Celtic's Friends and Foes

theres videos of Ajax hooligans attacking fans wearing Celtic colours on a tram in Amsterdam. Celtic fans send them on their way quite quickly mind

 

As I follow Dortmund along with Celtic, I know many Dortmund supporters who love to see Celtic do well.

 

and I see an ajax supporter hiding in there with the idiotic blue side.

well done PSV!:icon_mrgreen:

 

Don't forget to include Lorient in there as well in terms of Breton teams. Certainly any time I have seen Rennes, Brest and Lorient play this season there has always been plenty of Breton flags and benners with something Celtic written on them. Some Irish flags at Lorient games as well.

 

On what basis?

 

Not saying there are any link ups with Celtic and Roma but I noticed again this weekend while watching the Roma Fiorentina game that there was a big Irish flag in among the end with the hardcore Roma support. I have notcied this a few times over the last year or so watching Roma games.

Also and probably related to the close links and support with the Basque country there are always a few Irish flgas at Osasuna games with one always right behind one of the goals.

 

As for the liverpool/everton connection someone mentioned, i think everton fans would be more friendly towards us. many many years ago Catholics in liverpool supported everton and protestants supported liverpool. at that time Liverpool was a major destination of emigrants from Ireland. And it stands to reason that there would have been a liking from the Irish Catholic Everton fans for Celtic and that would have been passed down through families. Its all kind of integrated now though. Liverpool fc only got lots of Irish fans when they had a good few Irish players in the 70's etc. Also, i think i remember when Everton played those cheating * Rapid Vienna in that European final, they had a banner saying, Celtic should be here.

 

There is no Catholic affiliation to either team. Only here do we do such a perverse thing.

 

Everton have a chapel inside their stadium....or at least they did.

And......how is it perverse? That's like saying many moons ago Catholics tended to support Celtic, whereas Protestants generally supported Rangers.

 

DC United and Celtic wouldnt go together at all.

Most of DC United's fans are hispanic immigrants. I have nothing against them but I doubt they'd dig the whole Irish/Rebel thing at all. Most of them support either Barca or Real Madrid as a second team. I live in D.C.

It makes sense that we are such buddies with St Pauli and Borussia Dortmund. I don't know what it is or why but loads of Germans are obsessed with Ireland.

 

I'm sure there was a thread on this forum in which somebody provided evidence that both clubs started as protestant boys clubs or something like that.

And I say it's perverse in that there are a section of people in Glasgow who still think that it's relevant and even the fact that we are talking about basing "friends and foes" from it seems ridiculous.

 

Post by Millerntor a page back is spot on..
We're a big club and people will form personal friends from other clubs.
That's only natural and common throughout Europe.

Group at Roma called 'Irish Clan'.
There based at the front of Curva Sud, and have a few links with some Shamrock Rovers.Heard rumours they had dodgy politics, but like most Italian curvas its very important not to generalise.

Several 'Irish Clan' style groups in Italy. There's an Irish clan at Fiorentina, and was even one at Hellas Verona. Recall they even had a group called 'Provos', yet it's infamous for being one of the most right wing curvas in Italy.

Alot of it steems from the admiration, if you can call it that, of the percieved Scottish/Irish drinking culture.For example, Napoli had a Tennants Super Dry flag at Liverpool a year or so ago.

Alot of also steems from politics. Both the right and the left, in Italy, support Irish Republicanism for differing reasons etc.

 

Celtic was founded by a Marist brother, hence the 'Catholic affiliation'. How is that perverse? Doesn't mean we're a 'Catholic club'. Far from it.

Rangers had a sectarian signing policy. That's perverse.

 

We're not basing friends and foes on it. It was simply suggested that fans of Everton, a club similar in origins to Celtic (also founded by a Marist brother, if I'm right) with a large Irish Catholic fan base, may have been more inclined to have a thing for Celtic than their rivals across the city who didn't share that connection. Nothing sinister.

 

I assume that you then read my second post so I'll leave this.

When you phrase it as you have it doesn't sound sinister you're right, but do you really think that we should be inclining either way, for religious reasons? I don't really think it should be brought up unless you're talking about the history or origin of a club.

Oh and I believe this is the source that I mentioned earlier:
http://www.toffeeweb.com/fans/beingblue/religion.asp

I think that here the religious rivalry is so ingrained that people sort of automatically assume that this must be the case elsewhere, and opposing clubs must also be of opposing religions. Not to imply that this is always the case or that it is always of a sinister nature.

 

I don't think we should, I'm just stating that this happens. Whether that's right or wrong is another matter. And I agree that it's only relevant in historic terms which is what is what I was describing when I was talking about the connection between the two sets of fans. I certainly wasn't suggesting that Everton fans nowadays might prefer Celtic because 'it is a Catholic club' or vice-versa just that, in the early days, when Celtic and Everton's fanbase was overwhelmingly Irish Catholic (turns out this wasn't the case but it still serves as an example) - who were a minority in both Scotland and England - may have been drawn together, which is the case with most immigrants when they first arrive in their new home. Their religion is actually just a coincidence, it's more down to the background of the fans. I'd never regard Celtic as a Catholic club, even when our support was mostly Irish Catholic, Celtic was a club for everyone. And I didn't for one second think the Merseyside derby had any basis in religious differences.

The 'religious' rivalry in Scotland, if it's the one I think you're referring to, is actually far more rooted in political differences. It's only * idiots, on both sides - one much more than the other in my experience, given their history, or lack thereof - that bring religion into it.

 

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And there is nothing remotely shameful or perverse about it.
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Why do you see the two as mutually exclusive?

The club was certainly founded as the former, but has never been religiously exclusivist so it is no contradiction to say that it has always been the latter.