The Celtic Support: Old School Meets New School vs AC Milan

In 103, 2 guys infront of me left after 55 mins, me and a few others shouted at them, told them not to bother coming back, then the 2 of them turned round to give a bit back. Stayed right until the end as much as it pained me to watch some of that last night.

 

IMO we had a better fan base in the 90s even though we never had much luck on the park. Sad thing is when clubs do well the not so hard core turn out but soon * off again when we become poor again.

 

I don't know the way it was described to me is this. Those who are employed by someone else are working class. Those who employ others are either middle class or upper class. The only exception to this is if you are some kind of professional - eg Doctor, Radiologist, Lawyer, Financier. These people are often hired by someone else however their titles carry so much clout that they can't really be classified as working class. Which class you fall into is largely determined by how much control you have over your own labour.

 

It is where the majority of supporters that have a problem with the green brigade and are in support of forgetting the clubs history! These are also the people who can afford to bring their wives and children to a game, yet have a problem when people try to create an atmosphere, as his family couldn't probably give a clean * about celtic. How exactly is that not destroying the atmosphere??

 

None taken. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever many on here would think I was "middle class" if we all met in a pub, by virtue of not having a strong local dialect. I also live what many people who consider themselves "working class" would think of as a very "middle class" life. I couldn't really give a toss either way. It is all very interesting to discuss, but I am just me and it doesn't trouble me if people think I am of a particular class or not.

My point is that either way it doesn't strike me that the guys leaving early last night were any more middle class than the guys who stayed. Likewise the guys who shout at others to sit down rarely strike me as of the professional classes. I think the demographics of football has changed, just as society has changed, but it never strikes me that Celtic Park is a very middle class place, nor that the worst supporters are more likely to be middle class.

 

Most of their problem with the green brigade is the poppy thing I think.

You should also remember that a lot of our Irish Republican fanbase, even Celtic players, during the first and second world wars fought for the crown. Fighting Germany was more important to them than any anti-British sentiment.

I disagree with a lot of the things the GB does. I also disagree with a lot of their politics. But I like the atmosphere that they bring to Celtic Park. I think the same could be said for most of the supporters who have "problems" with the GB.

 

Well that's fair enough mate, I respect your opinion no matter how much it differs than mine

 

Anyways. I think that middle class and working class both bring great support to Celtic Park. I think that the club should be more accommodating to the working class though so they can afford tickets to get in and see the Bhoys. I don't see the harm. There are plenty of empty seats we could fill. And it would boost the atmosphere.

 

Likewise.

I agree. I frankly couldn't give a toss about the whole class thing - it isn't how I was brought up and I find it an odd fixation we have in this country. But it is sad that there are many fans who have been priced out of football and it is such short-term thinking to price these guys out. You lose these guys and you lose their kids, and their kids, etc. Considering Celtic Park is surrounded by such poor areas, and there are so many empty seats each week, it is just daft to not try to reach out to local communities.

 

I feel your pain with that one mate, my da does this and drives me nuts but anyway last night we were there to the final whistle and the thing that annoys me is not how many leaving last night because some have there reasons like work etc. but the amount of people queuing up to get in the ground. Why in the name of christ can't we be getting that on a saturday ? I just dont get it.

Im a young lad but wouldn't say im a 'new-age' fan. I'm a season ticket holder and spend every penny i get from my part time job to go to celtic games home and away. If you have the money and have spare time and are physically able to get to the game you should be there but the teams performances don't do anyone favours but that's for another place.

 

To be fair, last night if you wanted to avoid the traffic, you'd have been aswell staying to the end, when all the traffic had been and gone haha.

 

The poppy should not be made mandatory, I would like to see if the easter lilly was made mandatory in the Irish leagues how much of an uproar this would cause in the Brit media.

So you disagree with a lot of what the GB do which comes to no surprise to me as you well know. However the vital questions are, would you care if they were banned?
Do you think they are being justly treated by the club and the authorities?
They are the people with a problem with the GB not those that do not agree with them entirely, or in the slightest even.

 

I think applauding any opposition is a joke, the hype before the game they talked about the formidable parkhead. The opposition need to be jeered, not cheered. I am a Celtic supporter , not a football spectator!

 

I believe in freedom of speech. I don't think that the way that the club is treating them is entirely the fault of Celtic. They are under a lot of pressure by UEFA to do what they have done. Freedom of speech is not something that UEFA espouses or lets on at any club obviously. The club is trying to avoid getting slapped with 16,500 GBP fine for every game. Small in comparison to the clubs profits, but nothing to laugh about, either. Those complaining to the club would do themselves better by forwarding their complaints also to UEFA. Where they will fall on deaf ears, but that is the organisation that could institute more change than the club ever can. Personally I don't think political banners have a place in Celtic park. We can be as Irish as Amhrán na bhFiann without being political. But that's just my opinion. And I believe in freedom of speech.

 

Neither do I. By definition I probably fall into the middle class but I'm just as loud as everyone at the game (I'm a pretty quiet guy elsewhere but my throat is usually * by half time on a European night) and I stay to the end no matter what.

 

It was embarrassing to see so many people leave early and it was embarrassing to see people clapping Kaka off the park. I think I was the only person in my section that was booing him.

 

Are Celtic PLC out of touch with the support?
Or
Are some of our support totally out of touch with why we became a Club?
Or
Has Celtic PLC and some of our support totally lost it and look down on a section of the fan base we still want to support the team the way i supported Celtic as a bhoy back in the Jungle.

Looks like the board have too many arseholes and some of the support take the PLC side with ever single statement, just like the huns do...

 

We are a massive collective. So there is always going to be a divide between a group of people as big as our own support. And I am not old enough to properly remember the Jungle but from what I have read, both primary and secondary, there was always a bit of contention as regards singing certain songs. I don't think Celtic has ever been unified when it comes to the republican stuff. It wasn't when Stein was boss, when McCann was chairman, or when Lawwell is Chief Exec.

I also think over time, people move away from their 125 year old roots. Like it or not we are a global brand PLC. We punt credit cards, alcohol and American corporations. And we get to enjoy all the benefits that comes with supporting a big team. Most of us likely drive past several local clubs to get to Celtic Park each week, so I don't think we can get too critical of the PLC as we are quite happy to moan about "only" spending a couple of million on a player rather than £5m.

On a personal level, many of us come from an Irish diaspora but are no longer Irish. Sentiment towards Irish politics is bound to weaken when thousands of our fans haven't even been to Ireland. But then there will always be thousands of fans who are Irish or feel connected to the old country. That is often where there is a disconnect and it is only going to be more pronounced as time goes on.

I actually don't know any celtic fans that blindly follow the board. They might agree with them 100% as regards the political stuff, but they aren't blindly following as they are often critical of other parts of what the board do. Similarly many are against the board when it comes to politics, but are happy with the financial running of the club. Considering the size of our fan base, we are never going to be in perfect harmony. And I doubt we ever were.

 

I was a bit puzzled at people clapping Kaka as well, he didn't really do anything to deserve a round of applause.

 

Can't understand how you could criticize someone for applauding Kaká Tuesday night. He was the greatest player in the world in 2007 and dominated teams in the Champions League for years. Injuries and lack of playing time at Madrid caused his career to spiral downward but he has reignited himself since being back at Milan and looks to be getting back to his best given his age.

Kaká is and always has been a model professional and is held in very high regard by players and fans everywhere. As well as that, he played quite well in the game and worked harder than most others on the pitch. He also spoke highly of Celtic before and after the game.

He's the best example of a model professional there is, even more so than Messi, Ronaldo etc. If there was any player I'd expect to see the opposition applaud, it'd be Kaká and I have a lot of respect for Celtic fans for doing so. Now maybe applauding the opposition players is not everybody's thing and that's alright but seriously, why would you be booing him?