Knock it on the head

 

Knock it on the head

Folk have called Jim Spence many things over the years but no one can claim he doesn’t call it as he sees it. His troubles with elements of the Rangers support, after the old club’s demise in 2012, stemmed from his refusal to join the historical revisionism which some journalists cravenly fostered to deny the verifiable fact that the Ibrox club went bust and started again as a new club. Only he will know the full extent of the harassment and hassle his ethical standards caused him both personally and professionally. He told me once that he offered to ‘take the jaiket off’ in the street to one particularly nasty critic from the blue side.

Like him or not, Jim knows the hypocrisy involved in criticising the bile which some Rangers supporters indulge in and remaining silent when some followers of Celtic indulge in similar antics. He said on Twitter last night in the wake of Celtic’s trip to Tannadice…

‘I heard the old line ‘soon there’ll be no Protestants at all ‘ sung by a small section of Celtic support last night. they need to knock that right on the head. One thing which always marked the club out was its openness to all and a significant number of non-Catholic supporters.’

Most who responded to his tweet were supportive of his call for this regressive and frankly moronic nonsense to be knocked on the head. This sort of trash and that God-awful ‘roamin in the gloamin’ dirge go against every principle Celtic stand for. The great thing about Celtic Football Club was that it opened its arms to all at a time when the club and many who followed it felt the bitter sting of bigotry in their own lives. This is the club of John Thomson, Jock Stein, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock,  Tommy Gemmell, Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain and many more wonderful players who gave their all for that famous shirt despite not coming from what some would call a ‘Celtic background.’ As Willie Maley once said, ‘It’s not the creed or nationality that counts, but the man himself.’

I have attended perhaps more than a thousand Celtic matches in my life and have seen the supporters in all hues of emotion. From the ecstatic highs of victory to the deep lows which occur now and then at every club. I have always found a warmth and a comradeship among Celtic fans. There has been a compassion for those suffering injustice or poverty from Parkhead to Palestine, and that compassion has always led to action to help out where they can. The charitable roots of the club continue to flourish in the work of the Foundation Celtic and in the many kindnesses and charitable works, large and small, I see happening every day. The ethos of this club has always been inclusive. It is, undeniably rooted in its Catholic and Irish DNA but has moved way beyond the community which founded it to be a truly global football club.

Celtic attracts supporters from all walks of life and we are proud to see supporters from many parts of the world call Celtic their side. That very diversity is a great strength and makes the Celtic family stronger. As in any family there will be fallings out now and then and occasionally tough truths need to be told. Today is a day for tough truths- Jim Spence is right; this creeping barrage of bullshit needs to stop. Celtic has supporters from all faith and none and it is simply not on that any Celtic fan is made to feel uncomfortable by the actions of a misguided few. If we shake our heads at the ‘famine song’ mentality of rival fans, how can we look the other way when some of our own indulge in the sort of crass nonsense, without being utter hypocrites?

It's not banter, it’s not lads having a laugh- it’s offensive and it drags Celtic’s name into the gutter. I know a lot of Celtic fans who hate these songs and the add-ons wedged into decent Celtic songs, but usually hold their peace as the flack they get on social media for mentioning it isn’t worth it. I know by writing these words that I’ll be asked by a few predictable folk ‘how was the soup?’ or told it’s ‘Birthday-card pish’ to think we can rise above this drivel. But as Jock Stein said when asked how some of his more ‘staunch’ friends took the news of him joining Celtic… ‘I lost a lot of friends when I made the move to Celtic but if that’s what was important to them then they weren’t really friends at all.’

Celtic Football Club is too important to too many people to accept going down this road. There are scores of great Celtic songs we can be singing. I don’t include Republican songs in the pantheon of pish I wish to see consigned to the dustbin of history as no matter how inappropriate it may be to be singing them at football, I don't accept then as 'sectarian'. I do draw the line at nakedly sectarian lyrics such as those  Jim Spence alluded to. This nonsense does indeed need to be knocked on the head and soon, otherwise we run the risk of becoming that which we claim to despise.