Scottish Rangers Sectarian Report

This video clip captures a news report on fans of Scotland’s football team the “Rangers” displaying acts of sectarianism at a football match. Sectarianism is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement (Wiki-Sectarian). Examples of this hatred towards groups from other denominations, classes and religion are indecencies such as name-calling, jokes, racist chants and songs, verbal abuse, physical violence and even murder. Fans of the “Rangers” Scottish football team are being urged by their assistant manager to stop their sectarianism chanting at football matches, claiming it could ruin their chances at winning the Scottish Premiere League title. The Rangers fans have been heard at football matches against their rival Irish football team “The Celtics” singing the “The Billy Boy’s”, an Ulster Loyalist song that became the signature tune which was sung by the Protestant street gang of Glasgow, the Brigton Boys which often clashed with Catholic gangs (cite).  The lyrics to the song have since been changed to display the sectarian hate;

The original:

Hullo, Hullo

We are the Rangers Boys

Hullo, Hullo

You'll know us by our noise

We're down to our knees to see our team

At Ibrox or away

For we are

The Glasgow Rangers Boys

The recent version:

Hullo, Hullo

We are the Billy Boys

Hullo, Hullo

You'll know us by our noise

We're up to our knees in fenian blood

Surrender or you'll die

For we are

The Brigton Derry Boys

The lyrics “We’re up to our knees in fenian blood” conveys the hatred of the Irish exhibited at footballs matches between the two rivals. The word “fenian” comes from  members of a movement initiated in 1857 by Irish-Americans to secure Irish independence from Britain (Hereward Senior). The word nowadays is used as a racial slur and is used by Protestants to demean Catholics in Northern Ireland. 

This type of hatred displayed at football matches is a an absolute disaster. With a stadium full of fans on opposite sides, heavy into the football match, emotions flaring over who’s winning and who isn’t, most likely drinking and possibly in the company of their children, the opportunity for a fight(s) to escalate over sectarian chants would be at an all time high and incredibly dangerous in a stadium full of people. Realizing the hazards of these displays of hatred, Scotland has now passed The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 14th December 2011 and will be enacted on 1st March 2012. The Act criminalizes behavior which is threatening, hateful or otherwise offensive at a regulated football match including offensive singing or chanting. It also criminalizes the communication of threats of serious violence and threats intended to incite religious hatred, whether sent through the post or posted on the internet. The Act will only criminalize behavior likely to lead to public disorder which expresses or incites hatred, is threatening or is otherwise offensive to a reasonable person.

Here is a video of Scotland's First Prime Minister Alex Salmond, speaking on behalf of Scotland and The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Bill of Scotland 

"We will not tolerate sectarianism as a parasite in our National game of football or any where else in this Society" - First Prime Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond