According to a piece in one of today's papers the angst for Glasgow Rangers might be set to continue. We now know that the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of HMRC in that between 2001 and 2010 Rangers avoided tax on £47 million of tax-free "loans" to players, managers and directors and that the tax owing will now have to be paid. In new developments Celtic have petitioned the Scottish FA to review the five titles Rangers won during that period. They claim that by being able to give their players extra money Rangers had technically engineered a competitive/ sporting advantage. If Celtics appeal is upheld five Championship titles could possibly be expunged from their record. It could be worse I suppose in that they could have just lost in Europe to the fourth-best team in Luxembourg.!
Am I the only one that really dislikes Celtic and thinks rangers are ok? (As clubs/ fan bases not this tax thing)
Probably not, but after 10 years experience of both, I think they're both as bad as each other, while trying to claim the moral high ground over each other.
Yeah I'm not a huge fan of either but the Celtic fan I lived with at uni was unbearable, their ego is huge as it would be when you play in a league with no competition whatsoever. Constantly told me with a straight face the old firm is the best derby in the world for quality and atmosphere.
I have no personal affinity with either Club. What came across in the film about Celtic winning the European Cup in 1967 ( The Lisbon Lions) was the deep rooted sectarian divide between Catholic and Protestants which still exists to this very day. To my mind there is no place in Sport for religious bigotry and in my view that's what Celtics petition to the SFA is probably linked to. The Billy Connolly video sums their bitter rivalry up to a tee....or should that be a Bovril.?
I think the petition is based on a hatred of Rangers, not on a hatred of protestants per se. The first catholic to play for Rangers was under Souness in 1989 (Mo Johnston), not sure Celtic ever really had an aversion to signing protestants, arguably their best ever captain, Danny McGrain was a protestant. Sectarianism is rife amongst both sets of fans however. For the record I'm a devout atheist.
In the Lions of Lisbon film we were told first time round Celtic sacked Jock Stein only because he was a Protestant. They had a four year barren period and following pressure from the fans took him back as their Manager. Right enough they don't like each other but to my mind as evidenced by Gascoigne playing an imaginary flute when he scored against Celtic for Rangers their divisions are probably based on religion and sectarianism.
Both teams are immensely disliked amongst the rest of Scotlands teams hence the nickname the UGLY SISTERS and it's well earned with what I can gather, remember Manchester EU Cup Final ?
Be very interested to hear Arabian Ian's take on this issue as he's very much closer to source than us. We were having a drink in a pub on the Headrow in Leeds when Leeds played Celtic in the first leg of the European Cup and some Celtic fans were at an adjoining table. They were telling us about some of the things they'd witnessed at Old Firm games. At one game at Ibrox the Rangers fans were apparently lobbing potatoes with six inch nails pushed through them into the terrace housing the Celtic fans. In fairness they admitted that some of their supporters were not whiter than white and had been known to also do and say unsavoury things to Rangers fans. I sense there is a little more tolerance these days but the rivalry appears to be as still as strong as it ever was.
Donny red I used to go with a girl from Glasgow. A Catholic. Anyway she told me that after old firm games there was always mayhem in Glasgow. If Rangers won big trouble but if Celtic won literally there was murder. She also told me her gran lived in a tenement very near Celtic Park and when celtic scored the ornaments on the mantlepiece actually shook. At the end of the day both Despicable clubs with scum fans.
Is the rivalry based on football alone Ian or is that a sideshow to the sectarian divisions that concern the followers of both Protestant and Catholic persuasions.?
Football has absolutely nothing to do with it. All a sickening religious hate fest. When celtic visit I'm a protestant cnt and when rangers visit I'm a Catholic bstard. None seem to dislike me for being a united fan.
Apparently the Government are consulting Rangers about brexit because they are experts at exiting Europe early . Going to Luxembourg in a couple of weeks to see Rival Sons got return flights for £32 from Stansted , looking forward to it
Very sad and completely unnecessary when you think about it. But given the history it's now so firmly ingrained both in Ireland and Scotland we can't anticipate that changing any time soon. I remember when I first started following the Reds in 1987 a Barnsley Council employee let my mate park in his bay at the Education Dept which was on Berneslai Close near the Police station on match days. I used to go with him. We walked out of the car park and a policeman brandishing a Heckler and Koch machine gun was standing at the gate of a house to our right. My mate checked it out with the Barnsley MBC guy on the Monday. He was apparently guarding the home of Roy Mason MP who had been Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the 1970's and could have been a target for the IRA. Along with the surveillance equipment and guards for anyone who has ever held that post it must have cost the British taxpayers an absolute fortune.
Always new when Roy was about to go in the King George for a pint , his two security detail came in a few minutes before to check things out http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1391652/Its-the-price-the-IRA-makes-us-pay-for-democracy.html
Football is simply a sideshow for their religious hatred. Marching season(tomorrow being the big day) was always interesting, should be completely banned on both sides, in my opinion. Although, if it wasn't for the Old Firm rivalry, I would never have seen a grown man headbutt a moving train, that will stay with me for a long time!
