Ignore the fans at your peril!
Fans can be every bit as powerful as those running the clubs says Keith...

"The great only appear great because we are on our knees.....Let us rise"

These words are attributed to a famous Hibernian. A man who saw that together, the downtrodden and disenfranchised could be collectively bigger and stronger than those that would rule over them. This man, called by Lugton 'the most remarkable Hibs fan ever' is James Connolly. Such views as the one expressed above led him to help in the formation of collective workers movements across the world. 

I wrote last week that the fans us 'other' Scottish clubs have to show solidarity if we really want to get rid of the Old Firm, or at least force our various clubs respective boards to do it for us. This may sound like some idealistic rhetoric, but it is practical.  There are countless examples across the footballing world of hugely influential groups of fans. An influential body of fans that can, and do exert genuine influence over their clubs. Only a couple of months ago, during the Rome derby a leader of the Roma Ultras walked on to the pitch to ask Francesco Totti to call the game off because of trouble outside the ground. Italian club presidents and players ignore their fans wishes at their peril.  

In Spain, there are clubs that are owned by their members, who then vote on who they want to run their clubs. This model is even being imported to the UK, with Wycombe Wanderers now owned by the fans as a collective. This all goes to show that fans need not be marginalised and treated by the games administrators as an afterthought. 

Large groups of fans can be very powerful if organised!  (hibs.net)

And this is how a practical fans movement can be created. Football fans have a reasonably high degree of organisation as it is - supporters clubs and federations, action groups, protest groups, money-raising groups - All that would be required is for representatives of these various organisations to work together for the common good. In much the same way as a Trade Union, such an alliance could prove a powerful advocate for those who are too often ignored. 

What would the first act of any such federation be if I could choose? To organise a boycott of Old Firm games. Assuming that all non Old Firm fans are united in their desire for an Old Firm free league (a big assumption I admit) then a boycott of such games could be a very potent tool of persuasion.  I realise that many fans do not agree with the principle of harming your own club to make a point. But it seems to me that there is a way around this. While a boycott could be called, those who did not wish to be seen as harming their clubs could pay their money into trust with their respective supporters association/federation. This money could then be kept, on the proviso that it would be handed over to the clubs if/when they started making moves to create a non Old Firm League. 

Yes, if you wanted to be negative, you could call this blackmail. But a positive spin on it would be to recognise that it is actually a pro-active step from the people who are the game. If the clubs are to spineless to act, then it is time for the fans, if they want action as much as many profess to, to take the matter into their own hands. We could effectively make up their minds for them. 

As has been said before, Scottish Football needs a revolution to halt the downward spiral it is on. If the powers that be are too apathetic, comfortable, indifferent or cowardly to act, then let the fans act in their stead, because somebody has to do something. What value would a figure amongst the non-Old Firm fans now of such impeccable revolutionary credentials as James Connolly? Perhaps it is time for another to step forward and take up his revolutionary mantle. The only difference now is that the battleground is Scottish Football, not industrial revolution shop floors. But the principles remain the same – the many must unite and act to stop the few from ruining the game that we hold dear.

Hibs will be without Matt Doumbe again tonight for the visit of Partick thistle for the final home game of the current SPL season.  Although the Frenchman has resumed training following his back injury, Doumbe has not recovered sufficiently to take a place in the squad.  With Derek Riordan out for the remainder of the season with ankle ligament damage, Jim Clark and Gerry McCabe welcome back Garry O'Connor who has recovered from a tooth abscess to further bolster the front line after Stephen Dobbie's return on Saturday.