Post by Ruth on Feb 5, 2014 16:33:27 GMT -5
Is Old Firm Rivalry Getting the Best of Football?
“This sort of behaviour is utterly unacceptable.”- Alex Salmond.[1]
Everything that there is about football has been overtaken by the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers. When these two teams clash nothing matters apart from the cold, harsh ways at getting under each other’s skin. Football is no longer a concern;
“On Sunday afternoon at Celtic park, sports reporters, myself included, sat through the usual litany of bile spouted by visiting Rangers fans, with hardly a mention in next day’s reports.”[2]
There is no mention of the hatred between Celtic and Rangers in the news ever because of how common it is to hear these vile chants. The only time there is news about their hatred towards each other is when it is too late.
The ways in which the fans try to get under each other’s skin is based on violence. Violent chants and violent actions. They do not care about the football anymore, just like they don’t care about each other. All that they want is to see the opponent team getting beaten. These fans have no boundaries whatsoever;
“That a person attempts to assault a football manager and is consequently charged with assault based on religious prejudice; that parcel bombs and live ammunition are sent in the post and unsavoury chants are heard in a stadium, indicates that this is no laughing matter. The day when sectarianism is a forgotten part of Scotland’s past cannot come soon enough. It must be stopped.”[3]
These teams need to stop their crimes, their crimes cannot continue as it is taking over the whole of the football world. It is no longer spiteful rivalry between only Celtic and Rangers, but it has now spread to the rest of the country’s football teams. The fans of other teams are choosing sides and joining in on this ridiculous behaviour;
“During Celtic’s win over Heart of Midlothian in Edinburgh, a supporter tried to attack Lennon in front of the dugout, and the manager defended himself with some vigour.”[4]
No one should feel unsafe about going to a football game, especially a manager who should be greatly protected and isolated from fans with no way of them getting in beside them. The football we see now is not what it should be. Violence is all we see now. It must be shown the red card.
Yet, we still see Rangers and Celtic fans with the utmost hatred for each other. What is it that causes such a divide and battle between these two teams? Simple. Religion.
Celtic and Rangers fans still try to keep alive the religious divides. Celtic fans name themselves “Tims” which comes from the catholic gang ’Tim Malloy’s’, Rangers fans call themselves “Billy Boys” which is a infamous protestant razor gang. The name Billy comes form the gang’s founder “Billy Fullerton.” Both teams don’t just have nicknames for themselves to keep this wall up, but they also have names for each other. Celtic fans take their chances by calling their rivals “Huns” (which means a destructive person). Rangers fans are no less innocent either, calling Celtic fans a “Pape” (which means pope worshipper.) All of the filth spouted at each other just prove how society cannot let go of their past differences.
However, some may say that this rivalry is a good thing;
“We obviously have our differences on the park, that’s the beauty of the game.”- Ally McCoist[5]
Although rivalry may fuel more desire and effort for players to do their team proud and beat their opponent, too much will spark anger issues towards each other, and situations on the park and off the park will become difficult to tackle;
“A Rangers fan who admitted killing a Celtic supporter hours after an Old firm clash has been jailed for five years and three months at the High Court in Glasgow.”[6]
The actions and consequences that are now taking place because of how much hatred these two nemesis’ have for each other have gotten too far. There must be blockades put up to stop these despicable crimes from ever happening again. The fact that people are murdering each other over divides between two football teams shows everything that is wrong, not just in the football world, but on the earth as a whole. For anyone to go as far as murdering someone else for any reason is ludicrous, let alone over a football match. Religion has taken over society’s clarity altogether. It must be stopped before people start to think that it is right for them to commit these disgusting crimes whenever they see someone whose beliefs are different from theirs.
The religious divide and the extreme lengths that these fans are willing to go to must be shown the red card immediately before the rest of the world follow in their footsteps. It would be an outbreak of the never ending tragedy leading to the end of the world.
Bibliography.
[1]- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13368945
[2]- www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article2631139.ece
[3]- www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/13/neil-lennon-assault-death-threat
[4]- www.theguardian.com/football/2011/may/13/neil-lennon-assault-death-threat
[5]- www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1379069/Ally-McCoist-slams-sent-bomb-Neil-Lennon.html
[6]- news.stv.tv/west-central/124573-rangers-fan-who-killed-celtic-supporter-hours-after-old-firm-game-jailed/
“This sort of behaviour is utterly unacceptable.”- Alex Salmond.[1]
Everything that there is about football has been overtaken by the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers. When these two teams clash nothing matters apart from the cold, harsh ways at getting under each other’s skin. Football is no longer a concern;
“On Sunday afternoon at Celtic park, sports reporters, myself included, sat through the usual litany of bile spouted by visiting Rangers fans, with hardly a mention in next day’s reports.”[2]
There is no mention of the hatred between Celtic and Rangers in the news ever because of how common it is to hear these vile chants. The only time there is news about their hatred towards each other is when it is too late.
The ways in which the fans try to get under each other’s skin is based on violence. Violent chants and violent actions. They do not care about the football anymore, just like they don’t care about each other. All that they want is to see the opponent team getting beaten. These fans have no boundaries whatsoever;
“That a person attempts to assault a football manager and is consequently charged with assault based on religious prejudice; that parcel bombs and live ammunition are sent in the post and unsavoury chants are heard in a stadium, indicates that this is no laughing matter. The day when sectarianism is a forgotten part of Scotland’s past cannot come soon enough. It must be stopped.”[3]
These teams need to stop their crimes, their crimes cannot continue as it is taking over the whole of the football world. It is no longer spiteful rivalry between only Celtic and Rangers, but it has now spread to the rest of the country’s football teams. The fans of other teams are choosing sides and joining in on this ridiculous behaviour;
“During Celtic’s win over Heart of Midlothian in Edinburgh, a supporter tried to attack Lennon in front of the dugout, and the manager defended himself with some vigour.”[4]
No one should feel unsafe about going to a football game, especially a manager who should be greatly protected and isolated from fans with no way of them getting in beside them. The football we see now is not what it should be. Violence is all we see now. It must be shown the red card.
Yet, we still see Rangers and Celtic fans with the utmost hatred for each other. What is it that causes such a divide and battle between these two teams? Simple. Religion.
Celtic and Rangers fans still try to keep alive the religious divides. Celtic fans name themselves “Tims” which comes from the catholic gang ’Tim Malloy’s’, Rangers fans call themselves “Billy Boys” which is a infamous protestant razor gang. The name Billy comes form the gang’s founder “Billy Fullerton.” Both teams don’t just have nicknames for themselves to keep this wall up, but they also have names for each other. Celtic fans take their chances by calling their rivals “Huns” (which means a destructive person). Rangers fans are no less innocent either, calling Celtic fans a “Pape” (which means pope worshipper.) All of the filth spouted at each other just prove how society cannot let go of their past differences.
However, some may say that this rivalry is a good thing;
“We obviously have our differences on the park, that’s the beauty of the game.”- Ally McCoist[5]
Although rivalry may fuel more desire and effort for players to do their team proud and beat their opponent, too much will spark anger issues towards each other, and situations on the park and off the park will become difficult to tackle;
“A Rangers fan who admitted killing a Celtic supporter hours after an Old firm clash has been jailed for five years and three months at the High Court in Glasgow.”[6]
The actions and consequences that are now taking place because of how much hatred these two nemesis’ have for each other have gotten too far. There must be blockades put up to stop these despicable crimes from ever happening again. The fact that people are murdering each other over divides between two football teams shows everything that is wrong, not just in the football world, but on the earth as a whole. For anyone to go as far as murdering someone else for any reason is ludicrous, let alone over a football match. Religion has taken over society’s clarity altogether. It must be stopped before people start to think that it is right for them to commit these disgusting crimes whenever they see someone whose beliefs are different from theirs.
The religious divide and the extreme lengths that these fans are willing to go to must be shown the red card immediately before the rest of the world follow in their footsteps. It would be an outbreak of the never ending tragedy leading to the end of the world.
Bibliography.
[1]- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13368945
[2]- www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article2631139.ece
[3]- www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/13/neil-lennon-assault-death-threat
[4]- www.theguardian.com/football/2011/may/13/neil-lennon-assault-death-threat
[5]- www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1379069/Ally-McCoist-slams-sent-bomb-Neil-Lennon.html
[6]- news.stv.tv/west-central/124573-rangers-fan-who-killed-celtic-supporter-hours-after-old-firm-game-jailed/