My mum's street in lockdown

[Malc]

Apparently the police cordoned off Adams Avenue, Saltcoats yesterday looking for the eejit who has been threatening the life of Neil Lennon (manager of Glasgow Celtic).

My brother Dave, who admittedly has mental issues, was convinced they had tracked down the bastard who stole my mum's lawnmower.

[Diane CBPFC]

Hope your Mum isn't too scared.

[Roger Kettle]

Malc, two guys have now been arrested---one from Saltcoats and one from Kilwinning---for attempting to send Lennon parcel bombs.
Another fine week for Scottish football.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

I hear what you're saying, Roger, but I think it's hugely unfair that this inevitably reflects badly on Scottish football, the overwhelming majority of participants and fans of which are decent, ordinary people, and do not deserve to be tainted by the bigoted, moronic idiots that are responsible for these atrocities. This is a problem of human nature, and not the nature of football. Yes, it's a game that generates intense rivalries, and some serious antagonism as well as the more common good natured rivalry. But when it gets to the point of bombs and bullets being sent through the post, it ceases to be about football - the minds responsible for these things care little about the Beautiful Game, far less understand it.

I'm terribly sorry for anyone who has been affected by their actions, and I hope they throw the book at whoever is convicted. I also hope they catch the bastard that nicked your mum's lawnmower, Malcolm.

[Bog]

As a footy supporter from London, I can honestly say, we just dont understand it down here, I mean, we understand the punch-ups
and stuff but the sectarian stuff and venom in Scotland is really shocking to us down here.

Lady Bog used to be old Bill in Strathclyde, she used to be at the old firm games and it took all my bestest efforts to drag her to
Stamford Bridge and she bought the chips!

We appreciate footy fans all over, but this is just beyong the normal call isnt it.
 
Malcolm, was it a green lawn mower, only I spotted one this morning over a fence at Peckham, by the railway line.

[The Peepmaster]

I also hope they catch the bastard that nicked your mum's lawnmower, Malcolm.

A job surely for the Lawn Ranger.

[Vulture]

I also hope they catch the bastard that nicked your mum's lawnmower, Malcolm.

A job surely for the Lawn Ranger.

[Bilthehut]

Using a Tecumsa powered motor perhaps?

[Mince]

I hope they throw the book at whoever is convicted.

.. whomever ..

That's my contribution to this thread.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

You call that a contribution? I bet your pew gets a wide berth at collection time in t'church.

[Roger Kettle]

WARNING: THIS IS ABOUT FOOTBALL.
Tarks, it's time we stopped kidding ourselves. While the sectarianism in Scottish football (and, indeed, Scottish culture) is indulged in by a minority, it isn't, and never has been, a "tiny" minority. There is a horrible undercurrent of hatred involved in everything connected with Rangers and Celtic and, sadly, this has spread to other clubs. I know, as you do, extremely intelligent men who have gone through their entire lives refusing to wear anything green.
The attacks on Neil Lennon are a sickening reminder of how primitive our nation can be. Having said that, Lennon did himself no favours by his paranoid ramblings about referees, his behaviour on the touchline and his ludicrous claims about other teams not being committed against Rangers. Of course, none of this justifies the horrendous threats on his life that have ensued but, given the crazy and volatile nature of the situation, he has not acted well. It saddens me that I have to say this.
While I'm at it, let's explode the myth of the good-humoured "Tartan Army"---the Scottish supporters who follow the national team around the world. Ask the citizens of Paris and Prague who ended up in hospital after we'd been there how good-humoured they thought we were. Ask the guy in Lithuania who tried to stop Scottish supporters urinating against his house.
This is not an exclusively Scottish problem and it IS confined to a minority but it is a big one.

[Jack]

I've struggled to get all of my thoughts into one coherent message here, it's a bit rambling, but here goes anyway:

Basically I fear that Celtic and Rangers are historically so inextricably linked to the issues in Northern Ireland that to be honest the problem cannot be solved while the two clubs still exist. You'll never make it just about football, or even limit the conflict to the already-awful levels of behaviour associated with regular football-based rivalries. However many fans of these two clubs simply want to follow a football team, you'll never get rid of the association of each club with a specific side of that religious/political conflict.

Fans of Sheffield Utd and Sheffield Wednesday have a tremendous rivalry, and take great delight in the other club's misfortunes. There are the sets of opposing fans who enjoy the banter, and there are undoubtedly sets of opposing hooligans who go around fighting, beating up supporters of the other team, and giving football a bad name. But in Glasgow, the teams have these ridiculous sectarian trappings, and young fans adopt them without even being properly aware of what they mean.

Fortunately, as a lot of the sectarianism in football is born of ignorance and is genuinely viewed by those partaking in it as part of a football-related rivalry, the bigotry spewed by many fans often lasts only for the duration of the game. Sadly though, because it's roots aren't based in football, there's still a fair few cases where it helps to perpetuate genuine political attitudes and extremism. Football is popular, and people across the nation are encouraged to place their loyalty with one team of their choosing.  In the Northeast, kids pick a football team (or are raised to support one) and all that will basically determine for their later life is the colour of the stripes they'll wear on a Saturday. In Glasgow, kids pick a football team (or are raised to support one) and hey presto, by default you've got their political stance on a highly sensitive issue. Peer pressure is a powerful thing, and when you've however many thousand fans seemingly backing one viewpoint, it takes a lot to go the other way.

You can educate and inform, and try to stamp it out, but the clubs will still be their as figureheads for their respective sides in the argument. Their mere existance is a reminder of a social/political/religious divide much older than football, and it'll be an issue in Scottish football until both clubs are disbanded, and a single united "Glasgow FC" is formed. Which will never happen because, well, can you imagine the reaction?

[Jack]

Oh and, I'll just echo Bog's sentiment that it's really quite shocking. I can appreciate that people who've grown up living with it might not always think it's really SUCH a big problem. But as an outsider having been told while visiting Glasgow that I shouldn't wear something because I'd be likely to get the crap kicked out of me, I can say that it paints Glasgow as a bizarre, hostile, and frightening place.

I mean, I understand that wearing a Celtic or Rangers shirt and strolling through an area that is traditionally populated by fans of the opposing team is a stupid thing to do. I wouldn't do it, anymore than I'd wear my Donny shirt for a night out in Sheffield or Barnsley*. I expect there are places in Manchester you shouldn't go if you're wearing red, and others to avoid if you're wearing blue. But to be told "You can't wear that unbranded t-shirt because it has flashes of orange on it and you'll get us murdered" is frankly more than a little disconcerting.


*Disclaimer: I'm not actually even stupid enough to go for a night out in Barnsley, whatever clothes I'd be wearing.

[Malc]

My dad was in the army and I lived an army brat life for nearly 20 years never being exposed to the Protestant/Catholic hatred in football apart from two horrific years when my dad was posted to Glasgow as a recruiting sergeant - without doubt the most unhappy and traumatic years of my young life. I could not believe the levels of violence generally in Glasgow at that time (the last years of the serious gang wars), it was a savage and ignorant and stupid society, and I hated every minute of living in Maryhill. Our next posting was back to Germany, to a boarding school and five years of living away from my family, and despite the homesickness, I would have rather lived in those cold lodgings on a North Sea dyke, a cross between Colditz and Hogwarts, than go back to Glasgow.
My brother Dave (the one with mental issues) lived in Pollockshields, and didn't help himself on one occasion when he emerged from a couple of hours in the pub to see an Orange Walk passing by. After observing the proceedings for a mere couple of minutes, he yelled "Yez ur a f*cking DISGRACE!!" earning himself a visit to the local casualty ward.

[Diane CBPFC]

Over here you see headlines of players being bought and traded to other teams. How would that work with the Scottish football teams then? Would that even be possible?

I think the world would be a better place if the fans instead of watching games, formed local fun teams for all ages and got some fresh air and excersise and played a sport themselves. My hubby who is 50 is on a fun basketball league with guys as young as 17.