Why the safe-standing section should be expanded at Celtic Park

Celtic Park is set to become a cauldron of noise again for upcoming fixtures.

The men's team face off against St Mirren on Saturday May 20 and that will take care of itself in terms of atmosphere, with Ange Postecoglou's men playing their first match at home since they recently clinched the title. The fans will be in a joyous mood with the prospect of an eighth domestic treble very much in their sights.

This will be followed by Celtic Women taking on Hearts at the same venue a little over 24 hours later. The fixture has been hastily moved to the bigger stadium in order to cope with the influx of fans wanting to attend. Fran Alonso’s team are still in with a chance of securing their first league title, despite needing results to favour them elsewhere in the league on the final day.

This influx of supporters for the women’s team was certainly felt recently at Parkhead, as a record 9,553 spectators came to watch the team beat Glasgow City 3-1 to keep their title hopes alive. This match was live on Sky Sports and provided a good showcase of the ongoing developments of the women's game in Scotland.

Among this impressive support were members of ‘The Celtic End’, a campaign set up by multiple fan groups to create a full-standing section reminiscent of the ‘Yellow Wall’ found in Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion in Germany. These supporters will make their way to Sunday’s game in order to enhance the atmosphere and in turn, hope to break the record yet again for a women’s football match in Scotland.

If this second trial goes as smoothly and efficiently as its debut did, then surely there must be an increasingly valid argument to bring this in permanently for home games going forward, both domestically and in European competition.

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When you look at high-profile examples of these sections in action, there is no doubt that they enhance the atmosphere in the stadium tenfold. Having an area in the ground where it is guaranteed that noise and atmosphere are going to be produced only improves the matchday experience for all concerned, whether you are involved personally or just a spectator looking on.

As mentioned before, the equivalent in Dortmund, although admittedly larger than what Celtic would allow, has become an intimidating presence for opposition teams to face when they visit the ground and really stands out when games are played in the stadium. There is no reason why the Hoops fans cannot have similar aspirations.

Historically in the old version of Celtic Park, there was a northern terrace which housed supporters that wished to stand, affectionately known as ‘The Jungle’. This was a staple of home games until 1993 when seats were installed in the area. From then until 2016, Celtic Park did not have any standing sections available for supporters to inhabit. 23 years later, this changed with the construction of the safe standing section, also known as ‘The North Curve’.

This has allowed fans to congregate in what has been a good start for introducing a safe-standing element back to the Scottish game, but there is still so much untapped potential. Since its unveiling, the section has been the main source of atmosphere at Parkhead.

However, it is clear that modern football and the way it views safe standing is rapidly changing, which could prove beneficial to these plans coming to fruition in the near future. There is certainly a hunger for this, despite concerns some people may have.

Of course, there are still potential factors that could hold or halt this move. One of these is the fans who already sit in the proposed section of the stadium and who are unwilling to move from their allocated seat.

There are many reasons why supporters want to stay where they are, such as sentimentality in where they are located in Celtic Park or the people who they sit next to at games. Mass relocations for supporters are never easy, and it is clear that this process would take time to be effectively carried out.

It must be mentioned, however, that there will be some supporters who fall into this category and will be in favour of this. These fans could be important in making up additional numbers for the support of this movement, and their voices could be pivotal in the undertaking of this change.

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These are queries that can be made during the end-of-season census that is set to be carried out by the club, which The North Curve collective made public in a statement on their social media page. Hopefully, this data collection can be fruitful in gauging public opinion to see if the hunger is really there for an extension to Celtic’s existing standing contingent.

Picture the scene: a full safe-standing section making a raucous atmosphere on a Champions League night or even in a Glasgow Derby at midday. One unified stand, completely synchronised in songs and chants, consistently making noise over 90 minutes for the benefit of the team.

Even the sound of that will surely bring excitement and anticipation to many supporters hungry for this development to transpire.

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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