Linfield issue extraordinary statement in response to former Celtic player

Linfield have issued an extraordinary statement in which the club address 'hysterical articles' surrounding their possible Champions League qualifier against Celtic next month.

The Northern Ireland Football League champions have to negotiate a first round tie against Sammarise side La Fiorita before they can begin to plan a meeting with the Glasgow club.

If they progress to the second round, Linfield would be scheduled to face Celtic in the first leg in Belfast on July 12^th, the day of the contentious annual Orange Parade.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) ruled out the tie taking place on the 11^th or 12^th due to security concerns so the clubs agreed to hold the game on Friday the 14^th with an early kick-off.

Additionally, Celtic have agreed not to take up any of their allocation of 4,000 tickets for the Windsor Park clash, meaning there will only be one set of supporters – a common remedy for potential crowd trouble.

However that hasn't stopped tongues from wagging and the possibility of trouble between the traditionally unionist Linfield supporters and nationalist Celtic fans has been a discussion point.

The club took particular issue with an interview in Glasgow's Daily Record by former Celtic player Joe Miller, who recalled playing in an apparent friendly at Windsor Park while at Aberdeen.

In it, Miller recalled his teammates being followed by laser pointers, as if to imitate sniper finders, and being accosted outside a local pub while transporting footballs by hand.

“What troubles us most of all,” reads the statement, “is that Linfield FC has no record of having played Aberdeen at Windsor Park or elsewhere in the entire decade Mr Miller refers to, whether in a friendly fixture, training game or otherwise.

“In fact, it appears that Linfield have never played against Aberdeen at all throughout our entire history.”

The statement finished by asserting the club have instructed their solicitors to engage in formal communication with Miller and the Daily Record.

Linfield previously issued legal proceedings against a newspaper after it alleged fans of the Belfast club had fought with fans of a Dublin club before a Stone Roses concert in Marlay Park.

Linfield's statement in full:

Since last Monday’s Champions League draw, there has been considerable press hyperbole surrounding a possible Second Round tie between Linfield and Celtic. Aside from making some contingency arrangements for this possible game, the Club’s stated position is that our utmost concentration must be on our First Round tie against La Fiorita of San Marino. To do anything other than this would be to disrespect our opponents whom we look forward to welcoming to Windsor Park on Wednesday evening. The Club is providing every assistance to David Healy, his staff and the first team squad in the preparation for these vitally important games.

Linfield feel that we must, however, issue a public response to some of the more hysterical articles that have appeared in the press over the last few days. Even in this era of “fake news” and slashed media budgets, one would have not thought it beyond the capabilities of most reporters to perform some basic fact-checking before sending an article to the presses.

A particularly regrettable piece appeared in the Scottish Daily Record on Saturday 24th June, wherein the former Celtic footballer Joe Miller recalled a friendly match he had apparently taken part in against Linfield at Windsor Park whilst he was on the books of Aberdeen. The interview with Mr Miller, as told to the Daily Record reporter Gordon Parks, included such colourful details as the winger apparently being repeatedly targeted with laser rangefinders and that he and his colleagues, Derek Whyte, Tommy Craig and Roy Aitken were carrying match balls down a street after this game when they passed a public house where they were confronted by angry locals.

The latter detail may cause some bemusement to Linfield supporters, given that even in those pre-redevelopment days, Windsor Park was wholly enclosed from any surrounding streets, and there remains a distinct lack of local hostelries in the area adjacent to the ground. We have played numerous friendly games at Windsor Park over the years against such clubs from Manchester United to Flamengo of Brazil, but have yet to ask opposing players to walk around South Belfast whilst carrying various match accoutrements.

What troubles us most of all, however, is that Linfield FC has no record of having played Aberdeen at Windsor Park or elsewhere in the entire decade Mr Miller refers to, whether in a friendly fixture, training game or otherwise. In fact, it appears that Linfield have never played against Aberdeen at all throughout our entire history.

A particularly concerning allegation made by Mr Miller, printed in the Daily Record and broadcast on social media to tens of thousands of views, was that “there were red dots on us for the whole 90 minutes” of this mysterious game. This fanciful account seems to suppose that the player and his colleagues were being targeted by multiple firearms, and was provided in the context of suggesting that it would be unsafe for Celtic supporters to visit our stadium, should that tie come to pass in due course. Given that Windsor Park was, and is, an almost entirely enclosed stadium, it would have been unlikely that this could have come from outside the ground, had this fixture actually taken place. Given also that neither the then-RUC nor the British Army carried lasers fitted to their weapons as standard, and that in 1995 it would be some years before laser pointers became easily available and affordable to members of the public, one wonders where, exactly, these red dots may have appeared from in this match that didn’t actually happen.

In light of everything stated above we can only suggest that this account is demonstrably untrue.

The Club has now instructed Solicitors to write to Mr Miller and the Daily Record accordingly.

This is just one of the press stories that have appeared in the last week that is easier to rebut. Our Solicitors have also been put on retainer to investigate any further attacks on the good character of this Club and its supporters. In the meantime, we would only ask that the media, like Linfield FC, concentrates on fixtures that have actually been arranged, and that any reporting of past events is conducted to proper journalistic standards.

A statement regarding the possible match against Celtic and the ticketing arrangements for that game will be released in due course, should we win the upcoming tie against La Fiorita.