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BEATING THE FASCISTS

By TERRY MITCHELL - ANTI-FASCIST ACTION

(reproduced from issue 40 of TÁL Fanzine)

“Only a few years ago Celtic supporters regularly racially abused the black Rangers player, Mark Walters, in his first few games against us. However the situation has now been completely reversed after the majority of the supporters turned against the mindless minority. It would be safe to say that the racists amongst the support have been very quiet for the last couple of seasons and those few individual wankers who tried to get away with remarks and abuse towards Rangers’ newest signing, Basile Boli, were very quickly dealt with by other supporters around them.” (Fighting Talk, Issue 9, 1994)

While the anti-fascist message was enthusiastically embraced by many supporters, not so the authorities. At the January 1995 game against Rangers at Ibrox the police demanded the Celtic Fans Against Fascism banner be taken down, on threat of arrest, because it was “provocative”!

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After 3 years work on the ground Celtic Anti-Fascists was formally launched in February ’95, and it wasn’t long before Celtic fans were involved in a major anti-fascist battle. In July that same year, at the preseason friendly against Birmingham City, fascist hooligans from several clubs united to attack the Celtic supporters. The Far Right were inspired by their ‘success’ in getting the Ireland vs England game abandoned in Dublin in February, and after initial surprise the Celtic supporters fought back and clashes continued all day and into the evening with the fascists taking a heavy beating. Such was the reputation Celtic was getting for being solidly anti-fascist that when Paris St Germain supporters came to Glasgow in November (for a Cup Winners Cup game) any dubious looking French fans pulled immediately replied “no, no, I’m not fascist!”.

From the outset there was a special relationship between Celtic supporters and the large anti-fascist following from the Hamburg club St Pauli. Celtic Anti-Fascists participated in several European meetings and conferences, bringing AFA’s brand of militant anti-fascism to a new audience. Other international links soon followed, in particular Ajax, Breda, Bordeaux, Juventus and Athletic Bilbao. If any further evidence was needed of Celtic’s antifascist credentials it soon came when Celtic played Hamburg SV in the UEFA cup (1996). Fascists from across northern Germany joined forces with Hamburg’s right-wing hooligans to attack the Celtic supporters, and once again the anti-fascists emerged the stronger.

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At the same time that Celtic supporters were battling the fascists across Europe, the club launched its Bhoys Against Bigotry initiative in 1996. While paying lip service to ‘anti-racism’ it’s primary aim was to remove the Irish heritage of the club and police

Celtic’s own supporters. Another attempt to attack the genuinely radical element among the support was the Channel 4 documentary ‘Football, Faith and Flutes’ which attempted to show Celtic and Rangers fans as being ‘as bad as each other’; no attempt to explain the reactionary nature of Loyalism, its links to the Far Right, and how Celtic supporters opposed this for political, not ‘sectarian’, reasons. Celtic Anti-Fascists led a very effective campaign to isolate the film crew from Celtic supporters and so deny them the opportunity to portray anti-fascism as ‘thuggery’ ( a view very close to the heart of much of the British Left).

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Tragically it was the murder of young Celtic supporter Mark Scott, and the subsequent attempted murder of Irishman Sean O’Connor, that led to Celtic Anti-Fascists’ most effective campaign being launched in 1998; the Campaign Against Sectarian Attacks.

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While the club blamed the victims for the attacks by Loyalist bigots, CASA looked for real solutions; CASA put forward political arguments explaining the links between fascism and Loyalism, showed the attacks were racist attacks, criticized the lack of protection for supporters from the club and police, looked at ways of improving transport to and from the ground, and kept supporters informed of what was happening.

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At a public meeting in February 1998 a CASA representative made the following point: “Look at any racist attack and compareit to these sectarian attacks and you will see an undeniably similar method of operation. The organisations which benefit from racist attacks, whether random or organised, are in the long run the fascists of the NF and BNP. In Scotland, the direct beneficiaries of sectarian attacks are Loyalist organisations such as the UVF, UDA and LVF. Increasingly however Loyalist and fascist organisations have become increasingly indistinguishable from each other, having a cross over of members, strategy and tactics … Jason Campbell, the man who murdered a 16 year old Celtic fan, whilst probably not formally a member of any organisation on the Far Right, nonetheless shared a common goal and method with them. To terrorise and subjugate a minority community.”

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When representatives of the campaign attended The Equality Goal conference at Celtic Park, in order to question Fergus McCann about the club’s deathly silence on the issue, on seeing them McCann became suddenly ill and left the meeting! Clearly the prospect of a public challenge from people who were serious about addressing the issue of racist attacks was too much for him. The fact that CASA was prepared to confront the issue at every level, from the street to the boardroom, showed a level of commitment that those involved can be rightly proud of.

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Celtic supporters have a proud record of anti-fascism, and hopefully will remain involved in the new battles that lie ahead, particularly in the working class communities where the Far Right seek to gain political influence.

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Ex-Celt Pierre Van Hooijdonk
Showing his support for Celtic Fans Against fascism

 Irish Celtic fans harassed in Scotland

Photo: Sinn Féin MLA Fra McCann

West Belfast Sinn Féin Assembly member Fra McCann has written to the leader of the Scottish parliament Jack McConnell and NIO Minister Paul Murphy about the ongoing harassment of Celtic supporters when they travel to Parkhead.

McCann was contacted by constituents who have been harassed at airports and ferry ports whilst travelling to matches. The West Belfast MLA said constituents have been questioned, photographed and sometimes arrested for no apparent reason other than blatant discrimination.

As thousands of Irish people travelled to the Scottish Cup Final, two busloads of fans were made to leave their buses and walk through the terminal were they were photographed. A few weeks before this, a bus carrying Celtic supporters was stopped on its way to catch the boat home. Two people were arrested but were released shortly afterwards.

McCann said he himself has been at the receiving end of such harassment.

"Around three weeks ago I was travelling with my partner and my 16-year-old daughter to a match when we were stopped. To make matters worse I saw other members of the public walk through the gates unhindered, yet again the colour of my football shirt was obviously an issue. I was only allowed to proceed on my way after I told them I was an elected representative and intended to report the incident."

In his letter to Jack McConnell, McCann strongly objects to the manner in which his constituents are treated and says he would be grateful if McConnell, in his position as Scottish First Minister, would assist him in trying to make these incidents a thing of the past.

Article from An Phoblacht-Republican News - 10 June 2004

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