Behaviour of Celtic fans, should it be tolerated?

I'm quite surprised that some people here are not aware of anti-English feeling going back centuries (which can manifest itsekf as anti-Protestant or anti-Royalist) nor the anti-Westminster feeling from the last half-century.

ViceVersa I think it will never be eradicated from Scottish football. I'm a West Coast Scot and I've seen this my entire life. It's really quite sad that we haven't improved attitudes from the 1960's/70's.

LovelyLady

Perhaps if you lived their lives you’d understand. Living as a secondhand being in a country that’s not given equal status is difficult to understand when you live South of the border. Some who live in Scotland also dont understand. Try being a RC who has been refused many many jobs due only to their religious affiliation. Not through lack of qualifications, only due to religion. Many are not equal in Scotland today.

What complete and utter nonsense!

I live in Wales , our flag is not on the Union Jack, my grandfather was hit when he spoke Welsh in school, I was not allowed to study Welsh history. Our head held classes after school we learned of the English iron works and coal mine owners !

Perhaps if you lived their lives you’d understand. Living as a secondhand being in a country that’s not given equal status is difficult to understand when you live South of the border. Some who live in Scotland also dont understand. Try being a RC who has been refused many many jobs due only to their religious affiliation. Not through lack of qualifications, only due to religion. Many are not equal in Scotland today.

Tbf Lizzie's in a box is pretty tame considering many of the sectarian songs/chants that now cannot be voiced publicly in Scotland.
To those that think "it's just football" is not, it's sectarian violence, and it's been rife in Scotland for time immemorial. In 2012 the SNP government introduced The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 was repealed in March 2018 as too many underprivileged young men were being criminalised by their drunken behaviour at football matches. The SNP government then committed hundreds of thousands of pounds to educate against sectarianism in schools.
The Hate Crime & Public Order (Scotland) Act 2022 can now be used to deal with sectarian offences.
In both cases it's left to the police to decide what is sectarian behaviour but there is a list of songs/chants that cannot be publicly voiced, although they can be clearly heard in many family gardens in the summertime. The chants and songs have absolutely no place in Scotland, yet they persist.

Listening to a crowd singing your father/mother/husband/child is in a box is acceptable?

Im rather more concerned about Celtic fans use of pyrotechnics

Not a royalist by any means but the comments about anybody at all being 'in a box' are despicable. No idea what could be done to stop these hooligans other than playing matches behind closed doors which would penalise both the club and the supporters.

Sago I went to a Notts Forest match when I was young (the only professional football match I've been to) and it seemed good-tempered with none of the crude, nasty behaviour found now, despite the fact laws to deal with hooliganism have been passed since then.

Sarnia

I love football. Chants and songs have been around for ages and are meant to wind the opposition fans right up.
For years Spurs fans called themselves the 'Yid Army'. Some might find that offensive but the supporters were happy to shout it out at matches.
A football fan will give as good as they get and accept it as part of the game. People who are offended should find something else to do.
Horses for courses really.

The Celtic fans went far beyond banter. Their behaviour was disgraceful and they and the club should be punished accordingly.

It is precisely the “winding the opposition fans up” that l dislike about football as it is unsporting and totally unnecessary. It can also lead to physical fights, as we have seen all too often in the past. I am a Norwich City fan. Their football rivals are Ipswich Town. They are clubs that are very similar, in that they are both small, family-centric, slightly unfashionable clubs with a loyal, mainly local, fan-base. Until recently, they had a friendly, jostling, good-humoured rivalry, but were respectful of each other. In recent years, a different kind of rivalry has been artificially whipped up and fans are encouraged to cheer when the other team is losing and boo when they are winning. The way the other team is talked about by some fans is nastier, too. It is so sad and so very unnecessary.

Allira

^When police have to form a line down a street to ensure football fans cannot come into contact with one another and ensure fans of one team don't go into a pub where there are fans of the other I feel there is something seriously wrong.^

I agree. Quite honestly, is this the best use of a large amount of police resources?

Apparently the club only foots the bill for Policing in the stadium!

I once had the misfortune to catch a train full of Notting Forrest supporters.

They drank and smoked on the train and as we were stationary before departure they exposed themselves to some teenage girls on the platform and shouted out of the windows “do you take it up the **”

I spoke to the female guard who said they wouldn’t kick them off because there were too many and they would cause a huge problem, myself and a young Mum with children were offered a seat in first class.

Childish really.

I agree that words can incite violence in some circumstances but the words quoted in the OP just goady.

Words can feed violent actions and surly a spoken threat to kill
is violent

It is not wrong to be anti-monarchy, nor to say so. Yobbishness is another matter but words are not violence.

Absolutely disgusting people with cctv footage they should be recognised and banned for life from football games

It's absolutely disgraceful. I have not been to many football games, mainly in the 60s when the All Stars 11 were playing, that was mainly so I could see the stars of the day. But the best game I ever went to was an international game between Galatasary and Pogon in Antalya Turkey. There were different ways in for women and men, it was free entry for all women. At the men's gates all the men were searched and any possible weapon , lighters, coins, bpttles and cans etc., were confiscated. You could meet up with your male friends inside and sit together or you could sit in the segregated areas. And lastly the food was cheap and delicious. Couldn't fault it at all.

When police have to form a line down a street to ensure football fans cannot come into contact with one another and ensure fans of one team don't go into a pub where there are fans of the other I feel there is something seriously wrong.

I agree. Quite honestly, is this the best use of a large amount of police resources?

When police have to form a line down a street to ensure football fans cannot come into contact with one another and ensure fans of one team don't go into a pub where there are fans of the other I feel there is something seriously wrong. I had professional footballers in my family, brother played for his country. He was 14 years older and me and even at a young age I saw the "glory" given to footballers and grew to despise anything to do with football. It's a lot lot worse nowadays. Wonder what fans would do if their favourite player refused to come out to play at a game due to their despicable behaviour. Players should be leading the way.

My DH was a serving police officer in Scotland for 32+ years and came home regularly from being on duty at Ibrox with his coat covered in spit. I was appalled at the level of hatred shown towards the police inside the stadium. I’m not naive to think it did go on in other stadiums, but that strengthened my dislike of football. The sectarian aspect of Scottish football will never go away, it’s totally disgusting.

We took our youngest DS to a Scotland v Italy football match at Hampden then a short time later to a Scotland v Italy 6 nations rugby match at Murreyfield and after about 20 mins or so he turned to us and said rugby supporters were much nicer than football supporters as they don’t use bad language when shouting at the players. Out of the mouths of babes right enough.

I've been going to football matches for years without a problem. I've heard much worse songs during those years, including about the royal family. Nothing was done, nothing will be done. You read something in a newspaper, you weren't even there!! Pathetic. Don't get your knickers in a knot about something you didn't even witness. If you didn't like it, don't go to football matches. Of course, you don't.

Fans have been sanctioned for certain chants that are horribly offensive but a general antiRoyal chant am not sure about, however crass those Celtic fans are.

TerriBull
😂

It's football. There fans are there not only to support their team but to wind up the opposition team and fans though I thought this latest episode was too much. But what can you do?