Rangers v Celtic : Protestant v Catholic

 

I was born and brought up in Stirlingshire, Central Scotland; Larbert and Stenhousemuir to be exact. As a youngster, say around six/seven years old, kids at that age started to discover football. I actually ended up playing centre forward for Larbert Primary school football team and loved the sport. Of course, when it came to Scottish football, the sport was dominated (still is) by Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic. However, even back then - and I'm talking about 1959 - we discovered that Rangers was a Protestant-dominated football club with Celtic being Catholic. All us young kids were a wee bit baffled by this but as time passed by we all began to learn the history behind what can only be categorised as sectarianism.

So this apparent sectarianism led me to delve into the history of this parochial phenomenon and discovered some interesting facts. Historically, Scotland, and maybe this is not appreciated or generally known, has always had a Catholic population dating all the way back to the 16th century. It was the so-called the potato famine in Ireland that increased the number of Irish Catholics in Scotland. This eventually led to an increase in the bitter feelings on the part of a threatened Scottish Protestant population. This tension would only grow with time especially in Glasgow and its surroundings where the majority of the Irish settled. When the Reformation initially split the Church into Catholic and Protestant factions, Scotland took its first step in the transition from a once Catholic country to a country having a Protestant majority. This was called the Renaissance and Reformation. Even though Protestant support had almost completely wiped out Catholicism by the beginning of the 19th century, support for the Catholic Church would soon retake its place in Scottish society. And to a certain extent, this transitioned into the two football clubs we know today. And the first ‘Old Firm’ match between the pair? Well, that took place on the 28th May, 1888 where Celtic beat Rangers 5 - 2 at Parkhead. It’s hard to believe that this seminal football match took place 133 years ago!

Of course over the years, especially after World War II, and when peace eventually arrived on our shores, that gave way to a new era in Rangers v Celtic clashes on the pitch. But it was more what was happening off the pitch, i.e. in both Ibrox and Parkhead stadiums that would fashion the inherent bitterness between the two sets of fans right up until the present day. And this blossomed into the sectarian songs/chants that we have become accustomed to: for Rangers we have the likes of The Billy Boys, The Sash My Father Wore, We are the People, etc and for Celtic, we have Hail Hail the Celts are Here, The Broony, You'll Never Walk Alone, etc. Over recent years both the police and the Scottish Government have tried and failed to halt the sectarian chanting at Old Firm football matches but, alas, they have failed.

I shall end this blog with what turned out to be a Police Scotland investigation, and a video, showing Rangers players singing 'sectarian' songs during their Scottish Premiership title celebrations back in May this year (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57149159). I suppose if you were a Rangers supporter you'd be in raptures with such sectarianism but if you were a Celtic fan you'd be full of loathing.

So there you have it, a fanatical divide at the very heart of Glasgow and around many parts of Scotland. Unfortunately, this alienation by two sets of people isn't going to go away any time soon.