The GB Are No Happy

A real shame.

It is premature to guess what they are seeking legal advice about. The club have been hell bent on destroying the GB and it seems they were given enough rope.

Very poorly handled by all concerned by the looks of it. Celtic Park will be a poorer place because of it.

 

And the police don't have a clue of how the law of the land should be applied.

Like I say, nobody has handled this well.

The club responds:

Celtic Football Club statement
By: Newsroom Staff on 05 Aug, 2013 18:11
AS highlighted recently, the safety of all spectators is of paramount importance to Celtic Football Club. Given recent events, we have been left with no option but to take steps to ensure the safety of our supporters. We trust that supporters will recognise that the Club has been placed in an impossible position.

It is therefore with extreme regret that for safety reasons, the Club has taken the decision to relocate supporters currently sitting within Area 111 of the Stadium, where there have been continued examples of unsafe behaviour. Supporters who do not wish to be relocated may choose to receive a pro rata refund and return their season ticket.

Stadium safety is covered by a Stadium General Safety Certificate, which is issued annually by Glasgow City Council in terms of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Without our Safety Certificate, we could not open and operate the Stadium.

In order to protect our Safety Certificate, it is essential that we comply with all of our duties in terms of safety for spectators at Celtic Park. Unsafe behaviour at Celtic Park is not acceptable and we have made our position on this clear.

Under advice from the Safety Advisory Group, which includes representatives of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, Police Scotland and the Council, it is open to Glasgow City Council to enforce a reduction in stadium capacity or, ultimately, to close a stadium.

In recent matches against Cliftonville, Borussia Monchengladbach and Ross County there were examples of at least one of the five primary concerns of the Safety Advisory Group taking place.

These include:
- Overcrowding
- Moshing (mock fighting/jostling causing crowd disruption)
- Body Surfing
- Lateral Movement
- Broken Seating

The Safety Advisory Group has made clear that they have serious concerns regarding these issues at Celtic Park. We have made this clear to supporters.

The Club issued a statement on our website on July 25 and, most recently, the Club issued a final warning on July 29 explaining our concerns and making clear that the current situation relative to unsafe behaviour had to stop with immediate effect. Having acknowledged that this was the case for our match against Elfsborg, there were, unfortunately, more examples of unsafe behaviour at our match on Saturday, August 3, 2013 against Ross County.

At the match against Ross County a section of supporters engaged in lateral movement. It may seem to some that lateral movement is not unsafe. As noted above, that view is not shared by the Safety Advisory Group, or the Club. The Stadium is not designed for movement of that sort, leading to an increased risk of falling and injury. The movement led to seats being broken, which also presents a risk of injury. We are sure that supporters will agree that this behaviour is unsafe, particularly where there are young supporters in the area in question.

This is not a decision that has been taken lightly. Supporters in this section provide the team with excellent vocal backing. We have also seen some highly imaginative and original displays which have brought colour and energy to Celtic Park and the Club has on a number of occasions acknowledged the positive contribution the group make on a match day. We must, however, balance this against the need to ensure that we provide a safe environment for all supporters.

Unfortunately, Saturday saw 35 seats damaged within this section, meaning a total of 190 seats have been damaged in this area over the last four matches at Celtic Park.

In addition, the Club also remains under investigation by UEFA following events at the recent match against Cliftonville.

We are sure all our supporters understand that it would be inconceivable and irresponsible for the Club not to deal with this issue with the utmost seriousness. We are sure our supporters will also agree that we have given those fans within this section every opportunity to change behaviour. However, the Club has now been left with no choice. Safety is paramount.

The Club’s sole motivation in this situation is the safety of its supporters - nothing else. The Club and its Directors are ultimately liable for the safety of all supporters within Celtic Park and failure to ensure their safety could have serious repercussions.

Celtic, of course, was instrumental in developing this section with supporters in good faith, ensuring that other supporters were moved from their seats to allow this area could be created. We have welcomed the colour and atmosphere which supporters in this section have brought to Celtic Park. We have no desire to take this action and we have tried to deal with these issues in the proper way through dialogue and mutual respect.

We have always been willing to speak to those supporters in this section. Indeed, we have spoken to representatives today and once again outlined our concerns and the action we must take.

We will be happy to continue this dialogue and if the Club were to receive assurances on safety then we may look at this situation again in the future. However, as it stands the Club categorically but regrettably has no choice but to take this action

 

I don't believe them. Hyperbole isn't the sole preserve of the GB.

I don't think it is that clear cut as that. All sides failed.

 

About the Green Brigade?