This is a statement from the Green Brigade:
http://talfanzine.info/blog/2013/02/17/green-brigade-statement/Towards the end of 2012, the Green Brigade announced a two-match boycott of Celtic Park due to the continued police harassment of our members. We hoped to highlight the extent of our ill-treatment and perhaps force the police into a re-think regarding their bully boy tactics. Sadly the harassment has actually worsened since then, leading up to the events of yesterday which left the group with little choice but to leave the stadium before kick-off.
It has reached the stage where our very existence is under serious threat as fans will not continue to pay £500+ to be treated like criminals.
After the disappointment of Tuesday night, we had made it our intention to thank the team for their efforts and once again back them to the hilt. However, it was clear that the police, and indeed club officials, were not going to allow this to happen.
Even before we had even got near Celtic Park, the police had tracked us down at the CSA on London Road. They took our merchandise off of people who had recently purchased it and questioned the staff as to why our members were allowed in the building.
As we approached the stadium and began to enter, some members were told that they were to leave as they had received a football banning order. No warning or explanation was given. Others were greeted by a message at the turnstile after swiping their card that read “suspended for one game.” Again, without any warning or explanation as to why this was the case. These ‘’bans’’ were at the behest of the club and not the police, for reasons still unknown.
We were then approached by a Celtic steward who advised us to be wary when entering the section, as he was advised by Strathclyde Police that they intended to arrest some of our members, and that they were in possession of a ‘wanted’ list with names and pictures of the unfortunate fans who were to be singled out. It was at this point that we decided that we were putting our own members at risk by entering the stadium. As we made our way to the exits, one Focus officer, Tommy McCrindle, was grinning from ear to ear, goading the group into a reaction that fortunately he never got.
It would seem that the police and indeed the club have upped the ante even further in recent weeks. The facts are;
- We are now 10 members down since the turn of the year.
- We have had two members arrested and charged over the ‘zombie’ banner that was unfurled at the Norwich friendly. One of those members was arrested at a busy airport in front of family on arrival from holiday.
- The first of those charged had his first court appearance last week. This was laughed out of court but not before the stress and inconvenience of telling family members, taking time off work and missing big matches.
- Numerous members’ have been harassed at their homes in recent weeks, another clear tactic of intimidation.
This is all done under the say-so of Strathclyde Police’ FoCus unit. Celtic supporters have the same police officers following them week in, week out. This allows them to become familiar with the names and faces of our fans. It would appear that they use this familiarity to try to intimidate us even further. Simple things like name-dropping partner’s names or family members’ names has become an all too common theme. It’s all part of the bullying nature of this unit.
The Green Brigade are (in case you hadn't guessed it) a hardcore of Celtic fans who sing IRA songs and are generally amongst the most unpleasant of people you could hope to meet. On the other side of the fence, we have Rangers fans who sing pro-UVF songs.
Both sides are a fucking embarrassment.
They embarrass Scottish football, they embarrass the Scottish people, they're living in some sad deluded world where the Celtic fans all believe that they're all poor Irish who were kicked off the land by the nasty evil redcoats and are victims of oppression. Amongst the hardcore Rangers fans you'll hear how the Catholics are conspiring to take over the country and they're all victims of oppression.
That's right, both sides claim to be oppressed. They both believe that the Gov't in Westminster and Holyrood (and football's governing bodies UEFA and FIFA) are conspiring against them. Lost a match abroad? Conspiracy! Oppression! Fined for singing sectarian songs? Conspiracy! Oppression!
What's truly sad about these clowns is that the people of Northern Ireland don't want a return to the days of 'The Troubles': For these clowns, that's their number one fantasy and they would be only to happy for The Troubles to be replayed on the streets of Scotland.
They live in their own wee world and happily, their numbers are getting fewer. But in the meantime, the rest of Scotland has to put up with these morons screaming oppression and bringing their bigoted view of the world to a football match at every opportunity.
