Scottish Supporters Network

Rangers Or Celtic? Why There’s Much More To Glaswegian Football!

Date: 13th January 2019

“The truth of it is that if you are born in Glasgow then you are one side or the other.”

That’s what Chris Sutton stated to The Evening Times this week, while discussing social media photos of referee who was supposedly in a Rangers bar.

Now I should point out that Beaton isn’t from Glasgow, he’s actually from Motherwell. Some cluster the west of Scotland together and assume it’s all Glasgow.

But the main issue I’ve got with the above statement is the total disregard it has for a whole group of Glaswegians that have zero interest in the city’s biggest clubs.

People in our dear green place spend hard earned cash to go out and support Partick Thistle and Queen’s Park. Others devote a great part of their time to Junior sides like Pollok FC, Petershill FC and Shettleston FC. Some enjoy women’s football and will rock up to watch Glasgow City.

Some of their fans might have a preference when it comes to Rangers or Celtic but a huge amount of them couldn’t care less about those two football teams. Why would or should they? Why would they dilute their own passion for their team to have an opinion about another club?

Old Firm fans and outsiders think they must have a preference and they’ll often follow on from a question of ‘Who do you support?’ with ‘Yeah but are you more Celtic or Rangers?’. That must be so frustrating to hear and it happens a lot.

Some people think they can get to the answer by asking ‘What school did you go to?’. By asking that they’re asking did you go to a catholic school and if you did you must prefer Celtic.

The other odd one is the persons name. Say you’re a Steve and you support Partick Thistle and you get asked about your preference to Gers or Hoops and aren’t forthcoming with an answer, they might ask how you spell your name? If it’s Steven they’ll guess you’re a Protestant/Church of Scotland thus a bluenose or if it’s Stephen then they’ll believe you’re a Catholic and a Bhoy.

Yet ultimately he’s Steve, he’s a Jag and has no interest in any other team in Glasgow. His club are bottom of The Championship and are in a relegation dog fight, he isn’t watching his team lose another game and thinking I need to check my phone and see what’s happening at Ibrox.

I’ve been fortunate enough to go down to Newlandsfield Park on a few occasions and any Pollok fan I’ve talked to have been totally dedicated to their club. They might volunteer to help get the ground ready for games, they’ll buy black and white scarves and they will stick money into the raffle. It’s patronising and wrong to believe that these supporters are one side or another when it comes to Ranger or Celtic.

On the subject of bars, again certain people will constantly say they have to be one or the other but it’s not always the case nor is it always identifiable. Yes some will have Union Jacks and others will have Irish flags sticking outside of them and we all know what team these establishments support. Others, in day to day workings, don’t advertise as such but will become magnets for a certain group of supporters when the Gers/Celtic games are on. And a fair amount have no allegiance whatsoever.

Oh and by the way, some Glaswegians also have zero interest in football!

Glasgow has a rich footballing history and we’ve got plenty of footballing homes for faithful fans to go and dedicate their time to. Both Celtic and Rangers are a big part of that but they aren’t the be all and end all and we’ve got members of our community that have no interested in them. We should respect that!

Talking of Glaswegian Footballing history here’s our latest Club Development Scotland video looking at Simon Weir trying to bring Cathkin Park back to life: