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Stan Collymore, And What Celtic Football Club "Stand For"

Written by: BB
Thursday, 29th January 2015

With his recent attack on Rangers Football Club, its fans and his ill-informed defence of what Celtic stand for, it would be remiss of me not draw attention to the naivety of Mr Follymore's assertions.

Apparently the Talk Sport pundit used to have a soft spot for the Gers until he learned more of the club's history. He omits to tell us where his research took him but given his extremely blinkered take on our club and fans, I wouldn't be surprised to find he's been on a visit to Donegal to discuss 20 things I hate about Rangers over a pint of Beamish with Provo-loving bigot Phil MacGiollabhain.

The main thrust of his ire comes in the form of club's mainly Protestant teams through the decades. This is where Collymore's ignorance on the history of social demographics in West Central Scotland becomes exposed. What were the origins of the division and segregation in the second city of the Empire?

Well, 'prima facie', the formation of Celtic for charitable reasons appears admirable. It has been said however, that there was another motivating factor. The Irish Roman Catholics amongst those weary denizens of Glasgow's poverty stricken east end were being fed and watered in Church of Scotland soup kitchens. This was not a situation the local RC Clergy were at all comfortable with, not in relation to soup and bread you must understand. No, more concerning was the prospect of their 'flock' receiving nourishment of a spiritual kind and being enlightened to true evangelical Christianity. In my honest opinion, this is where the seeds of division were sown. Celtic became a focal point for Irish Catholics and-'for every action' and all that...Rangers, founded by Presbyterians, became the Protestant club.

Rangers may not have signed as many Catholics as Celtic did Protestants (though I haven't counted) but the biggest irony of the lot is this - Rangers most ferocious critics on who they signed were also the most vehement defenders of educational apartheid in Scotland.

I used to play teams every other week that were 100% Roman Catholic. My neighbour refused to send his kid to the same school as me to learn our ABC's, but these same people would label US bigots?? Maybe in Collymore's middle England RC schools and Church of England schools are no big deal, but given the volatile mix of Glasgow's population, the need for improved integration in the interests of social harmony was far more acute. This separating of kids at 5 years old has done nothing for mutual understanding, as commented on by Hugh Mcilvanney on the Scottish Football documentary 'Only a Game'.

The barriers are kept up to this day with Celtic fans – 125 years after they were formed – and their incessant allegiance to Irish Republicanism. Celtic as a club have endorsed this, encouraged it even. A recent example is their lobbying of the Scottish Government to scrap the Offensive Behaviour Act. Their fans want to praise terrorist groups responsible for the many SECTARIAN ATROCITIES over a 30 year period, and Celtic Football Club are right behind them on this. It is vomit inducing.

It is time to blow this all-inclusive Celtic myth once and for all. Many in their ranks have an inherent hatred of anything British, and with Rangers being a traditionally Unionist club, they are enemy number 1.

It is why Maurice Johnston needed 24-hour protection when he signed for Rangers in the late 80s. The club sign a high profile Catholic and Celtic fans issue death threats! What chance have we got? Many in the Celtic camp are haters. End of.

We had a Roman Catholic captain who was and indeed still is adored by Rangers fans to this day, but guess what? Celtic fans hatred of Rangers is as fervent as ever. It is NOTHING to do with who Rangers sign or don't sign, it is a form of cultural bigotry, plain and simple. Hatred of someone because they happen to come from a different background. (isn't that what this moral crusader is supposed to be against?) It manifests itself continually on the terraces, mocking the Ibrox disaster victims, mocking American Claudio Reyna after 9/11, racist taunts at numerous Rangers players. We could be here all day!

In summation, Mr Follymore is profoundly mistaken.  The Celtic family created division, cemented division, thrived on division, encouraged division and were enraged when their neighbours tore down the barriers of division.

If that is what he 'stands for', then he's bloody welcome to it!

 

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