CELTIC TITLE PARTY: IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN ANYWAY, SO WE MAY AS WELL DO IT RIGHT
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
I read today that Glasgow City Council and various other stakeholders have been unable to reach an agreement with Celtic regarding arrangements for a title winning celebration.
This is sad, small-minded, but also, in my view, exactly what I expected.
Like so many of Glasgow’s problems, social, economic, and otherwise, rather than engage proactively, the authorities want to be as obstructionist as possible.
They do this in the hope that, if they throw up enough barriers, eventually anyone proposing anything radical will just give up.
Self-Interest Trumps Common Sense Whenever Celtic Win
The Council and the Police want to preserve their own interests at all costs. That means anything that requires effort or engagement, especially with football fans, is treated with an active contempt.
It’s no coincidence that possibly the worst leader in Celtic’s history, Michael Kelly, was also a former Lord Provost of Glasgow.
He exemplifies this same backward culture. Ignore, obfuscate and, whenever anyone questions you, act with utter contempt and disrespect towards those opposing voices, and above all else, never, ever admit that you’re wrong.
Anyway, I digress.
Back on topic, the reality of this situation is that Celtic fans will congregate somewhere on the day we win the league. In recent times it has been Glasgow Cross and the Trongate. Celtic Supporters’ groups have also floated the idea of Glasgow Green as a venue.
The council have rejected this, but given no justifiable reason as to why.
As a club, Celtic have tried their best to be proactive about this, but as the recent behavior of Police Scotland towards Celtic supporters proves, trying to get anything accomplished that will benefit Celtic fans, when the authorities have a say, is like talking to the proverbial brick wall.
So, maybe the best solution is for Celtic to just do it ourselves. Have a carnival on the Celtic Way, police it with the club’s own stewards and security staff. Provide adequate waste disposal facilities and keep the police fully informed of what the plan is.
Notice I said inform the police. Don’t ask, inform.
Police Scotland’s recent actions suggest that they consider themselves above the law.
They aren’t.
People have the right of public assembly.
At least, that’s the excuse I hear from the police every year when someone asks them why Orange Walks are still a thing in 21st Century Scotland.
When Celtic win the league, a celebration is going to happen one way or another, the police can either cooperate, or they can spend the next few weeks playing cat and mouse trying to guess where the party will be and when.
The Celtic fans do not need the Police or Glasgow City Council’s permission to gather in a public place.
The authorities need to grow up, put away the petted lip and accept that, as much as they wish it wasn’t the case, Celtic will win the league in the next few weeks.
A party will be held, and it is in everyone’s interest to make sure it is as well-organized as possible.