What constitutes a bona-fide Celtic fan

Good on you, disagree but I admire your stance on it. If I had the money I would plough it into the club but I don't. The occasional ticket is enough.

 

I wuld say you are a bona fide fan if you attend all/most of the games you can attend, and if you cant you will still try to watch the games.

 

Be you from Glasgow or any country on earth if you feel the joys and pains of every win loss or draw and care passionately about Celtic then you are a Celtic supporter.

Those who can afford to attend matches are privileged and those that can't for any number of reasons will be desperate to either see the game or listen if they can. I've known me to be in far flung corners of the world, long before the days of the internet, mobile phones and walking several miles just to find a phone to call home & find out the score.

For anyone to think they are a better supporter than anyone else or that others are only supporters due to the efforts of other Celtic fans is sheer arrogance. Obviously with regards to the Thai Tims if it wasn't for the work by Raymon Gormley (RIP ) they may well never have heard or cared about Celtic. But they did and from there those kids became a part of the Celtic family and history.

Thai Tims are not the only example of our fanbase being renowned worldwide. Just one other example is Kibera Celtic who were born from the passion of one Celtic fan and that was long before Wanyama joined. Generations of new Celtic fans has been the result of that passion and they are all welcome supporters in the eyes of most & are no less a bona fide Celtic fan than you or I.

 

To be fair, I don't think that would make him less of a fan, either. One of the great things I experienced reading Nick Hornby's famous novel on football, 'Fever Pitch', is during part of he writes how during a particularly difficult period in his life, he switched off football. A devout follower up until then, but for whatever reasons, real life simply got in the way of attending games.

I, too, experienced this, during the Strachan era, and it's part of the reason why I don't feel as strongly about that time in our history.

 

Having criteria for being a Celtic fan is ridiculous and simply tries to enforce some sort of backwards class system into our support. If somebody says their a fan, then they are a fan, and there is no way that you should be able to judge or grade them otherwise. It's a binary issue.

 

I have never considered being a fan of a football team to be a competition. I find it weird the notion that some people like to celebrate that they a are better fan than someone else. I watch celtic because 1.) I was brought up from a young age to love them and I do, 2.) because the highs and lows of football gives my pleasure, and 3.) because it is a good social activity. Being a better or worse fan than someone else is of no concern.

Of course you get different degrees of support, like you get in any other sport or hobby. Some people may be a "Celtic fan" in that if you asked them to pick a favourite football team they would say Celtic. Some might go to a few big games. Some might have a season ticket. And some will go every match, home, away, in Europe, own shares, buy the latest kit every year, etc. People are different - I see no value in judging who is better or worse.

What I would say is that there are a lot of football fans who will spend their last penny to watch their team, and this isnt really a good thing. There is no doubt some celtic fans who pay money to watch the club that they really shouldnt be spending on football and would no doubt be more sensible to put it towards "real life" stuff like family/housing/bills/education, etc. Spending every spare minute and penny on football may make you the "best" fan but doesnt necessarily make you the "best" person

 

I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I don't think it really matters where you live, how many games you go to, how long you've supported Celtic or if your family are Celtic fans. None of these things can truly define you as a "real" Celtic fan.

The only thing that really matters at the end of the day, in my opinion, is what you feel in your heart for the club. If you....................

• Think about the club every day of your life(even if only briefly)
• Feel genuinely euphoric when we win a match
• Feel genuinely disappointed or upset if we lose a match
• Keep up to date with events at the club(results, signings etc)
• Attend matches whenever time/money/distance allows you to
• Regard the club as more than just a football team

............then I think you can class yourself as a bona-fide Celtic supporter.

There are few things I dislike more than people who have a "I'm a better Celtic fan than you because............." attitude. There is no place in the Celtic support for that bullshit in my view.

Personally I don't care for glory hunters and I'd be disappointed in any Tim who lived close to Parkhead and had the time and the money to go to matches but chose not to. But other than that, my attitude is that a Tim is a Tim. We're all part of the Celtic family and we should all stick together and unite around the club we love.

 

I say to someone, "What team do you support?"
They say, "Celtic."
That makes them a Celtic fan.
Is there a difference between a Celtic supporter and a Celtic fan?
I do think that people who put a lot of their money into the club deserve a wee bit more 'respect' if you like, than someone who lives in Springburn, has never been to a game, has never put any money towards the club, and the only Celtic gear he buys is knock-offs from the Barras.
There are extremes, but at the end of the day, if you support Celtic, then you are a bona fide Celtic supporter.

 

I play football on Saturday and miss the vast majority of games. I miss the majority of early games on TV (due to kick off times and having to travel). I get to the games when I can (rarely happens) and I watch the games when possible.

I still regard myself as a Celtic fan even though my presence at the games is minimal.

 

There are no rules to being a celtic fan.
A fan is a fan is a fan....end off.

 

Agreed.

 

I would class anyone a good Celtic fan if they say they support Celtic and want the team to win every game. I firmly believe how much money you spend and how many games you go to has nothing to do with it!

I know lots of people that are great Celtic fans but can't afford to spend £480-690 on a season ticket every year. No ones family should be struggling because they have spent too much on Celtic.

I think it's about the love for the club.

 

Great post

 

ive often thought about this myself. i live in England so its very difficult for me to get to games. what makes it more difficult is that my mates wouldnt entertain coming with me to see celtic as their views on scottish football are fairly typical down here. i was in glasgow for a wedding the week celtic there playind real madrid, so i did the stadium tour.

i just do what i can , i buy every home and away top, watch every game online or on sky. ive been with my mate to a few liverpool games at anfield and one away game at stoke.

what dissapoints me is that sometimes i feel like im being made to feel like less of a fan because im proud of being Scottish, and dont have any close ties to ireland .i love to see the scotland team do well. i dont have any hatred for britain ( i have a fairly typical attitude to england) and my dad was in the British army .

 

I don't know what that's about! Who makes you feel less of a fan because of these views?

 

Summed up perfectly in your 1st line. The pain sometimes is deadly but oh how good is the joy of a great victory.

 

This is an interesting view. As a Scotsman I have never felt less of a fan, but I think it might be far more of an issue for our English/British fans.

 

It costs me over 800 quid just to go to ONE SINGLE GAME. I am a working class guy and that is a huge chunk of change for me.

I make it to one game a year. Two this year (one at parkhead, and one friendly).

I've had people from glesga say that I am a lesser supporter or my opinion amounts to less because I can't attend every game. Made me pretty sick.

 

FFS mate how the * does it cost £800 to get over for one game?

EDIT Never mind I figured it out. DC as in USA DC is your location.