Bebo

An amusing summation of one set of fan's hatred towards an opposing set. Within the statement however, real issues lie dormant amongst the mainstream Scottish population. While this campaign may be attracting attention to the constant back and forth between the Celtic and Rangers fans, it's worth examining the sentiments behind the words and exposing the many and plentiful stream of reasons why Rangers Football Club and their fans are dubbed as Scotland's shame.

Indeed the reasons are laced throughout the history of the club. In the early years of both clubs before the second world war and in the late 19th Century, the Irish Catholic community in Glasgow struggled indefinitely to gain parity within the society of the city they had fled to from famine and injustice across the water. In fact, across Scotland this appeared to be the case. Finding charity and entertainment in a football club became a focal point of the working class community however bigotry, it appears, can never be left behind.
Rangers Football Club and it's fans stood in direct opposition to these ideals, itself becoming a focal point for people showing resentment and hatred towards a new community in Scotland. Celtic fans quickly became an identifiable group, receiving abuse for any matter of things which caused irk with 'the natives'. It is in fact true to say this wasn't simply a sectarian viewpoint within the predominantly Protestant but a racist one, with many of the elite in Scotland actually believing immigrants of this nature to be inferior in every way towards themselves. Newspapers even depicting Celtic fans at the time as apes in contrast to supposedly 'handsome' human beings of Rangers FC in crude drawings. The irony here now the 21st Century marches onwards isn't lost on myself and I hope it isn't on you either.

If the way to two clubs opposed each other in such ways isn't reason enough to find shame in the culture of Rangers then perhaps further reasons can be explored. For instance, the authority at RFC have had a policy throughout it's history which seems abhorrent now but which seemed to be in place not twenty-five years ago. A bigoted anti-Catholic signing policy. Confront a literate fan about this and they'd amusingly inform you it's coincidence and probably reel off a name or two from a youth team in the 1970s that happened to be of a Catholic background. However the fact is it did exist and existed up until and influx of money in the late 1980s and early 90s forced their hand to buying quality foreign players from the continent and strong RC countries such as Spain and Italy.
There's no hiding from it as across the city, their so called 'Old Firm Partners' Celtic have always had an open signing policy and many legends of the club do not subscribe to the faith so dominant within the fanbase.

If the establishment and culture of the club isn't convincing enough, the final nail in the coffin of Scotland's Shame is the horrific history of the fanbase itself. While there's many disgraceful incidents and events littering their very being, two examples highlight it perfectly.
In 1972, on the evening of what appears to be their greatest and proudest achievement to date, winning the third tier cup in European competition, Rangers fan disgraced themselves, their club and the country they were representing by rioting in the venue city, Barcelona. So obscene were the actions of the so called 'marauding huns' that even the club manager at the time, Willie Waddell, had this to say:

“It is to these tikes, hooligans, louts and drunkards that I pinpoint my message – it is because of your gutter-rat behaviour that we [Rangers FC] are being publicly tarred and feathered . . . ”

After a violent pitch invasion with reports of infighting between the support, aggressive behaviour towards police and later attacking local shops and shockingly cathedrals and churches, it amounted to the club being banned from European football for a year and u

Celtic have appointed former captain Neil Lennon to the club's coaching staff and he will be in the dugout for Saturday's SPL game against Motherwell.

Lennon, 36, left Celtic Park last summer and has had playing spells at Nottingham Forest and Wycombe. Lennon won a total of 11 trophies in six-and-half years at Celtic

"I am overwhelmed at being offered this chance to return to Celtic, a place where everyone knows my heart lies," Lennon said.

"Returning to Celtic and being part of the coaching set-up is phenomenal."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said: "Neil is someone who I am proud to have worked with previously and is a man who I have great respect for.

"Neil has made a huge contribution to Celtic over a number of years and has been a major part of the club's success in recent times.

"We were disappointed to lose Neil and he is someone who I was very keen to have back at the club.

"With his qualities, Neil will be a very valuable addition to our team and we are very much looking forward to working with him."

Martin O'Neill brought Lennon to Glasgow from Leicester City in December 2000 for £5.75m.

During his six-and-half years at the club the Northern Irishman won five Scottish Premier League titles, four Scottish Cups and two CIS Cups.

As a boy in blue with Leicester City
he had no fear when playing for his country,
but when he moved to God's team to play for the Celtic,
it was ‘then’ a crime to be a Roman Catholic.

Harassed and jeered from the stands,
from Windsor Park to the stadiums in Scotland,
but his confidence in his football never fell,
in his first year with Celtic, he won the Treble.

But now the bigots have won before a ball's been kicked,
as a death threat has been made from an Ulster Loyalist,
maybe the Bhoy from Lurgan, our Neil Lennon,
should polish his boots for the Irish Republic.