FIRST thought on reading of Celtic fans’ banner which screamed ‘F*** off, Rod!’ in the direction of spiky blond pop legend Sir Rod Stewart?
It produced an agreeable smirk.
Sir Roderick had, after all, congratulated Boris Johnson on his election result. And isn’t Boris Johnson a racist, uncaring, amoral narcissistic sociopath?
But the second thought is the Green Brigade faction were wrong to bring the issue of political allegiance onto the terracing.
Celtic FC has long been an orphanage for political strays; a home to Scotland’s minority groupings, a club which welcomed players and supporters of all faiths, persuasions. Who are one fan group to deny Conservatives? And how crazy is this in our modern climate?
There was a time when voting allegiance in Scotland was class-defined and binary. If you grew up in a close, your dad worked in John Brown’s and your mother was a restaurant waitress, you voted Labour.
If you grew up in leafy Kilmacolm and your dad owned a cardboard box manufacturing company and patronised free school dinners kids, you attended The High School of Glasgow and voted Conservative. This social imprint was as fixed as the categories in a caste system.
But voting habits have changed. Scotland is no longer simply divided into Right and Left. It’s divided into Nationalists and Unionists, subdivided into Leavers and Remainers, into Momentumists and Centrists. My Saturday afternoons now see me bookended by two friends who converse in lite tartan. Another (Jewish) chum admitted voting Conservative last week. And if we can’t deny friendships when they don’t match with our own political leanings why should Rod Stewart be assaulted with the most offensive of intransitive verbs?
Can the Green Brigade argue a person’s entire character be determined by their voting choice?And should popularity of showbiz creatures be determined by where they place the X on the ballot box? Didn’t we love Maggie-luvvin Cilla? Don’t we still love Lulu’s To Sir With Love?(Although there is a strong argument all Morrissey records recorded in the past 25 years should go in the bin, not just because he’s a Ukip supporter but because they’re awful.)
And let’s remember Celtic fans also managed to contend with having the controversial John Reid as chairman, a man once described by Herald columnist Iain Macwhirter as “An authoritarian of the populist right.”
Let’s also remember what a fanatical Celtic fan Rod Stewart is. His carbon footprint built up in flying to games must be higher than that of Harry, Meghan and Uncle Andy combined. Stewart’s heart is in Paradise. His sons wear little Hoops strips in their garden. He’s had the Celtic players train on the pitch at the bottom of his garden. He wrote about Celtic in his love song to Britt Ekland. This Roy Cropper of the rock star world even has a Celtic wagon on one of the carriages in his train set.
Yet, there’s another issue; what if any of his (eight) kids watched the news and saw that banner? How does that make them feel about their dad, their hero, and his allegiance?
Yes, Rod should have kept his celebrations to himself, in the way that Nicola Sturgeon should have shown a little more self-control on election night, but heady passion often produces fist-pumping. And what has to be factored in is Rod Stewart is a self-proclaimed Scrooge, as tight as his own rhythm section. It’s understandable he votes for the party that’s most likely to protect the interests of those with fabulous wealth. With eight children and three (two ex) wives to buy Christmas presents for, he’s keen to keep his hand on every halfpenny of his £190m fortune.
Yet, there’s a wider issue. We have to fight for the protection of democracy (given the misuse of definition in politics today.) We have to be allowed to vote for the party of our choice without public condemnation.
But should Rod be censured in any way? I’m with Celtic fan John Campbell, who says Stewart was insensitive to celebrate, “given he’s a supporter of a club that has a history of feeding and caring for the displaced, he has now supported the party of austerity.” But Campbell argues Stewart has helped sell Celtic to the world. And Rod’s punishment? “I would take his train set away from him for a while, and tell him this is what the Tories are doing to our rail network.”
Football may never be completely divorced from the political paradigm (as World Cup 2022 in Qatar will confirm) but let’s not forget Rod wrote Maggie May. And if the Green Brigade banner had read; “Rod, sing to us ‘I Was Only Joking’” that would have been more than enough.
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