ABSTRACT
The friendship developed between supporters of Celtic and FC St. Pauli is on one level rather odd. The dominant discourses that present Celtic as one side of a sectarian old firm divide – the ‘Catholic Club’ – and their relationship to the leftist German supporters is unusual. Moreover, a friendship developed between a British and German club who had never played each other is uncommon. Much of the discourse on Celtic is problematic though to understanding the relationship between supporters of this club and FC St. Pauli. Viewed through the prism of one half of the old firm divide, representations of Celtic can be rather generalized and some authors find it a difficult subject to fully comprehend. Murray argued this is the result of the use of the term sectarianism. He recognized that this causes confusion but considered its use more appropriate than the use of terminology such as racism.1 Discourses on sectarianism though are not only unhelpful but can be
reductionist. In discussing Celtic’s contribution to European football, Brain Glanville describes Jock Stein – the legendary manager of the club – as a protestant who had become a hero of a deeply catholic club.2 Jimmy Burns in Barca: A Peoples Passion referring to a new breed of business taking over clubs contrasts what he describes as the pragmatism introduced by Fergus McCann at Celtic in the 1990s with entrenched opposition. Burns claimed that the new owner wanted to concentrate on turning the club into a commercial vehicle by diluting what are referred to as the clubs twin traditions – Irish nationalism and catholic sectarianism.3 In a more measured analysis, Kuhn recognized Celtic as representing the Irish/Catholic community and though he states that the old firm were not responsible for sectarian strife he argues that antagonism played out on the football field could prolong such tensions.4 As one of the few authors to recognize the high regard in which some progressive and radical football fans in Europe’s antifascist culture fans hold the club he maintains that this comes almost exclusively from a symbolic significance to Irish republicanism.5
