Why I Find the Celtic Shirt Offensive

Well, okay, offensive may be a bit too strong. Objectionable is probably a better description. I at least find it distasteful. To clear up any confusion, let me first say that I am a Dublin Catholic and a pacifist (not passive) republican. Hundreds, if not thousands of Irish are Celtic fans. Every weekend, as many Irish travel to Parkhead as those that head to Old Trafford or Anfield or, more recently, Stamford bridge. Setanta Sports carry almost exclusively Celtic games in the Scottish Premier League every season. On the face of it, everything seems pretty normal. What, I hear you ask, is my problem with Celtic?

My answer is really very simple. To my mind, Celtic are only so popular in Ireland because of Rangers. Given the situation on this island over the last 800 years or so, but especially in the last century in the North, it is easy to hate all things English and all things Protestant. We all know that Rangers can seem like the embodiment of the sectarianism that has pervaded Northern Ireland. And it’s easy to see why. They didn’t sign a Catholic until 1989, then Rangers’ keeper Andy Goram being photographed with a UVF flag and the various Loyalist banners that appear at Ibrox every week as well as the infamous orange shirt of a few years ago.

Celtic are only so popular in Ireland because Rangers are so hated. It’s easy to say that Celtic have their roots in Ireland and that’s why they’re so popular but if that’s the case why aren’t Hibernian who, as the name suggests, share similar roots, as popular. Why aren’t their hundreds of people travelling over to Easter Road every weekend? Could it possibly be the fact that Hearts are not as obviously sectarian as Rangers perhaps? To take it a step further, why aren’t people heading out to Greece to see Panathanaikos at the weekend. If nothing else, they would get a lot better weather there than they would in Glasgow in November. The fact that they both dominate a mediocre league on the fringes of Europe only adds to this rivalry.

The famous green and white hoops are worn by many in Ireland not as a tribute to their team, but as much as a badge of republicanism every bit as much as the Rangers shirt is a badge of unionism. Both are equally offensive. Why is it acceptable to wear a Celtic Shirt to a GAA match instead of your county colours but not a Liverpool shirt? Similarly, why is it acceptable to wear the hoops to an Ireland game instead of the national colours? I mean, if people can afford to fork out €60 for a new Celtic kit (or any other club for that matter) every other year, then surely they can spare a few quid for an Ireland jersey which they will not need to change all the time.

To watch an Old Firm derby is to watch a 90-minute exhibition of hate. The vitriol poured from every terrace at opposing players is disgusting. Dado Prso may deserve abuse for leaving a Champions league finalist (Monaco) to join a gang of second rate Spaniards, French and English near the Arctic Circle but not because he is playing for a Protestant team. The games themselves are low in quality and passion can only make up so much for a lack of skill. As well as this, what is the attraction of following a league where there are four important matches a year, maybe eight if you include Hearts this season?

The problem of Celtic jerseys and Celtic fans is also seen at Lansdowne Road when a Rangers player is on the visiting team. Peter Lovenkrands got the bird off the crowd every time he touched the ball while playing for Holland but Jaap Stam, he of Manchester United fame, did not get any abuse off the Liverpool fans in the crowd. And then there was the scandalous scene a few years ago when St. Patrick’s Athletic played Celtic in a Champions League qualifier. Some Irish Celtic supporters (who see themselves as Patriots by the way) saw fit to boo the Pats players. Now I’m a Liverpool fan who supports Bohemians in the League of Ireland and I can tell you right now that if Shamrock Rovers or Shelbourne played the ‘pool I’d be screaming for the Irish team. Why abuse your countrymen because they’re playing a team from a foreign land that you happen to support because you can’t be bothered following a local team?

The Celtic obsession this country has is not, despite what some tabloid papers has us think, a healthy one. It only breeds the sectarianism which has been so damaging to this island for generations. If you follow Celtic because they’re your team, like Liverpool are mine, then that’s absolutely fine; just don’t use them as a prop to demonstrate your brand of “patriotism” to the general public. pf