Liam McGrandles has thanked Celtic fans for their support after he pulled the plug on a Parkhead gig after facing “vile” abuse on social media.
The Irish folk singer is a fixture at Celtic Park before major matches, but axed a planned performance prior to the Hoops’ Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich after being targeted by vile online trolls., who accused him of ruining the atmosphere. However he has since been met with an outpouring of support – and took to social media to thank those who had sent him positive messages.
Posting on his Facebook page, McGrandles said: “Just a wee post to say thanks every single person for all the support yesterday. I’ve had over 4000 messages and I’m working through them all. It was a handful of trolls/bampots (a very small minority) on Twitter on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Faceless accounts that don’t know me that were having a pop at the pre-matc entertainment.
“Then some of it got a bit vile and I decided to pull the gig. I genuinely didn’t want it blowing up like this, I wanted to call out these cretins and for it to blow over. I’ve seen loads of decent folk getting slaughtered on there in the past and it’s bang out of order. For me personally, having family/weans that could’ve seen that stuff it wasn’t worth it.
“The love from all the Celtic fans yesterday and today has been unbelievable. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. (And to every other person further afield) I was back playing in the Kerrydale Lounge, my usual haunt last night and I’ll keep cracking on, the way I have done for nearly 20 years.”
McGrandles announcement that he’d called off his performance prior to the Champions League knockout playoff showdown, was met with an outpouring of support online – with one fan saying: “A real pity you pulled out and will miss out on the night. There are some folk who like nothing more to moan about anything at the club, sad to see you were on the end of some of that too. Keep the head up, ignore them.” Another added: “So sorry to hear this, those haters are not true Celtic fans.”
In a statement he released announcing the decision, he said: “To get it from fellow Celtic fans was a punch in the gut to be honest. I’ve worked extremely hard for nearly 20 years to get into the position of being offered a gig like that. A gig I was never gonnae knock back. I’m a normal guy who sings in pubs every weekend to provide for his family.
“I’m not a multi-millionaire living in a bubble. I’ve got family that would’ve seen all that last night. I’ve seen this platform becoming a bit of a cesspit over the years, and so I tend to avoid it. I’d just say to the faceless accounts that piled on to slaughter me: be careful as it could be yourself on the receiving end one day. I’m a big Bhoy and this isn’t something that’ll stop me doing the job I love.”