1 July 1999
The Orange Order's continued influence at Rangers FC
On Scottish Cup Final day this year Rangers Football Club beat their Glasgow rivals Celtic 1-0. The same evening, Rangers vice-chairman Donald Findlay attended a celebratory function in Ibrox Park, his team's ground. There Findlay, Scotland's top defence lawyer, was captured on video leading the singing of sectarian anti-Catholic songs. A song which includes the line ( up to our knees in fenian blood )The Daily Record newspaper led with the news in its Monday June 1, 1999 edition and Findlay quickly resigned as Rangers' vice-chair.
Findlay is a leading member of the Conservative Party in Scotland and was the public face of the Tory campaign against Scottish devolution. As a lawyer, he has defended loyalists rangers fans who have murdered, or attempted to murder Celtic supporters.Orangeism is ripe in Scotland, and is mostly confined to Rangers supporters, It retains a membership of around 25,000. Among Rangers followers, moreover, there is considerable support for the loyalist paramilitary killers of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association. Until fairly recently, no Rangers player could have a Catholic girlfriend, and no Catholic ever played for Rangers until 10 years ago. Rangers player Paul Gascoigne was disciplined when he imitated playing a flute at one match — a reference to the flute bands used to head the Orange marches intended to intimidate Catholic areas. Andy Goram, formerly a Rangers goalkeeper, appears to enjoy hobnobbing with loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast, according to several press reports. Three years ago the entire team was warned not to sing the Orange anthem, "The Sash", in their dressing room after winning another trophy.
The Findlay affair exposes the pretensions of Rangers owner, millionaire David Murray, to have eliminated religious bigotry from the club. Such claims are quite clearly only for public consumption. Murray and his counterparts and business rivals at Celtic see the sectarianism previously encouraged by both clubs — which has led to several deaths and countless stabbings — as an obstacle to the profits to be made from global TV rights to screen soccer matches.
So Findlay resigned, unrepentant, angry only at having been caught out. The response to this from within the city's social elite has been most informative. A defence campaign of other lawyers has been formed to oppose any attempts to discipline Findlay by his professional body — the Faculty of Advocates. St Andrew's University, where Findlay is rector, has decided to merely delay granting him the traditional honorary degree. The Students Association at the university has given him unqualified support.
Findlay is a leading member of the Conservative Party in Scotland and was the public face of the Tory campaign against Scottish devolution. As a lawyer, he has defended loyalists rangers fans who have murdered, or attempted to murder Celtic supporters.Orangeism is ripe in Scotland, and is mostly confined to Rangers supporters, It retains a membership of around 25,000. Among Rangers followers, moreover, there is considerable support for the loyalist paramilitary killers of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association. Until fairly recently, no Rangers player could have a Catholic girlfriend, and no Catholic ever played for Rangers until 10 years ago. Rangers player Paul Gascoigne was disciplined when he imitated playing a flute at one match — a reference to the flute bands used to head the Orange marches intended to intimidate Catholic areas. Andy Goram, formerly a Rangers goalkeeper, appears to enjoy hobnobbing with loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast, according to several press reports. Three years ago the entire team was warned not to sing the Orange anthem, "The Sash", in their dressing room after winning another trophy.
The Findlay affair exposes the pretensions of Rangers owner, millionaire David Murray, to have eliminated religious bigotry from the club. Such claims are quite clearly only for public consumption. Murray and his counterparts and business rivals at Celtic see the sectarianism previously encouraged by both clubs — which has led to several deaths and countless stabbings — as an obstacle to the profits to be made from global TV rights to screen soccer matches.
So Findlay resigned, unrepentant, angry only at having been caught out. The response to this from within the city's social elite has been most informative. A defence campaign of other lawyers has been formed to oppose any attempts to discipline Findlay by his professional body — the Faculty of Advocates. St Andrew's University, where Findlay is rector, has decided to merely delay granting him the traditional honorary degree. The Students Association at the university has given him unqualified support.
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