Old Firm derby April 7th 2024

[unhinched]

On 1 April 2024 ,the Hate Crime and Public Order Act came into force in Scotland which means it is now an offence to behave in a way that could stir up hatred or be seen as abusive towards a protected group or characteristic.
Could this be the first Old Firm derby for decades where this does not happen... in the ground, in the pub, in people's homes...
I doubt it
I've got an Irish (ex UDA) mate going who now does cross cultural anti-sectarian work with the youth of Glasgow - but I think , for just 90 minutes , he will regress tomorrow. Police Scotland could be run off their feet though and he should escape .
I see Ally McCoist ( sense of humour) and Chris Sutton ( none) have already had a spat.

 

[IJN]

I've seen a couple it's a different level to anything else I've ever witnessed.

Actually saw two coppers having a pop as well.

It doesn't float my boat as it's all about religion and little to do with football. Or perhaps it's better to say, it probably is about football but it's difficult to separate the real reason.

 

[Frank Butcher]

My old boss is a Celtic fan and refuses to go now. He says it’s got too stupid and taken over by politics and religion.

 

[IJN]

Frank he must be ancient then! I lived in Scotland from 69 to 72 and trust me, it was always about religion and politics.

As an English Dunfermline fan I was asked literally hundreds of times whether I was a protestant, that was at school and at East End park, multiply that by 40 fold for Celtic and Rangers.

 

[Steamer]

I used to drink in the District Bar on Paisley Rd West ... Just happened to be across the road from where I was living. The pub is a Rangers supporters pub and the drinking hole for the local Orange Order. It was very odd having a hard case Glaswegian sidle up to me asking me questions and when he found out I was English, we were best buddies. You see, in Glasgow, (the blue part of Glasgow), an Englishman doesn't understand sectarianism and is no threat. What the conversation was really about is ... was I a proti or a catholic ... says it all really ...

 

[unhinched]

You see, in Glasgow, (the blue part of Glasgow), an Englishman doesn't understand sectarianism and is no threat. What the conversation was really about is ... was I a proti or a catholic ... says it all really ...

Or maybe what it was really all about is whether you were a unionist or a republican.

Rangers had a few bids for Whittaker turned down by Swansea before he joined Argyle.
I assumed they'd get him, but Argyle are massive I guess.

 

[Argylegames]

I lived in Scotland from 69 to 72 and trust me, it was always about religion and politics.

I lived west of Glasgow between 65 and 69 and I agree totally. As a ten year old from Plymouth I had never come across anyone questioning anyone else's religious persuasion before.

 

[Guiri Green]

It's also a fair assumption to make that those questioning which church you may worship at, hardly ever go into one themselves.

We once got grief in a Glasgow pool hall over a battle that happened 500 odd years ago. I lived in Jordanhill for a while and in later years would regularly be across at the Navy base to work.

If you went in the local co-ops for example, as soon as you opened your mouth and they sussed you were English, they'd scrabble through the till to offload all their English currency onto you as part of your change.

It's a strange place in that it's as welcoming as it is hostile depending on where you go or who you meet. I'd travel under my Cornish flag and be afforded a little leeway when required !

 

[Frank Butcher]

Frank he must be ancient then! I lived in Scotland from 69 to 72 and trust me, it was always about religion and politics.

As an English Dunfermline fan I was asked literally hundreds of times whether I was a protestant, that was at school and at East End park, multiply that by 40 fold for Celtic and Rangers.

He’ll be late 60s and yes of course, I probably didn’t phrase that correctly. The foundations of the rivalry are known to most I think, his view is that the behaviour has now got beyond stupid and he doesn’t want to be around it.

 

[Steamer]

Or maybe what it was really all about is whether you were a unionist or a republican.

Rangers had a few bids for Whittaker turned down by Swansea before he joined Argyle.
I assumed they'd get him, but Argyle are massive I guess.

Never once heard those words pass a Glaswegians mouth ...its all about religion. I agree with GG that most folk who have religious divisions, probably never set foot in a church. I worked in Easterhouse for a while and the estate is (was when I worked there in the early 1990's) divided into protestant and Catholic areas. Don't cross the line .. Running battles between the two groups.

 

[GreenAllOver]

Celtic fans seeing the team off to Rangers game today

 

[unhinched]

Is that impressive passion or just a bit sad ? I'm not sure ! Let's give the benefit of the doubt to those Celtic fans.

My late father in law grew up in post war poverty stricken catholic Glasgow. Celtic tried to sign him from Shawfield Juniors, but he chose the 3rd division south instead; which seems strange to my kids, but I think he just wanted to get the hell oota Glesgae and lets face it , who wouldn't ? Also the Lisbon Lions were a few years after so you'd have had to have been some player to have got near that first team.
The extended family were / are great people with no time for the bigotry. In fact he seemed to have little interest in Celtic or Scottish football and supported (Busby's) United.
Personally I'm wanting a Rangers win, but it makes you realise what a feat it was for Sir Alex to break the Old Firm dominance for just a short while. Off memory I think SAF reckons he was ousted from Rangers as a player for marrying a Catholic which , of course, is very sad if true.
In fairness I think both clubs have attempted to root out the worst of the sectarianism in the last few years.
My father in law married a Prod and they went to Catholic church in P. E. South Africa. I went once and met their priest a couple times .. an Irishman called ... Father Ted ! He had a great sense of humour ( about that amongst other things) and I was humbled by the way he gave his life to serve all his people including the poor and destitute in the Motherwell !! Township in Port Elizabeth.

 

[xmastree]

It's just unbelievably mental and ridiculous. Was in the Rangers end for the 1980 cup final riot. Firstly got threatened with a beating for having an English accent. When the riot started, huge numbers of bottles thrown from the back of the terrace were landing on their own fans, but no one was bothered. A mate in the Celtic end fell over and was trampled on leading to 6 months in hospital.

Returning to Argyle everything, even in those days, seemed very tame.

 

[unhinched]

It's just unbelievably mental and ridiculous. Was in the Rangers end for the 1980 cup final riot. Firstly got threatened with a beating for having an English accent. When the riot started, huge numbers of bottles thrown from the back of the terrace were landing on their own fans, but no one was bothered. A mate in the Celtic end fell over and was trampled on leading to 6 months in hospital.

Returning to Argyle everything, even in those days, seemed very tame.

That must have been some experience ! I was at the infamous Scottish victory at Wembley as a kid in 1977 when the goalposts were swung on and bits of the hallowed turf taken home as souvenirs. I reckon Jerryatricjanner took me - but from memory the Scots were good natured overall and passing out the beers on the terraces to the minority English. The concourse and terraces were ankle deep in Youngers tartan bitter cans.

 

[ChepstowGreen]

It's just unbelievably mental and ridiculous. Was in the Rangers end for the 1980 cup final riot. Firstly got threatened with a beating for having an English accent. When the riot started, huge numbers of bottles thrown from the back of the terrace were landing on their own fans, but no one was bothered. A mate in the Celtic end fell over and was trampled on leading to 6 months in hospital.

Returning to Argyle everything, even in those days, seemed very tame.

Celtic 1 Rangers 0 1980 Scottish 'riot' Cup Final

Match and riot highlights. Celtic score a late winner, hoards of unwashed from both sides invade the pitch, leading to pitched battels between both sets of f...

youtu.be

From 6 min 35 😱