I have to start this article with a public notice. It is for the avoidance of doubt: At no time in the following piece shall I use the word "corrupt", because to do so might suggest untoward goings on. A cabal, nepotism, a plan, an opus.
Instead, I might well say "co-incidence", "fluke", unlikely event", "strange decision" or similar.
I'd like to talk about the venue for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. Simply because it still seems to me to be a strange choice of venue. A "strange decision", if you will. The reason for the choice of Celtic Park, home of Celtic FC, we were informed was that it holds 61,000 and is the biggest capacity ground In Scotland, the obvious choice.
Hmmm.
Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell said, "Celtic Park is widely recognised as one of the finest football stadia across Europe …". Peter, as usual, is showing scant regard for the facts.
Ibrox, the only other possible venue, wasn't considered. After all, it was, along with Hampden, one of only two UEFA rated "Five Star" stadia in Scotland under the old UEFA criteria and, only after 2006, when the criteria changed, did Celtic Park join Ibrox and Hampden as a "UEFA Elite Stadium", where capacity overtook other criteria. I can't explain why any ground went from nowhere to elite overnight. Perhaps Glasgow City Council phoned UEFA. Or, perhaps since Celtic Park wasn't on UEFA's "Elite" list, is it now included because of the improvements made for the Commonwealth Games?
http://www.wikistadiums.org/uefa-elite-stadiums
Rangers play at Ibrox. Perhaps Glasgow City Council, for reasons best known to themselves, thought it best not to go there. Or was it that they realised that the area round Ibrox would require re-generation and that would never do?
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/commonwealth-games/celtic-park-opening-ceremony
How much has this cost the Scottish taxpayer? A Freedom of Information request shows: Celtic Park anticipated costs £1,853,926. A second Freedom of Information request met a blank when this reply came in: "The Organising Committee has a responsibility to return all venues used for the Games to their owners in a comparable condition to that in which they were received. Detailed information in this regard cannot be released as it may be commercially sensitive." We do know, however, that Celtic FC are being treated to a new pitch from Holland after the Games, at a cost of £1.8 million… erm… to you and me, but that's a co-incidence, of course.
Celtic Park has been altered to accommodate the opening ceremony. The pitch has been altered and the main stand and both stands behind the goals have been closed. Big screens take pride of place. The ceremony will now have a capacity of 35,000 – less than Hampden or Ibrox had at the outset.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/3407712
Hampden is home to the National team. It has undergone a transformation too, and, despite holding less than Celtic Park, is the choice for the closing ceremony.
http://www.glasgow2014.com/press-releases/hampden-park
Do the organisers think there will be less people at the closing ceremony?
Funny how some writers put things, isn't it?
"Celtic Park is located next to the Athletes' Village, making it ideal for athletes attending the Opening Ceremony in the stadium" is a quote from the website "Glasgow2014". Holding prominent position on the Glasgow 2014 Board is Bridget McConnell, representing Glasgow City Council. The words are written in the wrong order. Probably, that's an oversight. The truth is that the Athletes Village is next to Celtic Park, built after Celtic Park was chosen, mysteriously, by fluke or whatever. If the Athletes Village had been built next to the Dalmarnock Sewage Works (which underwent a £2.5 million upgrade last year), then that could have been an alternative venue.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/rod-stewart
Adding fuel to the fire, we have to look at the headline act. Remember the Games are in Glasgow. So why choose an Englishman to open the event? Have the organisers of the Superbowl ever asked Stiff Little Fingers to have a belt at The Star Spangled Banner?
A source (the Daily Record's words) says "He's a proud Scotsman and represents the country all over the world and he's a big fan of the Queen." Well, no, he's not a Scot. He was born at 507 Archway Gate, Highbury, London. He grew up an Arsenal fan, too.His dad, a Scot from Leith, supported Hibernian.
I don't know what Stewart thinks of the Queen, but I know the supporters of the club team he follows regularly sing anthems rebelling against the Queen and in praise of the I.R.A., who murdered Her Majesty's uncle Lord Mountbatten.
Then again, Rod attends the odd big game at Celtic Park, proclaims himself a Celtic fan and even insists that the drummer in his band has a Celtic FC crest on the skin of his bass drum. Rod's last drummer; and who may be the one with him at Celtic Park, is session drummer David Palmer, once of Duran Duran. Mr. Palmer is English and is not a follower of Celtic FC.
http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/celtic-park-stadium
A stroll along the new "Celtic Way" means you will walk on stunning new flagstones, paid for by our tax contributions. On the flagstones that you and I paid for, is inscribed the Celtic FC crest. Did Celtic get permission to deface flagstones in this way? What has the Celtic FC crest got to do with the Commonwealth Games, you may ask. Sorry, I can't tell you. I don't think it has much, if anything, to do with the Games but I'm not on Glasgow City Council. Perhaps it's another of those "unlikely events" that surround this sorry episode.
http://www.celticfc.net/bricks/buy
Celtic FC, despite the re-generation of decrepit surroundings thanks to this event and a compliant Glasgow City Council, are not selling replica flagstones adorned with the Commonwealth Games logo.
More keen to make a fast buck than to promote the Games, Celtic are selling lettering on flagstones remarkably like the ones you and I paid for. For a mere £150 you can have three lines of text beneath the Celtic FC crest. For £75, on a smaller paving stone, you get two lines of text. If that is beyond the means of the average Celtic fan, you can have a replica to sit in your own home for a mere £40 or £30 for the smaller one.
I was thinking of getting "Lovely to see Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth visiting the former Second City of the Empire again." But I think it might get defaced. Before you splash out your hard earned, remember, these flagstones sit near statues of Brother Walfrid, Jinky and Big Jock. Knew that might put you off the idea.
http://news.stv.tv/celtic-given-permission-to-demolish-london-road-primary-school/
To complete the new look area, paid-for by our taxes, a new Celtic Superstore is to be built. On the site of a demolished B listed building. Seems that Celtic have the power to influence Glasgow City Council on this too. That must be a co-incidence.
To end this article, I need a moment to take off the trilby and don an exotic turban with a massive fake ruby attached to the front. I now wish to be referred to as Swami McCrae for the rest of this article.
My transformation is an aid to the end of this article. You see, I wish to predict the future. And it is this.
Within a short timeframe after the Games have finished, Glasgow City Council will be sitting on large purpose built arenas that have, in the current economic climate, no commercial use. These will be sold to Celtic FC for a pittance, far less than their market value. I know this because this has been done before. I refer you to the land deal at Lennoxtown, if you are unfamiliar with this, here is a good starting point:
http://footballtaxhavens.wordpress.com/lennoxtown-initiative-plus-a-bonus/
And now that I've mentioned Celtic FC's current (and I emphasise that word) training ground, I also predict that it will be closed and the land it sits on will be sold to developers at a massive profit for Celtic FC.
You see, I suggest that if they wanted to stay there, they would stop appealing the decision made when they moved into their 46 acre site near the Campsie Fells. The decision, for those who are not aware, was that a major new access road be built at Celtic's expense rather than have an additional large number of cars travelling through an otherwise tranquil village. The road had never been built because Celtic keep getting two year extensions to the starting date. The extensions are granted, much to the anger of the entire local community, by East Dunbartonshire Council. And that, folks, is a co-incidence.
See, I never used the word "corrupt" once, just as I promised.