The Old Firm
A History of Hate
Religion, Football, religious football and religion
Since the inception of Football in Scotland it has been marred by Sectarian Violence. Hibernian FC were founded 1875 as a Catholic players only club. During the first 15 years of it’s existence there was constant trouble between it and other clubs, indeed it was sanctioned by the fledgling football authorities and other teams were told not to play Hibernian. However the lucrative potential of the increased interest heightened by Sectarian rivalry was obvious to their local rivals Hearts, who broke the sanction imposed by the football authorities
This does not reflect on the modern Hibernian and Hearts clubs, notably the modern Hibernian are in fact a Newco, after the collapse of the original club in the 1890’s and the re-established Hibernian now recruiting both Catholics and Protestant, and aiming to interest all people in the Leith area, Catholic and protestant. Hearts and Hibs, though reflecting in some way the religious sectarianism in Scotland were always in that way a mere shadow of the Glasgow giants.
However it highlights the reason that sectarianism remained in the Scottish game, it made money for the unscrupulous.
The Usual crooks, the translation of the term The Old Firm, from the slang of the late 19th century. Set on Celtic and Rangers because of their reputation for fixing matches. Indeed the worst crowd trouble at a Scottish game ever was the 1909 cup final. When Rangers and Celtic fans rioted together
Rangers and Celtic had set up another Old Firm final showdown, which went to a replay after the sides drew 2-2 in a thrilling first game. But rumours began sweeping the city that the SFA had been fixing Cup ties in a bid to ensure maximum income from replays, sparking suspicion and mistrust among both sets of supporters.
That sense of paranoia peaked after the replay on April 17, which finished in
The usual Crooks
Sectarian football began in Edinburgh
a 1-1 draw; as the players left the field an announcement revealed there would be no extra-time and the thinning patience of 60,000 supporters finally ran out. Fans from both sides united to invade the pitch for more than 2½ hours, tearing up the goalposts and setting fire to the wooden barricades. Mounted police were fended off with stones and even the goalposts, while the fire brigade was also repelled by missiles and had its hoses cut. Around 50 policemen were injured as the riot eventually left t stadium and moved towards the city centre
Celtic
In 1887 Brother Walfrid a monk in Glasgow, realised the potential for football as a way to several means, firstly, to raise money to distribute to the Catholic poor in Glasgow, secondly to take Catholics away from the temptations of religious conversion by mingling in places of work or leisure with protestants. One of the main tasks of catholic clergy was to guard against denationalisation and would warn about the dangers of association with protestant Scots, who would poison and corrupt our hearts and make us cold and indifferent to our religion and duty to god. According to the Glasgow free press. To provide the Victorian muscular Christian Irish Catholic a diversion from temptations, drink and other beastliness some said they were given to, and to provide a focal point of sport toward a Roman Catholic identity. In line with the policy of encouraging such pursuits by the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland. Indeed there was once Dunfermline Harp and Dundee Harp then Hibernian then the modern Dundee united. Along with several other teams. The two institutions involved in the development of sectarianism in Scottish football are surely the Roman Catholic church and the football authorities on the one hand the dangers of religiously based clubs were obvious from the start. The Catholic church ignored this or didn’t care and the football authorities were weak in allowing it to develop in the face of immediate evidence that it would lead to wide scale violence. Naturally the Loyal orange Order was only too delighted to pour petrol on the fames, but may have developed in Scotland as a response to the above circumstances. They however became clearly the worst single factor in the problem. However the said Muscular Christian amateur tradition, well that was a different matter as monied men Glass, Malley and the other took over and formed a limited company, seeing the potential of profit in the situation. The club also moved from their original ground on Dalmarnock Street (now Springfield Road) around the corner to the current site on the edge of the Eastern Necropolis into a huge state of the art stadium– prompting the famous remark: “it was like moving from the graveyard to Paradise” – the name stuck. They also spotted that recruiting only Catholic players at Hibs had been a error, that could stymie the clubs potential by over restricting it's choice of players. Brother Wafrid moved to London soon after
Celtic became quickly established particularly after tempting many players away from strictly amateur Hibernian, paying money through the back door until the restriction against paying players was lifted belatedly by the Scottish League. Not before many of the greatest Scottish players were tempted south as the Scotch Professors to bring Scottish passing game to professional England.
Rangers
Earlier in 1872 Rangers FC had been established, by a small group of rowing enthusiasts that regularly get together on Glasgow Green to play the game of football. While the club was originally named Glasgow Argyle, it was renamed as Rangers at one of the first club meetings to be held By brothers Moses McNeil and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath. There was surprisingly no particular religious motive for the establishment of the club they did describe themselves as a "Christian" club but this was common at the time. Even Queens park has associations with the YMCA. Various claims that it was establishes as a Protestant boys club or any other motive other than simply as a football club holds no water. However it flourished and became the main rival to Celtic. The team in Glasgow that grew biggest to take on the Catholic supported Celtic, whose more untied following made their crowds the largest and their team the wealthiest. Surprisingly in it's earliest years quite the chums with Celtic as they both strove to take on the great Queens Park -declining in the teeth of the professionalism it abhorred. Why it developed the way it did is closely related to politics and immigration. Indeed their remains a strong following amongst Ulster Protestants and the LOL, who continue to have strong familial ties to Ulster. A tradition established by the migration or Ulster protestants to Glasgow who chose to follow Rangers.
The murder of Hibs
So then to the murder of Hibs, Celtic did then down, poached half their players and drove them into bankruptcy. Bad Catholics such as only Glasgow breeds, half the board in the drink trade, players took money for playing which was both immoral and illegal, played protestants in the team god forgive them, they would be in perdition a long, long time for that list -the very Holy father himself would hear of this I tell you. So went the thoughts of the Virtuous, abstemious of hard drink, virginal before marriage Edinburgh Catholics such as we still see at Easter Road. 1891 Celtic, Hibs, 4 pitch invasions and an abandoned match before the poor house and being bought out by a prod -as they rioted in one last Muscular Catholic Christian cry of anguish at the treason within the sea.
Plans were afoot for revenge even then as Glasgow Hibernian was mooted, but such as is warned against by sweet Jesus as creating a dens of thieves, Glass, McLaughlin, Malley and the rest got their way and were laughing all the way to the bank.
In the new professional game both the teams thrived. In the 90's Celtic won no less than 6 of the newly organised leagues, Rangers lifted the cup 3 times and the league twice. Crowds rose fast in the 1870s they were in their thousands, by the 1880s in their tens of thousands, by the 1890's over 100,000 could be expected for a cup final. Celtic Park and Ibrox could pack in over 75,000, with attendances of 30 to 50 thousand for less prestigious games. By 1937, Celtic played Aberdeen in the cup final to over 147,000, the same for Scotland England. The money rolled in and that money for the Old firm was boosted by sectarian affiliation to twice or more of their nearest rivals -bigotry paid and some. By the 30's Rangers were bigger than Arsenal so the biggest club financially in the UK, Celtic next that sort of paid some
Rangers don't play Catholics
Rangers did play Catholics in their early history, not many but they were there to be sure as they were so associated with the protestant side of Glasgow's sectarianism, but one Tom Dumbar was the brother of a director at Celtic, they had too a Catholic director one James Henderson but they stopped. There are two possible theories, one is that Bill Struth and the group around him, seen it as the right policy when he took over. The other is that in 1923, a bar was put up as an act of solidarity with the Protestant Irish during the Irish civil war. Either way they did not employ Catholics (unless by mistake) again till the Souness era in the eighties -a point of enormous rancour in Glasgow. It cost them to the services of the likes of Danny McGrain whom they mistook for a catholic and Kenny Dalgleish who though a Rangers fan had more enlightened views on the subject.
The Eras
The early times
Pretty much covered above, initially challenging Queens Park, the introduction of professionalism. The Old Firm emerge, Celtic initially dominant with 6 league wins, but by the turn of the century they are slipping behind Rangers. The sectarian problem emerges, but drives the financial success of these clubs. This however has a limiting factor, in 1901, the Football League imposed the maximum wage cap first in England then North of the border –a decision that would see footballers that season paid no more than £4 per week. As football grew in popularity and stature over the next nearly sixty years, this figure did increase marginally and by 1958, the maximum wage cap was at £20 per week. This at least limited the ability of the Old firm to simply out pay the opposition. Hibs Hearts, Third Lanark, Dumbarton winning leagues. But overall it's the Old Firm in charge
The Bill Struth Era
Edinburgh born and a professional runner who learned football as trainer rather than as a player, which made him a strange fish in the world of football. Struth was renown as a disciplinarian, to the extent of insisting players turn up to work in suits, ties and even bowler hats. You were fined if you failed to do so.
He was to a consummate tactician and had a perfect eye for a players ability within the team structure and was ruthless in weeding out somebody being carried. The other side of him was that he never replaced a player without getting them a new team first, he appreciated too the position of poor working class people in the era that included the “Hungry Thirties” and had them eat for free at the best restaurants and looked after his boys at Rangers. As is noted above he may also have been responsible for the Catholic bar that started during his time. His career at Rangers was from 1920--54 winning 30 major trophies; a record 18 Scottish league championships, 10 Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups. He and Rangers dominated his era, pre and post-war despite the best effort of Jimmy McRory and his 550 goals.
During the post war area, however, Hibs and Hearts challenged him hard, particularly Hibs with 3 leagues, The great “Last minuet” Laurie Reilly and the rest of the Famous five Smith, Johnstone, Turnbull and Ormond. In one of the best eras of Scottish football. Still though Struth took half the league titles including a treble.
Scot Symon continued Struth's success into the swinging sixties, winning six league championships, five Scottish Cups and four League Cups, becoming the second manager to win the domestic treble in 1963–64 season, the era of 'Slim' Jim Baxter, one of the club's great players, Willie Henderson, latterly Sandy Jardine and what would Rangers have been without Captain Blood himself John Greg. That and two European finals. However it was a time of questioning thing and many Old Firm players particularly Jimmy Baxter found the atmosphere stifling at Ibrox and Parkhead, and began socialising with each other, Jimmy railing against the cliques and social conformity at Rangers in that liberal age. He lives in the collective memory of all of Scotland for his antics in the centre circle of Wembley in 1967
Big Jock Stein, the single greatest figure in Scottish football, a Rangers supporting Protestant, from down the pits In Burnbank Lanarkshire who left school at 14. He was a great defender, more known for his reading of a game than actual skill -but that ability cut up attacks with great precision and he ended up captaining Celtic. In July 1957, Stein was given the job of coaching the Celtic reserve team. In his first season as a coach, Stein won the Reserve Cup with an 8–2 aggregate triumph over Rangers. Despite this success, according to football journalist Archie MacPherson, Stein was told by club chairman Robert Kelly he would not progress further at Celtic due to his Protestant faith.
So then to management where his talent shone so clearly with Dunfermline where they went from struggling with relegation to winning the cup and Hibernian where he was statistically Hibs best ever manager at 67% wins.
The early Sixties were far from swinging at Parkhead, Celtic's post war record languished behind Hearts and Hibs and they seemed to specialise in reaching the League cup final then loosing. The reason, Robert Kelly's domineering influence in the running of the club, many questioned how much say McGrory (the Manager) had in team selection. actually Celtic had a team packed with talent as unfolding events would show. The solution was obvious, there was an ex-captain, who had turned around two teams immediately at his appointment and had shown great talent as a coach at Celtic park it's self. Now Rangers had their Traahdishun of sectarian bigotry so then Celtic, Stein was a Protestant. A man of unimpeachable integrity and greater ability but a Prod without a drop of Irish in him in the eyes of Kelly the manager of Celtic should be a Catholic, a Catholic and under his thumb.His first move was to offer Stein assistant manager under Sean Fallon, Stein refused, next co-manager with Fallon.
Stein told him he had an offer of a manager's post in England -which was true. But Kelly was a desperate man, Celtic were well on the slide so he caved in. Stein was their new manager, Fallon his assistant and Kelly had picked his last Celtic team. Stein was nobodies boy, or is that bhouy, not in a hard man, a Socialist from the Scottish pits that. That Socialism why he treated Protestant and Catholic alike with a fair hand -and by god Celtic needed something better than the chronic cronyism that had gradually reduced the rich club with it's huge stadium to mediocrity.
The rest as they say is history, with only two signings, McBride and Wallace that European cup, the nine in a row, his teams packed with the greats of Scottish football, Jinky, King Kenny, McGrain, Auld, Hay, Macari, the Quality Street Kids a conveyor belt of talent from his coaching. Revolutionising contemporary football away from the defensive Catenaccio of Italy to the fast flowing attacking, rough, skilful, wide playing, Scottish game. Maybe only Brazil, the Magnificent Magyars, then the Dutch masters and Spanish Tikitaka played a game that was more pleasing to the eye.
Stein hated sectarianism and fearless would literally wade into sections of the crowd telling them to stop, shouting there were enough Celtic songs sing. He railed when an Irish styled band interrupted celebrations bringing home the European cup. He had plans for Celtic to play in the English league and knew what they made of such things down there. The quality of the football reached out and brought in a large part of the following from the majority community -the trahters! honestly! In 1969 in Belfast and London Derry, or is that just Derry, events turned that course away. Sectarianism falling out of fashion in Scotland in the liberal Sixties was about to get a serious makeover with the not inconsiderable aid of Pat Lally -hello the “troubles”. Back come the bigots.
Big Jock
Did Jock know? The other snake in paradise -and here at the risk of sparking denial and threats from Timaloys. You have of course consider the child abuse scandal
During Torbett's trial in 1998, former Celtic Boys' Club chairman Hugh Birt claimed that Stein and the Celtic board were aware of and covered up allegations made against Torbett. In 2017 the Daily Record reported that the BBC "had spoken to three other former Celtic Boys’ Club officials – who were employed at the time in question – who also say they were told Torbett was sacked by Stein after complaints Torbett had abused boys. But police were never called.
Wikipedia
Torbett was found guilty of shameless and indecent conduct with three juvenile players between October 1967 and March 1974.
The man who was supposed to be the head of Celtic Boys' Club would be putting his hands all over the lads. He would be kissing them and giving them little pecks. Not for the first time, I wondered what was going on. What went through my mind was that the lads he was paying all the attention to must have been related to him. He must be their uncle or something. Why else would he be doing that? HE found me sitting on the sofa on my own in the lounge. I was bored and wanted to go home when Torbett sat down next to me. He sat down on the sofa close to me, much closer than I was comfortable with. Then, without any warning, he put his hand between my legs. I froze. I remember his horrible swollen face next to mine. He was smiling. He thought this was fun. I had never felt like this before. I was frightened and very confused.
The only relationship I had ever had with a man up to that point was the father and son relationship with my dad. I felt threatened. I leapt off the couch and headed for the bathroom because it had a lock on the inside. I just wanted to get away from him. I slammed the door shut. I had my back to the door and was trying to figure out how far the window was from the ground because if he tried to get in, I was planning to jump. My heart was thumping like mad. I started to think carefully to make sure I had not imagined what had happened. I grabbed my coat and bag and ran out of the flat and down the stairs in case he was following.
Allan Brazil
Stein was with the club till 1978 when he moved to Leeds and them managed Scotland. It would seem almost inconceivable that Brit would lie in court and others with him. Somebody must know as Trobett was sacked in 74 Brit says it was Stein he contacted. What a stain on the character of the great man. But the truth is the truth and Celtic not the only Catholic influenced institution to be involved in this sort of crime. It should also be noted this was far from the only incident but the situation at Celtic the worst in Scotland and involves more than Just Torbett, notably Jim McCafferty.
Dozens of boys were abused by staff at Celtic almost certainly more than the rest of Scotland put together. Left struggling with trying to get recognition and justice in the unequal struggle of those harmed. Against the Catholic establishment in Scotland dug into the Labour party, the legal system, the press and the associational nature of Scottish Catholicism, the Knights of Columba the hostility of bad mouthing Celtic fans calling them liars, -spoiling their fun time ranting out Irish Sectarian song of a Saturday against the hated Huns they think of as natives. As for Celtic, a supposedly Catholic institution, they fought those boys all the way before finally being forced to give compensation to some in old age -bless their Christian and sacred hearts. Say what you want about the Huns, they didn't do that. It took some doing with Rangers for competition but this was the nadir of the state of evil that is the Old Firm. Did it give pause for thought? Naw! Let the Bread and Circuses continue.
The other Big Jock
Big Jock Wallace was what a Rangers fan aspires to be -most however failing miserably. A six foot soldier of the Queen, a KOSBie that fought in the Jungles of Malaya gun in hand. A military style martinet that led his teams like an an army RSM. Wallace reduced international football players to quivering wrecks after punishing training sessions on the Gullane sands. The exercise and the military precision with which he approached the job paid rich dividends. He was moved from training staff to manager in 1975, trying to stop Stein's ten in a row. He did. There were skill players at Rangers, Willie Johnson, Colin Stein, Tommy "Ten tae two feet" Mclean, but it was the uncompromising physicality of Greig, Tam Forsyth and the rest he won with. (Actually both the above could play when they put their mind to it). That and thorough knowledge of his opponents -who to set his dogs on sort of thing.
"When did you know your leg was broken? When John Grieg Came in for the tackle" -Bobby Lennox to a reporter.
He was a nationalist before his time, with a statue of William Wallace on his desk. Though his stern aspects were obvious he was fair and well liked despite things. The anticatholic bar? "Rangers just wouldn't be Rangers without that tradition". The mid to late seventies was the height of the "Troubles", Old firm fans ranting out Irish sectarian songs, crowd trouble and violence was endemic, often fuelled by drink. With Rangers fans having a UK wide reputation as the Roughest outfit in football after chasing the notorious ManU fans off their own Stretford End. However violence in those days was more spontaneous in Scotland than organised as it would be later as we shall see. Wallace won the Scottish Cup in 1973 and in season 1974-75 he led Rangers to their first Championship title for 11 seasons. The domestic ‘treble’ was achieved for season 1975-76 and 1977-78.
The New Firm
The new firm
A fresh breath of footballing wind blew through the Scottish game in the 80's (Just about the only good thing in the 80's). Two brilliant managers emerged to challenge the old firm, at Aberdeen Alex Ferguson, at Dundee United Jim McLean, with them two talented teams. Aberdeen won the League 3 times. The cup 4 and Europe’s second prize the Cup winners. United won a league the League cup twice and reached the semi's of the European cup and lost in a final of the EUFA cup. Rangers were in the doldrums, having to make do with one cup but no less than 6 League cup wins. Celtic were the main competitors to the New firm shaded probably slightly by Aberdeen, with United and Rangers snipping at the heels of the Dons and Celtic.
Bigotry of course started with a bang in the 80s, 1980 the Hampden riot a late goal from Celtic won them the cup they invaded the pitch as the cup was presented, the legions of the Ibrox faithful took umbrage. They too invaded the pitch, next thing a riot involving hundreds, fights all over the pitch, the police horses charging about. The Thatcher government blamed drink so banned it. This was the era of the hunger strikes with Celtic fans wailing out God bless Boawbee Sands to Rangers fans singing “could ye go a chicken supper Bobby Sands” to the tune of she'll coming round the mountains. Such is Christianity in Scotland -courtesy of Irish politics, Pythonesque in it's surrealism. A culture that provided a legion of useful idiots to the real politics of the era. Right wing economics, the crash de-industrialisation of Scotland, 13 million unemployed all in the UK north, a drug fuelled crime wave that left Scottish cities with the worst drug problem in Europe. Lives shattered by crime, poverty, addiction, redundancy and unemployment. Meanwhile billions of Scotland’s oil revenue pumped to England's south to create the 80's boom there. The victims of this, the poor and working class chanting Oooh ah up the Ra or UDA all the way, the Old Firm game 80,000 Turkeys for Christmas and with them their associationallist peer groups back home fretting about Ulster's future, as Scotland went to the Poor House.
The author can attest to the very violent nature of Old Firm matches in the 80s. My first Old firm match. I witnessed leaving the ground, a running riot down the London road, stones from some waste ground flying in volleys, buses swaying as supporters rocked them, fights all over the place among fans hardly sober enough to stand and hardly a copper in sight. I remember a steaming Celtic fan, drunk and trying to hurdle a railing not a foot high as he charged some Rangers fans land on his face in front of me maybe six yards away. Yea you took that advice to keep your scarf in your pocket for sure. And can attest the venal hatred of both sets of fans, Pavlov and his dogs had nothing to the Respondent Conditioning hatred I witnessed at Old Firm football matches before I said enough was enough a few years later.
Worse still this was an era where these supporters became organised. The National Front at Rangers pumping the dangers of the IRA, whom it must be said were not to successful but they already had the LOL. But the other lot were far more profoundly affected in this era. Groups such a Troops out and the Militant tendency wrecked the Labour party took the side of the Provos and the Celtic fan. I remember being in a que in a dole office and being asked by some clown from the Militant about my religion. I explained I was an Atheist and a Socialist and told that's just a cop out, what was I originally I had to say I was baptised into the Kirk, but I was taken to the Free kirk -which I gave up in primary school. Your protestant then, I said I wasn't I was atheist, I had no religion. “Just like I said a Protestant” not interested in you bastards. As for my Socialism he didn't want anything to do with that shite, they had got interested in other things. I was briefly in the Labour party and again told I was a Protestant, and this was their thing. With over 20 highers to my name I ended up a window cleaner, I fell ill suddenly one day. It turned out an idiot that was one of the customers told the man I was working for that he had laced a sandwich I was given with rat poison for saying I thought Protestants and Catholics should be educated together. The guy I worked for had Orange sympathies and said that I should learn a lesson and stay with my own. That's the reality of Christianity in Scotland, people being fed rat poison for those very particular idea of god and Ulster.
Rangers in the doldrums tried to get both Ferguson and Mclean, other than Struth and Stein easily the most talented Scottish managers, both demanded the Catholic bar be lifted. They were refused, Ferguson ended up at Manchester in 86, McLean continued at United. Celtic didn't even contact either, Ferguson was Ex-Rangers, McLean's brother played at Ibrox. Rangers continued to struggle, the Catholic bar now playing against them as being seen as the wrong it was, by then most Protestant players and obviously separating them from Scotland’s rich seem of Catholic players. Actually the Old firm lost many players because of their sectarian antics to the South anyway.
Souness
The Souness revolution
The Heysel Stadium disaster
The tragedy resulted in all English football clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by UEFA from all European competitions (lifted in 1990–91). 14 Liverpool fans were put down manslaughter and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
Capitalism has few scruples as I think we have demonstrated, no European football for English players not fat Euro bonuses, but the ban was of no concern in Scotland. Rangers were in a hell of a state, the religious bar and low wages made getting quality players difficult -£300 a week was being outstripped easily by even Aberdeen never mind Celtic. Rangers were desperate, the return of Jock Wallace had not worked, Ferguson and McLean had snubbed them.
In the foreign climes of the Nevada desert, a reclusive millionaire had spotted this opportunity. Lawrence Marlborough, grandson and heir of former Rangers chairman and property magnate John Lawrence, struck a deal to increase the Lawrence Group of companies’ share in the club to 52 per cent. For the first time, Rangers were under majority control of one shareholder. He stayed in the distance and appointed David Holmes as his representative and de facto chief executive on the board. Who then was about and knew who was who amongst all those English players hungry for those European bonuses and the transfer fees that European exposure denied them now in England might bring? His eye fell on the Liverpool, Sampdoria and Scotland captain Graham Souness, who was in the late stages of his career and made no secret of his desire for management.
Souness was contacted, a player manager, one of Europe’s best midfielder's, with deep experience of the game -two birds with one stone. First thing he said was he wanted to end the Catholic bar. Marlborough and Holmes had anticipated this and agreed immediately. Interesting that Souness from Edinburgh -married to a Catholic, Marlborough effectively an American, later Murray also from Edinburgh broke with the Catholic bar. The traahdishuns of the West of Scotland was not ingrained in them -at least not as deeply.
A series of signings of household names like English players, Terry Butcher, Chris Woods, Graham Roberts, Trevor Francis and Ray Wilkins. The only survivor of Wallace's team was the deadly Ally McCoist.
Sectarianism and racism at the Old Firm, So then Rangers do sign a Catholic Mo Johnston, a superb striker, hovers round the 50% a match for club and over 1 in 3 for country. His outfield play was as good as his striking ability. He had moved from Celtic to Nante in France, Frank McAvennie took over but proved difficult arguing with manager Billy McNeil, so was transferred back to West Ham. (Incidentally it would appear that Souness had approached him before Celtic, to play for Rangers. McAvennie a Catholic turned him down flat). Celtic then approached Nante to get Johnston back and it looked like a deal was set. But! But! Bill McMurdo Johnston's agent had other ideas. He knew Souness had covetous eyes on the former Celtic forward and knew how there was more money to be made and had Mojo snatched from under Celtic's fingers by richer Rangers.
I still remember it, idiots from Larkhall, wandering about with the thousand yard stare and a black armband. Rangers fans burned their scarves, threatened boycotts of Ibrox -where to go now? How could this happen? Was this the start of the End of Days? The sights of their reaction to this calamity, surreal. Celtic fans, who had long criticised the Catholic bar were just as ridiculous, Judas Johnston they said in their hypocrisy. There is good evidence Johnston was effectively hounded out of the country after his time with Rangers by the behaviour of Celtic fans. Instead of being honoured for being brave enough to break the anti-catholic bar at Rangers.In the Old Firm there is nothing good, it is a product of hate. To break the catholic bar was to take away one of the ways one of their groups riled the other, their motivation toward hate, the other hated it because they lost their most vocal reason for complaint, which was at the centre of their motivation toward their hatred -which they both through social conditioning found fun, or were too scared of peer group sanction to voice disagreement.
My memories of Johnston? March 8, 1989. Scotland 2 France 0 Michel Platini’s team cut to ribbons en route to qualification for Italia 90. Both goals by Johnston. Souness, Smith and McMurdo were at the game too though. Did breaking the catholic bar work? Naw!! Not a bit, the era was a real bad period for sectarianism in Scotland.
Racism reared it's ugly head too during this era, Mark Walters a black player was signed for Rangers. Walters made his Rangers debut in an Old Firm derby match with Celtic at Parkhead, a game which Rangers lost 2–0. The Celtic support subjected Walters to monkey noises and the throwing of bananas and other fruit at him. Rangers banned one of their own supporters after an incident during Walters' home debut. Walters said his worst experience was actually at Tynecastle. Previously I personally witnessed Paul Eliot being racially abused at Parkhead by Celtic fans -one of their own players. So much for the liberal reputation of Celtic fans. Walters hated his time in Scotland, his treatment a national shame.
Gazza, Paul Gascoigne, poor Paul, unbelievable talent but what made him tick was A-D-D, it was part of him, hyper and full of pranks -he once defecated in a players sock as a prank, a Ref dropped a yellow card he picked it up and pretended to use it on the Ref, who booked him, he had an explosive temper because of his condition that got him sent off more than once. But mainly the flute playing incident, pretending to pay a flute like he was on an Orange march. To the infuriation of Celtic fans and threats from the IRA to kill him. (Perhaps it was the self styled leader of the Wishaw IRA, I was introduced to one day on a packed train, by a bigoted idiot from my work). Did Rangers or the Scottish game understand or care that this person was disabled? No, just another poor soul the hate machine chewed up and spat out. Another player from the south who ended up hating his experience in Scotland courtesy of the Old Firm culture.
So then a long period of Rangers dominance, 9 championships 89-03 and a treble. Souness leaves after the first 3 but his assistant Walter Smith takes over, actually an even better manager. Celtic way trailing in the distance, outspent and nearly bankrupt, nobody in Scotland can come near Rangers. Their only near loss of a league to Aberdeen. It's not even like Stein's 9 in a row, Rangers and Hibs presented very strong teams in the 70's, Rangers winning the Cup winners in 72. They are a financial colossus the rest aren’t.
Fergus McCann
The Taylor report and the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster where 95 Liverpool fans were crushed to death was published in 1990. Apart from pointing out the failings that resulted in the disaster recommended all seater stadiums for safety reasons. Rangers had one, Aberdeen had one, even Dundee united had one, but not Celtic. So the club would need to re-do the stadium and that was not going to be cheap. The century long old guard at Celtic the Kellys and the Whytes families were making a real pigs ear. A coothy culture of old boy managers McNeil, Hay, Liam Brady as something new to try. Good Scottish cheese pearing worthy of the best Presbyterian stereotype on the transfer market had left Celtic in the doldrums. In debt, near bankruptcy with a new stadium to buy. The term ‘biscuit tin board’ was put about. Desperate Celtic fans robbed for a decade of success the victims of endless Prod schadenfreude, protested, then boycotted Celtic. First Save Our Celts, then later Celts For Change were formed. The Bank of Scotland at a particular point gave them 24 hours to find the funding to continue -or it was the Poor house for the Timaloys, Paradise up for sale and the Whytes and Kellys eking out their life in monasteries somewhere peaceful.
Enter Fergus McCann, a Scottish Canadian millionaire, he had tried before to get hold of Celtic, but the Old Guard seen him off. Now desperate they reached out to him, he arrived in media style under an old fashioned bunnet financial advisor David Low in tow, to assail the Old Guard's castle. But they wanted his money not his control. The hand bags flew like the Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbour, McCann was banned from the stadium, there were harsh comments, to each other in the media and private. But McCann, with the debtors court looming, Celtic fans marching on Celtic's own bank pointing out the fiscal consequences of their boycotts, won. Money talked his cheque saving the club was deposited with 8 minuets to spare. He acquired a 51% controlling stake in the Celtic in 1994 for £9.5m. Acting as a guarantor for the club's £7 million debt, he injected additional finance, floated the club on the London Stock Exchange as a public limited company, Celtic plc, to raise capital from a share issue. He then raised £14m in the share issue, and that contributed to funding the rebuilding work of the team and the stadium. Kelly the last of the biscuit tin board had to be paid off despite McCanns best efforts to avoid this was regaled with “Goodbye I hope In never see you again”, from Fergus.
The miserable failure of Bhoys against Bigotry
It worked Celtic turned the corner, they stopped Rangers would be world record breaking 10 in a row leagues, bankruptcy was staved off a new stadium rose from the old. But McCann started soon after his tenure a campaign Bhoys Against Bigotry. This wanted to stop the chanting at football grounds relating to the various knee capping, bomb tossing paramilitaries in the still ongoing conflict in Ulster. In this he failed, Celtic were founded to service the wants of exactly that. The campaign bombed, to the extent of the manager Burns questioning it as against Celtic's Irish traditions. Far from doing anything positive the era was a period dotted with sectarian murders on both sides. McCann left the club in 1999 offering an interest-free payment plan to encourage individuals, rather than financial institutions, to purchase shares. Small holders, basically supporters owned 63% of the stock at the time of McCann's departure. Peoples capitalism? Or a sectarian institution with blood on it's hands guaranteed it's future. Bhoys who enjoy bigotry? Maybe that was what would have worked?
The Irish move in
McCann's departure had him sell his holdings 19.8% holding at Celtic to Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond. Soon after Dalgleish was sacked following Supercaleygoballistic-Celticareatrocious and Martin O'Neil brought in as manager. O'Neil was a great manager. Breaking the long period of Rangers dominance with the likes of Sutton, Larson, Lennon, Mjallby and Moravcik. You will note the dearth of Scottish talent.
That long line of Scottish greats going back to the origins of the game was petering out by the turn of the century. Bossman, no transfer money for small clubs. The agents, why pay to train a player when they can get somebody from Bratislava that will do the job. The English premiership relying on non-UK talent and of course the pedo-scandals, enough said, Celtic's particular shame. When Celtic were beaten by Porto in EUFA final, they lined up with 2 Scots. Porto conversely all Portuguese except one Brazilian.
A small nation that really looks after it's game as a part of it's culture, as something to be proud off and reaps the reward. Celtic and Rangers? Nobody likes them except themselves and they reciprocate, even the English won't let them play in their league, where they would like to be. Some of the faithful so absorbed in their identity, the gave up saying they were Scots.
They were Irish born abroad nathin tae to do wi' their rubbish. Who was W. B. Yates? Yea can't catch this yin oot, played for the Pool under Shankly. Ther like us doon there, Liverpool, an Irish catholic club, but we dae it better -that sort of thing.
Following O'Neil there was Lennon, and then Rodgers twice as managers the difficult Strachan the only Scot who was sacked despite winning 3 Chamionships in 5 years. There are stories his face didn't fit, the fans never took to him, Celtic even complaining about the colour of his blue car.
The death of Rangers
Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the tax man comes around
Paraphrase from Johnny Cash
Financial mismanagement at Rangers
They destroyed Al Capone when the cops and the Feds failed, they even forced the CIA to stump up in the face of the Cold war against the Communists with the Air America scandal -they are the tax man.
.
Murray had been making mistakes, pushing that money too far. Rangers came up with a tax avoidance scheme that involved payment of around one half a footballers salary into a trust which then 'lent' the footballer that money on a non-repayable basis. No tax was paid by either the footballer or Rangers on the money which had been put into the trust. The accountants at Ibrox thought it was legal -but Her Majesties Revenue and Customs begged to differ to the tune of £45Million. With about a further £100Million in debt, including £30Million to their bank Lloyd’s, they then outstripped their assets with debt, the stadium, value of the players etc. Banks do not like that -a lot.
Rangers tried in court to claim their scam was legal, they failed twice the big case £45Million and the wee case for 2.8Million. Murray and chairman Johnston were at fault pushing finances way too far, so had to go. Craig Whyte enters the scene, claiming he could raise money necessary to cover immediate debts by taking out a loan of £26.7Million against the sale of season tickets to pay of the immediate debt to the bank and settle the wee tax case. It was a fiasco, Murray had not checked him out (he says), and Whyte had previously been banned for 7 years from being a company director. Rangers needed a McCann or Dermont Desmond character with unimpeachable fiscal integrity and deep pockets, Whyte was neither and Murray had sold him Rangers for a pound.
They tried coming to a deal over the tax with HMRC, nothing doing, Whytes background was exposed by the BBC, Rangers were fined £50k by the London stock exchange because of this. Other groups came in with derisory amounts of money, there were deformation cases. The SFA said Whyte was unfit and there was no indication he actually was able to raise a bean. They fined Whyte £200,000 and banned him from Scottish football for life for bringing the game into disrepute. Rangers were also fined £160,000 and had a 12-month player registration embargo placed on them. Most of the players refused to renew their contracts with any new firm. So they were liquidated, sold to an English guy called Charles Green for not much, even he was kicked out later for his ties to Whyte. Demoted to the lowest rung of the League at the insistence of the clubs in the SPL, despite it not being in their best financial interest, kicked out of EUFA as fiscally unsound, lost most of their players and how the mighty have fallen.
For much of their history Rangers were the largest club financially in the UK never mind Scotland. It took 4 years for Rangers to return to the SPL in 2016 including an extra year in the Championship after a 6-1 aggregate defeat by the Well in a play-off. Their support as they dragged themselves back largely consisted of of bandsmen of the Larkhall LOL and such, with a trail of incidents of violence and arrests in unsuspecting sleepy rural towns like Brechin and Montrose to keep their hand in. Celtic of course never had it so easy with 30 point plus wining margins. Did the Celtic legions find the whole thing a bit of a disinteresting bore -not a bit of it 45to50,000 regularly watched the slaughtering of the lambs. Hearts went bust in 2014, when they did so they were the second wealthiest club in Scotland with one fifth the income of Celtic, all those Old Firm records, sounds impressive till you looked at the well and truly staked deck and examine the politics behind the money. So Rangers return to the SPL, 2016, by 2018 they had killed 2 Celtic fans the way oor religion is celebrated in sectarian Scotland and it means a lot too them. Covid kept them apart and most games now only have home fans. But next season this is changing back by current information.