Simon Jordan has once again shown how far removed he is from the realities of Scottish football with a lazy dig at Celtic’s Green Brigade.
The former Crystal Palace chairman turned pundit questioned why the club haven’t banned the group completely, comments that reveal more about his ignorance than any genuine understanding of what makes Celtic Park special.
Jordan’s claim that Celtic should “just rid themselves” of around 300 supporters misses the point entirely. The Green Brigade aren’t just a handful of fans; they’re part of the culture, the atmosphere, and the identity that makes Celtic unique. They’ve brought life and energy to countless games when others have sat quietly on their hands.
It’s easy for a media pundit sitting in a London studio to talk tough about “banning” people. What Jordan fails to grasp is that the passion he sneers at is the very thing football thrives on. Celtic supporters don’t need lessons on loyalty or behaviour from a man whose only connection to Scottish football is the sound of his own voice on the radio.
The idea that 260 or 300 supporters can be written off as disposable shows a total misunderstanding of what a real fanbase is. Celtic Park’s atmosphere doesn’t come from empty seats and polite applause, it comes from noise, colour, and emotion, the kind that the Green Brigade have driven for years.
He said: (talkSPORT), “It looks like there’s about 300 of them. How important are they to the football club? Why would you put up with it? What is so important about 260 fans in a stadium that holds 60,000?
“If they’re that unruly, that unpleasant, that difficult to contend with, why don’t you just rid yourself of them by banning them for life?
“There’s nothing wrong with being disharmonious because supporters are entitled to voice dissatisfaction.
“But when it spills over into physical abuse, that’s when it goes too far.”
Jordan’s comments sound like someone chasing headlines instead of offering any real understanding. Trying to boil Celtic’s fan culture down to numbers and easy soundbites just shows how little he gets it. The Green Brigade aren’t perfect, but to write them off completely ignores how much they’ve added to the club’s identity and atmosphere.
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It’s also pretty rich for him to talk about “passion” while wanting to turn stadiums into quiet, sterile places with no edge. Celtic fans don’t need his approval, they know what they bring to the club every single week.
Simply put, Simon Jordan doesn’t understand Celtic, doesn’t understand its supporters, and doesn’t understand what football means in Glasgow. Maybe that’s why his opinions are best kept down south.
