Bigot Watch
BIGOT WATCH
This was something that I raised a couple of seasons ago, and now having played against both of the Old Firm this season I feel it is worth raising again. If I manage to show displeasure at both sides it shows that I am not a closet tim or hun but a concerned Well fan who wants to see this cancer removed from Scottish Football.
The first time we had to endure this was at Celtic Park on the second game of the season where it appears that their supporters are still free to shout, wear or wave any bigoted thing they can. I had the pleasure of sitting only two seats away from them, that's when you realise how bad it is, while the songs sung by the horde are bad enough, but the abuse flung at individuals trying to support their team is ridiculous. I did see one drunken tim removed, BUT what I can't understand is why he was singled out as he was no worse than a few hundred others.
Every now and again we get Bhoys against Bigotry trotted out by the press as a valiant effort by Celtic to turn things round. Personally I can't see any difference between pre B.A.B. and after B.A.B.!! I know they are proud of their Irish tradition but I feel there is a blurred difference between this and a blatant attachment to all things Catholic.
On the other side of the city it almost seems that the problem is seen as solved by the number of Catholics now parading out (good pun - eh!) in the blue. While we still hear the poisonous bile being poured down from the Stands about fenian blood etc etc. This I discovered is not restricted to the ordinary punter in the Stands but also exists in the rarified environment of the Club Deck. Again it seems ok to pour your heart out about the Tims etc. without being thrown out or banned from the ground.
The whole Orange top thing leading up to the Cup Final last season summed it all up, surely no one was fooled by the tribute to the Dutch contingent. What was worse was that it was given official approval by the club who were quick to seize on the commercial gain that capital that could be made from the gullible.
Will either of the two of them ever really take serious measures to stamp any of this out, remember this is behaviour that would not be accepted anywhere else in Scottish society. Over the years I have seen nothing to convince me that they will, as I have said before they almost need to keep them in the position of strength that they find themselves in our game. Take away the bigotry and its associated "tradition" and what is the difference between Rangers and a team like Motherwell - nothing!!
What will rid our game of this poison, it looks as though it will not be the efforts of the Clubs themselves but it could disappear by de-fault if the Atlantic League comes along and transfers this phenomenon into continental Europe. Lets hope so and we can start to see people watching football as a sport and not as a cause or an institution.
Graham Barnstaple
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