Ange Postecoglou calls on Celtic fans to respect minute’s applause for the Queen
The Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou, has called on away supporters to respect a minute’s applause in memory of the Queen before Sunday’s game at St Mirren.
The Paisley club have confirmed they will hold a tribute before the game at St Mirren Park. Celtic are the subject of Uefa disciplinary proceedings after supporters displayed an anti-monarchy banner during Wednesday’s Champions League draw against Shakhtar Donetsk.
When asked if he had a message for supporters, Postecoglou said: “I have the same message to our fans that we always have. As I said before the game [against Shakhtar], we will abide by the protocols. We wore black armbands on Wednesday night.”
He added: “I think there’s a minute’s applause [on Sunday], we will abide by whatever obligations and responsibilities we have as a football club. We will do that in a respectful manner. We want our supporters to do the same.”
There was no minute’s silence or applause before the Champions League match in Warsaw. One banner among the Celtic supporters declared “Fuck the Crown” while another read “Sorry for your loss, Michael Fagan”, a reference to the intruder who broke into the Queen’s Buckingham Palace bedroom in 1982. Supporters also expressed anti-monarchy sentiments in song during the game.
The St Mirren manager, Stephen Robinson, said earlier on Friday: “We will be showing our utmost respects.
We just hope everybody is respectful.”
“I’m not going to speak on behalf of anyone else’s supporters,” Postecoglu responded later. “I will look after our own club and our own supporters. Like I said, we will do whatever is required, as we have so far I think in a fairly respectful way as a football club.”
The Scottish FA postponed all matches last weekend in the wake of the Queen’s death and gave clubs the choice of whether and how to pay respects when games resume this weekend. St Johnstone will hold a minute’s applause before their home game against Ross County, with Partick Thistle doing the same before playing Cove Rangers.Rangers host Dundee United on Saturday, days after defying Uefa by playing the British national anthem before their Champions League defeat by Napoli. The Ibrox club will not face any sanctions from Uefa for going against its instructions. The anthem was played immediately after a minute’s silence, with fans creating a union jack backdrop behind a silhouette of the Queen.
The 3-0 loss on Wednesday was Rangers’ third in a row in all competitions, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side are five points behind Celtic after just six Premiership games. “We are determined to get back to winning ways,” the manager told Rangers TV. ““We have prepared really well to make sure we maintain the way of playing, especially the intensity and character, we showed last Wednesday. We need to have that to get a good result at Ibrox tomorrow.”