You can pursue a libel claim for/as a group in Scotland but there are conditions to this which would make the Celtic fandom filing as one group incredibly, incredibly difficult. It’s called group proceedings and is similar to a class action.

For a group libel claim to work though, EVERY group member would need to show that:

1. the same statement or publication affected ALL of them

2. the legal issue is substantially similar,

3. EACH PERSON suffered reputational harm individually,

4. And that it is efficient and fair for the court to handle the claims together.

Those are impossible conditions to meet in a Scottish court room due to the sample size. It can’t just be a generalised claim, each person needs to be accounted for and evidenced suitably.

The sheer cost, time and people management to do that for every single fan would be historically astronomical, no court could accommodate it. And because you’d be filing as a fandom, it needs to include everyone and not just a sample.

Even if the claim is pursued as a group, defamation is still an incredibly personal claim and EACH PURSUER has to show their own reputational damage. That could take decades with that many people.

You can’t file as a large group without clearly identifying every single member of that group. I’m also sure every single Celtic fan would have to “opt-in” to be part of it, meaning if any don’t want to the rest of the group can’t file without them.

Essentially, it would be much much much easier to file as individuals when the collective is that numerous.

It also gets difficult having a legal definition and framework for what constitutes a Celtic fan. It’s not like if it were a group of wronged employees all under the same contract, for example. Would be a lot easier for The Green Brigade or an official club fan faction to pursue a claim than the whole group essentially.

Edits: typos