Celtic's Champions League season 17/18

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/s...eltic-clash-bonanza-to-1million-35864550.html

 

Aye I also need to arrange stuff as well so that's handy to know as will be in England that week and need to know when to come back up

 

Never have I so wanted a San Marinese team to win a game. That would be funny as *.

 

In fact, why don't we just go to Windsor Park when the San Marinese are there and get right behind them. Can we lend them a few players as well?

 

Since last Monday’s Champions League draw, there has been considerable press hyperbole surrounding a possible Second Round tie between Linfield and Celtic. Aside from making some contingency arrangements for this possible game, the Club’s stated position is that our utmost concentration must be on our First Round tie against La Fiorita of San Marino. To do anything other than this would be to disrespect our opponents whom we look forward to welcoming to Windsor Park on Wednesday evening. The Club is providing every assistance to David Healy, his staff and the first team squad in the preparation for these vitally important games.

Linfield feel that we must, however, issue a public response to some of the more hysterical articles that have appeared in the press over the last few days. Even in this era of “fake news” and slashed media budgets, one would have not thought it beyond the capabilities of most reporters to perform some basic fact-checking before sending an article to the presses.

A particularly regrettable piece appeared in the Scottish Daily Record on Saturday 24th June, wherein the former Celtic footballer Joe Miller recalled a friendly match he had apparently taken part in against Linfield at Windsor Park whilst he was on the books of Aberdeen. The interview with Mr Miller, as told to the Daily Record reporter Gordon Parks, included such colourful details as the winger apparently being repeatedly targeted with laser rangefinders and that he and his colleagues, Derek Whyte, Tommy Craig and Roy Aitken were carrying match balls down a street after this game when they passed a public house where they were confronted by angry locals.

The latter detail may cause some bemusement to Linfield supporters, given that even in those pre-redevelopment days, Windsor Park was wholly enclosed from any surrounding streets, and there remains a distinct lack of local hostelries in the area adjacent to the ground. We have played numerous friendly games at Windsor Park over the years against such clubs from Manchester United to Flamengo of Brazil, but have yet to ask opposing players to walk around South Belfast whilst carrying various match accoutrements.

What troubles us most of all, however, is that Linfield FC has no record of having played Aberdeen at Windsor Park or elsewhere in the entire decade Mr Miller refers to, whether in a friendly fixture, training game or otherwise. In fact, it appears that Linfield have never played against Aberdeen at all throughout our entire history.

A particularly concerning allegation made by Mr Miller, printed in the Daily Record and broadcast on social media to tens of thousands of views, was that “there were red dots on us for the whole 90 minutes” of this mysterious game. This fanciful account seems to suppose that the player and his colleagues were being targeted by multiple firearms, and was provided in the context of suggesting that it would be unsafe for Celtic supporters to visit our stadium, should that tie come to pass in due course. Given that Windsor Park was, and is, an almost entirely enclosed stadium, it would have been unlikely that this could have come from outside the ground, had this fixture actually taken place. Given also that neither the then-RUC nor the British Army carried lasers fitted to their weapons as standard, and that in 1995 it would be some years before laser pointers became easily available and affordable to members of the public, one wonders where, exactly, these red dots may have appeared from in this match that didn’t actually happen.

In light of everything stated above we can only suggest that this account is demonstrably untrue.

The Club has now instructed Solicitors to write to Mr Miller and the Daily Record accordingly.

This is just one of the press stories that have appeared in the last week that is easier to rebut. Our Solicitors have also been put on retainer to investigate any further attacks on the good character of this Club and its supporters. In the meantime, we would only ask that the media, like Linfield FC, concentrates on fixtures that have actually been arranged, and that any reporting of past events is conducted to proper journalistic standards.

A statement regarding the possible match against Celtic and the ticketing arrangements for that game will be released in due course, should we win the upcoming tie against La Fiorita.

 

Hope the San Marino team win.
Just noticed they were founded same year we won the European Cup.

 

* idiots.

1) The red dots he mentioned was during a "training session at Windsor Park"

2) He never said he played against Linfield, he just said he had played at Windsor Park once in a friendly

Good luck solicitors

 

Orange *, I would like to see their lawyers refute that.

 

Football without fans is nothing

It is now just over 50 years since thousands of Celtic supporters flew, drove and hitch-hiked to Lisbon to see Jock Stein’s Lisbon Lions conquer Europe. As the great man himself observed, ‘football without fans is nothing’ so it is with deep disappointment that we note the board's decision to reject our ticket allocation for any potential UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Linfield in Belfast. The vague statement released by the board late on Friday afternoon did not contain any clear explanation of this decision – a decision made with no consultation at all with fan organisations, groups or regular European away travellers.

The statement noted 'safety concerns’ but it is our understanding that the PSNI does not object to Celtic fans travelling and, indeed, Linfield has publicly encouraged the board to accept our allocation and stated they are 'more than happy' for Celtic fans to attend the match. We believe that the board is more concerned with protecting the brand than the welfare of the fans or the success of our team. It is a very sad and strange turn of events when the custodians of our own club do not want the world famous Celtic support backing the team in a ‘crucial’ away match yet the home club welcomes us with open arms.

We call on the board to reconsider their decision, and should they fail to do so, for Linfield to sell tickets directly to Celtic supporters. Our away support has significant experience of dealing directly with host clubs in the distribution of domestic away match tickets and doing so again for the match in Belfast should be a straightforward process. This should be done in a fair, responsible and transparent manner and would avoid the scenario of ticketless Celtic fans accessing the home end, which may in itself lead to genuine safety concerns.

Football without fans is nothing.

Green Brigade and Celtic Trust

https://www.facebook.com/TheCelticTrust/posts/1633155916728491

 

Aye the home club "welcomes us with open arms" that's a belter

 

More like open razors

 

Looking to the 3rd round if we get past our opponents looks like

Slavia Prague
Vitorul Constanta
Malmo or Vardar
Astana or Spartaks Jumala
Partizan Belgrade or Budućnost Podgorica
Rijeka or The New Saints
Rosenborg or Dundalk
Sheriff Tiraspol or Kukesi
Hapoel Be'er Sheava or Honved
FH or Terpca 89

So assuming all seeds in Bold go through best draw and it will be split into champions route then into 2 pots of 5 seeded and non seeded so easiest route to playoff is FH or Sheriff Tiraspol imo

 

Hope we don't get Dundalk, it would mean travelling through Belfast and some of the locals might shout at us and call as nasty names, best not taking any tickets in case.

 

Thought you could get a ferry to Dublin from Liverpool then drive up to Dundalks ground.

 

Dundalk are playing home game in Shamrock Rovers stadium Tallaght.
Locals still might call you nasty names, slightly less bonfires in the vicinity than a Belfast trip tho.

 

They've all met Wrigley then

 

I'll watch today's CL-qualifier game, but I really don't expect La Fiorita to win, they have a bad record concerning CL-qualifier-games. They never got beyond the first round!

 

Just talking to my brother about this. It is unlikely but really it is a pretty similar match up to the TNS v Europa one last night and Europa won that.

 

Bear in mind sevco could only manage a 0-0 draw vs TNS