The Celtic Star
·20 November 2025
Green Brigade hits back at Celtic Board’s Collective Punishment
Green Brigade hits back at Celtic Board’s Collective Punishment | OneFootball
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What a mess we are in. Celtic sneaked out another underhand message an hour before the Scotland v Denmark game on Tuesday night and the stand-out point to me was – once again – they are accusing Celtic supporters of criminal activity despite no charges ever having been made by the procurator fiscal who we don’t even know if a report has been submitted to those offices.
The Green Brigade are seen outside the stadium prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Livingston FC at Celtic Park Stadium on December 23, 2023. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
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Everything Celtic says falls on this unsound premise or we accept that Celtic are judge, jury and are able to tarnish reputations of supporters at their own convenience.
When hundreds of Celtic supporters were disgracefully detained by Police Scotland ahead of the one and only Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park this year, Celtic said nothing but commissioned instead a outside organisation to gather the facts and make a report. This eventually happened and still not a single word of support from the board for the fans in question – never mind an offer to return their ticket money for the game they were prevented from attending.
Did the Police overstep the mark and therefore deserved criticism? Okay say nothing until the facts are established. But when they are still say nothing. That is treachery, cowardly behaviour and worthy of scorn from the entire Celtic support especially; when you consider that they have now appointed themselves as judge, jury and prosecution in matters concern the Celtic supporters in the North Curve.
Today’s meeting is directly a result of Celtic’s own statement where they condemned these Celtic supporters – no trial, no right of defence just their finding that there had been an assault. That is NOT their role. Who the hell do they think they are? Remember Michael Nicholson is a lawyer himself and he should understand this perfectly well.
Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Having banned around 100 young supporters from the North Curve, Celtic seem ready to increase this number further if there is not compliance with their initial dictat, taking collective punishment to a whole new level. If they claim 100 supporters were involved but then ban 500 as a result the club is moving into dangerous territory and even Celtic support has questions to ask themselves about sitting on their hands and allowing this to happen.
Collective punishment was used by the Nazis in the Second World War. There’s a village in France that today stands in ruins with no inhabitants. It’s called Oradour-sur-Glane and to the French it is known as The Martyred Village. Here’s its Collective Punishment story.
Oradour-sur-Glane: Martyred Village
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Before the war, Oradour-sur-Glane was a quiet, rural community in central France. In 1944, the village was left in ruins after German Waffen-SS troops massacred 642 men, women, and children before burning the village to the ground.
Today, tourists can visit the old town of Oradour where crumbling walls, cars, and other household items have been left untouched for the last 74 years. The ruins of this village serve as a reminder of Nazi atrocities suffered by not only the French but also other civilian populations who came face-to-face with Nazi oppression.
The group responsible for the heinous crimes committed at Oradour was the Der Führer regiment, a branch of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. Das Reich arrived in France as a reserve unit in January 1944 after spending two years on the Eastern Front, where they engaged in combat and were responsible for putting down Soviet partisan resistance.
Das Reich was under the command of SS-Obergruppenführer (Major General) Heinz Bernhard Lammerding. During his time on the Eastern Front, Lammerding ordered several retaliations against Soviet citizens for real or perceived partisan actions. These retaliations involved the murder of tens of thousands of Soviet civilians along with the torching of numerous villages.
Oradour-sur-Glane: Martyred Village
Following the 6 June Allied invasion in Normandy, Das Reich was assigned a new mission to support German forces fighting in northern France. The Division also received orders to put down any maquis (guerilla bands of French Resistance fighters) while simultaneously intimidating the population and reasserting German control over central and southern France. Once orders were received, the Division began to move north towards Normandy.
On the morning of 10 June, 1944, only four days after D-Day, the citizens of Oradour woke to what they assumed would be another normal day. During the war, Oradour had not seen much action and townspeople saw few Germans passing through the village. Around 2 p.m., under the command of SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) Adolf Diekmann, somewhere between 120 and 200 soldiers of the Panzer regiment Der Führer encircled the town blocking all entrances and exits.
The town crier was sent to relay the message that all citizens, including the sick and elderly, were to report to the town market center. Armored cars gathered citizens who were out working in the fields and within an hour the Germans had rounded up every villager they could find in the market centre. Most citizens were at first unconcerned, believing the Germans had arrived for a routine identification check. It was not long before the citizens realised that nothing about the exercise was routine.
First, SS troops separated the men from the women and children. An officer announced to the men that he knew of hidden weapons and ammunition supplies, and that whoever was hiding them must step forward immediately. This charge was unsubstantiated, as no one in Oradour was known to have taken part in resistance activity.
When nothing came of the demand for arms, the 197 men were divided into groups and forced into six separate barns located throughout the village. When a signal was given, the SS men opened fire with machine guns, murdering the men lined up before them. There were 240 women and 205 children that were forced into the village church.
Once locked inside, the troops first threw in grenades, injuring some while suffocating others with smoke. Panic ensued within, and the SS then set fire to the building while shooting anyone who attempted to escape.
After setting fire to the church, the Germans searched for and killed anyone left hiding in the village and continued on by burning the rest of Oradour to the ground. Only seven people survived the massacre – five men who were protected by fallen bodies, a woman who had escaped through a window of the church, and a child who had managed to escape before the Der Führer regiment began rounding up the townspeople.
It is through the survivors’ testimonies that historians were able to piece together the events that occurred in the town. Madame Marguerite Rouffanche, the sole survivor from the church, spent over a year recovering from her injuries. After jumping from the church window, she was shot five times before crawling into a garden where she hid until she was rescued the following afternoon. Madame Rouffanche gave her testimony at the Bordeaux trial in 1953, where she recounted the events she witnessed on June 10, 1944.
The reason for the German attack on Oradour remains unknown. After the incident, the German high command released an explanation stating insurgents had attacked the Division, resulting in fighting which killed the civilians. A common explanation was that Lammerding received word the villagers were assisting the resistance by aiding with the kidnapping of SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) Helmut Kämpfe, a decorated Nazi officer who was assassinated by the French Resistance.
This is contradictory to the survivors’ testimonies that stated Oradour was in no way involved with the Resistance. Some historians believe the Oradour massacre was in response to Kämpfe’s assassination, while others believe that Oradour was just an unfortunate stop the Division made on the way to Normandy.
A majority of the SS men involved never stood trial, as many died in the battles following D-Day.
Among these deaths was SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) Adolf Diekmann, the man who headed the massacre and had made the claim that Oradour was responsible for the death of Kämpfe. Additionally, German authorities refused to extradite SS-Obergruppenführer (Major General) Lammerding to France, though he had been sentenced to death by the Bordeaux court in 1953. Lammerding had been tried for war crimes in Germany and had already served a prison sentence. Under the Bonn Constitution, he was not subject for extradition. Lammerding died in West Germany in 1971.
What makes Oradour so unique in Europe are the ruins of the village that stand today just as they were left in 1944. Oradour now serves as a symbol of national remembrance to the atrocities the French faced under Nazi oppression. Dr. Pierre Masfrand, president of the Remembrance Committee of Oradour and author of Oradour-sur-Glane: A Vision of Horror, was the first to propose rebuilding the town of Oradour nearby and preserving the village ruins as a monument. Masfrand’s idea was to re-create and freeze such a violent moment in time while using the physical remains of the village as a permanent commemoration of the massacre.
In 1946, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that the site would be preserved and the ruins were to become a national memorial. A small remembrance center and exhibit were built to display items left behind in the ruins, most of which were damaged by bullet holes and fire. Today, the ruins are maintained by the Ministry of Culture. They span about 40 acres and receive about 300,000 visitors a year.”
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Here is the Green Brigade’s response to Celtic’s Tuesday evening Suupporters Update…
“Over the previous days, we learned that a meeting between Celtic FC and the Safety Advisory Group would take place on Thursday 20 November.
“It was suggested to us that Celtic FC would use this meeting to legitimise further sanctions against the Green Brigade, and other Celtic supporters, with a potential full or part closure of the Standing Section for the remainder of the season.
Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Celtic, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and Club Brugge KV at Celtic Park on November 27, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“Yesterday, we wrote to Celtic FC to express our dismay at their relentless and cynical pursuit against our group and other Celtic supporters. We requested that fan representation be granted at tomorrow’s meeting, which is permissible as per the terms of reference of the SAG.
“This request has been rejected without explanation.
“We remain deeply concerned at the language and tone in which Celtic FC refers to our group, particularly continually stating criminal allegations as fact with no due process (we vehemently deny these allegations).
“We are frustrated that there has been no willingness, at any point, to consider supporter feedback and evidence. This, together with the sequence of events, the people involved and their histories, and the context of fan protest against the Celtic board, leaves us expecting a pre-determined outcome from tomorrow’s meeting.
Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson during the match between Celtic and Hearts on May 04, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“To further support that belief, Celtic FC has twice inferred to us that a failure to respect the current unfair suspension will result in more Celtic fans (within the Standing Section) being punished.
“This is unfair emotional blackmail and an example of them extending an already unfair collective punishment practice. It also follows no fair, logical rationale nor process. It leaves no doubt that they care little for supporter treatment and wellbeing and instead seek to sow division.
“We have requested that Celtic FC meet with us to discuss this issue constructively to reach an amicable solution. The Club has ignored this request.
“The safety of the stadium operation, including the Standing Section, is reliant on compliant supporters and we have always been engaged on this.
“We remain willing and ready to engage should Celtic FC be ready to do so.”
Celtic in the Thirties, Vol 1. published by Celtic Star Books, Click on image to order from Celticstarbooks.com
Celtic in the Thirties, Vol 1. published by Celtic Star Books, click on the image to order from Celticstarbooks.com
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