Why Celtic banned its Ultras after pro-Palestine protest

Celtic FC's Green Brigade is probably the most important British Ultra group. It has been in conflict with the club for years. The dispute has just escalated. It is about more than the fans' pro-Palestinian stance.

Blocks 110 and 111 at Celtic Park in Glasgow were sparsely attended when Celtic FC recently played against St. Mirren FC in the Scottish Premiership. Yet this section is normally the most colorful and loudest in the stadium, the center of a unique atmosphere in European soccer - there is hardly any other venue where people shout louder and sing more beautifully than at Celtic Park. But the club has lost patience with those fans who have their home in blocks 110 and 111. They are special fans, namely Ultras. They call themselves the Green Brigade.

Unlike in many countries on the continent, and unlike in Germany, the Ultra movement has not caught on in the UK. In the English Premier League, there is basically only one significant Ultra group, namely Crystal Palace. In Scotland, the phenomenon is more widespread, but still a marginal phenomenon. The ultras at Glasgow clubs Rangers and Celtic are the most conspicuous. The Green Brigade, founded in 2006, is probably the largest Ultra group in British soccer with a reported 1000 members, but is certainly the most controversial.

For years, the club has been involved in a conflict with its hardcore fans, which has just escalated and led to Celtic withdrawing the season tickets of around 300 members of the organization. In other words, they have practically been banned from the stadium. The most obvious reason for this is the fact that large numbers of Palestinian flags have recently been seen in the Green Brigade blocks. Celtic's fans see themselves as left-wing alternatives and have been campaigning for what they call the Palestinian struggle for freedom for years, as have large sections of the British left.

Mesut Özil praises the fans of Celtic

This often crosses the line into hatred of Israel, anti-Semitism and the glorification of Hamas terror. Celtic FC already had a dispute with its Ultras in 2016 because they had draped their blocks with Palestinian flags at a match against the Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

At the match against Kilmarnock FC on October 7 of this year, just a few hours after the Hamas massacre in Israel, the Green Brigade put up a banner with the inscription: "Victory To The Resistance!" - Victory to the resistance.

At the following home game in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid, the Ultras defied the club's explicit request to do without Palestine flags - but they were not the only ones. People also waved Palestinian flags in other corners of the stadium, much to the delight of German world champion Mesut Özil, who praised Celtic's fans for doing so on social media.

Celtic's solidarity with Palestine is not just an ultra phenomenon, but can also be explained by the club's history. The club was founded in 1888 by Irish emigrants to raise money for the impoverished Irish population in the East End of Glasgow. To this day, the club maintains a distinct Irish identity, in contrast to city rivals Rangers, who see themselves as explicitly British. In the past, Celtic's fans have also provoked with IRA folklore or insults to the British royal family. The Irish identity also helps in understanding the pro-Palestinian position of many fans. Irish and Palestinians see themselves as a kind of community of destiny, united in the supposed fight against occupation and expulsion.

Celtic FC has just pointed out to its fans that it is a soccer club and not a political organization, but this statement has been rejected as hypocritical. To this day, Celtic markets itself as a club with a difference, a home for outsiders and non-conformists, a kind of Scottish FC St. Pauli. It is no coincidence that the two clubs and their fans have been close for decades. However, this good relationship is currently being severely tested. St. Pauli fans raised a banner against anti-Semitism - also in Glasgow - and called for Palestine to be liberated from Hamas. A group of alleged Celtic supporters responded: "Fuck St. Pauli - Free Hamburg From Hipsters".

The Green Brigade see their ban from the stadium as the result of a campaign by the media, associations and their club. The Ultras accuse Celtic of withdrawing their season tickets solely because of their solidarity with Palestine, but the club cites other offenses as the reason for their exclusion. These are offenses that repeatedly lead to trouble between clubs and hardcore audiences in Germany: the use of pyrotechnics, allegedly security-threatening behavior and aggressive behavior towards stewards. Because Celtic only nebulously name the relativization of Hamas terror and provide a number of other explanations for the exclusion of the Ultras, it seems as if the club sees the current activities of the Green Brigade as just another episode in years of rebellion - but just one episode too many.

It is difficult to make a serious assessment of which side the general public of Celtic fans are on in this dispute. However, there is a tendency to support the Ultras. The Celtic Trust, an overarching fan organization, is calling on the club to allow the Green Brigade back into the stadium. Other groups have recently shown solidarity with them, for example by leaving the stadium during the match. Even if many seats in blocks 110 and 111 remain empty in future, Celtic FC's trouble with its Ultras is far from over.

Despite the ban, the Green Brigade continues to express their solidarity with Palestine at Celtic Park. Recently, they displayed a banner reading, "Solidarity with Palestine," during a match.

Scotland's soccer scene has a significant Ultra presence, with Celtic's Green Brigade being one of the most prominent groups. Their loyalty to Palestine, often expressed through the display of flags, is a long-standing tradition for this Ultra group.

Source: www.ntv.de