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The Green Brigade are a Celtic F.C. supporter ultras group formed in 2006. They are situated in the North Curve corner section of Celtic Park.
In April 2011 at the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, police officers attempted to remove a supporter who had set off a flare inside the stadium. Police were unable to remove the supporter because other fans held onto him. Four supporters were later held by police in connection with the incident. More than 100 Green Brigade members walked out of the stadium in protest at the arrests.
In April 2011 some members of the Green Brigade were not sent season ticket renewal forms after the club threatened to disperse the group around other sections of the stadium.
UEFA head of communications William Gaillard, when talking about the matter in 2006, said that chants related to the IRA were not sectarian, and was a nationalist issue – similar to fans of other clubs, such as FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, who support nationalist movements in their own countries. He also stated that in Balkan countries, some fans show support for political organisations that had engaged in ethnic cleansing, which is a different situation because those organisations are by their nature discriminatory. He said that in his opinion this did not apply to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Former Celtic manager David Hay has called for singing of IRA anthems to be banned, while another former Celtic manager Neil Lennon has also repeatedly said that the chants embarrass the club.
During a match at Celtic Park between Celtic F.C. and St Mirren F.C. on 11 February 2023, the Green Brigade displayed a banner reading "VAR decision: Douglas Ross is a cunt," targeting assistant referee Douglas Ross, who is also a MSP and former leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
The Glasgow Herald reported that in the weeks leading up to the incident, the Green Brigade had stepped up pro-IRA chants. Celtic have been investigated by UEFA in the past for alleged sectarian behaviour, including pro-IRA chants. In 2011, UEFA and the Scottish Premier League (SPL) investigated Celtic over pro-IRA chants by fans at different games. UEFA fined Celtic £12,700, while the SPL took no action, as the club had taken all reasonable action to prevent the chants.
Celtic were fined £8,619 by UEFA for supporters flying Palestinian flags at an August 2016 UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Hapoel Be'er Sheva at Celtic Park. The Green Brigade crowdfunding £176,000 in response, the balance of which it donated to Palestinian charities. Criticism from the wider club was again directed at the Green Brigade for displaying a banner reading 'Victory to the Resistance' accompanied with Palestinian flags during a match. The Green Brigade released a statement on 11 October standing by their decision to display the banner and criticised the club for what they saw as hypocrisy.
On Oct 7 2023, Celtic’s Green Brigade unfurled two huge banners declaring “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the Resistance”.On 25 October 2023, thousands of Celtic fans, including members of the Green Brigade, flew the Palestinian flag and banners in support of Palestine during a UEFA Champions League group stage match against Atletico Madrid. Fans dedicated the song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amidst the Gaza war which resulted in thousands of civilian deaths. On 31 October 2023, Celtic informed supporters by email that approximately 250 members of the Green Brigade would have their season tickets suspended after "serious issues" related to the Brigade's "unacceptable conduct".
On 23 December 2023, following a resolution with the Celtic board, the fan group returned to Celtic Park with another display of solidarity with Palestine, with banners quoting 'A Prisoner's Christmas Song', expressing sorrow over the tragic death toll of Israel's war in Gaza which had resulted in over 20,000 Palestinians killed, including 8,000 children, at the time of the match.
During a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich in February 2025, fans raised a banner stating "Show 'Israel' the red card" to call for Israel to be banned from FIFA competitions. The protest inspired similar protests at other clubs throughout the world.
The initial protest had been called over supporters receiving bans and what was described as "harassment by the police". The Green Brigade announced on its website that it would be holding a " to Celtic Park to raise awareness and show support for the growing list of Celtic supporters receiving and facing bans from both the Club and the PF. It is no secret the level of harassment many fans receive at the hands of Strathclyde Police nor is Celtic PLCs complicity able to be ignored. As such there is an ever growing list of fans being denied their passion of following their team." Fans took to social media after the initial protest, posting pictures of mounted police and a group of supporters surrounded by police with batons being prevented from leaving the area. Celtic fans felt that the initial demonstration had been improperly policed and turned out to show their support for those demonstrators. The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, which gave rise to the protests, was eventually repealed in April 2018.
"We will not allow the great name of Celtic to be damaged in this way – our supporters deserve more than this," said Celtic in a statement. The Green Brigade disputed the decision of the club and argued that its members were not responsible for the damage, but added it should have been more effective in self-policing.
In December 2013 UEFA issued the club with a €50,000 (£42,000) fine as a result of a banner unveiled by the Green Brigade at a UEFA Champions League match against AC Milan which displayed a political message (UEFA rules prohibit the display of banners of a political or ideological nature). The banner attracted further controversy for the use of the image of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.
During the 2017–18 season, the second qualifying round draw set up an all-United Kingdom clash with Belfast club Linfield. In the leg held at Windsor Park, some Linfield supporters threw bottles and coins at Celtic players and sang sectarian songs. During the return fixture, "illicit banner" displays were produced and UEFA charged Celtic again. The banner "showed a paramilitary-type figure" next to an image of Brendan Rodgers, the Northern Ireland manager of Celtic, under the words "Brendan's undefeated army"; the Daily Record accused the Green Brigade of designing the flags, and also claimed that the "undertones of the imagery were also clearly referring to the politics of Ireland while a section of Celtic fans were also heard singing pro-IRA songs during the powderkeg tie with the Belfast side. Linfield are seen as a Protestant Unionist club in Northern Ireland and fans of both sides had earlier hurled abuse at each other as they made their way into the stadium". Celtic elected to close off the zone that holds the Green Brigade for the following two matches.
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