The following message comes from the Jungle Bhoys, a new supporters group which is attempting to whip the Celtic fans into a frenzy (oo-er). Read their statement and see what you think, then have your say on the forum:
Apathy is a horrible word, it means a lack of interest and concern. Surely it’s the last word on earth you would use for a gathering of almost 60,000 fans every second week who congregate at a football ground to watch their team play, on most occasions, a vastly inferior team. It is a word that should never again be used to describe the way the Celtic support gets behind our team at Celtic Park.
‘The greatest fans in the world’ is a phrase often used to describe the Celtic support, but in the year 2005 is it not the case that we have to take stock of past glories and re-ignite ourselves once again so that we are indeed the 12th man willing the team on instead of the status quo when thousands are happy to turn up and moan, then leave with fifteen minutes to go?
Isn’t it time we as a support looked at ourselves, regained our pride and got back to the days when we supported the team through thick and thin, win, lose or draw?
What is the option? Should we carry on supporting the team as we now in an atmosphere where to be truthful nobody enjoys, or should we give ourselves a shake, start waving our flags, singing our songs and just as importantly regaining our pride?
This is where the Jungle Bhoys come into the argument.
Throughout the whole of last season the biggest item on the agenda at the Working Party Meetings between the Supporters Association and the Club was the introduction of a Singing Section at Celtic Park which would endeavour to tackle the lack of atmosphere at home games. The Celtic Supporters Association had brought the initiative to the table on the back of an interview with Peter Lawwell for the CSA website in which this question was addressed and given encouragement.
Throughout the season there were many problems to overcome and many issues to address, however one major hurdle had already been overcome. The club was fully behind this initiative and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell had given it his support,
without such backing it would never have got off the ground.
Let’s be clear. To succeed this initiative needs the backing of the Club and the backing of the support. Number one it already has, number two is what it is continually fighting for. How many people do you hear moaning about the lack
of atmosphere on their way home? Plenty. How many do you actually see doing something about it? That’s the problem.
Since the end of last season the ‘Jungle Bhoys’ committee was formed among interested parties with the Celtic Supporters Association and some of the Celtic website forums around the table with the intention of forming an ‘Umbrella Group’
to take the initiative further. This matured into the eight man, (and woman) Committee we have now who work tirelessly behind the scenes.
In such a short space of time we have achieved much, but we have so much, much more yet to achieve. If truth be known we have hardly even started yet. What we soon realised at the start of this season was that what we are up against is an even bigger task than we first thought. There has not been a revolution amongst the fans at Celtic Park for over a decade and a revolution again is what is needed this time, be under no illusions. However this time we are not talking about dusting down the old ‘Sack the Board’ banners. Come to think of it in those days the full title on the banner was ‘Back the Team, Sack the Board’.
It’s BACKING THE TEAM this revolution is all about, not sacking the board.
Look around you at Celtic Park. Watch a guy who tries to start the singing or getting behind the team. Everyone looks at him as if he has got two heads. This is exactly the mindset we need to change. We want to have a dedicated Singing Section in the
Lisbon Lions Stand in which every person who enters it does so with the intention of creating an atmosphere that will act as a catalyst to the rest of the ground to enjoy themselves and cheer on The Bhoys.
Section 141 in the Jock Stein Stand was the original idea for the Singing Section, but it simply isn’t working and a dedicated section is the only answer. Maybe it’s too much, too soon to expect Celtic fans just to join in with a few guys starting up the songs, but mistakes will be made and lessons will have to be learned.
Of course improving the visuals as well as the vocals is a major part of the overall improvement in the atmosphere and it is on this side that we are making strides. Already we have organised three card displays with various levels of success as we learn our trade.
Ironically the first one was the best with the hooped display against Aberdeen at the end of last season a joy to watch. The tricolour tifo against Ireland covering the whole North Stand was almost ruined by the inclement weather, but the guys did a salvage job on the top tier at the last minute, and finally we had the card display against Dundee Utd on the first SPL game of the season when we wanted to spell out a defiant ‘HAIL HAIL’ in white cards on a green background. Unfortunately the word ‘apathy’ struck that day and for the small majority it was too much to ask to lift a piece of card above their head for a minute so it was back to the drawing board.
Sending a message to the players that we are here and are right behind them is one of our aims, and we left Neil Lennon in no doubt how much we are right behind him with a 15ft banner of the bold Neil with his fist raised above his head. NEIL LENNON – CELTIC TO THE CORE in big writing on the portrait banner was the perfect act of defiance from the Jungle Bhoys to the Establishment Media’s attempts on character assasination.
The Jungle Bhoys’ most proud day however was without a doubt at the Day of Celebration of Jock Stein’s life, which we had suggested to Celtic to mark the 20th anniversary of the great man’s death.
Four hours after our email was sent, the reply came back. Normally these kind of things can be left in red tape for a while but the plan wa so good that it got the go-ahead from start to finish almost immediately. The Club deserve great credit for recognising a good idea when they saw it and for acting on it in conjunction with the Jungle Bhoys.
An historical ‘One minute of Applause’ for Jock Stein was to be the central piece of the tribute with a specially commissioned 20ft portrait banner of the all-time Celtic legend in the Jock Stein Stand, fittingly enough. The players would come out to green and white streamers reigning down from the Jock Stein Upper and then players of both teams, match officials and specially invited guests the Lisbon Lions all joined us together in bowing our heads in memory of the immortal Jock Stein. Even the Aberdeen fans joined in which was a tremendous gesture that will never be forgotten. The one minute of applause almost brought the house down and as it came to an end the Jock Stein banner was unveiled to the backdrop of one of the most emotional Walk On’s ever seen at Celtic Park. So emotional in fact that the game was a good two minutes old before anyone dared to take their scarf down.
If there is one day in the short life of the Jungle Bhoys that sums it all up it was that day. As we stood applauding the great man, as we stood holding up our banner of a Celtic legend during Walk On, as the tears flooded down our cheeks proud of the tiny part we as fans can play in comparison to the Immortal Jock Stein.
It’s moments like that when our team, our identity, our culture, our heritage and our proud history make us all one together.
We ask that the Celtic support get right behind us in our efforts to turn Celtic Park into a cauldron of noise once more. All seated stadiums can kill atmospheres, but they should never kill our passion.
JUNGLE BHOY.
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