The West’s Failing Defence Mechanisms and Corrupted Institutions

To have a flourishing, functioning society you need solid foundations to provide and continue that strength and security. These could be physical, institutional, ethical, or behavioural fortresses that keep us all safe. Everyone, or at least a large majority, has to buy into this understanding, which then allows freedoms, knowledge, interests, pursuits to grow in different directions from that shared core.

These foundations cover many facets of the culture; be it, economy, laws, policing, health, education, defence, entertainment etc. What is important is that there’s a common thread running between them all. That the idea of a nation, a sustaining vessel, is acknowledged, if not universally respected. That institutions in each area respect the very people that they are built to serve. That merit and honesty is valued and that dishonesty or poor performance is punished.

What we are seeing in the UK, and wider West, just now is the erosion of these institutions. Where agendas (allied with greed) are being played out before the interests of the institutions and the general public. Previously this wouldn’t be allowed to happen. Rules were enforced and any rogue agendas were contained. The organism was able to protect itself. However, over generations the rules were allowed to yield. The clarity of message and respect of ethics present at the beginning has been lost. Detractors climbed the ladders and left the doors ajar. Those close to money helped themselves. Others would come after in a changed environment and so the creep continued. Over time the institution rots and the culture inside becomes unrecognisable from its original form.

As a prime example, parliament and politics in general across the UK appears to have suffered this decay. I can’t speak of times before the 80s or 90s, but since then any pretence of representation of the people or working for the betterment of the nation has gone. Problems are created artificially and regularly, and seldom fixed. It doesn’t appear that the political structure today allows an honest person to survive, let alone thrive or change things for the better. This could all be put down to incompetence, bad ideas, greed, corruption from corporations, or influence and corruption from foreign/hostile governments. At some stage the defence mechanisms relating to a key part national security have failed.

Another example. Scotland is comprised of a distinct and different sets of cultural groups. One of which is sympathetic or straight-out Irish Republican in intent. Intrinsically, this group is at odds with the general spirit of Britishness required to keep the wider British culture pulling in the same direction. The British public may not consider themselves at war with Irish Republicans, but many Irish Republicans consider themselves to be at war with Britain. Adversaries are not predisposed to exist side by side peacefully. Due to length of conflict and familiarity our defence mechanisms are no longer primed to identify or react to threats from this source. On some level this is clearly an issue.

For example, over the years Scotland has been denatured to overt support of terrorism. Institutions like Celtic FC and recently The SNP have fostered a corrosive sub-culture where attacking the UK, and any symbol of the UK, is positively encouraged and rewarded. This has to lead to problems and cracks in society. The constant undermining and assault on symbols and institutions will have an attritional effect, especially when the rate of work is shared with other hostile groups. Much of this effect has been gradual or even gone unnoticed because there is a large overlap between British and Irish cultures and media blind-spot to egregious acts. Despite differences, the cultures have a relatively high degree of compatibility. But what it has created is a weakness and conduit that others can exploit.

Immigration may at times be a necessity, where the requirement or promise of work or creation of industry is strong enough, and it can and should be a good thing for all parties. Progress should be a good thing. Sharing ideas should be a great thing. But like all things, there must be rules or plans go awry and the castle collapses. The onus should be on an amount of assimilation to protect the host culture. This doesn’t need to be aggressive or overbearing but the arrow has to be in that direction.

There’s a salient point from history here – during the world wars we didn’t flood the country with Germans, or Russians. Where people were admitted, then the expectation was very much that they would actively rejected the old culture and pick up the identity of the new home. It was understood that uncontrolled immigration would allow a destabilising number of hostile agents in and ultimately national security would be compromised. During war time, our cultures were considered incompatible.

At some point between then and now these basic defence mechanisms have been stripped away. We seem to have got ourselves to a place where hostile cultures are ushered in (even before immigrants from friendly cultures), where assimilation isn’t even mentioned, where they are allowed to immediately indulge in hostile pursuits (e.g., support of terror groups) on these shores and where their rights and benefits outstrip those of the indigenous population. Some thing has clearly gone wrong or is being designed to go wrong.

It may just be the increasing naivety of successive generations, where lessons of the past have been forgotten and not passed on. Where a softness has been allowed to spread throughout the civilization, all the way down to its very foundations. It may be that corruption is unavoidable and ultimately terminal in a capitalist society where anything and anyone can be bought. That politics, press and police can be paid to work against their own country and countrymen. That entire institutions can be ruined by a small number of the wrong people in the right positions. Or that the fatal flaw in every democracy is that an undemocratic majority appears?

That past wars were mostly played out with rows of soldiers and tanks; it seems foolhardy in the extreme to believe that war wouldn’t evolve and to assume that it could not be fought in plain sight, with different ideas or technologies, and that front lines could be erased. It would be a certainty that a hostile foreign power with an inferior army would then look for another way to win a war, to degrade or conquer a rival.

It is worrying that our defences have seen systematically stripped away and rendered useless, or worse still, that our immune response is being used against us. As examples, our own police targeting Brits, our companies discriminating against white males, our media and government gaslighting the British public whilst burning down the shared history and foundations that led to our advanced and celebrated (if far from perfect) society.

And our last line of defence, our military, has somehow abandoned the turrets and allowed things to develop this far. It palpable that people are sensing that something is not quite right. Alarm bells are ringing. It is very clear that many self-defeating, self-harming policies have been in place for decades and no one appears to be able or willing to address it.

Scotlands and Celtics problem with Terrorism

If you stop tending a garden then it ceases to be a garden. Over time it loses order and then succumbs to the chaos of nature. Our society, with the freedoms and relative safety we enjoy all exist within a framework, a structure that allows us to live our lives on this piece of land. Without this order, there are no human rights or freedom to protest, no democracy and no football. This varies from place to place, city to city, but these are the gardens that we tend and inhabit and the work that they require to look their best are respect, trust, tolerance and a general agreement how things should be ordered. The UK is far from perfect but its not bad.

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a tribal being. We all are. Having that awareness should be a strength and not a failing. Takes ones to know one, hunter turned gamekeeper etc. You learn from history and you learn from human nature and you have to understand and account for the worst and build from there.

Scotland has its history of tribal issues, primarily of religious/cultural origins and much related to or at least exacerbated by the movement of people from one place to another. Tension was totally predictable – it’s a science where compatibility of people and cultures can be calculated based on history, populations, respect, offerings, grievance, rate of change and adaptability/willingness to yield. It’s not cynical to suggest some movement was encouraged to create problems and cause divisions and that a lack of mediation and attention and the stoking of divisions allowed tension to fester.

This is where the bigger questions appear. Does a collective of people have claim to any land? Does any person have a right to live in that land? Does the indigenous population have a say over who arrives and what boxes must be ticked to join them in that country? This certainly seems to be the default across most of the world’s countries and not many question the rights of those people or populations to exercise some degree of control over their land.

To continue the metaphor, gardens can look totally different and there’s no right or wrong but there are undoubtedly better ones and worse ones. They can be bland, uninspired and lacking variety. Straight lines or curves. Structured or hectic. They can be crowded and have all sorts of plants, flora and wildlife. All types can work and flourish. Humans can adapt, live and enjoy most environments they grow into to. Problems begin when things start to change, and change too fast, without planning, permission or blessing, or without any underlying explanation or necessity.

We all agree there are behaviours that are unwanted and unhelpful and most of these become criminal acts as society seeks to establish order and protect itself and its citizens. Of course, not all seemingly unhelpful acts or ideologies are illegal and that’s the part of life and freedom. Sometimes these can move society forward and improve areas that need improving. As with immigration, people and ideas from other places can add the flavour and spice to a bland or stale society. Equally, deliberate disrespect and antagonization cannot be expected to be well received.

Promotion and celebration of terrorism straddles this boundary, for despite their being laws against it, it has largely been tolerated in Scotland where many openly and actively promote the likes of the IRA. Scottish society and police clearly do not know how to handle the problem. Perhaps thinking it is simply a childish or insincere act. There is a truth in this and that Scottish football plays out tensions more like a pantomime than a war-zone. But the tension exists and is proactively kept alive. The problem is that overtime these ideas can crystalise or transpose and the reality of terrorism isn’t something Western society should be playing with or encouraging.

I saw a recent tweet from a prominent union leader in the UK where he questioned Biden’s Irish credentials for backing Israel in light of the 07-Oct Hamas attacks. I would hope an 80-year-old POTUS who was born in Pennsylvania would have his primary loyalty to the US. But it does raise the question of mindsets, ideologies and loyalties. Why do some people refuse to integrate and yield? Does this loyalty always exist to the external entity, where’s the tipping point? To be passed through generations this must be deliberately cultivated and indoctrinated. And what if this grievance-driven identity then couples or resonates with a terrorist cause at a later date, or later generation? I think we can see how this would be undesirable for everyone.

And where some in Scotland may play with terrorism, and the disneyfication of terrorism, others aren’t so twee or harmless. The obsession some at Celtic fc have with Palestine has never sat right. Not because people and groups don’t deserve support or a better life but because of the reasons for support. There’s hundreds of valid causes and oppressed people and groups to show solidarity with, however, Palestine appears to have been chosen because of the anti-Brit angle, the mutual glorification of terrorism and the apparent problem that the Irish identity has with antisemitism. None of this is particularly healthy even if the cause is. Of course, the timing of the last showing of solidarity – after the Hamas attacks which killed 1400+ civilians of all ages and backgrounds – betrays they true reasons for backing from some in the Celtic support.

Claims of moral high ground, human rights and solidarity vanish when so many innocent people are massacred. Red flags should also be ringing loud in that community and across Scotland about some of the people they have sided with – Islamic Jihadis. This isn’t a football game; this is the real world where outsiders are considered less than others and those beliefs are acted upon – not through song or through t-shirts or flags but through blood and slaughter.

It has been that way for thousands of years so would be foolish to think otherwise now. And who’s to say it stops at Israel? Because we know it won’t – humans and history tells us so. So take a look around the garden we live in, in relative safety with our stupid feuds and squabbles, and then think if you’re really heading down a road to towards enrichment or societal improvement.

Celtic CSA Scandal: Caring about Justice

‘You don’t care about the victims’, a comment often seen on social media regarding the Celtic fc scandal and very much the last refuge of the scoundrel. It is, of course, a desperate denial-soaked attempt to deflect from the issue at hand. When dealing with cold hard facts it is also a moot point. The crimes have been verified through the courts and committed to record. Other actions and occurrences are laid out in black and white in the printed press, including the celtic view. The judge doesn’t turn round to the prosecuting team and ask them if they are in fact Rangers fans just trying score points? It is the fact that the crimes have been committed in the first place that demands the truth and perpetrators are hunted down with cold unwavering prejudice. Caring about justice by default includes caring about the needs of the victims, whereas, ignoring or quietening calls for justice shows the opposite.

Surely a functioning society demands that everyone is treated equal and that the law does not discriminate? You should not expect favour or immunity based on saying nice things at the right time, cultural heritage, political persuasion, charity work or the fact the media does your PR for you. Crime is absolute. If you do not want your tribal adversaries to demand consequences for illegitimate actions then not commit illegitimate actions.

As we know, there are many layers to the Celtic FC scandal. Primarily, there are the individual crimes and this is all about the victims. This is the coal face and where the real damage was done. The legal system and justice should be there for them, as should public support. This isn’t isolated to celtic and everyone affected, at any club, needs recognition and justice, in its many forms. The government and governing bodies really need to do more here.

Now, what sets Celtic FC apart and where their scandal diverges from other instances of abuse across football is the scale and organised nature of the abuse. Then on top of that further is the organised nature of the subsequent cover-up and damage limitation measures – some of which enabled abuse to continue and most of which tormented victims all over again, for years. This is where it becomes an institutional problem and not just an abuse problem – a celtic fc problem, if you will. In a way, this element is no longer solely about the victims, this is where the fabric of society and football is soiled and damaged by actions to protect celtic fc, both internally and externally. This is where government and governing bodies have a duty to show that this pestilent stream of wrong-doing cannot be tolerated. In many ways, it’s both an insult and bad joke that it has been left to the victims to fight for justice through a civil case, when it’s football and society that should be doing this on their behalf.

Here’s some things to consider about the outer layers of the scandal. Celtic admitted/claimed to have held at least three internal investigations into their boys’ club over the years. These have either found nothing, absolved Celtic FC or Celtic FC staff, or remained internal with findings never reported. A cynic would correctly say these were sops to deflect, buy time and allow things to blow over. These would have to had to be discussed and sanctioned by the club with the aim of damage limitation. It is known that senior figures at the club were actively trying to fight fires and the threats of legal action against the earlier newspaper stories look ridiculous with what is now common knowledge. This was undoubtedly part of their chosen strategy for dealing with it. One constant observed since the 90s is that celtic people within the media have been very happy to pick up these excuses for the club to draw a line under things and quash and bury the story. Some of those people began their careers at celtic news, some owe their careers to celtic and others just gladly do what the club wants. I can’t recall celtic fc ever being publicly called out or there ever being any high-profile discussion over their tactics and actions. Surely it merits it? A look at the social media of the usually very vocal of the Scottish press will show that they haven’t even acknowledged the latest developments. Quite incredible.

A key part of Celtics strategy has been attempting to publicly distancing the club from the boys’ club that they had set up and operated. The separate entity line first made its appeared in the late 90s. No doubt Fergus McCann’s new board had a look under the bonnet and thought ‘oh fuck’. Had the scandal unravelled and followed a natural course at that point then it could have (should have) finished the club. Quite the thought, remember the phrase sporting advantage? The press and support were happy to peddle the clubs’ line, despite knowing it would further marginalize the victims and (as we now know) kick the possibility of any sort of closure 30 years down the line. File that under not caring about their victims. This is incredibly slow progress and a lifetime (literally) to wait and fight. Across this expanse of time the phrase scurrilous appeared from an early internal investigation and saw incredible mileage. Even after the convictions started to pile high it was still habitually used by the Scottish press. Radio Clyde and BBC Scotland being as terrible as anyone over the period for their support of Celtic (opposed to the victims) on the issue. The club line and/or silence preferred to any open conversations that they or their football club would find uncomfortable, let alone show Celtic in a bad light. It is a hope that at some point these organisations publicly explain their editorial stances to the victims.

Of course, Celtics network of compliant people is not just limited to the media. Celtic have had a seat at the top table of the SFA and SPFL for a long time. They were certainly prominent enough to influence events before anything became troublesome. Celtics’ influence at Hampden increased further in 2012 as they effectively assumed total control of the games governing bodies. This power was displayed at its most vulgar in the contentious historic abuse report by Martin Henry. Here we have a man of questionable credentials and links to both Celtic and the Catholic Church’ abuse scandals brought it to produce a report which manages to overlook many notorious celtic predators, most of the clubs’ failings, questionable/harmful actions and yet is able to name check Rangers more times than Celtic. It is also stated by victims that Henrys report omitted a lot of valid testimony to suit his narrative. All too predictably, Scottish football clubs and media folk were happy enough with the outcome and seen it as a convenient excuse to drop an uncomfortable subject and move on. I know Rangers had other things on their plate at the time but quite why they accepted their role of silently dignified punchbag in this affair is beyond me. Rangers have their own questions to answer and possible consequences but this shouldn’t shield others. Also in this period, many MSPs used the protracted issue of the report to delay action and avoid comment on the subject – further delaying justice. The whole episode was wrong on so many levels. You would hope that over 300 victims of abuse, 9+ convicted predators, coupled with media manipulation and the corruption within the governing body would be enough to stir fans of other clubs and more than a few isolated MSPs into at least a mild state of concern?

So here we are. Reports this week informed us that (after decades of adamant denial) “Celtic were ready to enter talks” with boys clubs’ victims to prevent the civil case going to court. Oh how noble a gesture for them! In the same week financial reports showed the club to be cash rich and now able to offer substantial pay outs without significantly affecting its general operations. Compare this to the preceding 30 years of using every trick in the book to avoid any hint of responsibility. The concept that justice can be bought without accepting accountability, without a shred of contrition and that it can be administered decades later and only when it suits the now wealthy institution is beyond perverse.

This is just a tiny sample of what’s went on in Scotland and any citizen that cared to look can see a long list of repulsive actions carried out on many fronts by the club and its allies, over and above the abuse. Sadly, the wider public have been conditioned by the relentless media downplay and swathes of the population remain in states of conditioned or wilful ignorance and inaction. That Celtic will probably escape condemnation on a commensurate level from the governing bodies and wider society is itself an injustice. Both Celtic and the SFA should both face disrepute charges over that report – if ever an act undermines trust and public confidence it is that. We can add conflict of interest to the list of reasons for the SFAs inaction.

And all of this in a world and time where sponsors and platforms are quick to drop fallen rock stars and sports stars, it makes you wonder how much longer Celtic FC can possibly dodge the morality bullet on that front too?

Banners, Chants and Custodians

To beat the traffic, I arrived early before the Ajax match on Tuesday. I took some quiet time to walk around the stadium take in some of the architecture. Around the periphery, the world outside Ibrox was organising chaos past closed roads and road works. Home time, still long before match time. The din of distant engines layered with nearby rattle and chatter as stalls were set up and staff arrived and greeted colleagues. Police and stewards stepped out to set about their duties and began their demarcation of the area. A brief look behind the curtains as the Champions League entry music was blasted inside. And at the centre of this the main stand sits silent. Unmoving and immovable. The gigantic main stand puffs out its red Welsh brick chest and gazes South through lit windows in regal contemplation. And as the sun lowers to the West, so the shadows further highlight the handsome façade. It demands to be admired.

3,000 tonnes of Ruabon majesty, tens of thousands of souls passing through the gates tonight, a drop to the countless millions over its years. The weight of history and tradition is palpable. Nothing looks so magnificent, can be so enormous and well attended without meaning so much to so many. And with that thoughts turn to what this stadium has seen? What it must mean to people. What must it be like to be in charge of this building? The building, but much more – everything it stands for and everything that goes with that. An emblem and cradle for the 150-year-old club. There is so much responsibility attached to that position. It’s a struggle to even imagine it, for me anyway.

We know David Murray ultimately failed the club. For as Ibrox is a Castle to us, so it is a palace to storm for others. Murray failed to recognise this. Custodian was his word – a person who has responsibility for taking care of or protecting something. It is as simple as that and by his own measure he failed miserably and we almost paid the ultimate price.

It gives me chills to recall some of the characters that held the keys in the intervening period. The red brick would never know the threat to its survival. We have thankfully left those days behind but the responsibility with the custodians still stands, if not increases through the years. It’s not a single act, you don’t buy into the position and your duties end there. They only begin. It’s an ongoing process; to care and protect the football club.

That means many things. The team on the pitch has to be winning and challenging, that is the essence of the football club. It is the property and assets. It is the commercial stuff. It is the brand, the image. It is the relationship with the fans and that includes the product and service the fans receive. It is the culture, recognising the past whilst charting a course forward. All to secure, better, build and advance the football club.

One area where our club has suffered greatly has been in the realm of offensive chanting. In my opinion, our custodians, but primarily David Murray, failed to recognise threats – to get ahead of the play, open communication, address issues and fight our corner when it was justified. They haven’t always been helped by our actions as supporters, where we have often shot ourselves in the foot. Again, it’s a process but you have to go through certain steps and we work through things and come out all the stronger for it. There’s an important point hidden here; the fans have a responsibility to represent the club in the best way possible and hold the board to account, and the board similarly can ask certain things from the fans whilst protecting the club. We’re all in this together.

In the sectarianism debate, the absolutes and context can be argued over but what should not be up for debate is fairness and parity. If the powers that be are to lessen tensions or curb offense then justice must be just.

The recent ‘Kill all Huns’ banner from the Aberdeen fans last weekend made some papers. It is a sectarian term. Aberdeen fans claiming they’re using a different dictionary definition of the word is a moot point, it is used as a sectarian slur against protestants and groups perceived to be protestants.

Detractors will of course claim that Rangers fans can have no right to complain because we sing or have sung offensive and sectarian songs – they’d be correct up to a point, but that point ignores the 20 years of bad press we’ve accrued from that. That laws and legislation have been rushed through to punish it and too many have lost work and even gone to jail on the back of daft songs and banners. That’s not saying certain songs don’t still get aired occasionally, but this is usually as a response or defiance. This is the circular logic involved here – Aberdeen fans are somehow justified because of Rangers fans songs, so if others are allowed to be offensive as a response, then surely so are Rangers? This is where parity has to kick in. You have to condemn everything or nothing. It’s not a pick and mix.

This lack of parity from certain quarters was brutally exposed in October when the Republic of Ireland women’s team decided to celebrate qualifying for a World Cup at Hampden by singing up the ‘RA chants. Now this is offensive. It’s meant to be. It is aimed at Brits (collectively) and it’s celebrating terrorism against Brits. To be fair, it got nationwide attention and most in the UK were rightly highly critical of it, often calling for further action to nip this sort of behaviour in the bud. My opinion, it’s no different to the Billy Boys chant. The difference is most have agreed, with time, that TBB was over-the-top, unhelpful and should be left in the past, whereas the other side appear to quite enjoy singing their offensive chant and any esprit de concorde is thrown in the bin.

Over 20 years of frothing, faux-outrage over the most powerful chant in football™ from Scottish footballs’ moral guardians seems to have evaporated and morphed into collective support for their murder gang of choice. “I think it’s harmless”, “It’s like a joke, a school chant insulting the other team”, “It’s not derogatory. It’s not anything anyone takes seriously”. A pretty stark difference to rhetoric wheeled out for footballing banter from the Rangers support. Indeed, some of the most vocal in the press and at parliament in Scotland made themselves very busy twiddling their thumbs when they weren’t busy contradictory their earlier stances on offensive chanting. Remember that Tom Devine recently stated that sectarianism in Scotland is largely isolated within the Rangers support. Well, here we have a distinctly Celtic FC brand of sectarianism; literally, conceived and fomented within the Celtic support and passed back as their gift to the world through some daft, unthinking, bigoted women at Hampden. Yes, it’s clearly only a Rangers problem Tom. Our day will come. Never forgive, never forget. Blah blah blah.

I digress slightly, but this is an example of the world we find ourselves in and the all-too-apparent slope on the political playing field. And politics is the word here. The Aberdeen banner got very little comment from anyone bar a couple of papers. This low-key response would be unthinkable if it had been a Kill All Fenians banner at parkhead. It may be fairly trivial to most people’s lives but why is no-one prepared to call-out the unacceptable when the target suits them? It’s a fairly low risk, non-controversial position to hold. Is there really no politician in Scotland prepared to put in minimum leg work regarding Rangers? We are clearly not using our sizable voting mass effectively, even after all of these years.

Beyond that, no one in Scottish football has broken cover and condemned it. Worse still, the Rangers board has not publicly condemned it. This is the one that rankles me most. We know Rangers don’t get favours so we shouldn’t expect too much. However, we must make them act when the opportunities arise. This is that opportunity. They may be working behind the scenes, but we need to see something.

Hun is sectarian and Kill all Huns is well over the top. Rangers’ custodians have a duty to protect the club and the support. We would face stand closures in European competition if such a banner saw the light of day at Ibrox. Our board have a duty to play the political game and ensure others are held to the same standards as we are.

This board is already under scrutiny, their communication and competence are being heavily questioned. Their commitment to the support has been questioned. For me, doing nothing shows that they aren’t up to protecting the club or not know how to. It shows that they are not working on issues important to the support.

One of my (many) gripes over recent years is the boards’ ability to miss open goals. This feels like an open goal moment. Call it out as unacceptable. Force Aberdeen and the SFA join in the condemnation. I’m not asking for TV cameras and lawyers, I just want it stated somewhere, officially, in black and white. And bigger picture, let’s see who in the wider political landscape is willing to back the club, and then ensure we reward that action by finding a way to show the gratitude of the support via the ballot box. It might be out-with the perceived remit of a football club, but this is what others have been doing.

Murray left us stranded and isolated on these issues but at some point, someone at Rangers is going to need to step up again. The country’s’ largest club with the largest support must have considerable political weight. Improving this helps the club in many, many ways and makes many issues so much easier. Bottom line, it helps to protect the club. The current custodians may well be working on these areas, doing things behind the scenes, but if there’s no discernible change or output over months or years then it’s not really working. It’s wasted time. If you cannot score open goals then what are you actually doing?

Out of Control Disrespect

Disrespect is nothing new in Scottish football. It’s been there before anyone reading this was born and I have no doubts it’ll be there long after we’re all gone. Last week and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II does seem to have ramped things to a new level. Thankfully, there has been condemnation in the UK press it but there also seems to be a lack of discussion beyond that.

Let’s be honest, both sides are fairly entrenched and neither side is passing on tolerance or respect. Some will claim they are, but recent behaviour and events clearly suggest otherwise.

To my eyes there has been a few incidents in recent years that have directly or indirectly led to a ramping up of hostility.

The (deliberate) mishandling of the sectarianism debate is certainly one, although I don’t expect any contributors to concede as much. Dampening down offensive chanting is not a bad thing and if trying to sell our game and widen our horizons then it’s a noble enough cause – for Rangers and other clubs. However, it was never packaged as this. It was a point-scoring exercise that focused predominately on Rangers – since many of the main protagonists have long since shown their hand, I don’t consider this to be up for debate.

But beyond the general disingenuous rottenness of the agenda, it had several lasting by-products. It emboldened celtic fans, and others, that their chants (pro-IRA, sectarian or just plain nasty) were somehow acceptable because their lackeys silence and refusal to call-out or censor those chants let to them to be tacitly accepted (and therefore excused). Meanwhile, it embittered Rangers fans that they were being singled out. Those following things could see what was going on. Those on the outskirts and moderate fans of other clubs bought into it as established platforms like BBC Scotland were selling it (often and everywhere) and they especially bought into Rangers’ being the bad guy and being giving a kicking over it.

This dovetailed nicely with Rangers financial troubles in 2011 and the Indy referendum in 2014. My opinion is the sectarianism debate and events in 2011 (and its fallout) were largely orchestrated, in the press at least, to suit similar purposes to those of the nationalists in 2014. Regardless of cause, the effects were the same; more division, more outrage, more grievance and spite and more disrespect.

One of the many responses thrown at Rangers fans when on the receiving end of abuse is that you deserve it. That’s fine, it’s ok to dislike Rangers. It’s ok to be offended by songs. Ultimately, it’s ok to dislike rivals. But the logic is circular. If your hatred is justified, and you act on that, then perhaps Rangers fans then feel the same in return. An admission of an offensive chanting arms race that’s been going on for over a century would be a start. Trying to dismantle and diffuse that fairly would be a start. Rangers’ fans sing offensive songs, sure, but then so do others. To claim to be especially repelled by the word fenian but not those barking about orange, hun or English bastards or pro-IRA chants makes no sense to me. It’s simply one-eyed and perhaps (probably) the result of years of the media conditioning mentioned above, neatly fitting into existing prejudices (be it tribal, rivalry or politically motivated).

In recent years any bridge of respect between Rangers and celtic has been visibly torched. Previously I could recall regular articles or broadcasts playing on the same-just-different theme. Sometimes forced or contrite but usually well intended. These have largely disappeared, but then so is how we consume our media. I have no doubt celtic hammed it up during the sectarianism debate, knowing that the game was rigged and the media onside. I have no doubt many of the same people helped to direct Rangers troubles in 2011 to some degree. The reasons for this? Money, silverware, access to Champions League. But also, political – culture wars if you will.

The SNP made its rather unsubtle play to take voters from labour and that actively excluded Rangers. MSPs would frequently and frivolously attack Rangers or anything Rangers-related. This brave new strategy would later evolve further at Celtic with many of the club statements no longer acknowledging Rangers by name. No-one stopped to call this out or perhaps think it may not be best for social cohesion. This belligerence manifested itself in other ways too; the banners and tifo seemed to take on a more militant edge, always tribal but often a racial or sectarian undertone. As mentioned before, the IRA chants and paraphernalia was present before, if muted, was now pushed to the fore. Recent accounts of city centre pubs openly playing up-the-RA chants on match days can surely not be claimed as a positive for Scotland?

Perhaps time and distance from the bombings and troubles has allowed a new generation to forget what these actually mean and continue pushing the envelope of offense. Kevin McKenna wrote that Scotlands Irish voting SNP was an expression of their comfort in their Scottish skin. I wonder what the open celebration of the IRA tells us?

Back to that circular logic. How should normal people or fans of other clubs treat this open pro-terror militancy? Justified dislike? Mistrust? Disrespect? And if that had element had always been there, then why would attitudes have been different previously? Context. It would be nice if the media gave it a fraction of the exposure of some other chants. Is it a case of it’s not what you sing but who you sing about?

The deaths of Tommy Burns and Walter Smith also mark milestones along this path. A genuine affection between McCoist, Burns and Smith felt like it symbolised something bigger. Burns passed in 2008 and, with hindsight, this tied in with an escalation in hostilities – that now doesn’t feel like a coincidence. No doubt a knot of mutual respect was lost that day. Replace Burns with the likes of Lennon and the message was always going to change.

Of course, some people didn’t respect Burns and disrespect was shown. Unacceptable chants were aired and some people took it too far or expressed that at the wrong time. Again, these things are cyclical and disrespect would be returned.

Smith, similarly, had a very high standing across the nation. As close to universal respect as Scotland is likely to get. And so another lasting knot of respect unravelled.

Time is a healer but also time allows people to forget. A chant appeared soon enough including Smith and Jimmy Bell. Disrespect and offense the aim and the target was hit. These aren’t really minorities as it was clear many in the joyfully progressive and inclusive theme pubs were indulging in it. Condemnation was offered in some press but none of the analysis really cuts to the thick of it – we are a deeply divided society and it appears to be getting worse. The reason is that division suits some powerful players and no-one appears to have the inclination or platform to resist it or call it out.

I actively dislike my rivals but without some grounding we all lose here. There has to be some symbols of respect and some grown-ups keeping everyone honest. We don’t have that anymore, or they no longer have platforms. We have puppets having their strings pulled. The SFA and SPFL are a joke. The media spins narratives. Even the police has been shown to treat people differently. We have constitutional and racial politics setting rivalries and dictating what people find should offensive.

And this takes us to a place where a moments silence for the Queen is spoiled. In some cases, spoiled is too mild, it was turned into a circus. We are in a place where people are able to forget about the occasion, the environment, their peers, their fellow citizens or the loss of something symbolic to the country where most have spent their life and are instead projecting their own politics, rivalry and spite onto it. You don’t have to agree or care about subject of remembrance but on some level, you have to respect the act of remembrance. Be it club legends, heads of state or those lost in the wars.

This was a very good article around the time of HRHs’ passing in the Scotsman. It may not mean something to you, yet, but it could and it probably meant something, or even a lot, to people you know and care about. I don’t believe every celtic fan wanted to disrespect the Queen or hates the UK. I don’t believe everyone in Hampden didn’t admire or wish to spend a moment to show respect to her. It’s not a surprise that some did not, but it is disappointing that there’s no social filters left and no-one to kept the peace.

One last thought. This is unapologetically through a Rangers’ fan perspective. I want us to admit and own our failings, there’s plenty can be improved and a better Rangers-centric way achieved going forward, but others need to play ball too. In all of the events’ mentioned Rangers have been the focus or placed at the centre of it, but the club has been relatively benign throughout. It didn’t rabble rouse. It didn’t drag things to the gutter. It has took punishment when it had to, publicly criticised and banned its own fans, has been relatively pro-active, kept quiet on many matters when it probably should have but it seldom rocked the boat or poured fuel on flames. Maybe Rangers has been the bad guy in the past, maybe even revelled in that role for a while, but let’s not pretend it’s been that way for many years.

Pride and Self-respect Sold to the Highest Bidder

I’ve already written on Gersnet about my initial opposition to Rangers accepting a role as a support act in Australia in November. Since then I’ve listened to more views on this and have had some time to think about it. And I’m still raging.

James Bisgrove mentioned it was an unparalleled offer, too good to refuse. My question would be why was that? Doesn’t that point alone get the spider-senses tingling? Mid-season, during a World Cup, when the best players and footballing world is focused on Qatar, we get a previously unheard-of offer from the other side of the world? We know celtics current manager has links there. We know celtic will be there and we’ll be playing them. Doesn’t this start to feel wrong already?

As I saw it, it took approximately 60 minutes for the real reasons of our involvement to be revealed. This fixture was leaked very quickly on the back of the monumentally significant civil action suit against celtic being revealed. For me, this suggests celtic having a bigger role in this than simply just another team in the competition. I don’t know what our board expected to happen but this is a big deal. In the context of Scottish football and our own recent troubles this is all tied together and connected, and it’s entirely predictable. I don’t know what the contract states but I would suggest this could be seen as a reason to exit that contract, or at least cancel or replace the game against them? It could easily be argued that this looks like the soul reason for our involvement and it would certainly go towards explaining the fee put forward to lure us in. Who knows where that money has come from?

As a minimum, I would expect our club and PR to come out swinging on the back of this breach of trust and goodwill. I’ve seen nothing. Mr Bisgrove was obviously told to front up and earn his corn but that’s pretty much been it.

In our 150th year, I want to see us play every big club possible and I want games across the globe to celebrate it. I want old friendships renewed and history made, relived and reignited with any number of famous clubs. And I want us making money at the same time. The fact we’ve chosen to play a couple of random Australian teams alongside our shameless, dishonest enemies’ reeks of laziness. Why not arrange our own tour and play 5 or 6 games across Australia? How about something in Dubai, Baku or the far East on way out or return journeys? That way we’d make money, increase our audience/exposure/accessibility, and keep our pride intact. But I guess that might also involve foresight and some hard work and planning.

Another reason for my objection to this game is the ethical point of view. I regularly give opinions and commentary on the plights of both the Grays and Gordon Woods in their fight for justice in the CSA scandal. This is not just window-dressing, this is a real human fight against terrible deeds and a prolonged cynical cover-up. Any backing from me is absolute and extends beyond tribalism and club loyalty.

Any club contractually obligated to play Celtic I have no problem with. Any club who chooses to share a football pitch with them for financial gain only or for pre season friendlies are insulting the Celtic CSA victims after todays announcement.
— Name Withheld (Legal Reasons) CSA Victim/Survivor (@GordonW09225415) March 1, 2022

Gordon is absolutely right. It’s insulting for everyone. Mistakes are allowed, but once you realise that mistake you have to act to correct it. This is the crux of everything in life. The misuse of the fixture to cover celtics bad news should have seen alarm bells sounding around Ibrox. There should have been an immediate response to at least address this aspect and put that right, even before looking to cancel the fixture. I cannot express how badly the club have failed everyone here. Personally, I cannot back the club commercial until this is put right. Rangers do not need this just now as we try to pull together for a title charge. I hope I’m wrong but this decision, and prolonged inaction, will stink out Ibrox for a long time. Possibly long after those making these decisions are gone. We do not need this but I can’t sit back and watch Rangers be used like this.

A one final thing. Rangers has still not satisfactorily dealt with their own share of the CSA scandal. Reparations, consequences, footballing sanctions, PR damage do not stop at celtic. The scale and the framework surrounding it may be entirely different but Rangers have left some unwanted threads hanging ragged. Mark my words, others will come after Rangers with everything they have to save their own skin and share or transfer any damage. Do we expect Rangers to be remotely ready for this and deal with it efficiently? Based on this Australian farce, I’d say that is a resounding no!

Blockers and Removing Obstacles – James Dornan and searching for Justice in the Celtic Boys Club Scandal

The blocking function is a part of life on Twitter. There can be a tone of tweet that merits it or there are some views that people just don’t want to hear, rightly or wrongly. It’s personal choice how you run your account. There is a grey area though, where the accounts aren’t personal accounts and represent something else and have a duty to be open to different views.

For example, my opinion is that employees of the BBC, where their account reflects or trades on that position, should be left open. They represent a public service and as a license fee payer I’d expect that channel of communication to be left open to me. Now, whether they ever choose to respond is a different matter, but a block just feels disrespectful.

The same goes for MPs/MSPs, especially when you form part of their constituency. They are paid to represent you and it is their duty to do so. Points of view, believes, background, agendas may vary greatly. Exchanges may get heated. But so long as things are kept reasonable (if not polite, then not abusive, harassing or aggressive) then that communication line needs to be left open. Consider it an extension to their surgery.

With this in mind, there was a whole new level of disrespect uncovered when considering the actions of James Dornan MSP. Mr Dornan is known as something of a blockhead and his political forays into many subjects have long been the stuff of ridicule. It’s not unfair to say that SNP voters in Glasgow Cathcart appear to be least discerning voting block anywhere in the world. He is a frequent pest to Rangers FC and its supporters and seems to spend most of his days dreaming up ever more inane ways to stir up controversy against that demographic. However, when he declared that he was willing to pick up the plight of the victims fighting for justice in the Celtic Boys Club scandal then it had to be taken at face value. It seemed noble enough and it was the helping hand that they needed to lift them from Scotlands sea of disinterest.

One of Celtics victims, Gordon Woods, had been in contact with Mr Dornan about how to progress the cause of the victims, with the goal of obtaining the long overdue full public enquiry into scandal at Celtic FC. To summarize, this is a scandal which saw predators infiltrate Celtic FC and then proceed to set-up a boy’s club network with the blessing and support of the club’s board. This would lead to a trail of abuse which would continue for decades, that would welcome numerous abusers into its fold, would overlap with other notorious predator networks, would span many countries and ultimately adversely affect the lives of literally hundreds of boys and young men. The scale and audacity is in itself astounding, but another hallmark of Celtic scandal is the cover-up that’s accompanied it. An orchestrated programme that has out-lived the network of abuse and many of the victims and is still very actively protecting Celtic FC (and other parties) and preventing them from receiving proper penalty for their actions. This cover up is something which must be viewed as a cultural failing, a national shame, and a crime (or series of crimes) in its own right.

Mr Dornan recently blocked Gordon Woods on twitter.

Gordon Woods presented a series of exchanges between the two where Mr Dornan had certainly suggested that he wanted to pursue a full public enquiry.

Was @glasgowcathcart really offering help or was he on a fishing expedition for the cause? pic.twitter.com/jrTyUsMWmL
— Gordon Woods (A Celtic C.S.A. Victim/Survivor) (@GordonW09225415) June 16, 2021

Dornan’s provision was that it is easier to get things done after an election (April 2021) doesn’t reflect well with hindsight. It makes the whole episode look like a sop to win a few floating votes to help secure another term and/or simply lip-service to waste even more time.

Dornan threw up the block after feigning offence at a dig Gordon made on the back of an accusation that Dornan was aware of abuse at the time that his son attended CBC. Dornan had confirmed he was aware of rumours about CBC so the dig isn’t that unjustified.

I have been accused of making a disgusting comment about Child Sexual Abuse by @glasgowcathcart… This is what was said when I paraphrased his previous comment… He appears to be saying he didn't say what I had tweeted… Decide for yourself if he is a liar or not? pic.twitter.com/jtoI0qknbG
— Gordon Woods (A Celtic C.S.A. Victim/Survivor) (@GordonW09225415) June 17, 2021

This seems thin-skinned in the extreme, especially considering the nature of the scandal he was professing to support. A convenient out, if you will. I guess the actions that follow will show what Dornan’s real intentions were. The hope is that he’ll continue to push vociferously for justice. I really hope he’ll prove me wrong and deliver that public inquiry. I just cant see it happening though.

We have seen this type of thing a hundred times before. All manner of dirty tricks and stalling tactics have been played to protect Celtic FC. Journalists have sporadically stood up and ran with the story (parts of the story) only to never mention it again. Politicians have spoke out questioning progress, then silence. The media has interviewed the victims for comment and the content is never aired. Celtic FC has claimed they’re carrying out internal investigations but they never find anything, they don’t even bother talking to the victims and no-one asks about it. Individuals are hand-picked to run investigations for the SFA, take a prolonged period of time, omit many facts and testimonies and serve up what amounts to a whitewash. These aren’t accidents. None of this is normal. Public discussion and comment falls short, every single time.

The question mark over the likes of Dornan is whether he has followed the cause or whether the cause chose him. Some background – Dornan is a Celtic fan, not a problem in itself. He has a history of attending events of an Irish Republican nature, which many would describe as extremist. He has a history of being very selective when calling out sectarianism in the West of Scotland – Selectarianism. And much of his recent activity seems revolve around crowbarring the terms anti-Irish and anti-Catholic into any situation, whether merited or not. We are very much seeing a picture of a tribal foot-soldier. Someone whose arbitrary identities mean more to him than the greater good. His malicious targeting of innocent Rangers players over a faked video showed that for him the end justifies any means. His slanderous accusations against Lothian buses (seemingly part of some detached political game) showed a level of ham-fisted, blundering thoughtlessness.

His actions are those of a man that has been tasked with creating a storm around anti-Irish and anti-Catholic rhetoric but without him possessing the nous to carry it through. How others would use this storm will surely become apparent soon enough. This is what I referred to by asking if the cause chose him?

Another trait of the Celtic FC cover-up has been people in the right places to identify and quash any threat to Celtic FC before it develops, or equally effective, to just do nothing when they should do something. It seems likely that Jack McGinn’s unwritten remit at the SFA was to do just that. No doubt others have since maintained watch on that front, how else can the lack of comment or action possibly be explained? It’s highly likely that key positions and decisions in the Scottish media follow the same credo. A kind of tactical fouling, with just enough been done from different positions without it becoming too obvious.. Politicians, of course, serve these same masters. This latent menace would explain why Celtic FC have not received one single punishment in what is a scandal of global proportions.

And as this network of destroyers have played their part in protecting Celtic FC, so it follows that that they have used their positions and power to go on the offensive for their cause. I have no doubt that much of political scaffolding that today supports the likes of Dornan was put together in a scramble to cover the crimes of those at Celtic FC (and elsewhere) and help mitigate any backlash.

This is both a strength and weakness. There exists an unscrupulous, autonomous network which spans multiple sectors. But the whole thing is built on sand. It is underpinned by the unforgivable offence of perverting the course of justice, of choosing to protect bad men and a football club over the rights of the hundreds of children that were wronged.

In my opinion, this is the weak point which any opposition should look to exploit. A strategically and targeted press at the right places and ask the right questions to insist on a full public enquiry. Whoever breaks cover to stop you has only done so for a few possible reasons. Shining a light on them may be enough to make them think twice about throwing away a reputation or career for an enabling football club. The force of righteousness should be enough to move them aside and continue towards a full public enquiry and the truth beneath.

Today in 2021, a large number of men like Gordon Woods are struggling to get above the first few steps in their pursuit of justice. It should suit many to stand beside them and help them. Why? Because politically it should suit to clip the wings of people like James Dornan or Humza Yousaf, because the SNPs state-media pets can be shamed and exposed, but more so, and because it’s the right thing to do.

Please write to your MSPs about this. Please ask them to help. Together they could make a real difference if they stick together and work towards a public enquiry.

Unfinished Business

Sometime back in 2011 and David Murray sits at a boardroom table. There’s a sinking feeling as the weight of the world presses on his shoulders and his ribs rattle and chill from the draft created by his recently vacated soul. A heavy fatigue is visible around his face and presumably sleep has evaded him as his mind struggled to solve the equations that he could once figure out with ease. The world of finance had taken a turn and it has duly turned his world upside down. His business empire is in trouble, all of it. But most importantly, so is the institution that is Rangers. The football club that he once dared declare he was worthy and capable of owning and protecting. He took some bad advice. He was errant and absent. He doubled down on gamble after reckless gamble. He put the house on it in time for that eternally spinning wheel to stop turning for him. And, as is always the case, so follows that moment of empty, crushing isolation when you realise you’ve lost big. It’s never worth the highs. And it’s brought him here to this moment. Tired, shamed, pitiful. Hunched in his trademark blue shirt, limply holding his best pen. Sitting at somebody else’s table as his vulturous business associates prepare to wet their beaks.

It won’t be a negotiation, he knows that, but maybe he’ll escape with something to hold on to. A life after Rangers, that’ll be his crumb. A buyer is brought forward, Craig Whyte. And with this shabby, repellent grifter is sold a hope – a story to peddle to placate the support. Whyte will take the club and he has a scheme to side-step both the club’s debt and the foreboding HMRC. It’s believable enough that when there is absolutely nothing else there then hope makes it believable. A trick of confidence.

At that time, I wanted to believe this too. A strange mix of celebration and gnawing dread as title 54 was delivered. Whyte got time and space from the support because people wanted to believe that it was possible. The paper talk was of pre-pack admins and loopholes which would see the club slip through the jaws of the closing trap unscathed and maybe even in better shape than before. It’s an easy sell. More fool us.

That’s the story from one side, the outside. The other side would have a different feel. Whyte was a small-time, scruffy piece of shit. Whyte never got to that table on his own. Whyte couldn’t have reached that agreement with Ticketus or even LloydsTSB on his own. Whyte didn’t sanitise his past himself. Whyte was never going anywhere but administration. Whyte stopped paying PAYE as soon as he could and the HMRC gave him unheard levels of grace over it – this sum would later allow HMRC the final word on any CVA. Whyte got his Valentine’s day 2012 administration alongside with some undesirables going under the Duff and Phelps banner, which would proceed on to liquidation and a pre-determined sale to Charles Green. It felt staged and iffy at the time and it looks even more so now.

So why am I dredging this up now? The spark for this article was some of contentious contributions in a podcast by The Athletic – The Fall and Rise of Rangers. Someone saw fit to leave in a few un-Rangers digs in the podcast. It’s a sad fact that the much of the story still builds around the narrative and machinations of the Rangers Tax Case and many aspects have been discoloured by the poison that seeped from that source. As a further timely reminder Chris McLaughlin and BBC Scotland thought it appropriate to interview Craig Whyte instead of seeking to repair the bridges he’d burnt down with title-winning Rangers.

This isn’t about pretending nothing happened or whitewashing history; it’s about asking what actually happen and presenting that as part of the whole story. This is something that had a huge bearing on Rangers for the best part of a decade and The Athletics’ podcast served as a reminder that there are massive omissions and inconsistencies in the story. These are huge question marks just floating around and no-one seems to want to see them resolved.

The podcast mentioned that Rangers were alone and isolated through all of this – true. That the club weren’t well liked outside our support – not untrue, although not really relevant. And yet somehow there’s the lazy inference that this justifies any subsequent actions that were then set upon the club?

Leaving the predictable sevco/strip the titles rubbish to one side for now, a comment by respected football finance commentator Kieran Price really stood out, “nothing is as it seems when it comes to Scotland, and money, and football, it does seem that HMRC certainly went for Rangers” (Approx. 8mins into Part 1). This is from a neutral and respected voice on the game, who is based in England. This is a massive statement, that Rangers were unfairly treated or treated differently from other clubs.

I’ve wrote about elements of this several times before. For example, at some point in 2019 the HMRC took the unusual stance of sticking their head above the parapet and going on the offensive against Rangers. It felt like bluster and deflection at the time and probably was.

Fundamental to the whole story, we know that there was a collective of minds scheming and planning against Rangers for a long time. The Rangers Tax Case blog. These guys clearly had a good understating of tax, business and the media. This is where the questions should begin. When did they get together, how much did they plan and how much actually succeeded? History suggests that it was very successful and most aims were achieved. And as part of this grand scheme, actions from certain quarters had to be induced or managed to allow the eventual chain of events around Rangers to unfold. For any Rangers fan, there’s been no real closure on this. Barely an acknowledgement that it happened, it did, never mind discussing how it was allowed to happen?

Where did RTC get all of their information? A leak at an HMRC department? That sounds like something that the HMRC would want to be seen to publicly stamp down on or apologise for. Its occurrence validates the suggestion that information and influence flowed in both directions between RTC and HMRC. In all likelihood, an amenable inside man, perhaps contributor to RTC, acted upon their interpretation of the information. Including choosing to not act upon Whyte’s PAYE hiatus?

The infamous EBT side-letters. Leaked to RTC – by lawyers, admin, someone within Rangers, hacked? Back even further, would RTC have had contact with Murrays advisor – Baxendale-Walker? It would certainly suit the RTC cause if Murray was daft enough to take the bad medicine and continue to hoist his own petard. Another layer to the conspiracy? Regardless, the RTC had their information, they built their plan but that’s still a long way from what then followed.

So along with their case for the prosecution came the running commentary. The script to accompany the show trial. And it was all served up on a silver platter for the media, very convenient. A tasty story with the outcomes all prepared for them, with guilt and punishment thrown in as seasoning. Similar to HMRC it makes sense that several of RTC are in the media, probably still active in affairs concerning Rangers.

This narrative coupled to the movements now stirring within HMRC, the script prepared by RTC and the media provided the wave for events to surge forward on. It likely that this swell was used in many ways – it influenced, was used to influence, or was used as an excuse for the actions of others. As planned, a synthetic hysteria ensued. Let me give you demonstrate the power of this by offering a contrast. The media’s refusal to discuss or demand action on the celtic abuse scandal. Barely a ripple makes it across the water and no-one in authority is under any pressure to act on anything. And yet there they were, our noble press, tripping over themselves to take free hits at Rangers.

How much influencing or pressure was required on the key components is up for debate. The SFA, for instance, we know that in 2010 Celtic were heavy agitating to get their lawyers into Hampden. It’s impossible to know if the media pressure was a catalyst or cover for the SFAs later actions involving Rangers, but it is inconceivable that the RTCs tentacles didn’t reach into the SFA/SPL in some form.

My views have chopped and changed on many aspects of this over the years. I have no doubt that someone like John Reid was strongly involved in looking after Celtics interests in all of this – it may have even been the chief reason that he went to Celtic at that time. He was arguably the most powerful man in Scotland for a while – his resume would back this up. This is a man that would lead major nations into unlawful wars and see many tens of thousands slaughtered, I doubt that hurting the feelings of Rangers fans would prick his conscience. In fact, it would probably help him sleep at night.

My initial theories were too simplistic – Reid arrived, he’d then go to work and move the pieces into place to execute the plan. And yet, any time I’ve asked about this to people in the media I’ve been told this wasn’t really the perception. This confused me until realising that a simpler explanation exists – the pieces are already in place, and largely working autonomously, he (or others) just have to find the right pieces to use and leave them to it – providing assistance and support as required and occasionally synchronising watches. And for Reid this makes any external direction all the more subtle and simpler. A quirk of tribalism is that the same forces which would willingly leak legal documents to harm a rival club are the same forces that close ranks to cover any trace of the crimes. A tribal diode of morality, if you will.

Let me tell you something about the West of Scotland. Prejudices exist and are well-engrained in many – if you can’t see this or won’t concede this then you are either deluded or have been lied to. Our society has been set-up to indoctrinate specific differences and at some point, under certain stress or triggers, these will activate and push people into their prescribed pigeonholes – because that’s how it’s been designed. This property of the societal substrate allowed the RTC plan to not just exist but thrive. Celtic fans will tell you they deplore sectarianism and discrimination, what they really mean is they deplore it against them.

Much of the plan involved media conditioning. Paint something as bad and it’s easier to denounce and hate. Paint an action as a crime and it’s easier to rally retaliation or punishment. Paint the situation as an injustice against others and that’s all the fuel that’s needed for retribution to be sparked into action. This a key component and success of RTC plan and the media bought right into it.

And still in 2021 a football magazine like The Athletic seems content to peddle the line that Rangers not being universally liked was a valid excuse for much that followed. It completely ignores the source and agenda of the accusations. It ignores the questions around HMRC, in protocol and procedures, in the media (where basic professionalism took a sabbatical) and onto major failings in Scottish footballs governing bodies. Letting rival fans decide the fate of a member club? Lads, please!

What I’ve mentioned here barely scratches the surface. I notice there’s more stories in the press today concerning the creditors BDO (07/06/2021). About things being sold off cheap and things not sold that should’ve been. There’s been malicious prosecutions and public money wasted from various sources. Also today there was an apology from Sturgeons bitch James Wolffe QC to the pondlife that is Green and Ahmad. I wont pretend to understand what’s happening there but the outcome could be another tranche of public money going to undeserving people. Shit still rumbles through the courts with Mike Ashley. It never ends.

I’d like to hear each component broken down and explained objectively. The options and decisions available at various junctures. The moves that turned into a benefit, as well as the many negatives. The choices, the pressures, what had to happen and what was made to happen. Because I know that this wouldn’t have happened to any club apart from Rangers and that’s too big a story to overlook.

The Political Football – An Opinion of a Rangers Fan

‘I don’t let the club I support dictate who I vote for’.

Totally correct, a nice thought and in an ideal world it would be a universal truth.

Here’s some more opinions:

A regular independence referendum, for any nation, should be a healthy thing. The Union by its very nature is a benefit to all parties involved, but should one party be neglected or misused then the option to leave should always exist.

The same applies to the EU.

The presence of such a vote should keep up standards and keep everyone honest.

Any referendum cannot be too regular or there’d be a constant state of destabilisation and chaos.

For me, it cannot be a simple 50/50 vote either, that’s too indecisive for such a weighty question. A two-thirds majority carries with it an indisputability that even the most grudging adherent has to yield to.

Had the SNP worked with a proficiency and quality that was undeniable then it would make their argument stronger – irresistible even – to anyone basing their vote on what’s truly best for the nation.

But I do not see that at all with the current SNP. I see a party that needs a serious wake-up call to up their game. SNP2021 is a party that’s played every dirty, divisive trick in the book and deliberately trod over many Scots to get what they want. I’d be expecting people who truly want the best for Scotland to hold a similar view and be worried by what they see.

But then I would never vote for the SNP and this goes back to the opening comment. I don’t let my football club dictate who I vote for, however, I absolutely do consider a party’s treatment of my football club in my decision.

Scotland 2021 is far from an ideal world. On many levels it’s no different from 100 years ago, or even 100 years before that – everything has the under-current of tribalism. Some people may refute that but I can only conclude that they’re choosing not to see it.

Football is meant to be a release from politics and real-life, any yet politics has too readily wandered into the realm of football. Rangers has been used as a political football for the past two decades. An easy dog to beat that can’t always bite back.

Politically, I first became aware of this with the sectarianism debate. The narrative was that Rangers were bad, had a problem and were fair game. Like any good lie, it will work best wrapped around a truth. Scotland has a sectarianism problem, it’s a divided country, in many, many ways. It’s not wrong to say that Rangers are part of that and that any solution could be provided by involving Rangers. It is wrong to think that attacking Rangers alone would fix anything. The big push and clamour primarily came from, you’ve guessed it, the other side of the divide.

Now here’s the clever part of targeting a football club. All fans are normal people, most will agree that sectarianism is bad and that ending it is a good thing. They’ll recognise that it happens within the support but probably not consider themselves to be part of the equation. And so they’ll go along with (or at least submit to) the push.

After a period of time, you realise that it was all a bit of a tribal ruse to attack the club and deplatform the support from this and other debates. How can I say this with any certainty? Most of the major players, in the press and in Holyrood, have since shown their hand and loyalties. There were no good intentions, just political and footballing mileage from attacking a rival.

Politically, Rangers were hung out to dry in 2011. This coldness and isolation was undoubtedly built on the decade of sectarian oxidising performed by the detractors. But it was more than a passive disinterest by many in Holyrood, this was a political play. Nicola Sturgeon has represented the Glasgow Southside constituency since its creation in 2011 election. She was previously an MSP Glasgow Govan between 2007 and 2011. Rangers are a big employer in that area and are without question the most renowned and famous symbol for that region (and indeed in Scotland). Why would you overlook that and not help out? There were not even a few choice words to placate a genuinely worried support.

Rangers fans had collectively switched off the connection between football and politics, but had also neglected the politics aspect in its own right. Others hadn’t.

Of course, prior to this Labour had hardly been Rangers friendly and certain MSPs were trying their best to out-celtic each other. There’s a certain level of immaturity and insensitivity required to wear a celtic top around Holyrood whilst representing people of all backgrounds.

Amidst Rangers dark days it was Indy 2014 that was now on the horizon, and so too was the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014. Rangers being dumped out of the way and neutered would certainly not hinder the Indy drive. Whereas CW2014 had somehow turned into a competition to win to ‘the Catholic vote’. Labour and SNP MSPs threw everything at Celtic FC through the medium of the CW2014. An extensive upgrade to the stadium and surroundings, top-billing and more-free PR than even their Chief Exec could imagine possible. Many Celtic fans were impressed and duly rewarded the SNP with their backing – so it was decided that Scottish Nationalism would join Irish Republicanism as their hobbies.

From memory, the SNP had grew 10% or so over this period of Rangers-bashing / Celtic-courting. As a Rangers fan I have to admit I found this type of independence uncomfortable. I am also at a loss as to how any Independence-supporting Rangers fan could look past this? Amongst a seemingly inexhaustible list:

We’ve seen our club regularly dragged over the coals in Holyrood.

We’ve seen countless SNP MSPs take pot-shots at Rangers from twitter and other social media.

We’ve seen the First Minister stand up and salute Neil Lennon’s dignity (sic).

We’ve seen silence in Holyrood as the Hibs cup final celebrations took a dangerous turn.

We’ve never seen the sectarianism directed against Rangers supporters or other clubs raised as a concern.

We’ve seen the Justice Secretary and others completely ignore the victims of CSA in Scotland, based on club and party allegiance.

We’ve had that Justice Secretary take to twitter to brand anyone in a Rangers top as right-wing.

We’ve recently seen distinguished lawyer and SNP party member Aamer Anwar follow up his work in support of Glen Kamara by knowingly and incorrectly tweeting that the tragic murder of a man in Glasgow was a Rangers vs Celtic thing.

I may not vote based on my football team but I can’t overlook parties playing politics with my football team. It is part of my identity and an important part of my life. It’s not something to attack for cheap votes or to feed the MSPs own prejudices and bigotry. Rangers will continue to exist and flourish in the Union as they would in an Independent Scotland.

I want the best for Scotland. I don’t want brazen bigots polluting Holyrood and dragging every subject to the gutter, syphoning funds to themselves and their friends, whilst using Rangers as a diversion.

There’s also the uncomfortable principle that any independent country should largely be of one mind, going in the same direction, all focused on a shared and common goal. We are one million miles away from that. Scotland needs to be honest about its history, its tribalism, its politics and its mistakes. Until that day I could never in good conscience as a Rangers fan vote for this SNP or support an SNP led independence any time soon.

The Rest of the Iceberg – The New Jersey Incident

To my knowledge, Celtic FCs separate entity defence first made an appearance at some point before 2010. The football club were certainly becoming hyper-political and legally-assertive in the preceding years. Also, around this time the Catholic Church was still deep in the midst of revelations and scandals about its seemingly bottomless pit of national and global abuse shame. Their sporting progeny Celtic FC are nothing if not astute when it comes to protecting their own interests and, knowing the scale of their own abuse shame more than anyone, it was to be expected that they’d pursue measures to put distance between events and any consequences. Later, in 2018, perhaps on-the-surface a minor or trivial thing but the epitome of this distancing would be having the Celtic Boys Club renamed.

Let’s start with some obvious conclusions. The reason for the separate entity stance is to protect Celtic FC to the maximum degree possible. Simple as that. And in its own way, to even pursue this path is an admission that some very bad stuff has occurred at the Celtic Boys Clubs and that it could be/should be very damaging – otherwise why bother?

We’re now starting to see and hear more about the real levels of abuse that occurred across Celtic’s Boys Club network thanks to many of the survivors standing up and calling out the parent club. And not just in Glasgow.

For example, Neil Strachan at Celtic Boys Club East. Strachan had already been convicted for indecency in 1985 before being allowed to join the Celtic Boys Club family. In 1997 he received a three-year prison sentence for abusing a child. In 2007 he was convicted for nine offences and received a minimum 9-year jail sentence for his part in one of Scotland’s worst paedophile rings.

We’ve seen the court-cases and convictions of predators chalk up gradually through the years. And thanks to the commentary and insight from the survivors we can now also see the lengths to which the Celtic community has gone to cover this up. This includes people of influence in the press (where there’s a distorted vacuum of discussion and exposure to a story of this scale), at the governing bodies (where they sit on their hands and hope this goes away) and, of course Holyrood (Scotland’s parliament). Justice Secretary and Celtic fan Humza Yousaf wants nothing to do with it or the survivors, presumably because he knows how damaging it should be to Celtic and neither he nor his backers want that. We know that Nicola Sturgeon has rejected calls for the Scottish inquiry into historical child sexual abuse to be widened to include football clubs and religious institutions. We’ll never know what goes on in political horse-trading behind closed doors but can only surmise when these horses are later turned out in public.

General Election: Scots bishops advise Catholics not to vote for Tories | The National https://t.co/7wPs6UXEFY
— jackie kemp (@jackiekemp) November 21, 2019

And very importantly, the recent SFA report on historical abuse stopped short on many fronts, and alongside a questionable author and troubling selectivity, it was also notably quiet on incidents outwith Scotland.

An excerpt from the SFA report states “there are a small number of individuals who spoke to the Review about alleged abusive experiences that occurred outside of Scottish football (either in relation to football in England or in relation to another non-football institution or organisation) and these fall outside of the Terms of Reference for the purposes of the Review”

More selectivity and a another important point – the abuse doesn’t stop at arbitrary boundaries. A holiday for a predator doesn’t mean they take a break from being a predator. In fact, if away trips are part of the abusers modus operandi then it’s very likely that abuse will occur on away trips – be it, in Scotland, in England or in the United States.

Kearny, New Jersey

In the 80s the Celtic Boys Club visit to the US had become an annual tradition, and this has been clearly catalogued and illustrated over the years in the Celtic View. And from Celtic FCs own official newspaper we know the yearly trips were organised to Kearny (a district in New Jersey) for up to 20 years. We know that trips would include up to 20 youth players of typically u16 level and would last for 2-3 weeks in the summer months. We know that Kearny would be the base with tournaments and games arranged against other youth clubs from Philadelphia and Boston. We know that players would be hosted at the houses of the Kearny team and staff. Trips would be paid for with fundraising on both sides of the Atlantic, although thanks is also given to Jim Torbett and the Celtic directors, presumably for cash contributions and support. We know that some future first-team players attended the trips (Paul McStay), Celtic directors would visit (Kevin Kelly), as would ex-players (Jimmy Johnstone). All good and wholesome so far.

We know that the Boys Club Coach (who cannot be named at the moment) was heavily involved in most, if not all, of these trips. Indeed, in 1990 the Boys Club Coach was awarded Honorary Life Members of the Philadelphia Old Timers Soccer Association. A number of the hosts and supporters’ clubs involved in the trips and tournaments were Glasgow ex-pats. Also present on various trips were some other notorious names like Jim Torbett, Gerry King and Jim McCafferty. These guys were neither strangers to each other nor unaware of the other’s secrets. To paraphrase Keith Jackson of the Daily Record “the sexual abuse taking place for many years inside Celtic Boys’ Club was systemic and perpetrated by an established, organised ring of paedophiles. This was not a case of bad luck, it was a network of unconscionably bad men preying upon children almost in plain sight.”

As a collective they had been an efficient, evasive, industry of abuse and they were able to abuse relatively undetected over decades. That should probably read undisturbed more than undetected, as there were plenty of victims, witnesses, and rumours, but the cloak of Celtic and the connected community allowed them the shelter to continue.

I cannot list previous crimes due to ongoing legal proceedings in the UK; however, it is known the Celtic paedophile ring has been convicted on a minimum of 28 counts (from many more charges), resulting in a minimum combined sentences of 19 years in jail between the dates of 1965 – 1996.

Those court-proven charges against each of these men show a clear, consistent pattern of behaviour over a period of time. It’s worth considering a reality of this, this will almost certainly not be an exhaustive list of their crimes, far from it. It’s not easy for survivors to come forward – many are confused or ashamed over what’s occurred and try to deny or forget. Many don’t want to relive any incidents through the discomfort of investigations and court. Many will see it as futile to report the abuse – they may have seen the club deal with similar incidents in-house and then nothing happen e.g. police not notified, offender not punished and possibly even the youth themselves cut loose from the club. We can tell from Celtic FCs numerous internal investigations over the years that they didn’t investigate particularly hard and more likely these were exercises in identifying any threat, isolating it and protecting the club from it. Club pressure, court pressure, community pressure, a sense of futility, any number of factors and the default is to keep quiet. And so the majority would.

The question is what number of crimes actually occurred and were never reported, let alone secured a conviction? How many were reported to the club and buried? Are these cases only the tip of the iceberg? Testimonies and allegations from other survivors would suggest so.

The Kearny Incident

Kearny was the location of an alleged attack in 1991 by the Boys Club Coach and a newspaper article from 1996 states that:

“Ex-Celtic chairman Jack McGinn has admitted he was told the Boys Club Coach had abused a teenager on the tour. It prompted McGinn to call a meeting at Parkhead where he accepted the Boys Club Coach’s resignation. He said he urged Boys’ Club officials to alert police but they did not, allowing the Boys Club Coach to walk free.”

The incident occurred in the basement of a house in Kearny where some of the players were being hosted. As the article states, this was never formally reported or investigated by police in Scotland or in the US. The reason provided was that the children could’ve been taken into care should formal charges be made. It is understood that an investigation was opened in 2019 by the Kearny PD and Hudson Country Prosecutors Office. The current status of this investigation is unknown.

It is quoted that Celtic’s lawyers were involved and took statements from the involved parties at the time, it is also quoted that an outcome of the meeting was for all parties to keep silent.

It is known that the Boys Club Coach was very influential at Celtic FC and highly regarded by key board members, as many of the gang were. It is suggested that he even had he was heavily involved in the process of appointing a first-team manager in the mid-90s and was allowed to return and conduct tours after his dismissal in 1991.

Given the characters present, the setting and the period of time involved it’s doubtful that Kearny 1991 was an isolated incident throughout the 13 years of visits. It is also known that members of the Celtic paedophile ring would take boys on personal holidays to Florida and other locations.

Many parallels have been drawn between this and the Penn State scandal; indeed, many aspects of the Celtic scandal dwarves what happened at Penn State. The numbers of predators involved, the network, the outsiders, the planning, the intricacy, the span of time, the number of victims and number of incidents of abuse. But perhaps the biggest difference has been the scale of the cover up. The number of people that must’ve known and chose to put the club first – not in a passive, looking-the-other-way manner but by pro-actively hiding, burying and deflecting.

The Penn State assisted football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse in 2012 and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Three Penn State officials were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, failure to report suspected child abuse, and related charges. The NCAA imposed a $60 million fine, a four-year post-season ban, scholarship reductions, and a vacation of all victories from 1998 to 2011.

Justice was served on Sandusky and Penn State through a strong police force, a strong media and a strong governing body. Compare and contrast to the Celtic FC scandal. A degree of justice has been served through the courts to the individuals, many decades later. But that’s where it ends. There has been zero punishment or consequences for the club or it’s officials. The fact that the Celtic Commercial Director/Chairman over the period of the Kearny visits, Jack McGinn, ends up as the President of the Scottish footballs governing body (the SFA) and they then do nothing should be no surprise. Celtics direct influence at the SFA since McGinn’s retirement has been almost unbroken, and unsurprisingly, their reign of inaction is also unbroken. And in our increasingly corrupt little corner of Europe that is Scotland we have a press unwillingly or unable to hold either to account.

Is the difference that simple? That Celtic has more powerful friends and more zealous guardians than Penn State? In this example, where children have been abused and let-down, no-one should consider that to be a compliment.

Support a full public enquiry into the Celtic scandal and cover-up, in the UK and elsewhere.

For more information on this topic and others please follow @Spotlight_CFC66.

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For updates, please follow @BoysScandal.

Watch The Celtic Boys Club Scandal here: https://t.co/Tk9Yo4awEW pic.twitter.com/RhwJk4vrTV
— Laurence Lennard (@LaurenceLennard) March 14, 2021