g spiers article on charlie.

[BlueMazza 0]

Wow. Couldn't write an article about the GB without mentioning us Spiers?

 

One minute it is 'politics out of football, next minute it's 'what's the big deal about breaking a minutes silence or badly spelled banners about bloodstained poppies?'

 

Utter wanker.

[der Berliner 3,263]

Britney back to his best ... (snatched from FF)

 

Spiers on Sport: what to do with the Green Brigade?

 

Graham Spiers (the discredited journalist) (the discredited journalist) - Tuesday 19 February 2013

 

It is amazing how the Green Brigade, that noisy and sometimes militant band of Celtic supporters, can split opinion - even within the walls of Celtic Park itself.

 

Speak to some people and theyâ??ll tell you they like this boisterous mob with their booming, reverberating chants at Celtic Park.

 

Speak to others, and youâ??ll find contempt for the Green Brigade, a so-called pro-IRA bunch with nothing but hatred for Britain born of a tortured Anglo-Irish history.

 

The divided jury on the Green Brigade is perfectly summed up by Neil Lennon himself. Over the past two years the Celtic manager has been gushing in his praise of these Celtic supporters, while also casting criticism in their direction.

 

Lennon, to the Green Brigadeâ??s disgust, took some Celtic supporters to task in May 2011 for a sudden upsurge in pro-IRA singing, though he didnâ??t specifically mention the content of the chants.

 

This is all germane once more given that, last Saturday, the Green Brigade boycotted Celticâ??s match against Dundee United at Parkhead, citing â??police harassmentâ? of their members, as well as an alleged lack of support for them from within their own club.

 

In a statement the Green Brigade criticised Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell and Lennon for failing to aid them in their grievances.

 

In fact, the central thrust of the current controversy from Celticâ??s point of view â?? an issue of safe standing and â??lateral movementâ? inside Celtic Parkâ?? is duly ignored by everyone.

 

The fact is, whenever the Green Brigade are debated, the squabbling quickly alights on whether political chanting of any kind should be allowed inside a football ground.

 

Personally, I deplore songs about the IRA. Some Celtic fans sing pro-IRA songs, while some Rangers fans also refer to the IRA in chants. Iâ??d happily bin the entire repertoire. It is embarrassing to hear this cack inside Scottish football stadiums.

 

In the case of the Green Brigade, the issue is complicatedly bound up in their view of Celticâ??s Irish heritage. For some of their members - though not all - Celtic FC is a symbol of the historic struggle of the Irish.

 

You may well ask: what has this got to do with football? The answer, I would say, is nothing. Yet football supporters all over Europe - not least those of Rangers and Celtic - have cited political or religious antecedents as grounds for their chanting at football games.

 

At Celtic Park, in my experience, some reports of the Green Brigadeâ??s â??persistent pro-IRA chantingâ? are grossly exaggerated. For example, on two recent visits to Celticâ??s ground Iâ??ve heard not a whit in this direction.

 

Not so when Celtic travel on the road. On these occasions such slogans can often be heard. For some reason Tynecastle in Edinburgh is a tipping point for this type of Celtic fansâ?? chanting.

 

It has been a rule of thumb for years that â??being on the roadâ? brings out the zealots in the Celtic and Rangers supports. Rangers have seen vast improvements in terms of eradicating bigoted singing at Ibrox, but can still be embarrassed by fansâ?? chanting away from home.

 

Celtic FC have an obvious problem with the Green Brigade. It is this: the club wants to preserve its celebration of its Irish roots; Celtic also loves the Green Brigade for their impressive acoustics at Celtic Park. But the club also feels insecure and wrong-footed in that hazy area where Irish eulogy ends and anti-British sentiment begins.

 

On some occasions the Green Brigade were the unjust whipping boys for Celtic, such as during their anti-Poppy protest in November 2010.

 

I write this as a proud Poppy-wearer and someone who has a deep respect for its symbolism. But I ask you: what is the terrible crime in fans of Celtic or anyone else protesting against the Poppy?

 

These days there is an anti-Poppy sentiment right across British society. I profoundly disagree with it, but are we to ban it and lock â??em all up?

 

Celticâ??s response to the Green Brigade protest that day was absurd - the club reacted like the fans had been screaming poison and threatened to track down the villains and confiscate their season-tickets.

 

Having stated that I detest IRA chants, I also know that such slogans are a complication, in Glasgow as elsewhere.

 

If Uefa, in strict terms, wanted to outlaw this type of stuff from football, Iâ??m not sure where they would start, let alone finish. Real Madrid and Barcelona, with their fansâ?? competing political and â??separatistâ? agendas, could be a start.

 

Then Uefa could head to Italy via Glasgow, and then take in that hotbed that is the former Balkans while trying to strip away all this baggage.

 

The Green Brigade precisely represents footballâ??s problem, where â??the cultureâ? of a club is both encouraged and resisted.

 

Odious Creep indeed.

[GovanAllan 0]

Anyone else noticed, the subtle move for a while of claiming IRA=politics.

 

I've never saw anyone stand for election as The IRA Party, the IRA are a terrorist group of cowardly murdering scum. Only in this country would we have an operating terrorist group held up as a lawful political agenda.

[Juancornetto 1]

They've been trying to justify their abhorrent fanatacism as "political" for years, if indeed it were then shouldn't they be singing "Oooh aaah up Sinn Fein"?

[the gunslinger 3,366]

one of the worst things to happen to Celtc of late is the reemergence of the IRA as an active group of murdering scum.

 

everytime the green brigade praise them Celtc are damaged.

[GovanAllan 0]

one of the worst things to happen to Celtc of late is the reemergence of the IRA as an active group of murdering scum.

 

everytime the green brigade praise them Celtc are damaged.

 

They are only damaged if the compliant media were to highlight it properly, but they don't.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

They are only damaged if the compliant media were to highlight it properly, but they don't.

 

while that would help its still there for all to see. it does damage them imho.

[Gribz 743]

He is Scotlands version of Piers Morgan, he has nothing to say and says it too loudly.

 

The article (even though I stopped after 4 lines) is nothing more than "I will be around when something bad happens". He even had to start of the article with bitterness i.e judging a book by its cover, what journo would do that.

[RANGERRAB 3,268]

Perhaps Speirs is deaf but support for the IRA from the Celtic support is blatantly obvious at every game home & away and we're not talking about a minority here. I often wonder why the police at Celtic's matches take a backseat while the Celtic support show their support for banned Irish terrorist organisations. Laws are being broken and they do nothing.Perhaps they turn a blind eye just like the weak, pathetic polticians we have in this country (especially in the labour & snp which are awash with celtic-minded individuals) and also the infested scottish sports mhedia of which speirs purports to be a part of.

Lie, deflect & deny are their tactics. Always point the finger at your enemies. Blame them & to hide your own indiscretions.How long can this continue before things in this divided, hate-filled little country turn to something much, much worse.