporters being effectively bullied out of the seats they should have been sitting in. It’s totally unacceptable.”

Last night Celtic fans flooded Twitter with posts about the club’s moves to smash the Green Brigade.

Peter Smith tweeted: “Glad the Green Brigade are gone. Been too long they’ve thought they were bigger than the club.”

Shaun Nicol wrote: “Always been a fan of the Green Brigade, but vandalising a ground after what Ajax did at our ground is embarrassing.”

And Thomas Gourlay also tweeted: “Take my hat off to Celtic in banning the Green Brigade. Never thought I’d see the day.”

But other supporters slammed the decision to crack down on the group.

Lewis McDonald wrote: “Can’t believe the Green Brigade are disbanded. Ridiculous decision from the board, maybe Lawwell is going to make the atmosphere himself.”

And Joe Donaghy tweeted: “Fully behind the Green Brigade, least they go and create an atmosphere, all this in-fighting over a few seats.”

The Green Brigade insists none of its members were involved in the shameful scenes, but admitted they happened in an “unofficial” area linked to their group.

In an earlier statement, they said: “We accept the fact these actions took place behind our banner in what was an unofficial ‘Green Brigade section’ and furthermore that the fans within this area are associated to our group whether they are members or not.”

Scottish league chief Neil Doncaster last night slammed the rogue element of the Celtic support. He said: “This type of behaviour has no place in the game.

“We are confident the police and both clubs will play a full part in helping to identify those involved in what were shameful scenes.”

In April, the Green Brigade took part in a demonstration as part of Fans Against Criminalisation — a protest over the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act. And they were blasted for unfurling banners comparing IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands to William Wallace at a Champions League match last month.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Violence in any form is unacceptable and we cannot allow a small minority to ruin games for the well-behaved majority.

“Our law enforcement agencies have a range of disposals available to deal with such individuals — including banning them from games for up to ten years. We have also established the National Football Policing Unit which was funded with an investment of £1.8million and has been deployed at over 300 games so far.”

Celtic fans putting "lives at risk"

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-must-stop-rogue-2904421

YOU couldn’t give a section of Celtic’s support a red neck with a blow torch, never mind the green flare they threw on to the pitch at Fir Park.

There they were with their banner asking that Nelson Mandela, the ultimate man of peace, be allowed 
to rest in peace.

And then they got on with the wanton damage that saw seats destroyed while Motherwell boss Stuart McCall was subjected to chants about being a “sad Orange b*****d”.

Some people just have no sense of irony. The team the misguided had paid to watch is currently in the best form it has enjoyed for a long time.

But the football is never enough for those who have taken a weird turn since Rangers went into liquidation.

The obsession with insisting that Gers died – and the current side has a history 18 months old – has come with an arrogance that was unpleasant to watch at Motherwell.

Lennon said his heart sank when he saw the banners depicting William Wallace and Bobby Sands which disfigured the Champions League game with Milan.

Now the manager and his chief executive, Peter Lawwell, have to speak out against supporters who are blemishing the club’s reputation.

Celtic have just updated and republished the book detailing their history over the last 125 years – and it is a story well worth the telling.

A team started for charitable purposes has always had what their greatest captain Billy McNeill described as a fairytale aspect attached to it.

Celtic’s appearance in the Nou Camp on Wednesday night vouches for their decent standing in Europe.

And the derision their efforts receive from the rival support at Ibrox is an irrelevance since that is based on the need for something to camouflage their current, lower-league status.

It is as unthinking as the damage that’s being done to Celtic’s good name by the unruly element who will now make their club the object of the SPFL’s attention.

But all of that unwanted attention is meaningless to the vandals, flare throwers and obscene chanters.

If you can embarrass your club while the team is 5-0 up then you don’t do sober reflection.

And what’s even worse is that any attempt to draw attention to the supporters’ misbehaviour is always met with a hostility based on a belief that no such incidents ever happened, or could happen, where the Celtic support is concerned.

There are signs of old-fashioned hooliganism returning to Scottish football. A flare was thrown on to the pitch during Rangers’Scottish Cup tie at Falkirk causing damage to the artificial pitch.

Money is a constant source of concern at Ibrox, particularly when serious-minded men-in-the-know don't rule out the possibility of a second insolvency event.

So how regretful should the culprits feel when they see to it that a cheque for damages has to be forwarded from Ibrox to Falkirk?

The answer is they’ll probably feel no remorse whatsoever and they won’t until somebody does something to halt a growing menace.

The Old Firm game used to be a safety valve that was periodically released to take the steam out of a poisonous rivalry.

Now they live separate lives and the result has been the misfits have to release their troublesome instincts in another way.

Confession, they say, is good for the soul. The first thing the majority of decent Celtic fans have to admit 
is they don’t recognise the kind of person they can find beside them today.

I also got a close-up look at Motherwell’s incendiary division last weekend because they were fouling the air, and making a nuisance of themselves, in the vicinity of the press box at Hamilton’s ground.

They go through their dance routines then let off their toys, at which point several people emerge from the crowd to film their smoke-shrouded pals on their mobiles.

Older Well fans, meanwhile, were congregated well away from them and getting progressively more irked by their team’s performance.

They made displeasure known in the traditional, verbally-colourful manner then started to leave before Albion Rovers scored the winner.

But the dance troupe didn’t have any real sense of how badly their team had played due to the fact they didn’t appear to be that bothered by what happened on the pitch.

In the meantime they had caused damage to seats belonging to the club who hosted their game as a courtesy to both Lanarkshire neighbours.

That will cost Well money they shouldn’t have to pay at a time when every penny’s a prisoner.

Those supporters also threw another canister on to the pitch, forcing the people in wheelchairs to take evasive action.

You’d think supporters of a club whose manager was involved in a stadium disaster that claimed the lives of 56 people because of a fire would consider his feelings before setting light to canisters in a stand containing thousands of their fellow supporters. One of the most harrowing conversations I’ve ever had with McCall recounted his memories of that day in Bradford.

The hand-burning sensation he felt when he tried to open his car door two hours after the dead and the dying had been removed to hospital.

The search for his father that ended in a case of mistaken identity when Stuart was pointed in the direction of a man with first-degree burns.

He had only recovered from a deep sense of shock in the hospital ward when he heard his dad whisper: “Son, I’m over here.”

Now McCall is working in an environment where we’ve started to breed our own pyromaniacs.

It is an offence to enter, or attempt to enter, a football ground while in possession of a flare, smoke canister or firework.

Possession of either one carries a custodial sentence if the court believes that’s in order.

So why are so many being allowed to endanger health and safety on a regular basis?

That’s as much of a mystery as the suggestion that McCall has destroyed his own managerial reputation because his team had an off-day in a Scottish Cup tie.

Put that in your canister and smoke it.

SPFL Delegate: “The worst vandalism I have seen inside a football ground”

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/celtic-condemn-fir-park-vandalism-and-pyrotechnics-1-3224558

CELTIC have strongly condemned the behaviour of some of their supporters for the vandalism and pyrotechnics that marred the club’s 5-0 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park on Friday night.

In a statement issued yesterday the Parkhead club said: “Clearly we are appalled by the scenes from last night’s match and the actions of a small minority which have again tarnished the great reputation of the club and our supporters on a night when 
our team produced such a fantastic performance.

“We are currently investigating these events and will update our supporters early next week.”

Around 60 seats were broken in the away end at Fir Park and 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and a flare were thrown. Alan Dick, the Scottish Professional Football League’s match delegate, described it as “the worst vandalism I have seen inside a football ground”, in his report.

The incidents could represent the tipping point for the Green Brigade. Pictures of broken seats emblazoned with stickers bearing the group’s name were posted on Twitter yesterday, as was a picture of one fan deliberately kicking at a seat and other snaps of supporters covering their mouths to shield them from the effects of smoke bombs. It was reported that some of the seats with Green Brigade stickers had IRA slogans scrawled on them. Another had “f*** Lawwell” written on it – a reference to Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell.

Celtic will be expected to foot the bill for the damage to seats under a reciprocal agreement between clubs but could also find themselves facing a Scottish Professional Football League investigation once the league studies its delegate’s report.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “During the course of the match, 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks, and one flare were set off.

“Significant damage was caused to seats within the ground and we are looking into this matter along with the club to establish the circumstances. There were no arrests made inside the ground.”

As well as being wanton vandalism and hooliganism, these acts seem deliberately designed to provoke confrontation. The Green Brigade have become a magnet for thugs who want to cloak themselves in the garb of “pyro Provos”. The reality is that these juvenile delinquents muddy the waters, using the Irish nationalist dimension as an excuse to get their kicks from anti-social behaviour that, to their glee, puts them on a collision course both with their football club and the authorities.

Celtic attempted to ride the tiger with the Green Brigade. Now it would appear they must seek to slay it. Yet the dilemma is that, if they do, they will give the members of that organisation precisely the martyrdom they seek. In their warped minds, a blanket ban would make them the footballing equivalent of the men they celebrate in their roll of honour paean to the IRA hunger strikers.

The conduct of the Celtic support has regressed markedly in the ten years since their behaviour earned awards from UEFA and FIFA. Some of the fan organisations have chosen to be in denial about that fact. Yet the evidence provided by incidents such as those that overshadowed the club’s trip to Dens Park on Boxing Day and their pre-season friendly in Brentford cannot be challenged. Celtic have a growing and serious problem with a sizeable element of their support. Followers of the club outside of that cabal are no longer willing to tolerate the actions of the serial troublemakers.

The Parkhead side are already facing sanctions from UEFA for a banner displayed during the Champions League match against AC Milan last month which compared William Wallace to Bobby Sands. UEFA, who forbid political statements at games, opened disciplinary proceedings against Celtic for an incident of “non-sporting nature”.

Celtic riot - Tom English: The damage done at Fir Park

http://www.scotsman.com/news/tom-english-the-damage-done-at-fir-park-1-3224571

Given that those earnest young men of the Green Brigade are so fond of issuing statements, it was somewhat curious that they didn’t reach into their bottomless pit of indignation and release a missive that made it clear that they had nothing to do with the damage done to the seats at Fir Park on Friday night or the flinging of the smoke bomb into the goalmouth occupied by their own man, Fraser Forster.

Many assume that the people who brought us the self-indulgent, self-pitying banners of recent weeks were also responsible for the vandalism and stupidity of the wrecked seats and the thrown smoke bomb. If that was an unfair assumption – and Twitter has been awash with such certainty – then you have would have expected a statement.

Maybe it’s on its way, although they might want to address the story of yesterday which claimed that IRA slogans were written on some of those broken seats beside stickers carrying the Green Brigade motif.

In their efforts to highlight their persecution by police, where exactly does smashing up seats and daubing terrorist wording on them fit into the gameplan? Their protest against the Offensive Behaviour at Football bill and their objection to the club’s criticising of the way they are going about it was captured in another message on another broken seat on Friday night. “F*** you Lawwell” it read. Such an eloquent contribution to the debate.

In their next statement, they might explain the contradiction in their long-held claims of unfair treatment by police. If they are persecuted, as they say they are, then there wasn’t much sign of it on Friday night as this group of neds was allowed to smash up seats without a single policeman stepping in to stop them. Where were the police when needed? The Green Brigade bleat on about heavy-handed treatment. A heavy hand would not have gone amiss on Friday night. At most grounds yesterday if a fan stood up for long enough he’d get an instruction from stewards or police to sit back down again – or else. These Celtic louts were not just allowed to stand but also boot and smash seats without any of their supposed persecutors saying a word.

Given the events at Celtic Park, the Falkirk Stadium, Fir Park and New Douglas Park in recent weeks you have to wonder if there is some kind of unofficial competition going on among the supporters of Celtic and Rangers – and also Motherwell after their own antics in the game against Albion Rovers last weekend – to discover the nation’s dimmest fan. Let’s think about this. The Green Brigade bring opprobrium on themselves for their banner in the Champions League game against AC Milan. At this point, in the wearying tit-for-tat between sections of the Old Firm support, some dullard in the Rangers end at Falkirk decides to bring the focus back on to his own club by throwing a flare that destroyed part of Falkirk’s plastic pitch, an act that his club had to apologise for, admit embarrassment over, and make amends for with a payment to cover the cost of repair.Not to be outdone, some Celtic fans seized the initiative in the search for Scotland’s thickest supporter when they disgraced themselves at Fir Park.

What was interesting was the level of disgust from Celtic fans over the behaviour of those vandals at Motherwell. There was a similar level of exasperation among Rangers supporters in the wake of the incident at Falkirk. On Twitter you will always find extremists who are prepared to defend any action by “one of their own” no matter how harmful the behaviour might have been to their club – deflection tactics are in the DNA of these people – but we also saw a body of fans rising up against the actions of their fellow supporters. The message seemed pretty clear. They were fed up to the back teeth of these small number of idiots causing grief for the majority.

Celtic, as a club, have been too indulgent of this Green Brigade mob, too quick to celebrate them and thank them and swell their ego and create the monster of self-absorption. They have pandered to them for too long. They have listened, like we have all listened, to songs about IRA men in that corner of Celtic Park for years and have done next to nothing. But, once a banner is raised – just a visual representation of what they have been singing about for the longest time – only then do the club speak out in shock and horror, as if that kind of thing wasn’t the norm from that section of the ground.

In the summer, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said he’d had enough and had decided to break up the Green Brigade. He then back-tracked. If he didn’t know it then, then he surely knows it now. These fans don’t deserve his faith. Quite frankly, his tolerance of the supporters who continually land the club in bother is an insult to the overwhelming majority of those who back the club to the hilt – the real fans. They are embarrassed and angry. In growing numbers they are calling for the disbandment of the Green Brigade before they mortify the club any further. By indulging the minority, Lawwell, pictured, is doing a disservice to the majority.

A section of the Celtic support now think they are above the club, that normal behaviour rules don’t apply to them because they are the mighty Green Brigade, protector of the match-day atmosphere at Celtic Park and defender of their Irish identity, which, in song and in their visual displays, they seem to see as beginning and ending with war – or terrorism. These bhoys should take a trip to Ireland sometime. They’ll find that there is just a little bit more to the place than singing songs about Bobby Sands. When displays of republicanism are the sole manifestation of your Irish heritage, as it seems to be with these fans, then it betrays a desperately grim and narrow view of what it is to be Irish. Quite frankly, if they weren’t so pathetic they’d be laughable.

You would hope that Celtic have truly had enough of them this time. The Green Brigade might make a lot of noise but the people that Lawwell should be listening to now are those respectful fans who want this garbage to stop.

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/motherwell-v-celtic-smoke-bombs-let-off-at-fir-park-1-3224112

CELTIC saw another exceptional display on the pitch last night soured by fresh controversy involving their supporters as damage was caused to a section of Fir Park.

Seats in the south stand, where the bulk of a 6000 travelling support were situated, were ripped out during Celtic’s crushing 5-0 win over Motherwell which stretched their lead at the top of the Premiership to five points.

SPFL match delegate Alan Dick and Celtic’s head of security Ronnie Hawthorn inspected the affected area after the match. A Motherwell spokesman

indicated that the matter would be dealt privately between the clubs. Smoke bombs and flares were also let off by fans in the same stand before and during the match. Celtic are currently subject to disciplinary proceedings from both the SPFL and Uefa for banners displayed by the Green Brigade section of their support at recent home matches.

Celtic fans direct sectarian abuse at Motherwell manager

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/bad-behaviour-in-the-stands-but-celtic-are-good-as-gold-on-the-pitch.22895889

The only cloud on their night was the behaviour of a section of their huge travelling support. A number of smoke bombs and flares were set off from behind the away end goal.

Before kick-off, and again after their opening goal, they discharged them in the stand and even threw a couple of smoke bombs on to the pitch. It was depressingly witless. Flares have been in the news all week on both sides of the border, especially after one was thrown from the Rangers end at Falkirk on Saturday. Some in the Celtic crowd could not resist dragging their own support into the controversy. Singing about Stuart McCall being a "sad orange b******" was also pretty brainless, and after the game it was clear a number of seats had been damaged in the away end too.

Celtic supporters riot at Motherwell

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/celtic-could-face-spfl-investigation-2900317

FANS damaged seats and threw smoke bombs at Fir Park last night as Celtic faced Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

SPFL delegate Alan Dick held lengthy discussions with police at the visitors’ end after the game.

A Motherwell spokesman said: “The matter will be dealt with privately between the clubs.”

But Celtic could now face an SPFL investigation on top of the UEFA probe into inappropriate banners displayed recently before their game with AC Milan

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2519675/Efe-Ambroses-night-Fir-Park-spoiled-Celtic-fans-ripping-seats-letting-flares-5-0-Motherwell-win.html

Efe Ambrose celebrated the best day of his life in spectacular fashion – on a night when a 5-0 Celtic win over Motherwell was marred by the actions of visiting fans at Fir Park.

Neil Lennon’s men swept to victory but could yet face disciplinary repercussions, as away supporters in the South Stand damaged seats and let off flares and smoke bombs before and during the game. 

SPFL match delegate Alan Dick inspected the damage post-match and, depending on the content of his report, the visiting support may end up souring memories

In England, the Barclays Premier League have already launched an official campaign designed to combat the increasing use of flares and smoke bombs inside stadiums.

The campaign is a measured response to the unfortunate chain of events at Villa Park in October that led to the assistant referee Dave Bryan being struck by a flare thrown from the Tottenham end during the match between Aston Villa and Spurs.

Celtic fans in Fir Park outrage

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/5310685/Celtic-fans-in-Fri-Park-outrage.html

CELTIC fans brought shame on the club last night after ripping up seats a rivals’ ground then daubing them with offensive IRA slogans.

Yobs rampaged through the South Stand at Motherwell’s Fir Park ground.

During the match dozens of seats were ripped up, metal frames bent out of shape, 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and a flare were let off and IRA slogans left on chairs which were covered with stickers from the controversial Green Brigade.

F*** you Lawwell — a reference to Celtic’s Chief Executive Peter Lawwell — was scrawled on another chair.

Scottish Professional Football League and Celtic security delegates were inspecting the damage.

Celtic — who won the league match 5-0 — are subject of a UEFA hearing after the Green Brigade unfurled banners depicting William Wallace and Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands before November’s Champions League tie with AC Milan.

A police spokesman said: “Inquiries are on going.”

Celtic fans tear up seats and throw flares during Motherwell riot

6th December 2013

Celtic fans rioted at Fir Park, Motherwell last night. Damage to the ground was described by BBC Scotland as "the worst ever damage inside a Scottish football ground".

Celtic face UEFA action over IRA banner shown during AC Milan match

UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Celtic for the display of an "illicit banner" during the Champions League match with AC Milan on Tuesday night.

The governing body's Control and Disciplinary will deal with the case on December 11.

On the banner, unfurled before the match, images of William Wallace and Bobby Sands were shown alongside the message: "The terrorist or the dreamer? The savage or the brave? Depends whose vote you are trying to catch or whose face you are trying to save."

UEFA's disciplinary code says clubs may be subject to disciplinary measures if supporters are found to have used "gestures, words, objects or any other means to transmit any message that is not fit for a sports event, particularly messages that are of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature".

The governing body told STV: "Disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Celtic FC for an incident of non-sporting nature at their UEFA Champions League match with AC Milan."

Celtic were fined £4,221 earlier in the season by UEFA after fireworks were set off by supporters during their Champions League qualifier with Cliftonville.

The club's fans also caused them to be fined twice during their Europa League campaign in the 2011/12 season.

In March 2012, UEFA fined Celtic £21,000 after supporters displayed an offensive banner and set off flares during an away game with Udinese.

Celtic were also fined £13,000 for "illicit chanting" in the same competition during a match with Rennes.

Police Scotland are also investigating after a laser pointer was allegedly used on AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati during Tuesday's match.

Although UEFA rules allow for action to be taken on such a case, the governing body have not stated they will act.

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/celtic/250586-celtic-face-uefa-action-over-illicit-banner-shown-during-ac-milan-match/

Celtic fans tribute to sectarian killers

Celtic fans displayed a banner supporting the sectarian killers from the Provisional IRA at last weekends Scottish Premiership match against Aberdeen at Celtic Park .

The H Blocks at HM Prison Maze was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Northern Ireland troubles.

The IRA killed more than 2000 people and injured many more during their campaign of sectarian violence.

Muted media reaction to Celtic fans terrorist display

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/26/celtic-milan-champions-league

Earlier, a contingent of Celtic's support had produced a selection of banners depicting William Wallace and Bobby Sands asking, among other things, about "the terrorist or the dreamer". Uefa may well take a dim view of such expression, should it deem it political. Those who offered it presumably failed in a day-release request from their time warp.

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http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/celtic-out-as-milan-and-ajax-heap-on-misery-1-3209926#.UpWRX0Qdemo.twitter

It was a bracing night for Celtic, who might also face punishment from Uefa for a banner briefly unveiled by fans in a corner of the stadium where the Green Brigade gathers before kick-off, and which made a comparison between William Wallace and IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.



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Up in the stands, Celtic had other worries to contend with, notably the antics of the Green Brigade, who are now pushing Celtic to the extremes of embarrassment and likely trouble. The Green Brigade have a faction who are determined to score public points about Irish Republicanism and the IRA. Anyone who delves into these football club/political narratives, on display all over Europe, knows how complicated they are. But one aspect is not complicated at all - trouble brews for Celtic whenever this group of supporters goes down this road. On Tuesday the Green Brigade displayed further words and images that will have made Peter Lawwell, the Celtic CEO, squirm in his seat. Graham Spiers, Blogger, The Herald

Horror at Celtic fans terrorist display at UEFA Champions League match

Football fans reacted with horror after a banner praising provisional IRA terrorist Bobby Sands was displayed by Celtic supporters at last nights UEFA Champions League game between Celtic and Italian giant AC Milan.

Few words better sum up the life of Bobby Sands than those of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who commented that he was “… a convicted criminal who chose to take his own life…”
Sands joined the PIRA in 1972, after being involved in sectarian violence in Belfast for some time, which saw entire Protestant communities forced from areas of the city. As part of the sectarian campaign in Belfast the PIRA attempted to create safe areas from which to operate; entire streets and   areas were ethnically cleansed of Protestants.

The strategy was two-fold, primarily strategic as they attempted to create No-Go areas in which the terrorists could exert control over communities and also strike out at the security forces and the unionist community. It was also sectarian in nature, evidenced by the targets and the methodology of the terrorists. The nature of these attacks is best exemplified by Bloody Friday, 21 July 1972, when the indiscriminate terrorist bombing of civilian targets reached its bloody crescendo. By the end of that day, the PIRA's Belfast brigade had detonated at least 20 bombs across the city. Its original aim was also to catch those fleeing from the city centre at bus and train depots, with secondary devices. In just 75 minutes of violence and confusion, nine people were dead and some 130 more were mutilated, injured and mentally scarred by what they had witnessed.

The scale of the attack was huge, with two car bombs that between them claimed  nine lives - one at the Oxford Street bus station in the city centre, the other outside shops in Cavehill Road where the victims were two women and a 14-year-old schoolboy. At Oxford St, the busiest bus station in Northern Ireland, four Ulsterbus workers and two soldiers were killed. When the emergency services reached the scene, they found that some of the victims had been literally blown to pieces, leading to initial estimates of a death toll of 11. Of the 130 injured, 77 were women or children out shopping in the city centre.

Bobby Sands was involved in many of these bomb attacks which claimed countless lives in Belfast. His reign of terror thankfully was halted in October 1972, when he was arrested and charged with possession, after an arms dump containing four handguns were found in a safe house in which he was staying. Sentenced to three years imprisonment where he further developed his terrorist skills, upon release in 1976 he returned to his local unit and recommenced his criminal activity.

Within six months he was arrested again. This time he and a nine man team had been assembled. Their target - The Balmoral Furniture Company on the Upper Dunmurry Lane. Quite what this store had done on Republicans or how its destruction could further their dream of a United Ireland is beyond comprehension. However it must have been deemed a dangerous enough military objective that it would take no less than nine volunteers to ensure its destruction!

This attack was part of a campaign by Republicans based in the Twinbrook area to attack and force Protestant businesses and residents from that area. The IRA had targeted the store, in the full knowledge of the risk to staff and shoppers. The only reason that Republicans can cite for the attack was “...the extravagantly-priced furniture it sold…”. The plan was to petrol bomb the premises and then to lay explosive charges to spread the flames.

The attackers left nothing to chance taking weapons and explosives. However the swift and courageous action by an RUC patrol led to the wounding of two terrorists and arrest of all six. Officers although outnumbered and at considerable risk to themselves returned fire and injured two terrorists Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett. The other four arsonists failed in a farcical attempt to escape by car, and surrendered to police. They included Bobby Sands and Joe O’Donnell who would both later die on hunger strike. Also in the car were Seamus Finucane, brother of Patrick Finucane, and Sean Laverty. The arresting police found a handgun in the car; however the four terrorists appeared too frightened to put up any resistance.

Sands was held on remand for eleven months until his trial in September 1977 where he refused to recognise the court. Despite this contempt for the court he and the other four were sentenced to fourteen years each for possession of the revolver. He entered prison relatively unknown, another young volunteer with no family ties to the movement who had been sucked in like hundreds of others. There was little of note about Sands other than his close relationship with the then leading East Belfast Republican Denis Donaldson.


Shown here in a photograph taken and smuggled out of the Maze Prison, which has become an icon in Republican areas, Donaldson is shown on the left. He has of course been air-brushed out of Republican accounts recently. However it is a matter of fact that he too was a Hunger Striker in 1980 and a key prison strategist who helped plan the 1981 Strike. Perhaps Republicans ought to ask questions about whose idea the Strikes really were ?

Given the failure of the First Hunger Strike in 1980 which left many of the original Republican leadership in the jail close to death a new generation of leadership developed. Sands, something of a compromise candidate became the O.C. of the PIRA in the Maze Prison. He had previously been the Public Relations Officer during the Dirty Protest and succeeded Brendan Hughes as O.C., becoming the public face of the terrorist starvation strategy, and was put forward as a candidate in a local by-election in 1981

Celtic fan fined for singing IRA songs at match in Inverness

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/News/Celtic-fan-fined-for-singing-IRA-songs-at-match-in-Inverness-16092013.htm

ATTENDING a fooball match at Caledonian Stadium proved to be expensive for a Celtic fan.

For Inverness Sheriff Court heard Brian Devine got caught up in the atmosphere and was spotted by police singing songs supporting the IRA.

He was arrested and when he appeared in court today, Devine (28), of Carriden Place, Wellhouse, Glasgow, admitted contravening Section 1(1) of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 by singing the provocative song.

Depute fiscal Kelly Mitchell said Caley Thistle were playing Celtic in Inverness on February 9 this year.

She said: "It was around 1.30pm and police officers at the south stand observed Devine singing songs in support of a terrorist organisation, the IRA. They observed him for about five to 10 minutes and then arrested him."

A solicitor for biscuit factory worker Devine told the court: "He just got caught up in the crowd. He started clapping along with them and then started singing and got caught up with the crowd."

He added: "He appeared from custody on the Monday. He has not attended a Celtic game since which is of concern to him."

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood fined Devine £450.

Celtic fans with drugs, intent on trouble and repeated pro-IRA singing report Daily Mail

22 Jul 2013, Scottish Daily Mail
By BRIAN MARJORIBANKS

ON A clammy afternoon in London, Celtic’s pre- season friendly against Brentford turned into a heated mix of football to savour on the park and unsavoury fan behaviour off it.

A 2-1 win for Neil Lennon’s men at Griffin Park ended with a tense stand-off between rival fans as police and stewards did a great job of keeping the two sets of goading supporters apart.

That the incident did not develop into serious trouble was largely down to their sterling efforts, but while both clubs and the Metropolitan Police were keen to play down events afterwards — with the Met reporting just two Celtic fans arrested, one for possession of Class A drugs and the other for invading the pitch — this was not the kind of behaviour advisable of a club with a burning hunger to eventually widen its footballing horizons.

Bangers and flares were routinely sent off, while intruders ran on to the pitch at both Celtic goals, with another disrupting the game by entering the field of play to take a goal-kick for unsuspecting Parkhead keeper Lukasz Zaluska.

The afternoon was rounded off by a mass pitch invasion, with a malevolent minority intent on provoking trouble, which thankfully did not come to pass despite the Griffin Park groundsman’s vain attempt to dampen the desire for trouble by turning the sprinklers on the miscreants.

The most depressing aspect of the whole game, however, was the repeated pro-IRA singing and the goading of the home fans, although a portion of the London club’s fans fired back with chants of ‘ EDL’ (English Defence League), with one Brentford ‘supporter’ ejected by police for shaking a Union Flag in the direction of the visitors.

‘They were a bit over- exuberant,’ said Lennon, who was escorted off the park by security guards at fulltime in case troubled exploded. ‘Heat, a few beers — there was a carnival atmosphere, although I would like them to leave the flares out of it.’ When the smoke had cleared, literally, after a day of flares, it was almost lost in the chaotic scenes that this had been a decent performance by Lennon’s second string, augmented by top-team players Efe Ambrose and new signings Steven Mouyokolo and Amido Balde.

After flattering to deceive in Germany, £1.7 million striker Balde’s best Celtic performance yet yielded his first goal for the club, cancelling out Adam Forshaw’s opener for the League One side, and, full of confidence, he could have had another but hit the post when clean through on keeper Jack Bonham. Teenager Calum McGregor’s first- ever senior goal, meanwhile, was a piece of sublime finishing, while there were also decent cameo appearances from Bahrudin Atajic and young full-back Darnell Fisher.

And even if the majority have no chance of playing against Cliftonville in tomorrow’s dead-rubber Champions League second-round second-leg qualifier at Celtic Park, they will have benefited from the occasion, which was as far removed from a friendly atmosphere as possible. ‘We had to get off the park really quickly at the end, after the pitch invasion,’ said a wide eyed Fisher. ‘ You could tell on the way to the game it was going to be lively because there were fans out singing on the roads. ‘But I was just delighted to play. I’m from Reading and my family were at the game today, so that made it extra special. ‘My goal this season is to get as many minutes as possible for the first team. I take inspiration from people like James Forrest and Tony Watt, who have got into the first team at a young age. If you’re good enough at this club, then you’re old enough, and I want to be where they are now.

‘The manager has told me to keep working, keep my head down and keep pushing for the first team. I don’t know what his plans are for Cliftonville, but I’m here if he needs me. I feel ready and I’m confident in my own ability.’

Before joining Celtic, Fisher, 19, was playing for Reading-based youth football side Eldon Celtic, although they played in black and green stripes, not hoops. He still marvels at the way his big break came about and how he found himself rubbing shoulders with a Lisbon Lion.

‘I’ve been really lucky,’ he smiled. ‘A couple of years ago a mate called and asked me if I fancied a game for Eldon Celtic against the Jimmy Johnstone Academy at Eton College. I played, and the Academy invited me up to Scotland to play in a tournament, where we faced Rangers.

‘A guy at the Jimmy Johnstone Academy knew Bertie Auld and Bertie took an interest in me when I arrived. He showed me around Celtic Park and he helped me settle in.
‘Bertie’s a legend and people are in awe of him when they meet him, but he’s just a really down-to-earth guy.