The first ever clash between Celtic and Sevco as members of the Scottish Premiership was marred by some pretty stupid behavior on the part of Sevco fans.
We are all likely well aware that following the Bhoys’ 5-1 trashing of that new club in Glasgow, said fans of club took to destroying the away end toilets. You know, because destroying property will make your club more solvent or better able to compete on the pitch.
Alas, it happened. Now, a report out of The Mirror in the U.K. indicates that the two clubs are going at it behind the scenes as well. The report indicates that Celtic have withheld about £35,000 of ticket payments to Sevco to date.
Of course, none of that would happen if the fine folks at Ibrox had any money to pay Celtic back for the damage that was clearly caused by their fans at Celtic Park back in September.
Compare that rampage to Celtic’s response at Ibrox on New Year’s Eve. While a moment of silence was being observed for some fans death anniversary (clearly meant to try and goad some response from Celtic supporters), the Celtic end stood silent.
The Celtic faithful even had the most epic response to the toilet destruction that occurred — lighting tea candles in the away toilet at Ibrox instead of destroying it.
Meanwhile, Celtic were on their way to thrashing Sevco on the pitch for the third time this season.
Now the two sides are going at it in a war of words over alleged damage cause to the away end at Ibrox. According to the report in The Mirror the two sides have issued statements on the matter.
Here is what Celtic have to say:
“As far as we are concerned the matter regarding payment for the significant damage caused to Celtic Park has been resolved.
“We have not been informed of any major damage whatsoever caused at Ibrox stadium.”
Here is what Sevco has to say:
“Negotiations around this issue have been ongoing and Rangers is currently evaluating the cost of damage caused at Ibrox during the Hogmanay match.
“Responsibility for that cost will have to be accepted.”
Responsibility for what? Leaving tea candles unattended in the bathroom to class the joint up and hide the horrific smell of failure coming from all over that club?
Good luck proving it was Celtic fans causing the damage and not just the simple fact that the stand and ground as a whole is just a pile of garbage that is in need of complete repair. If jumping and celebrating goals causes damage, that isn’t on the away fans. That’s on you as a club to get right.
Then again, if the club can’t fix its own stadium, spend on players to actually compete with the Hoops or bother to scrounge up £35,000 in four months we could see why they would be desperate to pin their horrific stadium conditions on Celtic supporters.
It’s been nearly 15 days since the match took place and Sevco have yet to come out with any proof of the damages being caused by Celtic supporters. With all the social media and CCTV available to them, you’d think this would be an easy case to prove.
Rather, Sevco is doing what they always do, new club or the old one — attempt to shift blame and not take responsibility for their fans actions.
Next: Eboue rocks out to Celtic Symphony
It appears the SPFL leadership may have to step in to settle this “dispute” and let’s just say that will be an interesting turn of events for Celtic. This should be a fun little drama to play out in the coming months, that’s for sure.