It's like a rash, it starts off as an irritant but grows into something you need major surgery to remove.

That's the unsavoury section of Celtic fans I witnessed today that I am talking about. The idea in general was a good one, keep the singing, boisterous fans in the one area of the ground, however it's grown into a breeding ground for hatred and bigotry and Celtic FC seem unable to stop them doing and saying whatever they want.

The fact you can't walk down to the stadium anymore without republican propaganda leaflets being forced into your hand tells me that things may be heading backwards instead of forward in the tolerance stakes.

The Celtic fans in general are football supporters who go along with children, wives, fathers, brothers and friends for a day out watching their favourite team. The troublesome section I talk off seem to sing and chant unsavoury songs which have nothing to do with football and more to do with something else, a matter I am not an expert on but its nothing to do with football.

In recent times, both sides of the old firm claim to have zero tolerance with regards to all things bigoted but it strikes me as strange that these things are allowed to go on without repercussion.

Some Celtic fans have in previous years been very vocal about the sale of the Remembrance day Poppy in and around Celtic Park, due mainly to the high percentage of Irish supporters with their feelings around the troubles in Northern Ireland being the mainstay of their hatred. The sale of poppies in their eyes, is seen as giving money to British soldiers and their families something they are not fond of.

What these small minded people don't realise is the poppy selling goes back to the first world war, in which some 46,400 Southern Irishmen lost their lives in the pursuit of European freedom from the Germans. So in effect these so called Celtic supporters, who spew hatred about British soldiers also aim this same hatred towards their own ancestors from less than a 100 years ago, or don't they know their own countries history? Even the Scottish element within this group of trouble makers will know or have known members of the armed forces, even having the possibility that parents or grandparents served in wars in the past.

Today's spectacle which saw Celtic win a record breaking 9-0 over Aberdeen was somewhat tarnished in my eyes after seeing the banners unfurl with words of hatred aimed at British soldiers written upon them. The lack of people wearing poppies was also very apparent.

It's also interesting to note that Sir John Reid, Chairman at Glasgow Celtic, has previously held the post of Minister for Northern Ireland and also Secretary for Defence, so must have been dismayed at seeing such hatred ridden words on a banner within Celtic Park.

In previous years, the trend has been for football clubs to embroider a poppy on the chest of the football strip worn on or around Remembrance Sunday with a minutes silence in memory of the fallen. Celtic supporters do not have a clean record in regards to this with many of the troublesome section singing republican songs during the minutes silence. It's something that Celtic have failed to eradicate and is a constant embarrassment to the club.

Today's banner unfurling would tell me that the same group of so called fans intend to interrupt any memorial silence being planned in the future. The banner makes reference to 'devils in hell', 'Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan' & 'blood stained poppies on our Hoops', not exactly warm friendly words of support for the Poppy appeal and this sort of thing should never have been allowed at Celtic Park.

Just another in a long line of bigoted gestures that seem to be swept under the carpet without resolution and helps keep Scottish football in the dark ages.