Green Brigade banned from away games as Celtic take action over fan behaviour
Celtic have suspended the Green Brigade’s access to away tickets. The group of fans, whose members are close to 200, will be locked out of away trips beginning this Sunday, when Celtic take on Hearts in Edinburgh.
A Celtic spokesperson has said: “As the group in question has been informed in writing, this decision to suspend access to away tickets related to very clear and extremely serious unsafe and unacceptable behaviour at recent away matches, including those against Feyenoord and Motherwell.”
UEFA fined Celtic £23,000 for use of pyrotechnics during Celtic’s Champions League group stage game against Dutch side Feyenoord. This may have been what sparked the investigation, however it is rumoured that the Celtic board have had concerns over the Green Brigade’s behaviour for months.
It is also claimed that members of the Green Brigade rushed turnstiles and forced open fire exits to allow fans into Fir Park who didn’t have tickets for the Motherwell game. Footage was posted of Police Scotland holding a fire exit shut back when this incident occurred. Only now has context been provided, as Police Scotland did not comment when asked.
The club has claimed that this ban is not in response to the Green Brigade’s stance on Israel and Palestine, but they did release a statement regarding the situation. It read: “Banners displayed in a section of Celtic Park prior to Saturday’s game [vs Kilmarnock] do not represent the views of Celtic Football Club and we disassociate ourselves from them. We condemn the display of such messages at Celtic Park.”
The Green Brigade are still allowed to attend home games but this begs the question, is there more punishment to come?
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