Stuart Cosgrove: George Square carnage must herald the end for anti-Catholic bigotry

Gladwell argued that much like a virus, an idea can take a grip on society, replicating until it comes to dominate popular opinion.

Last weekend Rangers fans, celebrating their team’s remarkable season, brought carnage to Glasgow. George Square became a no-go area where mostly young drunken men, waged battle with the police and front-line workers. The square was left like a rubbish tip and a sporting achievement laid buried beneath the toxic weight of thuggery.

In a blistering feature in the ­Scotsman under the headline “Rangers, the ­‘superiority syndrome’ and anti-Catholic bigotry,” the veteran sportswriter ­Andrew Smith effectively “called out” failings that have festered over decades. No matter how virulent social media debates ­become it often takes traditional forms of journalism to edge the idea closer to its tipping point.

First and foremost, Smith was ­insistent that a deeply unpleasant anti-Catholic and anti-Irish attitude lurked within the guts of this social disorder. Paramedics have attested that they were spat on and subjected to bigoted abuse based largely on their dark green uniforms.

Several themes have coalesced around the George Square fiasco. One is the concept of false equivalence, where defenders of the mob look for other examples of public events to deflect responsibility. An obvious contender on this occasion was the anti-deportation protests in Kenmure Street in Pollokshields where residents blocked the departure of a Border Force van deporting two locals in a “hostile environment” swoop.

We should not waste much time on this faked-up argument. One was an act of social disobedience to protect people from deportation and when that aim was achieved the crowd dispersed peacefully with no significant violence. The locals who had dispensed water and food to protestors, cleaned up the aftermath. George Square was nothing of the sort.

Another issue that began to unravel at the seams this week, is the deceptive use of the word “sectarianism” a catch-all concept that masks anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic bigotry. This week ­several third-sector organisations broke ranks and dropped the use of the word sectarianism. A time has come when this lazy generalisation is no longer precise enough.

Sports journalism is riddled with lazy get-out clauses, but time has been called on that too. Celtic fans were not involved in either of the two outrages at George Square, so roping them into the debate is no more than obfuscating nonsense.

Another barrier to progress in football is tiresome “whataboutery” a habit which has been exaggerated by binary social media. The term first emerged on the award-winning news and opinion portal Slugger O’Toole, which was set up to take a critical look at politics in Ireland and Britain. One of the forum’s rules is that if a politician, or organisation from whichever community engages in unacceptable practice then it is the members of that community who have to face up to their moral responsibility.

This week has been significant. There has clearly been a breach in the wall of silence that traditionally shields ­Rangers. No one denies that the club has long since abandoned its infamous anti-Catholic signing policy, but has it done enough to root out prejudice among its loyal and ­loyalist customer-base?

These discussions have been part of football on the web for a long time, but such precise condemnation of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry from journalists is still relatively uncommon.

Another embedded problem is still to be addressed, one that exists at the very top of football. There remains a deep-seated perception in the minds of many fans that Rangers are treated with kid gloves and yet a perception from within Ibrox that they are victims.

Resolving this is not simple and has been needlessly clouded by a lack of past transparency, not least the so-called “five-way agreement” that allowed Rangers to re-enter the league after liquidation, against the rules and regulations of the game at that time.

Applying sanctions against Rangers for fan behaviour in George Square will be challenging, leaving the Scottish Football Association with their preferred strategy – to let things blow over. This may be ­superficially appealing but fairer and more transparent application of rules and more importantly responsibilities are ­essential to eliminate the distrust that ­exists among many fans.

The Scottish Football Association is in effect a self-regulatory private body with none of the external public scrutiny that an organisation of its national ­importance needs

Rod Petrie, the SFA President said last week: “Those responsible for sectarian singing, for vandalism and for inflicting physical damage may attach themselves to football but cannot be considered football fans.”

Sadly, these are words from an age-old deflection manual that seeks to blame society and then by some magical logic, asserts that those rioting were not really football fans at all? Sorry Rod, I’d hazard a wild guess they weren’t on their way to Scottish Opera.

I AM passionate about Scottish football and know enough about its history to ­confidently claim that the fans of St ­Mirren, Dundee United, Livingston, Raith Rovers, Dunfermline and my own club St Johnstone have never been ­involved in mass social disorder, which gives the lie to another comforting cliché of Scottish sports journalism – “every club has its idiots”.

The problem is that they don’t and ­certainly not to that extent.

Rangers chose a different deflection, claiming they had been denied the prospect of a title celebration inside Ibrox by the Scottish Government. Although this played well to a section of the club’s ­support who despise the Scottish Government, it was not great strategic thinking. During a global health pandemic, with no crowds at major football grounds, the request by Rangers began from the premise that they were special and different. It reflects a certain entitlement that Rangers would do well to shake off.

In castigating Scottish football and its failures, it is also important that we bring perspective to the debate too. The worst excesses of anti-Catholic bigotry are in the past. Street level attacks on churches are grotesque and rightly resisted but the structural and institutional discrimination that faced the Irish diaspora in the 20th century is now mainly in retreat.

Few employers operate discriminatory hiring policies and those that do are stuck in the past, usually with failing businesses. Attacks on Catholics and crimes aggravated by hate are still all too common but not as prevalent as attacks on other ethnic minorities. Scotland has a relatively open housing market free of covenants that would prevent a catholic buying a house, and professional positions within the ­media, law and politics are now more open and accessible.

Anger at what we have witnessed should not be allowed to obscure huge ­social progress. It is modernity that exposes bigotry for what it really is - the last dying gasps of Scotland’s past.

We have finally reached that tipping point.