SCOTLAND’S SHAME HIT A NEW LOW: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 4 minutes ago
- 4 min read
I wish I could come on here after a Glasgow Derby and just talk about football. Truly, I do.
But I can’t. Today was a step too far, even by the low, low standards of the team that calls itself Rangers.
A Multitude of Reminders as to Why They Remain Scotland’s Shame
Where do we start with today’s debacle? The racist chanting? The bottle throwing? The chants making light of child sex abuse? The tifo that served as a direct threat of violence against the Celtic support?
Take your pick. Any one of these utterly disgraceful acts would, in most civilized countries, result in criminal charges, fines and/or points sanctions for the team involved and probably government intervention to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Actually no, wait a minute, I’m being totally unreasonable. It’s not like the Rangers supporters did anything truly repulsive, warranting swift and severe criminal sanction, like criticizing the Israeli military.
So, let’s begin with the tifo.
A picture the size of an entire stand, of someone pointing a shotgun at visiting supporters with the slogan “take aim at rebel scum” isn’t banter. I don’t care who is allegedly holding the gun.
That’s hatred, that’s incitement and it has no place anywhere in decent society. Especially not at what is supposed to be our country’s showpiece sporting event.
But here’s the thing, a tifo of that size, scale and planning could not possibly be spontaneous. When the Union Bears embarrassed all of Scotland with their far-right anti-foreigner banner recently, that was different.
That was at least small enough that it could be explained away as the unwelcome actions of a small gaggle of idiots. Rangers as a club had plausible deniability in that case, but not today.
There is no way a display of that size could possibly have happened without the club’s prior knowledge, approval and cooperation. Rangers knew this was in the offing, and they didn’t just endorse it, they actively encouraged it.
Any denials or deflections that may come from Rangers in the days ahead ring hollow. They will, of course, go unchallenged by the tabloid press, as they always do, but we need to keep calling it out.
Then there was the old songbook. The banned hate anthem “The Billy Boys” blared out across the entirety of the stadium shortly after Rangers’ opening goal.
Why is it UEFA have sanctioned Rangers for this very song multiple times, yet the SFA have done nothing, and will no doubt do nothing again?
Then, when Celtic had the audacity to silence this wee “sash bash” by scoring a goal, the missiles started flying.
Bottles, vapes, and various other objects were thrown towards the Celtic players.
Why would the Rangers fans do such a thing? I mean it’s not like anyone held up a big sign encouraging them to “take aim” was it?
That brings us to the final, shameful act of the day, songs mocking the victims of child abuse. A certain section of the Rangers fans base really do seem to have an unhealthy obsession with this particular topic.
They reflexively bring it out whenever they feel the need to put down Celtic fans, or whenever they might be losing an argument.
Personally, I’d suggest the police inspect the hard-drives of every one of the sickos chanting those repulsive slogans today. The phrase “thou protesteth too much” springs to mind.
We saw the Irish group Kneecap get dragged in the press and by the UK government last week for far, far less than any of the despicable acts that went on at Ibrox today.
A line must be drawn. If the government, the police and the footballing authorities won’t act, then fans must.
It’s time for Celtic to call on all other clubs to ban Rangers supporters from their stadiums, until they can learn to behave like human beings.
Maybe some time being unable to follow their team away from home might finally teach this mob some humility and basic respect for others.
Of course, I realize it won’t happen. Let’s be honest, fans of most other clubs hate Rangers and Celtic with almost equal venom. We are only tolerated because of the money we give them, as Dundee United demonstrated last month.
At the very least though, Celtic can act themselves. The wee experiment to see if Celtic and Rangers fans can safely be in the same stadium together is over.
We should not allow their fans anywhere near Celtic Park again until there has been a total change of attitude from both Rangers and their supporters.
One final note. I wonder what Mr Cavenagh and his American investor friends made of today’s hate-fest.
Fascism is bad for business, and as I have said before, these people didn’t become millionaires by being stupid.
Anyone who saw that today and still thinks something as toxic and vile as the Rangers brand is worth investing in is welcome to it.
Because clearly, they are either idiots, or they are just as ignorant and hateful as some followers of the club they’re buying. Rangers truly are Scotland's Shame.