GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 08: Rangers fans march towards Ibrox Stadium before a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium, on March 08, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
As a Celtic fan growing up in a certain time, during specific events, you never entirely forget what those events felt like. Scottish football has changed a lot over the years … but in some ways not so much.
I grew up during freakish times. I was 11 when we won the Centenary Double, and I didn’t know it at the time, but I was going to be 20 before I saw us win another league title. My teenage years were a horror show in which it felt like Rangers won everything. (They didn’t. Our own recent success totally eclipses it.)
That experience shapes the way I see the present. It is why I appreciate the times we have now. Yet those trophies and barren years are not the only things that stay with you from growing up around Scottish football.
It has been more than twenty years since Martin O’Neill sat at a UEFA press conference in the aftermath of a game at Ibrox and said that what his player Neil Lennon had been subjected to was racism.
Every ear in that room pricked up at that moment because that was a serious allegation. For the first time ever, Scottish football was in the crosshairs of Europe’s governing body, and they began sending FARE delegates to Ibrox.
The abuse Lennon endured that day was disgusting beyond belief.
At the end of the match Martin O’Neill wrapped a protective arm around him and walked him over to the 7,000 strong Celtic support. They cheered Lennon and O’Neill to the rafters. If memory serves me correctly, we did not even win that game. We lost it.
O’Neill knew exactly what he was doing when he referred to the abuse as racism, which it was. By that stage he had clearly stopped expecting Scottish football to take the matter seriously. He was taking the issue out of their hands and placing it directly in front of UEFA.
It did not take long for UEFA and its match delegates at Ibrox to compile some deeply troubling reports. When they began their deep dive into what was happening there, trying to understand why the Ibrox support sang the songs they did and behaved in such an abhorrent manner, they ran into something unexpected.
They encountered resistance.
Two bodies that should have been willing to help them seemed strangely reluctant to do so. The first was the Scottish media. The second was the SFA.
Both insisted that what UEFA was looking at was cultural. They seemed almost baffled that UEFA wanted to involve itself in something they regarded as perfectly normal. This is not exaggeration. I am not gilding the lily here. That is exactly what happened.
UEFA delegates were astonished that instead of welcoming outside scrutiny, the reaction from parts of the governing body and large sections of the media was effectively this: why are you getting involved in this at all?
If you are too young to remember those days I assure you, they happened and if you find that surreal you are exactly where many of us were at the time, listening in disbelief as people at the top of the game here wrung their hands.
One moment in particular has always stayed with me. It was an on-air discussion on Radio Scotland shortly after UEFA issued its first sanctions against the Ibrox club. The mood on that programme was fury.
The angriest person on the show was none other than Gordon Smith, currently touring the media studios voicing his outrage over Sunday’s events. He could not believe that UEFA was getting involved; he even defended the Ibrox fan songs and asked the rest of the panel exactly what the problem was.
One of them – and his identity will surprise you – was Jim Traynor, who was so astonished by that line of reasoning that he famously asked Smith “Which part of ‘f-the-pope’ is not sectarian?” Smith flapped his way through an evasive answer.
He, of course, ended up as the chief executive at the SFA.
What was extraordinary about the coverage in the days that followed was the subtle shift that took place. They had stopped trying to defend what had happened outright. Instead, the conversation moved somewhere else entirely.
The question became whether Celtic would also be in trouble. Surely, they suggested, Celtic would now face sanctions as well.
More than twenty years later our supporters still face no sanctions for any of the songs we sing. That fact has likely caused considerable frustration in certain corners of the sports media.
The truth is that the media and the governing bodies never wanted to confront the problems at Ibrox. They never wanted anyone to deal with those problems. That raises a wider question about the society in which we live. What kind of society refuses to tackle a problem of this scale and nature?
I have said this many times and it bears repeating. No other social or ethnic group in this city, this country or on this island would tolerate hatred directed at it week after week by one particular group of football supporters.
People simply would not accept it. So why do people accept it here?
For a time, the UEFA sanctions held some of it at bay. Certain songs disappeared from the Ibrox stands when real scrutiny finally arrived. The club itself responded and tried to remove those chants.
It was a hope in vain. The prevailing attitude in parts of the media has always been indifference. Why does anyone even care about this? That has let the club itself off the hook time and time again. The governing bodies do not want to govern; we all know that and we’ve lamented that fact over and over.
Scottish football has had countless opportunities to get its house in order. Neither the governing bodies nor large parts of the media have shown any serious interest in doing so. What we see instead at moments like this is performative outrage, victim blaming and false equivalence.
There has never been a sustained effort within Scottish football to root this problem out.
John Swinney’s comments yesterday, saying it is time for a serious conversation about sectarianism in Scottish football, are long overdue. Some of us have been calling for that conversation for years. More than a decade has passed since the Famine Song became a political issue and John Reid ensured it was debated in four separate parliaments.
That should have been the moment of reckoning.
It never came.
Without a major event forcing the issue it probably never will. That is why this moment matters. People who genuinely care about Scottish football must seize it. Those who merely pretend to care have already shown their hand through years of silence.
This country is long overdue a serious national conversation about sectarianism in football.
People will talk about fans on the pitch bringing shame to the game. Scottish football has been wallowing in shame for as long as I have been alive. I have heard it explained away. I have heard it excused and I have even heard it justified.
But I have also seen what happens when the issue is confronted properly, which usually only occurs when pressure comes from outside Scotland.
What is yours always comes back to you.
Here we are again.
This might be the last opportunity to confront the problem before something even worse happens. The issue at Ibrox is not simply entitlement. It is a culture steeped in hatred. That boil has to be lanced.
And if football will not get its own house in order, then the Scottish Government must take the matter out of football’s hands. It really is that simple.
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You can probably republish this article in another twenty years time James saying exactly the same thing, for it won’t change.
The old ” one side’s as bad as the other ” is a convenient false equivalence: Celtic supporters may sing songs that some find offensive but they do not sing racist songs or indulge in racist behaviour.
Compare the sevconts, whose entire culture is based on Anti Irish Racism, encouraged by the football establishment and the media in Scotland by their acceptance and failure to condemn such behaviour, and actively promoted over decades by the club(s) they support.
Celtic Football Club needs to be more proactive in PUBLICLY condemning this behaviour and asking questions of UEFA.
The dead Rangers and their doppelgängers Sevco…
A cancer on Scottish society then… (Rangers died c.2012)
A cancer on Scottish society now (Sevco born c.29/1/2012)
A cancer on Scottish society until they die (Sevco) !
They can not be allowed into CP for the last league game. We can ban them after this and the police will thank us!
* Edit – Sevco Born 29/8/2012
Unfortunately the view outside our own supporters is….. that one is as bad as the other. As everyone knows they are sectarian. Many consider us the same. Jews see us as antisemitic. Abada felt he had to leave for varying reasons but a jew is unlikely to play for us in the foreseeable future. Some of our fans openly support terrorist groups and it is unacceptable.
We cannot be put in the same category as the peepul but that is what will happen as long as we continue to pander to the minority.
I remember the Rapid vienna game at CP and at old Trafford. The Sunday night game at CP in 99 was off the scale. We have definately cleaned up our act but there is still work to do and then we can take the moral high ground.
All we here about is the celtic fans storming the turnstiles at Ibrox, the place getting wrecked, hate crimes and us invading the pitch. Why give them the opportunity. It is absolute foolishness.
Mojo, so if I wear a Irish Republican pin on my lapel or on my scarf I should not attend because it might offend . Go chase yer self (that’s me being feckin polite)I will support whomever I want as long as it is not racist.??????
Irish republican flag is fine. Support a terrorist organisation like Hamas aka the resistance, and support for the IRA who kneecapped their own people and ruled by fear. That is unacceptable.
That is the reason neutrals class us as part of the bigot brothers or 2 cheeks of the same arse.
That is the reputation we must shake and leave them out on their own.
Joint “old firm” statement incoming
The only statement so far is a joint rangers supporters alliance thing. They make a good and fair point that the graffiti mocking the 2nd Ibrox disaster was abhorrent. Because it is. But the complete lack of self awareness was stunning in its absurdity. A real ‘Wow’ moment. If you didn’t think these peepul were blinded by their own hate before, then have a read at it. Not a peep about their own weekly sectarian and racist bile emanating from every one of them.
We must have / we should have pictures of the aftermath of Govan FC’s fans in our stadium over the years. Trashing each other’s grounds is now part of the unthinking supports repertoire.
They do it at Parkhead,
We do it at their park.
It is a sickness that invades both our houses.
Carried by a minority who have no other impact on society apart from the team they support.
Every team has mentalists in their support — Active Service Unit aka Burton’s Commandos is beyond parody.
Just a case that on occasion / actually all too often the Govan FC mentalists set the tone for their full support and that is where their problem comes from.
Scariest thing about Sunday the applause the Govan FC borstal fodder / plook warriors got from the main stand as they returned back to base.
In contrast / historical contrast:
Nov 87 — CFC Casuals tried it on with the big boys.
They were escorted out of the Hibs end and then shown the door.
The Auld Reekie police could not guarantee their safety in with our scarfers and so it was Leith Walk for them where they were on their own.
“Celtic and Casuals do’t go” was the cry as they were showered with 50p coins — no applause that day and that is what sets us apart.
Or at least it did — not sure that would be the case now even the “Bhoys” aka the pensioner battlers have their apologists.
What chance do you have when the guy that attacked our coach on the park is a coach of an under 12s team himself and his club won’t bin him.
It wont change, not now, not ever. I was born the year Belfast Celtic withdrew from football in the north of Ireland. The IFA were orange to the core. The so called police would never protect ‘fenians’ and players lives were in danger each time they took the field. Fast forward 20 years and now an adult, I was experienced the same thing in what passed as football but was heavily doped in favour of Linfield. IFA was still orange but unfortunately certain Catholic players still turned out for an excuse of an international team that was still supported by the same huns. Fast forward to the present. Nothing has changed but now that Catholics have become more assertive and no longer a downtrodden minority, they operate more from the shadows. Evidence seems to suggest it was quite a few scum from my neck of the woods on that pitch on Sunday. They cant get away with it as easily as they used to here but the complete freedom they have in Scotland emboldens them. So dont hold your breath waiting for change. As long as the sneaky hand of the orange order pulls strings in your officialdom, nothing will change. You will still be looked on as dirty fenian immigrants. And dont ever confuse the word sectarianism with racism. Call it out by its proper name at every opportunity
Ive said in a different article that if the ibrox club owners wanted to, they could identify every single one of those thugs who were on the pitch on sunday and assist the police. But will they? Will they fuck.
Not a chance
Their “investment” would be worthless so they are left with a stadium and more full of racist sectarian bigoted thugs.
I hate that our fans sing about the ira – there is NO place for that anywhere and it needs to stop. But that is nothing compared to what the ibrox mob do. Its time the football authorities grew some baws and sorted it out. But it will never happen.
Mr Mojorisin @ 6.13pm…
Aye I still remember Celtic v Rapid all three games in 1984 – I was 14 at the time…
I don’t think a bottle on the pitch merited a reply but get it they did and put us out and I went mad after that…
I ‘borrowed’ Chlorinated Rubber paint and painted Celtic FC and Fuck Rapid Vienna on various government property in the knowledge that I’d get away Scot free with it as no CCTV was available back then – Ma ‘art’ was visible for years somit was and the thing was for once this had fuck all to do with The Brits it was the easiest target…
At the time my absolute heroes were the fan that mangaled (Fuerer The Rapid Goalie) in The Old Trafford net and the other supporter who had booted the fuck outta the scorer Peter Pacult coming off the pitch…
They were ma absolute Heroes at that time in my life…
For what it’s worth the ‘grafetti’ about the 66 lives is crass if done by our fans, perhaps I’m being hypocritical in lecturing about grafetti given 1984 but it should be remembered that The Brits are good at framing ‘Feinians’ on more serious things than poor taste grafetti…
They did it at Silent Valley Bombings and The Miami Showband Massacare !
Step away from the keyboard — Step away now …
Clach.. I guess the fans booting the fuck out of opposition players was ok back then, but if we are trying to take the moral high ground now, it doesn’t really fit the narrative.
Maybe why James never mentions these incidents. We gotta accept we have a history too….but show we have moved on from running onto the pitch and attacking folk.
On the graffiti, I might be wrong but what adult takes a marker with them with that intention? I’m guessing it’s some of the younger guys. That doesn’t excuse it, it’s stupid, extremely crass and should be beneath us. There’s plenty of things to take the piss out the huns without resorting to that and it’s an example of where we could self police a bit better.
The huns are only passionate about hatred, take that element away from them and they’d lose interest altogether.
I think the green brigade have been harshly treated at Celtic Park and unfairly blamed for any of our fans misdemeanours at Ibrox but whether they are there or not we have to bring the noise back starting with the Motherwell game.
MadMitch @ 10.32pm…
Step away from the keyboard – Step away now…
How so ? – For telling the truth about ma own youthful indiscretions or the truth and nothing but the truth about Brit Loyalists…
Or is that I spelled mangled as mangaled !