There were fears Celtic fans would launch another anti-monarchy protest ahead of Sunday’s game. As such, a planned minute’s silence was changed to a minute’s applause in the hope that the applause would drown out the expected boos. But supporters seized on the tribute with loud chants of “If you hate the Royal Family, clap your hands” echoing around St Mirren Park, despite attempts by others to drown out the noise with applause. Celtic fans also unfurled an offensive banner carrying the same message as Sky Sports commentator Ian Croker was forced to apologize on behalf of the broadcaster, saying: “Sorry if you were offended by anything you might have heard. Most people they showed respect, some didn’t.” DON’T MISS: Arthur Mello makes two Liverpool demands for Jurgen Klopp as signing takes promising steps The incident came just days after BT Sport were also forced to apologize after flagging a Celtic banner which read: “F*** THE CROWN”. A silence was originally planned before the tie with Shakhtar, but a pre-match meeting led UEFA to scrap the tributes altogether. With tension running high in the days leading up to Celtic’s Scottish Premiership clash at St Mirren, manager Ange Postecoglou has urged fans to stick to protocol. “I have the same message to our fans that we always have,” he told reporters. “Like I said before the game [against Shakhtar]we will follow the protocols. “We wore black armbands on Wednesday night. I think there is a thin round of applause [on Sunday], we will respect whatever obligations and responsibilities we have as a football club. We will do it respectfully. We want our supporters to do the same.” Celtic’s bitter rivals Rangers also took a gamble with UEFA but took a different approach to their royal tribute following the Queen’s death last week. They defied a decision by European football’s governing body by playing the national anthem ahead of their midweek clash with Napoli, despite the request being turned down. UEFA chose not to open disciplinary proceedings against the Gers, but did so against Celtic for the offensive banner display. The Hoops ended up returning to Scotland with a 1-1 draw from their game against Shakhtar, while Rangers were well beaten by Napoli. Postecoglou’s side went into Sunday’s clash with St Mirren defending an unbeaten league record, having scored a remarkable 25 goals and conceded just one in the opening six matches of the season.
