Great Victory, but Police Scotland didn't help making it enjoyable.

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Joe O'Rourke
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Great Victory, but Police Scotland didn't help making it enjoyable.

Postby Joe O'Rourke » Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:39 pm

Another hard fought victory up at Dingwall on Saturday afternoon, it was different being up there for a 3 o’clock Saturday kick off, and that also brings its own problems. We always knew that Ross County would make it hard for us, and I don’t blame them for that, it’s down to us to find a way to win, and that’s exactly what Big Ange and the Bhoy’s did. We are going to come against that type of defensive system most games of the season, pace and energy will beat it, and of course good passing and finishing.

A few things need to be said about Saturday, and they will need to be addressed before it gets any worse. Clubs now are reducing the number of tickets being made available to the large travelling Celtic Support. The same clubs are increasing the price of the tickets, so that they are still bringing in the same amount of money. Some clubs are also selling the tickets they would normally allocate though Celtic FC, direct to Celtic supporters at an enhanced price as hospitality.

The lack of tickets made available through the normal channels, also leads to supporters travelling without tickets, and let’s just say, being creative in how they access the stadium. On Saturday there was a larger than normal police presence, which I believe was due to intelligence of some trouble having been planned. The police don’t seem to learn any lessons, they employed the same tactics that they used at Ibrox last season. They used mounted police to create a very narrow gap for supporters to move through as a ticket check point, this caused mayhem, and was extremely dangerous, especially for older and disabled supporters trying to enter the stadium.

Now, I’m pretty sure if John Paul Taylor was involved in any pre-match discussions, he would have pointed out how dangerous that tactic was. I have taken part in many meetings with Police over many years, my impression is, that the less senior the officer is, the less likely they are to listen to you, and I think we know that joining the police is not the career choice of many young Scot’s who support Celtic.

I know that Michael Nicholson is trying hard through diplomacy to try to get the other teams in the SPL to increase the allocation to Celtic, and I include the team from Govan in that. I don’t believe as yet he has had much success. I mean the St Mirren supporters voted to increase their season ticket price, so that their club could only give us one stand in Paisley. The only club in Scotland who can justify the reduction is Hearts, simply because their own supporters buy the extra tickets taken from our allocation.

I think it’s time the clubs in the SPL started acting in a business-like manner. Half empty stadia, with lots of opposing supporters standing outside, who were willing to pay in, doesn’t look like a sound financial choice, when continuing to complain about a lack of resources at those clubs.

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