Uefa bans Celtic anthem

[Mac 10 †]

Uefa bans Celtic anthem

Celtic have been forced to ditch fans' favourite You'll Never Walk Alone before Champions League games at Parkhead.

Furious supporters contacted the club after the football anthem was red-carded from their recent game against Danish team FC Copenhagen.

The Gerry and the Pacemakers hit has been played over the Celtic Park Tannoy for the past 30 years before kick-off. But now Uefa officials have said Celtic must play only the Champions League anthem and advertisers' slogans prior to kick-off.

Last night Celtic match compere Tony Hamilton told The Celtic View that Uefa rules meant the club had been forced to bin the fans' usual pre-match ritual.

He said: "Uefa has a document which counts down what should happen across each Champions League venue up to 7.45pm before the games kick off.

"This document tells us that at 7.42pm hours we should play a 40-second version of the Champions League theme as the last player falls into line. We're then told to play nothing else or make any further announcements."

Last night, outraged fans criticised what they see as a snub to one of the club's traditions.

A spokesman for the Celtic Supporters' Association said: "You'll Never Walk Alone is part of the whole experience of going to the big games at Celtic Park. Celtic should speak to Uefa about this and we'll be bringing it up at our next meeting with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell."

Last night a Uefa spokesman said: "Every club in the Champions League is issued with instructions regarding the organisation of events before the start of matches.

"All clubs taking part must adhere to these instructions, which include the playing of the Champions League anthem prior to kick-off."

This really is quite a shame, playing/singing YNWA really is quite a tradition before the game starts.  Hopefully the fans will start it themselves, looks like we will have to.

[KURUPTION-81]

theres rules for everything now a days i can see why they want the champions league music played but i dont see y u'll never walk alone cant be played also. Unless it contradicts some type of music broadcasting rule as in advertisment of the song.

[Boo-Yaa †]

the more i think it, the more it doesnt seem to bother me. We dont need them to play it, for us to sing it... sounds much beter when they dont play it anyway!