Bhoycott !!! The other club's supporter's have been boycotting Celtic Park for years.

[Joe O'Rourke]

It is interesting to see the reaction to talk of a selective bhoycott of away matches by Celtic supporters next season. As far as I can see there has been a boycott of Celtic Park by the majority of Scottish football supporters for years now.
Outside of Rangers the biggest travelling support to Celtic Park is probably Aberdeen, the rest you can talk about in hundreds, not thousands, I believe this season Dunfermline brought 79 supporter's to Celtic Park.
So we as Celtic supporters are asked to financially support teams who can't support themselves, at Tannadice on Sunday we had more supporters present than the home team, and that is the case at most grounds we visit in Scotland.
So while we continue to contribute over 30% of the income into Scottish football, the team on the other side of the city continues to dominate the Scottish football scene.
We are canvassing our branches just now to gauge their support for a selective bhoycott next season, the reaction up until now has been mostly in support of that option, but we have not contacted every branch as yet.
We will continue to monitor events in the meantime, and will liaise with the other supporters groups as well, it will be important to have unified response for any action deemed appropriate.
It's worth noting the actions of some of the officials supposedly involved in decision making, it appears that while they are happy to accept all the perks of office, some are not prepared to do their duty.
In the case of SFL President and SFA Board member Jim Ballantyne, who is chairman of Airdrie United, he has nailed his colours firmly to the mast by appearing in the directors box at a friendly match in Belfast arranged to raise funds for Rangers, apparently wearing a “Rangers Fighting Fund” badge.
Now let me say straight away Jim Ballantyne has every right to support who he likes, that's his privilege. But in his position with both the SFL and the SFA that would seem to compromise his impartiality to make decisions, I await his and their comments.
As for Neil Doncaster, I have said in the past that I thought he would be a good man for the job, I’m beginning to wonder now if that is the case, he seems to be getting the run-around from Duff & Phelps, and he also seems to be unsure of the actual rules governing Scottish Football.
Scottish Football is crying out for leadership, but no-one seems to want to take on the role. I think it might be the time for the supporters of Scottish football to make their opinions known, and demand that they are taken into consideration when decisions are made.

[Derrysean]

Jim ballantyne (airdrie chairman) in directors boox in belfast last night for rangers v linfield wearing a rangers fighting fund badge. he is the president of SFL and serves on board of SFA whom will try and save his beloved club but was in the same position when livingstone entered administration and liquidation and demanded they get dropped into division 3, which did happen.

it is absolutely shockin what you have to fight against to get a fair shout in this league.

[Guest]

i think we should boycot the away games as the spl is going to allow rangers to stay in the top leauge

[pensionerbhoy]

Great article, Joe. Although I spent most of my youth and adult life following Celtic everywhere and anywhere, I now live in England and in my declining years, I am only able to attend on more and more rare occasions. I know in my situation it is easy to call for a boycott. That said, I am unable to see any viable alternative way to express our objections. I was told by an old boss one time that the only penalty a man really understands is a hit on his pocket. It seems to me that boycotting is our most powerful weapon in really penalising those clubs that act without scruple for the sake of temporary selfish gain. That gain will soon fade into the mists of time as they realise how much more significant their Celtic income is. For the sake of other good supporters, I hope it does not come to pass but if it has to be then I am afraid it is the integrity of their own administrators and not Celtic fans that will have caused them pain. It is their club officials that they must ask to justify their decisions and to explain their actions. It is at their door alone that the blame can be laid.

H H

[martiBhoy111]

[COLOR=#020727:b5d35ebf]Jim Ballantyne said of Livingston's demotion:[/COLOR:b5d35ebf]

[I:b5d35ebf]"If you ask me if I feel guilty about what has happened to Livingston then the answer is no.

"They have not played within the rules and that is unfair on all the other clubs who have not overspent and have lived within their means.

"I am very happy with the decision of the SFL to uphold the integrity of the league."


Jim Ballantyne on Rangers

[/I:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“I have said on a number of occasions in these articles that I seriously feared for a number of profile clubs,” he wrote. “But I have to be honest and say that Rangers were not part of my thinking.[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“It just goes to show that you never know what is [URL="http://www.acadvertiser.co.uk/coatbridge-airdrie-sport/lanarkshire-football/airdrie-utd-fc/#"]round[/URL:b5d35ebf] the corner.[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“There has been widespread gloating from many non-Rangers fans but I have a simple message for them all – be careful what you wish for.[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“There is little enough money coming into Scottish Football at any level but you can start stroking the nothings off if there were to be no Rangers.[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“There may be some short-term benefits for a couple of clubs but, in the long-term, who will even be remotely interested in a league where Celtic win the [URL="http://www.acadvertiser.co.uk/coatbridge-airdrie-sport/lanarkshire-football/airdrie-utd-fc/#"]title[/URL:b5d35ebf] by 40 points?[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“Who will even be remotely interested in a league where the chances of smaller clubs getting a draw against the Old Firm is halved overnight...where clubs only get two Old Firm visits instead of four.[/COLOR:b5d35ebf][COLOR=#000000:b5d35ebf]“As for TV? Nope, not a chance in hell!”


What happened to sporting integrity ya baldy fud?[/COLOR:b5d35ebf]

[Guest]

79 fans... What are they playing in? A pub league?