Sevco scraped through their first domestic game of the season with a narrow 2-1 win over Motherwell today in a match where two contentious penalty claims – one given and one not; guess which end the one not given was at? – made the difference, that and some poor finishing from the home team who had some gilt edged chances to take a point.
The match was notable for something else; the outpouring of bile, particularly in the first half, that was ejected out of the away end like Sunday morning spew down a toilet bowl.
Today the viewers were “treated” to the full repertoire of anti-Catholic hate.
I hope the Motherwell fans enjoyed the experience.
I hope the rest of the “neutral” listeners did too, in particular those who want us all to “move on” from the years of systematic cheating which went on at Ibrox and which haunts our game like a mugger in an alley.
Because this is what “moving on” looks and sounds like; like the worst bits of the past, dredged up, rubbing your face in it, forcing you to listen no matter what you shove into your ears.
Because this is what your club wanted; full stands, no matter if it’s the dregs of humanity who are filling them.
This is what Scottish football sacrificed its integrity for.
You know, my article earlier, on Mols, was headlined to go deliberately low, as I said in the piece. It’s a response to the way in which the media and a select few ex-Sevco players have sought to devalue the achievements of Celtic at the expense of the other clubs.
Those other clubs aren’t important to the media or those who run our game. They are the “ugly wives” on a WAGS weekend. And although I wasn’t comfortable writing that headline a little shock treatment sometimes has value, it sometimes works, it sometimes gets the point across.
Scottish football earned days like today.
Having the Sevco Circus of Hate roll into town should serve everyone as the shock treatment reminder of how the clubs sold out, for money, for a couple of full stands at away games. The fans of other clubs, who have been quick to dismiss the campaigns for reform as “a Celtic-Rangers” thing are the first people to bitch and moan when they have to listen to the stuff that poured out of the away end at Fir Park this afternoon.
Well message to them; you are bitching to the wrong people.
Bitch to your club.
Stop looking at this as if it were a “West of Scotland problem”.
It’s not.
It’s your problem cause you’ve done damn all to fix it.
The same applies to what happened on the pitch.
Those penalty decisions were the whole game, especially when you consider that Moult got booked for his, which pretty much defeated the purpose of having him on the park, as he depends to some extent on his physical prowess in games.
It was no surprise to see him subbed, even with his team chasing an equaliser.
Refereeing is part of what’s wrong.
Some of us want to fix that as well, but fans of clubs like Motherwell insist on calling this “West of Scotland bias.”
How much is it going to take for some people to stop looking for scapegoats and start looking for solutions?
If it is West of Scotland bias are you content to leave it like that, or do you want to, you know, like, do something about it for once?
Most of all, stop pretending that your club cares.
If they did they would be on the front line of reforming the game.
Your team was cheated on the pitch today and your fans forced to listen to non-stop bile from the away end, and your board couldn’t care less cause that part of the ground, at least, was full. That’s what drives them, and you’re kidding yourself on if you pretend otherwise.
And that’s why you will continue to be cheated, and you’ll continue to suffer, and you’ll have days when the away fans are just too much to stomach.
Unless you do something about it.
Your board has no intention of taking these things seriously, so the onus falls on you.
It’s tough, it’s hard to hear, but sometimes, as I said, sometimes the shock treatment is the only thing that will give some people a jolt.
Today, we saw the debasing of Scottish football, live on TV.
Sky “soaked up the atmosphere” without ever once passing comment on it.
Sporting integrity was betrayed by the clubs last month … and they did it so some of the worst elements following our game would give them money.
This is what the future looks like; an awful lot like the worst bits of the past. A club that died five years ago, in disgrace, still has the power to command people’s attention and misguided respect. That’s not “moving on.” It’s not going forward.
And we’re the ones constantly being told to let go of the past.
Ha!
Tell you what, we’ll do it when the rest of Scottish football starts to.