The Soldiers song came over loud and clear on the telly and it was clearly being sung by more than a minority. Suppose there will be a slap on the wrist and a mediocre fine.

so whats the bit in the programme about the club being responsible for the conduct of the fans?

so whats the bit in the programme about the club being responsible for the conduct of the fans?

My understanding is that the away team is held responsible for their own fans.

I've just Googled the words of the Soldiers' Song and what I saw, although a clear reference to Ireland's battle for freedonm from the UK, is essentially no more offensive than that Anglophobic dirge which is Flower of Scotland - except that the Soldiers' Song glorifies a period within the last century as opposed to something that happened 700 years ago.

Regarding the kind of chants you get from Celtic fans and from Rangers fans, the triumphalist cr@p that tends to pour from the Orange ranks most often refers to the expulsion of the Catholic James II and VII of both England and Scotland(not just England) in the period 1688-91. Strangely enough, though, although there was fighting in Scotland here such as at Killiecrankie, most of the rhetoric refers to Ireland with Derry's Walls and the Boyne.

Mary, by the way, who died in 1695 after a period of joint monarchy and left King Billy to reign on his own for the next six years, was the Catholic James' Protestant daughter and elder sister of Anne who succeeded Billy at which point the Act of Settlement provided for a Protestant succession in perpetuity. Charles II, James' older brother, is thought to have converted to Catholicism when he died in 1685.

In contrast, the Republican stuff concentrates largely on the fight for Irish independence from 1916-22 and also the divisions which persisted after that because the Anglo Irish Treaty provided for the counties of Ulster to remain as part of the UK. Given the role of the British military during that period there is inevitably a lot of resentment involved.

But the bottom line has to be that it's completely absurd that Scotttish football should have the albatross of Irish religion and politics hanging round its neck in the manner in and extent to which it does.

Mind you it's equally absurd that, despite recent indication of minor liberalisation, Catholics should still be prevented from occupying the throne of the UK. The main reason now for that is apparently that the monarch has to be the head of the Church of England.

That is even more absurd... almost as absurd as having a monarch at all.

I've just Googled the words of the Soldiers' Song and what I saw, although a clear reference to Ireland's battle for freedonm from the UK, is essentially no more offensive than that Anglophobic dirge which is Flower of Scotland - except that the Soldiers' Song glorifies a period within the last century as opposed to something that happened 700 years ago.

Regarding the kind of chants you get from Celtic fans and from Rangers fans, the triumphalist cr@p that tends to pour from the Orange ranks most often refers to the expulsion of the Catholic James II and VII of both England and Scotland(not just England) in the period 1688-91. Strangely enough, though, although there was fighting in Scotland here such as at Killiecrankie, most of the rhetoric refers to Ireland with Derry's Walls and the Boyne.

Mary, by the way, who died in 1695 after a period of joint monarchy and left King Billy to reign on his own for the next six years, was the Catholic James' Protestant daughter and elder sister of Anne who succeeded Billy at which point the Act of Settlement provided for a Protestant succession in perpetuity. Charles II, James' older brother, is thought to have converted to Catholicism when he died in 1685.

In contrast, the Republican stuff concentrates largely on the fight for Irish independence from 1916-22 and also the divisions which persisted after that because the Anglo Irish Treaty provided for the counties of Ulster to remain as part of the UK. Given the role of the British military during that period there is inevitably a lot of resentment involved.

But the bottom line has to be that it's completely absurd that Scotttish football should have the albatross of Irish religion and politics hanging round its neck in the manner in and extent to which it does.

Mind you it's equally absurd that, despite recent indication of minor liberalisation, Catholics should still be prevented from occupying the throne of the UK. The main reason now for that is apparently that the monarch has to be the head of the Church of England.

That is even more absurd... almost as absurd as having a monarch at all.

Take your head out of your own behind! What a load of pompous crap as usual from you, complete bore. There is no one here as up themselves as you

Edited November 22, 201114 yr by tm4tj
No need for personal attack on this subject. I take it Charles is off your Xmas list. You have been banned from this topic.

But the bottom line has to be that it's completely absurd that Scotttish football should have the albatross of Irish religion and politics hanging round its neck in the manner in and extent to which it does.

Absurd maybe, but it is the raison d'etre for the old firm. And they are interdependent - without one, the other could not have existed.

Take your head out of your own behind! What a load of pompous crap as usual from you, complete bore. There is no one here as up themselves as you

Oh well, looks as if we'll just need to pursue our two very different approaches to the manner in which this thread has developed.

* I'm merely responding to very enlightened and informed comments from the likes of Dead Ball Specialist, SMEE, 12th Man Jo di Maggio and Alex MacLeod.

* You just continue to "heid the ba' Jimmy."

Take your head out of your own behind! What a load of pompous crap as usual from you, complete bore. There is no one here as up themselves as you

Put that to music and you'ld have a half decent retort to the tinks when they come singing their silly songs.

And if you don't like what Charles writes, don't read it. Simple!