Good afternoon and
welcome along to an absolutely jam-packed George Square. George Square has long
been a rallying point for protest movements in Scotland. From the rent and
shipyard strikes, to the Poll Tax it has been the historic centre for popular
revolt against injustice. Well today, with thousands of people stretching as far as the eye
can see, I think we can say that the campaign against criminalisation has the
backing of the entire Celtic support, and we can also safely say that Alex Salmond and Stephen House will be
sitting up and they'll be taking note.
For those of you here
today that don’t know our background, Fans Against Criminalisation is an
umbrella group made up of the 5 main Celtic fan organisations – the Green
Brigade, Celtic Trust, Celtic Supporters Association, Affiliation of Registered
Celtic Supporters Clubs and the Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs.
We formed in October 2011 in response to the Offensive Behaviour at Football
legislation that was then making its way through the Scottish Parliament.
At the time, we said
that not only was the legislation unnecessary but also that it was wrong. It was so broad that
even the Justice Minister admitted that people could be arrested for making the
sign of the cross or singing a national anthem. And it was so narrowly focused on
football fans that it treated us as second-class citizens and criminalised us
just for supporting our teams.
Later in October 2011,
we rallied in this very Square. That day, I stood not far from here and I said
that Fans Against Criminalisation would provide Celtic fans with a voice to
tell politicians, prosecutors and police that we wouldn’t let them give us a
kicking. I said that if they wanted to criminalise us, we would fight them every
step of the way.
For a time, we did
just that. We rallied two thousand people in George Square in protest. On the day they forced through their anti-football law, we went
to the Scottish Parliament and with nothing more than a just cause and a bag of
t-shirts we embarrassed Alex Salmond and the SNP.
Regrettably since
then, we’ve not done enough. Sure, we’ve been helping individual fans out and
diligently collecting data we can use to show just how wrong the Offensive
Behaviour at Football Act is when it comes up for review. And like everyone
else here, we’ve moaned about the constant filming of Celtic fans before,
during and after matches. We’ve complained amongst ourselves about
disproportionate policing and the mistreatment of fans.
But for too long we,
as a campaign and as collective of fans, have let the government and police set
the agenda and push their propaganda - we’ve let them claim that football fans
are some sort of evil within Scottish society, that we’re termites to be
fumigated, pests to be controlled. We’ve been too quiet as fans have been
arrested and harassed. We’ve allowed a situation to develop where the police
can brazenly attack a group of Celtic fans just for standing up against them.
Three weeks ago, only
a matter of minutes from here on the Gallowgate, the Green Brigade held a
protest march against police harassment. It was kettled and attacked by a mob
of 200 baton-wielding police officers. 13 Celtic fans were arrested, and have
been banned from attending matches.
This incident sparked
a flame within many of us, a determination that no longer would we let our
people be victimised and harassed, a determination that we won’t continue to let
our people be arrested and attacked, a determination that this time we really
are going to fight back, a determination that this time, we’re going to win.
Immediately after the
events on the Gallowgate on the 16th of March, Fans Against
Criminalisation reconvened and the response we’ve had since then has been
overwhelming. Well wishes and expressions of support have flooded in from
across the world. Football fans throughout Scotland, Britain and beyond have
contacted us to offer their support and many of them will be displaying
messages of solidarity with us at matches over the weekend.
Fans of other teams
are also in attendance today, recognising that the criminalisation of football
fans extends beyond club colours and affects everyone who watches Scotland’s
national game. On behalf of Fans Against Criminalisation I’d like to welcome
them here and thank them for putting their rivalries aside this lunchtime.
We also welcome each
and every single one of you who’ve made the effort to come out on a cold day to
stand shoulder to shoulder with your fellow fan. We know people have come from
miles around to be here today.There are fans here
who’ve travelled from Cyprus, Germany, Norway and Sweden, from Australia,
Canada and Singapore.
There’s also tens of supporters clubs in attendance. From all across
Glasgow and the West, right through the central belt and up and down the east
coast, up to Wick in the north of Scotland and London in the south of England,
and from the length and breadth of Ireland the response has been fantastic.
Looking out from my vantage point here I can see thousands of fans united
behind each other, and I can tell you, it’s truly an incredible sight.
I’d like to give a
special welcome to a number of Celtic fans who unfortunately will not be
joining us at Celtic Park later today. Some of them are friends of mine, and
they’re among a growing number of Celtic fans who have been targeted by FoCUS
and their colleagues within the Police Service of Scotland. They’ve been
arrested on bogus charges and subsequently banned from football matches as part
of their bail conditions.
Court dates are set
for the end of the football season and trials are delayed before charges are
eventually dropped or laughed out of court. The police hope that this will
scunner them from the football. The police hope that they’ll hassle and harass these
fans away from supporting the team they love.
But we’ve got a
message for them today, and that message is that we won’t let the police scunner
us. We won’t be hassled and harassed away from supporting the team we love and,
here in George Square today, I’m delighted to say that the banned bhoys stand
with us.
I’d also like to
extend another special welcome. This time to a young fan who will be joining us at Celtic Park today.
Like many charged over the past couple of years, he’s had to repeatedly travel
to the north of Scotland to defend himself. Until yesterday that was, because
yesterday he won a significant courtroom victory as a sheriff court judge
dismissed the charges against him and branded the Offensive Behaviour at
Football Act as a nonsense.
This young fan joined
a growing band of supporters who’ve stood up against those that seek to
criminalise us and who’ve won. And if we build on the fantastic start we’ve
made today, if we continue to pull together as one, then our campaign can do
the same.
Thank you.
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