EX-CELTIC STAR Niall McGinn has opened up on the sickening abuse that he has been subject to in Scottish Football. McGinn signed for Celtic from Derry City in 2008 but made 35 appearances scoring six goals before leaving to join Aberdeen in 2012.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, the 32-year-old spoke candidly about the bullets he received in the post and the disgusting verbal abuse that he is accustomed to from two sets of supporters – namely Rangers and Hearts.
“Looking back to my time at Celtic, myself, Neil Lennon and Paddy McCourt, we had bullets sent to us in the post.
“It wasn’t only hard for me but it was hard for my family. Neil Lennon, he came to my room and told me the night before it was published that there was going to be a newspaper article coming out about us being sent bullets. [He said], ‘Just make sure you let your family know’.
“The last thing I wanted was my Mum opening up the newspaper on a Sunday morning and seeing her son was being threatened by bullets.
“The club were always supportive. They’d been through different situations with different players.
“It’s not nice to hear or say, but it sort of comes with the job. It does seem the norm that you’re sort of entitled to get abuse, and that shouldn’t be the case.”
McGinn was hardly a big player that season and the fact that he was the target of any attack was purely a result of his background – being an Irish Catholic. The abuse that he suffered and continues to suffer is Scotland’s shame and it must be eradicated.
The abuse was not limited to his time at Celtic, even now in the red of Aberdeen, McGinn is the victim of sectarian abuse as the bile emanates from the stands at Ibrox and Tynecastle as his background
“Even now, being at Aberdeen, when I go to Ibrox or Tynecastle, you’re getting called names, you’re getting abuse if you’re on the sideline. It’s abuse all the time. It is only from a small minority.
“My Mum is a first cousin to one of the hunger strikers, Martin Hurson. You have different songs that’d be sung at different games regarding the hunger strikers and that can be quite hurtful.”
