Glentoran line up Celtic friendly

lol

how much do we normally get paid for these matches? surely we dont need the money so badly that we have to go and play a team in the heart of loyalist east belfast

 

explain it otherwise.

there is no other explanation..

 

Some quotes from the IL Forums by Glens fans.....not all bad news!


Fantastic. Been hoping we could play Celtic for years. Lets just hope it doesn't turn into a sectarianfest

I don't know, I just hope we have moved on a bit. I just hope they get the proper security in place and that any sign of sectarianism or other trouble is nipped in the bud straight away. We (the IL) don't need the hassle from the part time blow in idiots who come to spoil the big games and then are never seen for the rest of the year

lets see this for what it is - a football match

well done to the board for having the balls to even consider such a fixture. well done to Celtic for considering the proposal

These are the glamour friendlies we as fans have been crying out for for years.

Unfortunately it won't be the 14k capacity that packed the Oval last year (segregation etc) but a money spinner none the less.

If th Glens want to do it, Celtic want to do it, H&S give the thumbs up, PSNI give the go ahead, lets roll out the red carpet and get it on.

All am worried about is D**kheads turning up and giveing are Club a bad name imo People should Bring Photo Id to buy tickets.

This should be a great game. Congratulations to all involved for getting such a high-profile side to come to the Oval, and thanks to Celtic for considering the proposal. It's been great to see us play some good quality sides this summer and last. They give the fans something to look forward to over the summer and give the team a decent workout ahead of the new season. My only worries about this game are that Health and Safety are going to get overly paranoid, and that the PSNI and Eventsec can never do their jobs right...

So looking forward to this game.

Of course some clowns will turn up - unfortunately we can't stop it.

I would like to see 'a club colours only' policy strictly enforced. No Rangers clobber.

I heard that the same plans and organisation deployed last year when united came over will be in operation - great.

It might be too late but lets hope the same corporate monies will flow again this summer

Who will Stafford support?

I also hope any tossers planning to wear anything Rangers stay away! Club Colours only

Too much whining, negativity and pathetic self righteousness on this thread. The club have arranged a friendly with a very big club who are well supported in NI so that is a good thing in every sense. Although I'm a total Bluenose I've been on the ferry when it's been full of Tims and they've just been like any other bunch of normal people going to a match to support their team. If "away" tickets were distributed to the organised Celtic clubs in NI I'm sure the atmosphere would be great on both sides and it would be a great occasion. So ffs just be glad the board hasd done this and try to enjoy it for what it is.

I was brought up in the 50s & 60s when a big proportion of our crowd came from the lower Falls & Short Strand. Would love to see those days return. Maybe this friendly will encourage that situation Let;s welcome them all, regardless of their apparrel.

If this is attended by genuine Celtic supporters with tickets allocated through NI - based supporters clubs and genuine Glens supporters (likewise) then it should be a good atmosphere imho. SDo long as there is no offensive ott interference from the likes of Health & Safety and no ridiculous hype fromn those elements of the NI press whoo still miss the bad old days then I'd have confidence in the ability of everyone involved at both clubs to organise a great day.

FFS it is a very positive step if Celtic feel they can safely send a team to BT4 and the Glens feel able to welcome them. It doesn't help anyone by constantly making (self fulfilling) prophecies of doom.

Quite a few Glenmen I know also support Celtic so Im sure they will welcome the game, another good pre-season fixture - well done GFC

In work today, I've already been asked for 4 or 5 tickets from Celtic fans, and they where hoping to go to the Glentoran end with me, and tbh I didn't think it would be a problem. They didn't want to wear any colours, they just wanted to go along to watch the game. They stopped going to games in the 70's but have said they would be tempted to go back to games again if the anti catholic feeling has gone. I'd suggest anyone who produces a copy of their ticket for the Celtic game enable an under 16 to get in free to another pre season friendly when attending with their father/brother etc. each of these guys have kids, what an untapped market.

Got asked for tickets myself by celtic fans I work with. Wouldn't even consider bringing them to the glens end. I know we proud of being a non sectarian club but we are a majority protestant supported team from the heart of a protestant district.

It will be interesting having a friendly with the away support segregated.

I agree GFC should not try and fleece people £20+ for a ticket this match.

GFC should specifically target the people of Short Strand when promoting this game. I suggest free tickets to the next competitive Glentoran match. This is a brilliant opportunity to encourage some new 'local' supporters through the gates.

I understand it will be hard to convince teenagers but what about the kids who have probably never been to a real match? I've heard Glens once had a handful of supporters from Short Strand so there are people in there who surely still have a soft spot for their local team- Glentoran. IMO GFC should seriously look into exploring this untapped market.

I used to work with a bloke from the Short Strand who used to go to every game(late 90`s).That was until one day a few boys decided to threaten the guy and he`s has not been back since.


Thats a pity. The biggest obstacle stopping us from getting these people back would be that they would be worried about what their mates thought about supporting Glentoran. If a one family began to attend matches, others would follow.

Used to work with a bloke from the short strand who followed the Glens and he still goes to most home games. He told me that their used to be quite a sizeable group who used to stand together until about 74/75 . Great to get these guys back

 

fair play to most of them guys on the glens forum. i hope its a great game with no trouble. My pal has just signed for the glens hes a rangers fan he will be looking forward to the game. i hope he doesn't have much joy.

 

There is no doubt that this game, if it goes ahead without trouble will represent real progress, it would certainly test the PSNI and their ability to be "even handed"

 

Thanks very much for posting that. Its a good representation of how nothern Irish people I know are thinking now. The northern irish tend to be badly misrepresented as demons on here unless they appear to be tims or republicans. Look at the difference between the reactions to McCourt and Lafferty (that sounds like an Irish solicitor BTW) coming to celtic. Both have dodgy CVs and McCourts is a lot more dodgy but McCourt got a warm welcome as he is seen as a tim (he is a liverpool fan not a Celtic one really) while Lafferty was treated as satan personified.

People got to stop basing their opinions of Ulster prods on the worst elements. People in northern ireland seem to be moving away from the old divisions and slowly moving away from the old flag and slogan tribalism (better word than sectarianism IMO).

 

A large chunk of them are catholic now - probably up to a third in the next 2 or 3 years and will be representative of the population breakdown by some point in the decade after. Its not the old RUC days of 95% protestant.

 

McCourt was a low risk signing, and i dont think that when price is factored in, i think laffertys was way more dodgy. 10 goals in 80 games for a striker(and i might be overinflating his stats) in the championship and paying 4 million for that was the main reason, and he came out saying he was a rangers fan, and has stated he didnt want to play for us. And they are represented as evil not because of his religion, but naturally because he has stated he is a fan of our bitterist rivals. This is a poor example, and is no reason whatsoever to criticize Celtic fans.

 

I didnt hear lambo or robson or scott brown getting this level of grief for being rangers fans when they were in the pipeline. Sorry but northern ireland and northern irish people are demonised automatically with real venom unless we are talking about the 'right side'. Its pure denial not to see that pattern in the posts over the years. Its so obvious. The bad vibes are palpable. A guy who supported northerrn ireland but had a soft spot for celtic (probably a catholic northern ireland supporter - they do exist) was perfectly nice but was lambasted over his choice of international team off-topic including by people who may have never been there.

Its all based on ignorance and/or getting one sided accounts of northern ireland from people with axes to grind. The Glentoran supporters positive stuff posted above is far more representative of the bulk of the sensible northern irish people on both sides (apart from the real ghettoised ones) I have met in a couple of spells living there and should not invoke such surprise. The place is utterly different from even 5 years ago and a large middleground is developing (economy has boomed) who are not interested in the old style tribal politics (they tend not to vote because of the tribal parties). Even east Belfast where Glentoran is situated is a bit more mixed with a significant number of catholic young professionals moving into the less scary areas of terraced houses in the last 10 years. Nobody has mentioned that one of our captains, Bertie Peacock, was a Glentoran player.

 

nice to see the quotes from glens fans, lets hope that it represents the majority ands there's no trouble at the match