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1 Introduction – Sectarianism in Scottish Football In recent years, football worldwide has undergone several dramatic changes. Television has made the sport one of the most popular in the world, with viewers able to tune in to watch players from different countries compete for honours. These changes have also affected Scottish Football, with a great deal of money flooding in from television rights. However, football in Scotland has not benefited as greatly as countries such as England, Spain and Italy. One key problem that some argue holds Scottish football back from developing is the issue of sectarianism and religious hatred. While the problem is not as great as in countries such as Bosnia or Northern Ireland, it remains an important issue, one that society as a whole and football in particular, is attempting to rid itself of. Some feel that sectarianism is a particular problem for Scotland because the two main protagonists in the saga are the two biggest clubs, Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic. Throughout their respective histories, each club has come to represent the two sides of the sectarian divide. Celtic, wearing green and white, represent the Irish Catholic group, stereotypically supporting Irish Republicanism and displaying allegiance to the Republic of Ireland. Rangers, wearing red, white and blue have come to represent the British Protestant group, supporting Unionist causes and often displaying more allegiance to England than Scotland. A proposed visit to Carfin Grotto by Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, had to be cancelled amid fears that the previous days Rangers vs. Celtic clash could spark sectarian violence. MSP Donald Gorrie felt that the issue was of such significance that he proposed a bill, outlawing sectarian behaviour. In recent times, Rangers and Celtic have both intimated their desire to play in the English Premiership, one of the most lucrative leagues in the world. Both clubs recognise the need to shed their sectarian images in order to be accepted into this league and have recently made dramatic inroads into eradicating the problem. However, the cloud of sectarianism still hangs over their heads and it is important that one examines the social and historical factors that contribute to sectarianism in Scottish football in order to firstly understand it and then contribute to the potential resolution of the problem. 2 Literature Review The issue of Sectarianism in Scottish Football is a very broad topic with wide ranging views. Many writers divide the issue into three parts: the immigration of Irish people around the time of the potato famine; the years post 1888 after Celtic football club was formed; and the modern day, since Rangers abandoned their Protestant only signing policy in 1989. A great deal of work on the subject has been done by Bill Murray. He has written two books on the issue, the first of which is simply called ‘The Old Firm.’1 In this book, Murray looks at the interaction of sport, politics and society beginning with the formation of the football teams of Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, commonly referred to as ‘The Old Firm,’ in the late 19th century. He examines the initial interactions between the two clubs after the formation of Celtic, although he does also mention the formation of Rangers, who preceded their rivals by some sixteen years. He considers the wider social tensions between the native Protestant population and the immigrant Catholic population and compares these to the tensions between the clubs, as he feels each came to represent opposing sides of the sectarian divide. While this book was first published in 1984, Murray updated it in 2000 to include significant events such as the signing of Rangers first Catholic, Maurice Johnston and the incident involving ex-vice Chairman of Rangers, Donald Findlay QC, where he was videotaped singing sectarian songs. In this book, Murray is perhaps guilty of laying blame solely at the feet of Rangers and their supporters. Despite their maintenance of a sectarian employment policy for some 116 years, Murray fails to evaluate the reasons for this, as there may have been several significant internal factors that led to there being no Catholics employed at Ibrox until 1989, and merely dismissed it as blatant sectarianism. It is far too simplistic to entirely apportion the blame to Rangers and Murray is guilty of following popular opinion and doing so, without paying sufficient attention to significant events at Celtic. 1 Murray, B ‘The Old Firm: Sectarianism, Sport and Society in Scotland’ John Donald Publishing 2000 3 In a second book, ‘The Old Firm in the New Age,’2 Murray attempts to examine the changing relationship between the clubs in the years following the abolition of the sectarian policy at Ibrox. In this book, he discusses the effect of money and European football and how these factors have contributed to changed relations between the two clubs. He argues that sectarianism is still prevalent in Scottish football and this makes the clubs appear unattractive to outside investors. In spite of this argument, Murray fails to recognise that the two clubs are among the most successful in Britain and indeed Europe and he does not consider the possible reasons for this success. Relative failings in European competition are touched upon, but all too briefly as Murray again lays siege to Rangers, still blaming them for the presence of sectarianism in Scotland. He fails to see that only joint efforts can lead to any possible resolution to the problem and is far too lenient on Celtic and their efforts to counter sectarianism. Joseph Bradley has examined the issue of Gaelic Sports in Scotland and how the immigrant Irish brought their native sports with them to their newly adopted country in ‘Sport, Culture, Politics and Society: Irish Immigrants and the Gaelic Athletic Association.’3 Although the book would appear to be about any Gaelic sporting teams in Scotland, it is Celtic Football Club who gain the most references. While he attempts to discuss the popularity of Gaelic sports in Scotland, he fails to recognise that the immigrant Irish took more to the sports of their new homeland, perhaps in an attempt to assimilate themselves into society more successfully. While the book does provide an interesting history of Gaelic games in Scotland, it does not properly consider why these games did not continue to be part of the lives of the immigrant Irish and as such is based on a fundamental misconception. Ronnie Esplin, in his book ‘Down the Copland Road,’4 discusses the role of Rangers Football Club in society and devotes a chapter to the issue of sectarianism. He merges his own work with quotes from a group of Rangers supporters on a 2 Murray, B ‘The Old Firm in the New Age: Celtic and Rangers since the Souness Revolution’ Mainstream Publishing 1998 3 Bradley, JM ‘Sport, Culture, Politics and Scottish Society: Irish Immigrants and the Gaelic Athletic Association’ John Donald Publishing 1998 4 Esplin, R ‘Down The Copland Road’ Argyll Publishing 2000 4 variety of topics. While the views of the supporters are often extreme and occasionally contradictory, they provide an interesting insight into the thought of the average fan on the terraces at Ibrox, the home ground of Rangers. His accounts of significant events are often basic and offer no real analysis, but this work provides important contrasting viewpoints from otherwise difficult to reach sources. The work of Finn5 considers the consequences of the Irish Diaspora, with particular reference to the world of football. He compares the Irish immigrants with their Scottish counterparts in other countries and discusses how the two were able to establish football teams, yet only the Irish were to suffer from any form of social prejudices. He also talks of the influence of the Church in football and how, although the Church had a significant part to play in the early days of football in England, this is never given as evidence of sectarianism. For Finn, political and nationalist symbolism has always been evident in football, citing the names of many football teams that include names such as Caledonian, Thistle and Victoria. Another significant event for Finn was the attempts by the Irish teams of Dundee Harp, Edinburgh Hibernian and Glasgow Celtic amongst others, to diminish their Irish roots6. For Finn such events were significant as they represented some form of ideological threat to the Irish immigrants, as a part of their heritage was being taken away from them. Finn tends to look at events from a more sociological perspective, but as such, provides interesting theories on the development of Scottish football and sectarianism within this area. He tends to digress somewhat on discussion of teams history, dwelling a little on the changes that went on at Dundee Harp in their transition to Dundee United, but nonetheless provides some useful work on the topic. 5 Finn, GPT ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs, Soccer and Scottish Society –I The Historical Roots of Prejudice’ International Journal of the History of Sport Vol. 8 No 2 September 1991 6 Finn, GPT ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs, Soccer and Scottish Society – II Social Identities and Conspiracy Theories’ International Journal of the History of Sport Vol. 8 No 3 December 1991 5 Alan Lugton focuses entirely on the formation and early years of Hibernian Football club in ‘The Making of Hibernian.’7 As the pioneers of Irish football teams, from their base in the ‘Little Ireland’ area of Edinburgh, Lugton discusses the factors affecting the decision to form the club out of the Catholic Young Mens Society in 1875 as well as the influence the club had over the immigrant Irish population generally from their conception.

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