Reasons Why We Hate R*ngers. Part 1
Some clubs are born with an identity. We are lucky enough to be one and we are, rightly, regarding as an Irish, Catholic club in Scotland. It’s not something that can be denied or to be ashamed off.
Ask any R*ngers fan what their club’s identity is and he will be showing you his King Billy tea towel, a sash his supposed father wore, a picture of the Queen and singing something about a wall in Derry.
He will tell you that the club has always represented these values. That’s like me telling you I can sh*t a breville toaster without the aid of lubricant and not end up looking like Andy McLaren trying to tie his shoelaces.
The R*ngers Football Club were founded 1872 by a group of rowers and had no religious or political links. They were a Scottish Football Club based in Glasgow. Like Queens Park or Partick Thistle.
They became Celtic’s rivals as both teams were successful, after embracing professionalism, and Queens Park didn’t. The rivalry was sporting and the term ‘The *ld F*rm’ was first used in the early 1900’s to describe both boards relationship when it came to making money from this local rivalry.
Both sets of fans rioted after the 1909 Cup Final ended in a 2 each draw and supporters reckoned that the result had been rigged so the clubs could share the gate receipts from the replay.
So what changed?
One man saw an opportunity to make money from the hatred that was festering towards the Irish Catholics in Scotland and also the success Celtic were having. He also saw a chance to foist Loyalist Protestantism and Unionism onto a game that was becoming more popular.
It was all done at a time when Glasgow was at it’s most volatile.
John Ure Primrose was a Unionist politician, Grandmaster of an Orange Lodge. He created links between the Freemasons and used the club to fund the Orange Order.
He ensured R*ngers reached out to endear them to the most fanatical when taking his chairmanship in 1912 he said: “R*ngers could never field a Catholic Player”.
Him and others chose R*ngers identity like people choosing what trousers or pants to put on. It was a decision based on hatred, bigotry, greed and the morals of a sewer rats.
It’s no wonder that since that point the club, players and fans have acted the way they have.
The next time you see them waving their tea towels please have pity on them. They have the average IQ of a crisp poke – a fact proved in post 1910 when they fell for the greatest illusion seen this side of Lafayette – and don’t want to hear that they are actually just a bunch of rowers from Kinning Park.