Michael Gannon: Scotland does have a sectarian problem...

[ian1964 10,613]

...but it's NOT as bad as some make it out to be

 

THE unacceptable face of Scottish football is back in the limelight and our man believes it's up to the majority of decent fans to help put a stop to it for good.

 

GET it up ye, ya wee ****** so’n’so. Get in tae these Orange b******s.

 

It sounds like something coming from the stands of Ibrox or Parkhead. Or some packed away end around the country when either of the Old Firm come calling.

 

But it’s not. It’s a five-a-side pitch on a Monday night. And it’s 10 guys who are all mates.

 

That’s the thing about this sectarian singing debate that has flared up again this week.

 

With some folk it’s a black and white issue but for most it’s part of the colourful backdrop of bonkers West of Scotland culture.

 

Very few actual real people get upset by this stuff.

 

It’s lifelong pals who have been inseparable since they were kids yet come from different sides of the divide.

 

They go to the games, belt out war songs for 90 minutes and meet up with buddies from the other side later in the pub.

 

The language they use to each other would get most of them lifted under the Scottish governments botched Offensive Behaviour act.

 

Which may be a bit awkward as the cops are just as capable of chipping in with the patter when they’re off the beat.

 

Glasgow’s a tough old place and the humour can cut.

 

But that is what a lot of this nonsense is – it’s kiddy on controversy.

 

That’s not to say there’s not a problem. No-one is naive enough to think it’s all just good natured banter.

 

There are troubled individuals who have bigoted views so deeply entrenched they would give Jacques Cousteau the bends.

 

Those are the ones we need to worry about and weed out.

 

It’s the 10 percent who take this crap seriously that need to be dragged into this century. We don’t need these halfwits.

 

There are also the ones who seem to have made being offended a national past time.

 

It’s almost like they enjoy it.

 

Yes, there are horrible b******s out there with poison running through their veins.

 

Just like there are slack-jawed folk who don’t like blacks, gays or gingers.

 

They are easy to spot as they seem to let their brains fart in public.

 

But it’s important not to tar everyone with the same sectarian brush.

 

It’s the big question. Does singing about being up to your knees in ****** blood make you a bigot? Does giving it the Roll of Honour mean you hate all proddies?

 

It might sound bonkers but the majority of the people who take part in these twisted karaoke sessions will say no.

 

In this corner of the country we’ve got sectarianism and tribalism all tangled up.

 

Take in a game anywhere in the UK and you’ll hear bad stuff.

 

Liverpool fans chanting about the Munich air crash, Man Utd rivals going on about Hillsborough.

 

Aberdeen fans have an Ibrox disaster ditty up their cuff. Swansea and Cardiff punters dish out horrendous abuse.

 

Newcastle and Sunderland? Jeez, it wasn’t long ago when some Geordie punched a horse after losing to the Mackems.

 

Like it or not, football has a sinister underbelly.

 

It’s just that in our country there’s a religious attachment that comes with club colours.

 

We’ve come a long way since the days of second and third generation Irish immigrants being scared to say what school they went to in job interviews.

 

It’s just the songs that have managed to stand the test of time. Unfortunately.

 

Because although they might not mean much, they make folk from outside the environment feel uncomfortable.

 

Like most insults, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

 

Some snarling face spouting stuff about ******s doesn’t look good to most right-minded people. The guy could be an accountant, with a Catholic wife and weans, but you don’t get the back story from a snap shot.

 

That’s why everyone needs to give it a rest. You wouldn’t swear like a trooper in front of your granny so it’s not okay to roll out the nasty stuff at full volume in a crowded stadium.

 

Scotland does have sectarian problems but it is not as bad as it is sometimes made out.

 

It’s up to the 90 percent of normal fans to prove it.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/michael-gannon-scotland-sectarian-problem-7094513

[der Berliner 3,554]

Very much up to the point, this.

[SteveC 150]

Good article, thanks for posting

[compo 6,589]

aye a good wee read

[Oleg_Mcnoleg 50]

Says what I've been telling folk for years. That Stein line about football being the safety valve for west coast sectarianism is completely is arse about face. If it wasn't for the chants at football, sectarianism in Scotland would barely register. Iraq has a sectarian problem: it cheapens the term to apply it to what is, at heart, an over-excitable football fan problem.

[RANGERRAB 3,453]

Says what I've been telling folk for years. That Stein line about football being the safety valve for west coast sectarianism is completely is arse about face. If it wasn't for the chants at football, sectarianism in Scotland would barely register. Iraq has a sectarian problem: it cheapens the term to apply it to what is, at heart, an over-excitable football fan problem.

 

Sectarianism is now an industry in Scotland which employs people & gives our excessive number of largely useless politicians something to do. And I've always considered the many individuals in this country who claim to be anti-sectarian to be sectarian themselves as soon as Rangers name gets mentioned

Edited January 1, 2016 by RANGERRAB