PO Box 306, Glasgow, G21 2AE, Scotland
Dear NTV,
Once again it's that time of year when the season ticket renewal notices drop through our letterboxes. No doubt, as usual, the price for next season's season ticket will be increased from this year. We will be told that the club needs the extra revenue to pay for transfers, wages etc etc.
Why should this annual increase be viewed as inevitable? Is it not about time that the club, as a gesture of thanks to the support for their financial backing over the last few years, actually reduced the season ticket price?
Reducing every season ticket by £20 would cost the club £1m - £1m. maybe this seems a lot but let's put it into context. On a turnover of £70m that's a reduction of 1.4%. Put another way it's about the same as Paul Lambert has been paid this Season and how many first team games has he played? It's £0.5m less than we paid to take Henri Camara on loan. It's a fraction of what Juninho received in wages this season. What value for money did these two signings provide?
Viewed in that light a small reduction in the cost of a season ticket seems perfectly feasible.
Yours
S KINT
Edinburgh
cup final ass ref
Dear NTV,
Just as I was chipping away at the mountain that sits on top of both of my shoulders I hear the news that Andy Davis is being appointed to run the line at the cup final. Forget all the whys and ifs - it is plain and simple. He has been appointed in order that the dedicated non thinkers in the SFA, media and the rest of the country have a ready made negative story to vilify Celtic and our supporters should we win the trophy. They will drag up the chants and whistles aimed at the poor sod.
I appeal to all our supporters, do not go over the top other than usual whistles and jeers at officialdom. Any over the top reactions will be rammed down our throats all summer.
What better way to work it up these people who wish us ill, than to turn up in the sun and watch the bhoys win the cup and to conduct ourselves in our usual happy and celebratory manner.
Be seen
in Green
Prince Ludvig von Crisp Packet
fans down under
Hey Folks,
Thought you might like to know that the Hoops are being represented down here in Canberra Australia through the ACT 2nd Division football team of the O'Connor Knights. I joined the team last year and they played in red, white and blue (god forbid!) due tothe Croatian roots of the team. However, my whinging, allied to a Celtic fan (Nic Sporcic) sponsoring the team has resulted in the players appearing resplendent in the hoops this season.
The impact has been remarkable with champagne soccer and 16 goals resulting from our opening 4 games. We are (of course) top of the table.
web-site link is http://www.oconnorknights.org/knights.html
Hail Hail!
JOHNNY PRICE
Canberra
4.25'rs
Dear NTV,
It may seem sacrilegious to confess but supporting Celtic can almost be likened to following a religion. As a practising Catholic, I turn up at the chapel once a week and lazily sit through mass and if I'm being particular pious I may indulge in saying a few prayers during the week.
By contrast, my worship of Celtic is all consuming; the daily devotion to sports pages, Teletext, radio and the Internet in pursuit of the latest snippets about my team is vital to my spiritual well-being.
This pursuit of knowledge for all things Celtic is merely a prerequisite to the main event of the week, 'The 90 minutes'. Sadly, it seems that many of the 'Faithful' are 'Losing their Religion', as they seem unable to support their team for the duration.
At the recent Hearts game, for instance, I had to recheck my watch as at 4.25 a trickle of 'Fans' had endured enough of 'This shite!' and began to leave. By 4.35 the trickle had become a raging stream of malcontents barging their way towards the exits. Finally at 4.43, despite there still being 2 minutes of normal time left and the prospect of another four added minutes, the majority of the 'Faithful' had deserted their team leaving the repugnant stench of disloyalty heavy in the air; the 4.25'rs had left the building.
Rewind the clock back 49 minutes and recall the 'McCannesque' booing that emanated from the 'Intelligentsia' towards a clearly piqued Brian Quinn as he stood accused of showing a lack of commitment to the fans, O'Neill and ultimately Celtic Football Club.
As I looked around a nearly deserted Celtic Park at the final whistle I wondered if anyone had noticed either the irony or the hypocrisy. Nigh on five years under O'Neill's stewardship and we have witnessed only four meaningful league defeats at Celtic Park - admittedly all this year. In all four games - Aberdeen, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs - the 4.25rs had had enough of this supporting lark and were caught sneaking out for presumably a 'Well-earned' pint or to catch You've Been Framed'
. I've heard all the arguments for leaving a game early and mostly they're just hackneyed excuses. Surely around forty thousand fans are not catching the last ferry, helping to reduce traffic congestion or starting a back shift. Most of these sloths could not even be considered part-time supporters, as their reluctance to sing and energise their team is evident throughout their intended stay. Not content with abandoning the team the 4.25rs then have the temerity to block the view of everyone else by loitering around the exits straining their necks for a last look at the action. 'Clear tae f**k!' is one of the more polite curse I've aimed at them.
'I've paid my money I can leave when I want', they childishly squeal when cornered about their passivity when supporting Celtic; the analogy they routinely trot out is that if they went to a cinema and the film was poor, no one would lambast them for and early exit. Comparing light entertainment with football is at best foolish; comparing it to Celtic Football Club is simply offensive.
In recent years Celtic fans have quite rightly won awards from UEFA and FIFA for the exemplary behaviour of the largest travelling support in club football. It could also be argued that on Champions League nights the noise and spectacle produced by our fans is unrivalled throughout Europe. In spite of all these accolades is it maybe all just hyperbole, as we get dewy-eyed over our tag as 'The greatest supporters in the world'? Look around Europe and even lesser clubs like Besiktas and Panathinaikos have a more vociferous and intense support than ours. I recall watching a UEFA cup-tie involving Panathinaikos and the Gate 13 fanatics had been in the stadium two hours before kick-off, producing a vocal and animated visual spectacular; we can barely last the 90.
I know I'm not alone in thinking that it would be better having twenty five thousand season ticket holders who would fully support the team for the sacrosanct 90 minutes that the nouveau Celtic fans who treat the season ticket as an accessory. Let's say goodbye to the 4.25rs and welcome back the 'Spirit of the Jungle'.
JOHN MOLLOY
Mount Florida
notorious Kia Ora
NTV,
As you will see from Question 8 in the Quiz from the New Zealand newspaper 'Herald On Sunday' the fame (notoriety??) of a famous Glasgow football club extends all the way to the Antipodes.
Enjoyed last edition's articles on referees. No mention however of surely the most famous of them all, Mr R H Davidson of Airdrie. Any Celtic victory with him in charge was always that bit more difficult!
Incidentally I went to school with Kevin O'Donnell who, as mentioned in the last NTV, was demoted for supposed bias towards Celtic. Like me he was a keen football fan and every Monday morning we would discuss the weekend games we had been at, in my case the Celtic one and in his case the Airdrie one. Maybe if Wallace Mercer had known that he would not have put in his protest???!!
MICK MAHER
NZ Celtic Supporters Club