On the 21st May 2017, Celtic were completing a domestic league season unbeaten with a 2-0 victory over Hearts. Before the game, an impressive crowd-funded display organised by the Green Brigade was shown to the worldwide TV audience. It was a fitting tribute.
On the 67th minute, the Green Brigade paid homage to the most famous Celtic team ever. Its idea came from the song that the support had been singing on the 67th minute of every game that season. As 'In The Heat of Lisbon' started, the rail seating section was covered in green and white strips of polythene, dozens of flares were lit and held aloft causing smoke to sweep across the stands and pitch.
This caused more publicity than the original display and was shared far and wide on the social media channels that promote ultra culture. It was also lauded by the Celtic support.
Ultras are still relatively new to Scotland. The scene is a couple of decades old and the authorities are struggling to understand the appeal to young fans. The Scottish way, since 1980, is to confuse fan culture with criminality. Assaulting players, throwing coins, lighters, pyrotechnics or bottles is not a reflection of fan culture but only a reflection of the person committing these acts.
Authorities have always been wary of groups of people congregating, being organised, and thinking for themselves. Celtic fans went from Brake Clubs to Celtic Supporters Clubs and had a history of being organised before Yugoslavs returned home from the 1950 World Cup impressed by the Brazilian Torcida. The Hajduk Split fans were inspired to form the Torcida Split fans' group after that trip.
Italy is seen as the home of the ultra and the first modern ultra group was formed by AC Milan fans. The Fossa Dei Leoni was formed in 1968 by students who wanted the Curva Sud to represent the working class culture of Milan. Inter Milan fans were also encouraged by legendary Argentinian Helenio Herrera to copy the relentless support of his homeland Barras Bravas.
It’s no surprise that Celtic has seen ultra culture as a perfect extension of our fanaticism. We have always been an inclusive support that proudly reflects our history, community and culture. The rebel spirit and anti-establishment stance that all ultra groups have is born into us and our founding story of charity has always being part of our make-up. This has attracted fans from Europe to make the pilgrimage to Celtic Park and base themselves in the East End for a few days. Like-minded fans from Dortmund, St Pauli, Livorno and Feyenoord have been regular visitors to Celtic Park over the years and their influence has been felt.
Fans of a certain vintage were first introduced to Italy’s ultras by Channel 4 on a Sunday afternoon. It was like a portal into another world of smoke, water cannons and colour. With the world getting smaller and footage of ultras easy to get hold of, coupled with stadiums getting more sterile, where we are now is a natural progression and the backward thinking of authorities shouldn’t be a surprise.
The Offensive Behaviour Act (OBA) failed due to this backwards mentality and the knee-jerk nature of its implementation. It was brought down by the power of the collective, by those that matter; the fans who go to the games. A defeat to the establishment on this scale was always going to have repercussions for us all and strict liability is their new toy to ensure we all get back in line as they paint all football fans as a sinister threat to society. The only thing sinister here is the political juggernaut, hell bent on implementing legislation into football by forced injection while ignoring the justice system already in place and their media kowtowers who shrill like dog whistles.
The OBA encouraged certain behaviours and if you encourage certain behaviours then you shouldn’t be surprised if those behaviours happen. What we are seeing now is a direct consequence of this failed legislation which focused on watching football as a criminal activity, not a pastime. The legislation may have been revoked, but fans are still treated like criminals when travelling to and attending games. This is despite statistics proving that football is relatively trouble-free and there are more arrests at most big music events in Scotland. This stat shows that it’s a societal problem where exuberance, alcohol and large crowds can lead to reckless and sometimes criminal behaviour.
Fans Supporters Europe, an Independent fans body, with members from over forty countries, has been vocal that strict liability doesn’t work as punishment for the behaviour of football fans. UEFA have had strict liability in place for years and still clubs are blanket fined for the indiscretions of the few. It’s a system where a banner against UEFA can get you a bigger fine than racist chanting.
Other countries challenge anti-social behaviour in the stands in other ways. These countries, as with ours, haven’t got much to offer as the product is poor compared to the top five leagues in the world, but they realise the importance of having a spectacle of passion and colour. We are often the focal point and the attraction. Celtic Park has often been heralded on European nights because of what happens off the pitch. When Celtic faced Valencia back in the 2019 Europa League, UEFA President, Aleksander Cerferin, travelled to Glasgow as he wanted to be part of the Celtic Park experience.
The Swedish Professional Football League and Swedish Supporters Football Union implemented a five-year plan to have the “best supporter cooperation in Europe” with the main objectives being to see attendances rise and behaviour improve. Scandinavian neighbours, Norway, also have an open dialogue policy. This has seen attendances and interest in the league increase and the legalisation of planned pyrotechnics displays before and after games. The authorities put the ultras through Health & Safety courses and embraced the use of smokeless flares. In 2023, the French Government approved a three-year trial of pyrotechnics in sports stadiums. This shows that, if you have progressive authorities and dialogue with ultra groups, positive outcomes can be achieved to benefit the game.
The first Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) was appointed in Germany in 1991. They have been commonplace in Europe since then and the Swedes and Norwegians agree that a big part of their success has been due to these roles. The SLO is there to be the link between the club and support. They are not there to support one side or the other but to communicate both parties’ wishes and find solutions.
The SLO isn’t a firefighter or a buffer for the club’s hierarchy to hide behind. They are an integral part in the biggest relationship that a club has and if clubs get it wrong and don’t use the role correctly it will erode trust. Celtic led the way in their appointment of John Paul Taylor a few years back. The club has been heavily involved with workshops with European SLOs and, for me, this is an acknowledgment that we are closer to our small European neighbours than to those south of the border. Like the Allsvenskan and Eliteserien, all we have to offer is the fan experience.
The introduction of a more European-style of support isn’t going away and it is going to grow with channels like Copa 90 showing spectacular displays and corteos, which the Celtic support have readily and rightfully adopted. The ethos of ultra culture reflects Celtic supporters' culture from the Brake Clubs until today.
One thing that has been really clear is that no-one in power wants to be adult about how we treat football fans. We can’t make money from fan culture on one hand while trying to criminalise it on the other. It feels like Thatcher’s view of us is pinned up in the corridors of Holyrood and happily wheeled out when it suits, or when the police have a funding issue. There are a myriad of organisations that all have a stakeholder interest in football. The biggest stakeholders in football are you and me. It’s time for adult discussions where we will say things that will upset those in power, but saying them will take us down roads that were once unpassable and it will all be for the good of the game.
Kevin Graham