When I was younger, my parents got me a sweatshirt that said: “Soccer is Life... The Rest is Just Details.” I loved wearing that shirt, but I soon found out that every other kid at school had one just like it, though with his or her own sport of choice. “Volleyball is Life”? Who would actually believe such a silly thing? Though I was for ‘Team Soccer,’ I was always fully aware that life does not revolve around soccer, or any sport for that matter. Many soccer hooligans revolve their lives, however, on hate and violence towards opposing fans. For them, soccer is life, and there is a serious problem with that.
When it comes to rivalries, no two teams are more dominant in domestic soccer than Celtic and Rangers, both from Glasgow. They are the only two strong clubs in Scottish football and the proof is in the championships. Historically, both clubs have won a record 9 consecutive championships, since the league’s inception in 1890 only 19 times have neither Celtic nor Rangers won the championship (again, that’s since 1890!) and the most recent time a non-Glasgow team won the Premier League was way back in the 1984-85 season when Aberdeen won back-to-back titles. To add to the tension between both clubs, their fan base has a strong religious divide; Catholics support Celtic, while Protestants favour Rangers. Back to present day soccer, with 4 games remaining in the season, Rangers leads the Scottish League by 1 point over their rivals, though Celtic does have a game to spare. Their head-to-head match-up this past weekend resulted in a relieving 0-0 draw. I say 'relieving' because no one was killed. Seriously.
One week ago, days before the Celtic-Rangers match commonly referred to as the “Old Firm,” three liquid-based parcel bombs were intercepted. The parcels were addressed to Celtic coach Neil Lennon, his lawyer, Paul McBride, and former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Trish Godman. According to John Mitchell, Detective Chief Superintendent of the Strathclyde police, “[the bombs] were definitely capable of causing significant harm and injury to individuals if they had opened them.”
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| Police divide the supporters of both Celtic (left) and Rangers (right). |
We have all seen the videos or read about the hooliganism that exists in soccer. Some of us have seen first-hand the segregation of away fans in stadiums in the form of police lined up around their section (Scotland), walls put in place to keep local supporters at bay (most of Europe/South America), and even the full separation of away supporters in the form of cages (Romania). Make no mistake, there is unfounded hatred amongst opposing team supporters, but only the extremist minority support the extent of fists, knives, and (incredibly) bombs.
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| Celtic manager Neil Lennon can't hear the Rangers fans. |
Celtic manager Neil Lennon is no newcomer this behaviour. He quit international soccer for Scotland as a player in 2002 after receiving death threats from loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. This time, he has no intention of backing down from coaching, as he embraced (and even taunted some might say) the opposing fans at Ibrox Stadium. While the booing and taunting from fans across the stadium continued during the weekend match, a real opportunity was missed by the majority of Celtic and Rangers fans alike: a chance to stand up against the madness of growing hatred in the city, a hatred that culminates on the soccer pitch. Both clubs are clearly against this terrorism. Fans from all sides have spoken up against what has happened. Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist was quoted after learning of the bombs: “Like any other normal human being, I'm absolutely appalled that in this day and age... people should see in some bizarre and crazy and outrageous way that they've got to send these devices.” The Chief Executive of Celtic, Peter Lawell, has also spoken up. “Neil Lennon is a football manager who simply wants to carry out this role to the best of his professional ability. (…) The most recent targeting of Neil Lennon, Paul McBride and Trish Godman - three people who are linked only by an affinity with Celtic - deserves condemnation from all right-minded people.”
All right-minded people do agree. This type of behaviour is, to put it bluntly, just plain crazy. The silent majority of Glasgow soccer fans, regardless of allegiances, should have stood up against this sectarianism and watched the game peacefully amongst each other. Show the extremists that a Rangers fan can sit next to a Celtic fan without it resulting in a fist-fight. Prove that a Celtic supporter can celebrate a goal in the middle of a crowd of Rangers blue without fear of violence. Show us that, despite what the world believes about soccer supporters and no matter the history of the teams, fans from both sides can cheer and boo alongside each other, even in a game that may very well decide the championship. This past weekend, Celtic and Rangers supporters had that glorious opportunity and they missed it, badly. The silent majority remained silent while the rest of them taunted and yelled. Glasgow is a beautiful city and it deserves better from their citizens. Soccer isn’t life, so don’t let the extremist hooligans take that away from someone.
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