Did Scottish football just realise Ibrox has a sectarian problem? Wow.

There were four arrests in connection with yesterday’s Celtic game against the Ibrox mob, including one for alleged sectarian abuse. The other arrests concerned an alleged assault on a police officer, threatening and abusive behaviour, and a breach of the peace.

Graham Spiers was scathing about the sectarian abuse directed at Martin O’Neill, and rightly so. He reported that even as their team enjoyed a victory, Ibrox supporters were showering the Celtic manager with bigoted bile.

But I have to ask a question that has been sitting in my head for years: are we really supposed to treat this behaviour as some shocking new discovery?

Because I have watched this happen again and again.

I have watched Celtic fans, players, managers and staff subjected to disgusting abuse, and I have watched the authorities respond as though they have just discovered that sectarianism exists in Scottish football.

Four arrests? One for alleged sectarian abuse? A little statement here, a little condemnation there, perhaps a few headlines about unacceptable behaviour? And then what? I am sorry, but I am not prepared to celebrate the bare minimum.

I am sick of the disgusting and disgraceful abuse that has repeatedly come from the Ibrox stands, and of the authorities’ failure to deal with it properly. This is not some brand-new development. It is not a shocking revelation. It did not suddenly appear at that Ibrox shithole yesterday because Martin O’Neill was standing in the Celtic dugout.

This has been happening for years.

Celtic fans have been subjected to sectarian abuse, vile insults, intimidation and violence. Players and managers have been targeted, and staff have been abused. Supporters have been made to feel unsafe simply because they turned up to support their football club.

And what have the authorities done to change that?

That is the question I keep coming back to. When these things happen repeatedly, when the same patterns of behaviour keep appearing, when incidents involving the Ibrox club and its supporters keep demanding serious action, I want to know what has actually changed. Not what has been said. What has been done?

I have a rather unfortunate instinct when it comes to these matters. I can usually sense when something is going to be brushed under the carpet before the carpet has even been delivered. And Scottish football has become remarkably good at carpet maintenance.

Something happens at Ibrox. There is outrage, there are statements, and there are discussions about unacceptable behaviour.

Then, somehow, the conversation becomes about both clubs, both sets of supporters, the atmosphere, the rivalry and the emotions of the occasion.

Suddenly, the responsibility is shared so evenly that you would think everyone had been standing in the same queue waiting to be offended.

No. If Celtic supporters are attacked, abused or subjected to sectarian hatred, I want the people responsible identified and held accountable. If Celtic players or managers are targeted, I want the same standard applied.

If violence takes place, I want it investigated properly. And if the authorities have evidence of wrongdoing, I want action.

Not a vague statement about working together. Not another reminder that football should be enjoyed responsibly. Not another round of “both clubs must do more”.

Of course, both clubs have responsibilities, but that does not mean every incident is automatically a fifty-fifty problem.

Accountability is not a group project.

This is where I become particularly angry.

Years of abuse, the vile atmosphere that has too often surrounded their fixtures, and incidents involving violence and intimidation. I also remember how often the conversation turned into an argument about the rivalry itself.

As though the existence of a rivalry somehow explains away the behaviour. As though being passionate about football means accepting sectarian abuse as part of the furniture. As though Celtic fans should simply develop thicker skin. I reject that completely.

Sectarian abuse is not banter. Violence is not banter. Threatening people is not banter. And I am not interested in being told that this is just what happens in a football rivalry. That is an excuse, not an explanation.

What I want to know is why this culture has been allowed to continue for so long. Why have supporters repeatedly been exposed to behaviour that should have been dealt with decisively? Why, after so many incidents, so many complaints and so many years of outrage, are we having another conversation about whether sectarian abuse is unacceptable?

We already knew it was unacceptable. The people responsible knew it was unacceptable. The authorities knew it was unacceptable. So why does it keep happening?

And then there is Martin O’Neill.

I am not going to pretend that the abuse directed at him surprised me. I am not going to pretend that this is some unprecedented attack on a Celtic manager.

But I am angry, because he should be able to stand in the Celtic dugout without being subjected to sectarian hate.

Celtic players should be able to play football without facing that abuse. Celtic supporters should be able to attend matches without wondering whether they will be threatened or intimidated by the Ibrox mob.

This is not too much to ask. It is the absolute minimum.

And if the authorities still need reminding of that, I have to ask what they have learned from all the incidents that came before. How many times does the same problem have to announce itself before the response starts making a lasting difference?

Are the governors of this game finally prepared to stop treating sectarian abuse as an occasional embarrassment and start treating it as a persistent problem requiring sustained action? Are they waking up from a deep sleep like a hibernating bear? Because if this is just another little burst of outrage followed by another period of silence, we will be back here having the same conversation again.

If the authorities are genuinely waking up, then good.

I will be delighted to see it.

But if they are waking up only because the cameras were on, because the headlines were loud or because Graham Spiers said what many of us have been saying for years, that is not enough. Not even close.

I am tired of Celtic supporters being expected to accept this as part of the game. I am tired of the idea that we should simply move on after every incident because the next match is coming and the next headline will soon arrive.

I am tired of the authorities acting as though the problem is the existence of the rivalry rather than the behaviour of the people who abuse it.

And I am especially tired of the suggestion that Celtic supporters should be grateful whenever something is finally done. We should not have to be grateful for the authorities doing their jobs. We should not have to celebrate four arrests as though sectarianism has been defeated.

We should not have to wait for another incident, another victim, another manager, another player or another group of Celtic supporters to be targeted before the authorities decide that enough is enough. Enough should have been enough a long time ago.

So, is yesterday’s focus on sectarian abuse a sign that the authorities are finally waking up from a long, deep sleep? I genuinely hope so. But my English-teacher verdict is this: the authorities have a lot of catching up to do.

Four arrests do not erase years of failure to get to grips with this problem. A statement does not demonstrate that the culture has changed. A few headlines do not erase the fact that Celtic supporters have been subjected to abuse and violence for far too long.

If the authorities want to convince me that this time is different, they need to show it. They need to show that sectarian abuse will be investigated properly and that violence will be dealt with seriously.

That the rats responsible will face consequences, and that Celtic supporters will no longer be expected to accept this behaviour as part of football.

I am not asking for special treatment for Celtic. I am asking for the same standard of protection, accountability and respect that every football supporter should be entitled to.

Perhaps the problem is the authorities who have spent far too long pretending not to see what has been happening right in front of them. Wake up, Scottish football. The Celtic support has been awake for years.

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