I went out yesterday with two friends, one of whom is from Belfast, into the centre of Glasgow to watch gaelic football in a pub. Needless to say we had a great time, sank a few pints, had a laugh etc. On the way home when we boarded train 3 young thugs came on, one of them walked over to my Irish mate and punched him on the nose, totally unprovoked, and then ran back off the train and up the stairs. Now the young moron had a Rangers top on, and my mate had a yellow and green gaelic football top on, it's obvious to me this was an act of bigotry! none of us did anything to provoke the attack. I was outraged! I want to know what the hell is the deal with people in this damn city and religious violence! does it really matter if you are catholic or protestant or what football team you support. It goes to show the very closed mind set of many people in Glasgow, when will this f ing madness end! Parents breed it into their kids to go and sing rebel songs of Ireland and the IRA and lothe anything protestant, or go sing songs or the UDA and hate anything catholic, if they love Ireland so much why won't they go bloody live there instead of bringing their closed minded ignorance over here. Something has to be done to stamp this out! This cr*p cannot go on. Ask some of these half wits who are the UDA or the IRA and what do they do and I bet they won't even be able to tell you or present a valid argument for why they want to go around singing rebel songs and starting trouble. It doesn't just stop there, it happens in football all the time, most commonly Celtic and Rangers. Yesterday in the pub the two sets of fans (Donnegal and Armagh, one team from the republic and one from the British side) sat together and spoke to one another then shook hands with one another at the end of the game, that kind of thing is unheard of here. It was nice to see that at least some people are civilised.
Perpetuated no doubt by the type of sweeping generalisation you just made
What you described happens all over the UK because of the failure to address yob behaviour at any level. The sad news is that these scum exist all over the UK.
Law enforcement is hamstrung by the fact that anyone who tries to run a zero tolerance policy towards such behaviour runs up against the Politically Correct judiciary and European legislation which ties the law abiding in knots and gives free reign to the thugs who know how to work the system.
Blunkett is tearing his hair out trying to address the balance but he's lost the plot now.
The hard core bigots you speak of are incorrigible because their small brains need no excuse to lash out at anyone they perceive as "different"and, frankly, they enjoy the one sided violence. Take heart, because the yobs in your particular case will do it again in Glasgow and statistically, they will meet someone of similar ilk but faster and "harder". Macho BS of course but that's their only claim to fame.
Apologies if I generalised too much. I know there are alot of good people in Glasgow, infact most are and it's the minority of half wits who let down the majority as usual. Yes it does happen in other cities, I'm aware of that, I've seen it happen all over the UK in Racial form mainly. In Glasgow it's religious. Unfortunately most thugs do get away with it because of PC sh!te. I can't say but my point is such and such because I don't really think I had a point, I just wanted to express my utter disgust and hopefully hear the views of other people who feel the same way or have been affected in the same way as I have.
I enjoy going to support Rangers but never ever wear any football colours to avoid the type of incident which you have unfortunately been involved in G-A.
It's a sad fact but I think that taking these precautions is neccessary in Glasgow.
Sad isn't it, that a City and culture famed for it's hospitality should be dragged down by the few ?
However, in retrospect now that I have defended my own "Dear Green Place" I have to agree with you that there is an almost subliminal feel to the Rangers / Celtic (Read Protestant / Catholic) bigotry to the outsider and a very much more palpable sectarian divide when you get to know the place.
This of course has been significantly eroded by the fact that the Rangers "bears" have to endure their Centre Forward crossing himself when he scores a goal, to the strangled sounds of their cheering and choking at the same time At the same time any Celtic fan worth his salt will tell you of the Protestant referee conspiracy which robs them blind.
Any violence however is usually directed at the brain dead morons on both sides who want each other's scalps on their belts and they tend not to involve outsiders, Team colours or not. I know the majority of Glaswegians would be disgusted at the attack on your friend.
Location: Deep in the boglands of Western Ireland (but working EIDW)
Age: 28
Posts: 282
(slightly off topic)
I'd just like to add that many people down here in the republic regard the IRA and Sinn Fein with the same disdain as any unionist. Crooks and trouble-makers, we call them down here.
Many years ago my late father was at an Old Firm game. One fellow ("The Fan") was cheering for a side other than the one generally supported where he was, presumably on the terraces.
The man in front of The Fan eventually turned round, looked The Fan in the face, pulled a razor from his waistcoat, held it up to the light, opened the blade, examined the edge, pulled out The Fan's tie, cut it off at the knot, closed the razor, put it in his pocket, turned back to watch the game; and not a word spoken on any hand.
It is true that wearing Celtic or Rangers tops can be asking for trouble. It wasn't even a Celtic top my friend was wearing, it was just green and yellow. The teams should not be associated with religion however, the ex skipper of Rangers is roman catholic. I think a few people are now comming round to the fact that it's football and not about bloody religion. Pilgrim101, it is a very sad fact that the city is dragged down by these people, we are one of the most friendly cities in the world but we've also developed a reputation for producing 1st class morons who unfortunately bring everyone else down.
I can understand the desire to wear tribal colours, never done it meself though, its a herd identification symbol, the old regimental or school tie, or the funny hand shake for that matter, serves the same purpose and stems from the same instinct as the desire to wear your football teams colours. Trouble is football has changed from ritualistic warfare to more like the real thing.
This has got to ridiculous levels. It's reminded me of the whole Neil Lennon saga. I recall in the Scottish press at the time voices from all sides saying this was disgusting, enough is enough etc. Won't do the trick sadly.
I don't live in Glasgow, but it's even been suggested to me that when a certain team are in town, it would not be wise for me to wear green and white on a Saturday evening.
I'm in offices where there are Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, and Hearts fans. We seem to survive just fine and I've never heard anything sectarian. You have to think it is the minority, but then you go to an Auld Firm and hear the chanting and abuse and begin to wonder.
I once worked in Harland & Wolff in Belfast, that well known equal opportunity employer now defunct at last. We, as clients had a vessel in the H&W yard. One of our engineers hailed from Dublin. One morning he received a letter in the internal mail with a witty little missive of something like "**** off back to Dublin you Fenian bastard". Just to prove the point there was a live 9mm bullet fetchingly attached to the note.
Belfast in general was OK in the city centre with a few exceptions. I was with two of my mates when we were asked nicely (yes really) by a bouncer not to go into a certain pub where he was minding the door. He reckoned that I was OK with my Welsh accent (he couldn't have known I was Protestant) but my Geordie pal and the Norfolk lad would meet people "who wouldn't like their accents". Ironically, these two were Catholic........We were grateful for the polite warning and went for a drink elsewhere.
Familiar theme is that the yobs have to be either mob handed, on their own turf, or both to ensure that their cowardice doesn't actually shine through the bravado.
I've met these "hard-men" all my life, and they are usually the first to fill their nappies, stick their thumbs in their mouth and cry for "Mammy" when things stack up against them.
Let's face it, we're not talking about an intellectual elite here. They are usually bottom of the pile no hopers who can only measure their worth against their immediate compatriots - not much to aspire to there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- one of the most bigoted and setarian sports on the planet!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I suspect you are about to be flamed for the above quote Perhaps you would explain your thoughts a wee bit further incase we are missing something.
OK, I'll rise to the bait. Almost exclusively Catholic, Yes, Sectarian and Bigotted, not really, except for the daft 'no british security forces' rule, which should have been repealed long ago. One rarely if ever sees the violence associated with soccer at a GAA match, and its ties with other international games (viz aussie rules) point to it being a lot more inclusive than TR might think.
No, if you want bigotry in sport, good old association football has it pretty much wrapped up: sectarianism; racism; misogyny; zenophobia et al.......
As regards trouble in Glasgow and Belfast , (native to the latter, lived five years in the former) its always going to be there, and its best to err on the side of caution. cover up the top or scarf until you're on safe ground. Better not to give the mindless d@*$£%*ds a chance.
Funny, Been a Celtic supporter all my life, and my best pal in glasgow's a rangers fan, so we must be getting somewhere......
sorry to heard that G-Alan... i think that just shows what thick, stupid b@sta*ds we share this city with
sadly we do need to take precautions living in glasgow with regards to football... it's wrong to cover up things like that we know - but would you really need a bottle shoved in your face to realize that it is wise to do so ?
it's one of the reasons why i cannot generally be bothered with football really.
In the actual teams, Celtic has played protestants for much longer, I understand, than Rangers has played catholics. I have one book that tells of a Rangers player who was deeply distressed. I believe it is a true story. He confessed to a team-mate that he could not stand the crowd barracking him as a "P*pist b*st*rd". It was really getting to him. Ah, forget it! Don't let it worry you, said the other, They do it to me all the time. "Yes" said the first one "But you ARE a P*pist b*st*rd".
sectarian violence
ing madness end! Parents breed it into their kids to go and sing rebel songs of Ireland and the IRA and lothe anything protestant, or go sing songs or the UDA and hate anything catholic, if they love Ireland so much why won't they go bloody live there instead of bringing their closed minded ignorance over here. Something has to be done to stamp this out! This cr*p cannot go on. Ask some of these half wits who are the UDA or the IRA and what do they do and I bet they won't even be able to tell you or present a valid argument for why they want to go around singing rebel songs and starting trouble. It doesn't just stop there, it happens in football all the time, most commonly Celtic and Rangers. Yesterday in the pub the two sets of fans (Donnegal and Armagh, one team from the republic and one from the British side) sat together and spoke to one another then shook hands with one another at the end of the game, that kind of thing is unheard of here. It was nice to see that at least some people are civilised.
At the same time any Celtic fan worth his salt will tell you of the Protestant referee conspiracy which robs them blind. 
