Shortly after the recent Sevco – Hibs match at Ibrox, this website and others highlighted the discriminatory chanting that was coming from the crowd during the game.
According to online journalist Phil McGiollabhain the club is set to be carpeted by the authorities as those chants were mentioned in the match observers report.
Indeed, it’s hard to see how they could have failed to be.
They were clearly audible to everyone in the stadium itself as well as those watching on television.
One Sevco fan site clearly admitted the offence, but then sought to make excuses for those committing it.
The club is, as everyone is well aware, bang to rights on this matter.
The question now becomes, “what are the governing bodies going to do about it?”
In truth, I suspect not very much.
The clubs themselves don’t want them to.
Both Celtic and Sevco have fiercely resisted “strict liability” regulations which would punish clubs for the behaviour of their supporters inside Scottish football grounds, and this in spite of a call last year, by Nil By Mouth, for the SFA and SPFL to embrace and enact such measures as they do in Europe and England.
This is a tough one, and for the first time in a while I have some sympathy for the governing body here.
The rules, as they stand, are a joke and neither the clubs nor the fans have any faith in the SFA or the SPFL’s ability to craft new ones, which is reflected in Celtic, in particular, making their opposition to this idea very public in the last couple of years.
The rules which are in place leave a lot of room for interpretation.
When Sevco was last faced with such a scenario – in February last year, after similar illegal songs were sung at the match with Raith Rovers – the SPFL did nothing because the rules state that if a club has taken “all appropriate measures” to prevent such songs (although what that means is still unclear, because, as I said, there’s no mood to make these robust) then they’re deemed to have been innocent of any wrongdoing.
That this is the second time in 12 months that the club’s fans have been mentioned in a delegates report for singing songs of a criminal nature is neither here nor there to those who run our national sport.
They have a position they can stand behind, and a precedent on which to do so, and that will be all the news that’s fit to print.
Speaking for myself, as bad as these rules are at dealing with this problem I’d rather they remained vague because too much of our free expression inside football grounds is under threat as it is, but I can relate wholeheartedly to those who are sick and tired of our stadiums having to ring to the sounds of anti-Catholic and anti-Irish hatred.
The problem, as you all know, is that with Scottish cultural and political values as badly skewed on this issue as they are that any regulation put in place will actually, itself, discriminate against political self expression if it comes with an Irish hue.
That’s depressing but undoubtedly true, and until attitudes towards that change we’re stuck with the kind of wishy-washy rules which allow Sevco’s lunatic fringe to keep on singing their war songs no matter the damage it does to the Scottish game or society at large.
But with the pre-trial hearings of numerous individuals connected with Rangers and Sevco having got underway today (more on that tomorrow), and the governing bodies almost set to play an unwilling starring role in those events, this is a headache no-one at Hampden either wanted or needed, and as per usual … it’s concerned with events at Ibrox.
The SPFL will allow RIFC to investigate themselves once more, which will result in the claim that, it could only possibly be bigots who are offended by RIFC fans singing sectarian songs, so there is no case to answer. Didn’t you know that sevco is now regarded as a racist and sectarian slur by the smsm, who are of the peepil, for the peepul. HH
Sevco is on The Registers of Scotland Title sheet for Ibrox as The Proprietor, Its a public document if you have £12 to pay for it, Ive seen it.
Simple,there are enough football songs to sing,keep politics out of football
Just a minority and in response to the Hibs fans disgusting anti-Rangers songbook (OBVIOUSLY)..!!
Rangers will be heavily sanctioned by the rulers of the Scottish game, a harsh penalty of a strongly worded reprimand in the media, obviously agreed the Jabba and the Glibster up front.
Good point you make on some of their shameless websites. The mood is they are keen to see the old songbook reinstated.
This cannot happen.
If they were ‘up to their knees in Muslim blood’ it would be a different story though. Can’t have that can we? Catholics especially Irish Catholics are free game though.
Bang on with your analysis on this, James, a cautionary tale for those seeking punishment of Sevco bigots.
What I find odd is that a song can be deemed criminal in an arena that people make a choice to go to but it’s not criminal for a formal gathering to sing the same song(s) outside my house to which I have no choice in listening to. That in itself is part of the attitude which creates problems regarding bigotry and sectarianism in our society (among other things).
Sevco issued a statement regarding the sectarian singing. When I read it one word stood out and made the statement worthless in my opinion……..the word was “minority” To state that a ‘minority’ of supporters engaged in sectarian singing is absolutely unbelievable. Everyone, including sponsors and influential people at BT, who apparently have been left in no doubt about the feelings of many viewers, heard the deafening singing from the majority of fans. The so called great atmosphere people refer to at that club can ONLY be generated when these songs are sung eg the League Cup final a couple of years ago.
Simple solution – don’t renew BT subscription.
Good site stumbled across it.keep up the good work.if people want to moan about donating, then don’t donate.let them buy a paper if they like what they read lol.honestly fools and their money.u guys keep it up,the thing that sevco fans dont get is the corruption in Scottish fitba and what they are being brainwashed with, I don’t know cause their fans groups r hell of a quiet.