Last night theRangers visited McDiarmid Park in Perth for a crucial league match against St Johnstone. Earlier in the day, news broke that Celtic are set to face theRangers in a friendly on Australian soil this winter. That development was derided by both Glasgow clubs’ fans alike, but the banners mocking child abuse were entirely unacceptable – especially from a club who claim to be the same outfit that have their own cases to answer to in this regard – but instead directed the victims towards the old club’s liquidators. Only the same club when it suits them it seems.
A topic like this is very sensitive and should be negotiated very carefully. The victims must remain paramount and for that reason I was unsure whether or not to write this piece. However, it is for that reason that I feel the regular songs and actions like the above can no longer go unchallenged. Weird, moronic individuals can no longer be allowed to express such vile sentiment, which not only lacks self-awareness and morality, but actually causes immense distress to those who have suffered.
Abuse did happen at Celtic Boys Club and on a disturbing scale. The horrific issue was not handled correctly and a judge has now given the go ahead for a multi-million pound ‘class action’ style lawsuit to be pursued against Celtic FC by survivors of that dreadful ordeal. If the courts decide that Celtic are liable then I, like every other right minded fan, believe that it is only right that the victims are given appropriate compensation and justice. Any compensation it should be noted – and this point is entirely missed by their moronic support – will be paid out by the insurers not by Celtic.
It is certainly not something the fans were responsible for. We are/will be abhorred by the actions of those previously working at the club if found guilty. Just as fans of every other club involved in the UK football sexual abuse scandal are/will be. Indeed, The Sheldon Report was published last year and criticised failures at Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crewe Alexandra, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Peterborough, Southampton and Stoke City. Meanwhile, the 192-page final report of the SFA enquiry was published in February 2021 and it said that Celtic, Falkirk, Forres Mechanics, Hamilton, Hibernian, Hutchison Vale, Motherwell, RANGERS and Partick Thistle should all “make a clear, unreserved, and public acknowledgment and apology” for historic issues involving sexual abuse.
It is clear that historical issues of this horrendous nature encompassed multiple institutions where children were present, and were incorrectly and shamefully dealt with by many organisations.
Few if any of the clubs listed endure disgusting taunts about historic cases of abuse by sick individual working within their club – especially not from fans of another guilty party. It is high time that theRangers supporters realised that a paedophile and those who cover them up are scumbags, whether they allegedly worked at Celtic, Crewe, Hibs, Chelsea or even at Rangers..
Rather than point scoring in a disturbing cold manner, simultaneously turning a blind eye to alleged historic wrongs at Ibrox, they should spare a thought for the survivors of the abuse. A screenshot above showed that some have become suicidal from the taunts they endure and from seeing their ordeal turned into a banner to poke fun at rival football clubs. With that in mind, it really must stop as those people have suffered enough and supersede anything to do with a dislike of another football team.
The same people who raised the banners at McDiarmid Park last night claim that the team they support are the same club as the Rangers formed in the 1870s. Therefore, they would do well to read about the allegations surrounding previous Ibrox youth coaches Harry Dunn, John Chalmers, Kenneth Watson et al. They must also recognise the allegations surrounding the handling of complaints against Gordon Neely.
On the one hand, Rangers claim that they alerted the police, but the police say they have no record of ever receiving such a complaint. The club also claimed to have sacked Neely. However, the club’s own newspaper stated he had resigned at the time and wished him well in the future; whilst a victim has come forward to pour cold water on claims that the police were contacted.
To raise such banners, sing songs gloating about child abuse at one club (while ignoring others including their own) and then go on to sing God Save the Queen – the same Queen who just paid £12m in an out of court settlement for her son, who was alleged to have had sexual relations with an underage girl is very perplexing behaviour.
It is time to stop this absolute repulsive, hypocritical and amoral conduct at football grounds. We may not like one another but we can all unite against paedophiles and their enablers to ensure that justice is done. We should endeavour to support victims of every club, including our own, and make sure that such shocking things never happen again.
Please bear the victims in mind and I urge the Celtic faithful to do the same. We should all welcome justice at last for these people and that justice is far more important than our football clubs.
The journalist Ian Archer summed the Rangers support up perfectly all those years ago…
You'll never no matter how hard you search, find anywhere in the world, a more vile fan base or one that takes so much enjoyment in the thought of children being abused as you will than those retched rancid peepaal😠#EvilDisgustingBastards one and all😡 pic.twitter.com/Grw99uUFJO
— JPBurton (@JPBurton5) March 3, 2022
I’m speaking as someone who has worked with hundreds of victims of abuse. What you see here is the worst form of point-scoring. It demeans the victims and raises a red flag about those involved. Suffering abuse is as bad as it gets. Being reminded of it constantly ensures PTSD. pic.twitter.com/FdUJ9FIGLk
— Paul Larkin🍀 (@paullarkin74) March 3, 2022
Good article but unfortunately the sevco fans are hypocrites when it comes to this and they will never stop their point scoring. Their denial of any wrongdoing by their own club shows you how much sympathy the have for people.
Good article but unfortunately the sevco fans are hypocrites when it comes to this and they will never stop their point scoring. Their denial of any wrongdoing by their own club shows you how much sympathy the have for people