Celtic slap three match ban on Green Brigade after Falkirk match incident | OneFootball

Celtic this evening announced a three-match ban for the Green Brigade, starting on Sunday’s match at Celtic Park against Kilmarnock in what is a must-win match for the club. The club allege that the during an incident at the recent match against Falkirk a member of the club’s Matchday staff was assaulted.

The Green Brigade, Photo The Celtic Wiki

The club then states that two police officers intervened and attempted to arrest the individual but around a hundred members of the Green Brigade took part in a ‘rescue’ operation and they claim resulted in the group verbally abused and assaulted the steward and police officers. The statement can be read below in full and is also published on the official Celtic FC website under the heading ‘Supporters Update’. The official site also has a video showing the Green Brigade members going down the tunnel but there is no footage from inside the concourse.

The club noted that the Green Brigade were currently serving a suspended sanction imposed in July and one that would come into force following any further incident. This clearly falls into that category in the club’s view so accordingly the club has issued a three match ban on home games and also on away games while this sanction is in operation.

Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer of Celtic, looks on from the stands ahead of the Premiership match between Celtic and St. Johnstone at Celtic Park on December 29, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

None of this is good news for Celtic’s season and the outcome we all seek to achieve. In their absence, just as happened last weekend at Hampden in the semi-final win against theRangers, the wider Celtic support must step up and provide the backing Martin O’Neill and the team will need on Sunday and in the following two matches at Celtic Park and also in the away games during this time.

Here is the Celtic statement..

Supporters Update

Celtic Football Club wishes to provide the following update to our supporters following a recent incident at Celtic Park.

During our match against Falkirk on Wednesday, 29 October, a member of our Matchday staff while conducting a routine ticket check at the front of the Rail Seating Section at Celtic Park was assaulted by an individual. Two police officers intervened and attempted to arrest the individual in question.

Subsequently, around 100 individuals from the Green Brigade group took part in a coordinated and orchestrated action to ‘rescue’ that individual. Many of these individuals actively sought to conceal their identity using hoods, scarves and face coverings.

This large group verbally abused and assaulted the steward and police officers, one male and one female, in a confined space and at one point there was a risk of one of the officers being pulled to the ground and trampled in amongst the larger group. The action taken by members of the Green Brigade group prevented the arrest of the individual in question.

Clearly, such violent and threatening behaviour is completely unacceptable.

In July of this year, as a result of warnings for repeated serious safety and security-related breaches of the Club’s policies and protocols, the Club determined that a suspended sanction would be applied to the Green Brigade group.

The group were notified that any future serious safety and security-related breaches of the Club’s policies and protocols by the group would result in the group’s members being suspended from attending three home matches and access to away matches would also be suspended for the relevant period.

The Club decided to issue a suspended sanction in July to give the group an opportunity to demonstrate their willingness to cooperate with the Club to ensure the Rail Seating Section is safe, well-managed and can be enjoyed by all fans.

Following this latest incident, the Club can confirm that this sanction will now be applied, beginning from this weekend. The Club has written to the Green Brigade group and also to our season ticket holders regarding this incident.

For our staff and police to be assaulted in this way is simply unacceptable. This was a serious and violent incident which cannot be accepted and the Club has no choice but to address this behaviour in the strongest terms.

Celtic Park cannot be a place for this kind of behaviour and the Club must act in the wider interests and safety of everyone who attends our matches.

The video mentioned above is well worth watching to gain some further clarity, and this can be viewed HERE.

The more this season goes on the more it’s starting to resemble that dreadful covid season where, like now it was one thing after another and it all ended up with the title lost.