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Troy LaRue Gonzalez

Professor Spring

World Religions

6 June 2017

Football, Passion, and Bigotry

Of the twelve clubs in the Sottish Premiership, two are the center of attention. “While

soccer may have other hallowed matches—Barcelona-Real Madrid in Spain, Boca Juniors-River

Plate in Buenos Aires—none come close to matching Celtic FC-Rangers FC for a purity of hatred

that involves politics, class and, above all, religion” (Wahl 54). Little did anyone know, that two

clubs in the city of Glasgow, Scotland would start the biggest rivalry in history, also known as the

old firm. Since their first ever football meeting in 1888, Celtics and Rangers have hated each other

with a passion. If anyone were to ask a fan from either side, why? One’s response would sound

like, “It’s just the way I was brought up” (Wahl 56). Be that as it may, football is not just a game,

it is a clash of high level teams, passionate fans, along with the utmost animosity created by this

rivalry. As a matter of fact, these two neighboring teams come from two different religious

backgrounds, therefore, fueling the initial cause behind the one-hundred and twenty-nine-year

rivalry. This paper will cover (1) the origins of Celtics FC, (2) the history of Rangers FC, and (3)

the massive confrontation that was caused when these two teams met to kick off the New Year.

It is well known that the Celtics identify themselves as Roman Catholics due to their Irish

origins. To the working Irish community of Glasgow, “the club was a source of pride and a focus

of loyalty and affection” (Walker 11). Furthermore, the Celtics were “conscious of it's history and

of what it has meant to successive generations of Catholics” (Walker 12). In 1888 when the Celtics
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first emerged into the game of football, they brought with them a religious identity that clashed

with the Protestants supporters within Glasgow. Despite the feud between the varying religious

backgrounds, “the irony is that in Celtic teams the Protestants may outnumber the Catholics

whereas the Rangers will not consider a Catholic, regardless of talent” (Mcllvanney 41). This

signifies the bigotry that the Catholic players and fans faced who identified themselves with the

Celtics. Another disputable moment that occurred within the Celtics that was “massively

embarrassing to the Rangers board,” was when Jock Stein, a protestant, was appointed to manage

the club (Mcllvanney 42). However unusual this may have seemed, Stein was “miraculously

successful” and was leading the Celtics “to win every competition open to them” (Mcllvanney 42).

Due to the violent rivalry, the Celtics strategically elected Stein “to fashion an image for the club

which took it out of its Catholic ghetto and made it attractive to many Protestant Scots” (Walker

12).

The Rangers FC was established in 1872, however the club gained much more attention in

the 1890's “on account of many Protestants identifying with it as the most likely team to challenge

and defeat the Catholic Irish” (Walker 12). The beginnings of the Protestant era emerged when

Scotland broke away from the Roman Catholic church, but was again divided into Catholic and

protestant when the Irish came to Scotland during the potato famine (Reid 66). As the religious

tension grew between the two groups, the Rangers were then chosen to be the representatives of

the Protestants that resided within Scotland (Mcllvanney 41). One discriminating characteristic of

the Rangers was their refusal to sign any Catholic players, and “in recent years if Rangers signed

“one of them” it was an error, and an error quickly rectified” (Mcllvanney 41). Although the Celtics

seemed to be moving forward, looking beyond the bound of religious discrimination, the Rangers

“stuck rigidly to its 'no-catholic' policy” (Walker 12). To the protestants, the socioeconomic status
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and poverty of the Catholic Irish was a symbol of a social and cultural threat (Walker 11). The

rivalry between the two teams was “simply a matter of the orange-and-blue against the green, them

and us, us and them” (Mcllvanney 43).

In Glasgow the citizens love a good fight. The city itself is characterized as “hard-faced

and soft hearted” and that “it respects little and fears less.” For instance, simply walking into a bar

with the wrong colored scarf can result in a “swift thumping to some impromptu facial surgery

with a razor or broken glass” better known as “getting the message” (Mcllvanney 40). When the

Old Firm met for the 334 time to play against one another, the Rangers beat the Celtics on their

home field and secured the Scottish title. However, hooligans outside the stadium attacked Taverns

and engaged in street fights. By the end of the night there had been 113 arrests and over 100 injuries

(Wahl 56). In 1989, former Celtic player Mo Johnston, became the first Catholic to sign with the

Rangers since World War I. This caused an uproar between both sides. For example, “Ranger fans

burned their team scarves and season tickets, while Celtic supporters, claiming Johnston had

betrayed his religion, sent him death threats” (Wahl 55). It was ironic for the Celtic supporters to

send him death threats while accusing Johnston of betraying his religion because Catholics do not

believe in killing according the Ten Commandments. The seriousness of this rivalry goes so far as

to Celtic supporters refusing to wearing even top brand names like Nike that the Rangers are

sponsored by (Wahl 55). In 1953, it was decided that there should be “prematch entertainment and

entertainment to occupy the spectators during the 10 minutes or so of the half-time interval” to

avoid any quarrels between opposing supporters. Even the teams were order to leave the dressing

rooms together to ensure no there would be no further disturbances amongst the two groups

(Mcllvanney 44). Throughout the rivalry between the Celtics and the Rangers there have been
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many horrendous moments of violence, however Glasgow has become much less violent than it

formerly was (Mcllvanney 40).

The rivalry that stands between the Celtics and the Rangers is one of the fiercest in the

world, and it is still ongoing in today’s game of football. Former player for the Celtics and Rangers

Claudio Reyna describes the atmosphere that fills the stadium as there being “nothing like it,”

when you have the over 59,918 fans at one game “divided into two religious camps by a human

wall of police” (Wahl 54). He further went on to discuss how he managed to clinch the Scottish

title amongst a stadium full of people who mostly hate him from the bottom of their heart and how

most players don’t experience that throughout their whole career, yet he did in a single game (Wahl

55). For the fans and supporters of the Celtics and Rangers, the two clubs represented an

“emotional commitment” and “a sense of identity”. The supporters were a part of a rivalry that ran

deep with roots that categorized ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Walker 12).