WHEN my young nephew declared a few years ago that he was now a member of the Green Brigade his parents’ response lay somewhere between pride and alarm. This was at a time when the Celtic Ultras were being widely depicted as a threat to civilisation. It was also at a time when young Celtic supporters with no criminal record – and their families - were being targeted by Police Scotland using tactics you’d normally associate with a totalitarian regime. During the recent Cop26 Climate Summit I half-expected the Green Brigade to be held partly responsible for global warming.

For reasons that have never been adequately explained Celtic families all over the West of Scotland (and occasionally further afield) were being subject to dawn raids and court proceedings. Others found themselves being apprehended at airports. All of them had been photographed at Celtic games by police officers using sophisticated surveillance equipment.

These tactics were characterised by threat and intimidation and a correct assumption by the authorities that most law-abiding people will be ignorant of their rights when questioned by the police. Similar tactics were used by various Scottish police forces during the 1984-85 Miners Strike which destroyed the lives of many families during that great struggle. Many miners were black-listed by the mine-owners and those who weren’t found that they too couldn’t find work after being criminalised by the police and judiciary. The lesson was clear: you take on the state at your peril.

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There was never any question of violence or incitement in the perceived wrongdoing of these young Celtic supporters. Rather, it appeared they’d been targeted because they stood with the Green Brigade and sang songs about Ireland’s troubled past. They stood under massive banners that occasionally provoked ripples of condescending disdain amongst Scotland’s civic panjandrums.

One of these was a rebuke about “blood-stained” poppies on the shirt. This was a message which chimed with many other people who were growing weary about the way that the original symbolism of the poppy was being defiled and distorted by displays of aggressive militarism. Admittedly, the Green Brigade have an unfiltered approach to their messaging that isn’t to everyone’s liking. Other approaches and views are also available.

My only concern for my nephew was that he too would be unfairly targeted by Police Scotland. And so I gave him the advice that my own dad had given me when I started attending Celtic games on my own. “Don’t give them a chance to collar you. Have as little to do with them as possible and don’t trust them. Be respectful and courteous, of course, but assume that some of them will be itching to lift you because of your ethnicity and your football allegiance.”

It’s really not good that you feel you must offer advice like this to young people starting out on adulthood. We’re really not in a good place if you can’t trust the police in a 21st century progressive democracy. Of course you must acknowledge that police officers have a very difficult job to do in literally trying to keep the peace and that they often encounter abuse for simply discharging their responsibilities.

It's also true though, that generations of Celtic supporters and the wider Irish community in Scotland have encountered problems with the police. Their use of kettling to intimidate Celtic supporters in the Green Brigade as they walk to Celtic Park from Glasgow Cross is well-documented. More recently, they have deployed similar tactics when the Green Brigade have attempted to join mass political demonstrations. This is then followed by something more concealed and insidious. Police sources immediately brief the press to get ahead of a narrative that portrays these Celtic fans as a threat and a menace.

This edgy relationship between Celtic fans and the police has a long history. I was at the Janefield Street incident in 1985 following a dead rubber game against Rangers. I witnessed mounted police officers needlessly charge at Celtic fans down the narrow walkway between the old Jungle and the Janefield cemetery. Their actions could have resulted in death and serious injury and could easily have provoked a riot. Only the self-discipline and good sense of the Celtic fans prevented a tragedy.

An incident in 2018 in the same area and eerily similar to the 1985 one led to five Celtic fans being injured. Safety experts concluded it was a miracle that a major tragedy was averted. Although an independent report declared that “no single incident” was to blame for the incident eye-witness accounts suggested that police incompetence and a decision to shut a gate early contributed to the chaos. In my family, older relatives - as in many other families - handed down stories of police intimidation and brutality motivated by anti-Irishness and anti-Catholicism. In a book written a few years ago by the respected Glasgow detective-inspector Gerry Gallacher he tells how he had to quit the force early because he realised he’d never be promoted beyond his current position on account of his refusal to become a freemason. Gallacher loved the police and speaks movingly of the force and the way that most police officers did their utmost to keep Glaswegians safe from harm. But it became clear to him there was a problem further up the chain when a senior officer spoke disparagingly about Celtic supporters in a briefing prior to an upcoming match. His observations reflected widespread anecdotal evidence that gets bequeathed to each new generation of the Irish in Scotland.

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It's this collective memory of a community that’s still marginalised in parts of civic Scotland that underpins the deep concern at the prospect of Bernard Higgins being hired by Celtic in a senior security role. Much of the distress caused to innocent Celtic supporters and their families over several years came as a direct result of the hated Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act in 2012. This act was deliberately crafted with the intention of targeting working-class football fans for behaviour that wouldn’t be deemed offensive if they were to occur in the vicinity of a rugby match. That in itself though doesn’t adequately explain why it was prosecuted with such vigour against Celtic fans by Police Scotland.

In the eyes of many in the Celtic support, Higgins' role with Police Scotland during the time when it seemed a campaign of harassment was being pursued against fans makes him a deeply inappropriate choice for any senior position at Parkhead.

This letter, signed by more than 200 Celtic supporter organisations worldwide, eloquently and reasonably sets out the case against Higgins. It begins: “We, the undersigned, wish to state our objection to the rumoured appointment of Bernard Higgins as a member of Celtic FC’s security staff.

“Higgins has been responsible for the policing of football fans for almost a decade.

“In the period since he was appointed to this position, the policing of football matches has changed dramatically with the introduction of intrusive surveillance, the widespread use of football banning orders and a determination to arrest fans on spurious charges.”

It may well be that Higgins, if he is appointed, will have a chance to defend himself and perhaps explain the context of his role at Police Scotland during the Offensive Behaviour years. But for Celtic not even to respond to this letter or show any willingness to engage with supporters on this issue is surely unwise. These supporters deserve to be heard and respected.