The man who crossed Glasgow

It's incredible how much football can unite people. The solidarity, the unity, the ups, the downs, the to's and the fro's that fans all share together. I remember when I asked an MSP once if they thought the Labour party was still the greatest moral crusade known to Scotland and he said "No you are forgetting about Parkhead!"

Yet it was also 20 years today that the ugliest side of football was seen in Scotland as the 2 biggest teams in Scotland showed that some of their fans could act in the most appalling manner imaginable as Catholic Celtic player Mo Johnston went across the city to join Rangers.

It didn't last particularly long as Celtic fans' abuse and death threats meant that for safety of his children he had to leave Scotland. Some people may have had genuine grievances for the alleged morally duplicitous manner in which he signed for the rivals just weeks after pledging his future with Celtic but it's no excuse for what was done.

Mo Jonston may have pledged loyalty to Celtic before moving over but that's not the reason that some people started to complain so viscerally against the move. Make no mistake about it there are some 'fans' who think that a catholic player has no right playing for Rangers and certainly not after playing for Celtic.

It may seem 200 years ago, not 20 and Johnston was far from the first catholic player to play for Rangers but he was the first big player to play for Rangers and triggered quotes from some fans like:

"It's a sad day for Rangers,there will be a lot of people handing back their season tickets. I don't want to see a Roman Catholic at Ibrox. Rangers have always stood for one thing and the majority of the support have been brought up with the idea of a true blue Rangers team."

Of course the reality is that a lot of people did not hand back their season-tickets because the vast majority of people at Ibrox are not bigots but the fact that in 1989 people felt that Rangers was a club for protestants is mind-blowingly stupid.

Speaking as a Celtic fan who is neither Protestant nor Catholic the two things I've been amazed at going to Parkhead; one is the level of idiots who still insist on singing IRA songs and the levels at which they are rebuked by the other fans telling them how stupid they really are.

Of course all the talk of a 90 minute bigot who just sing songs as a bit or harmless prejudice before living their respectable lives is a nonsense. All it takes is a brief look at the figures of stabbings, riots and domestic abuse after old firms to see what an absolute nonsense it is.

Bill Shankly once said 'Some people think football is a matter of life and death. They are wrong, it is much more important than that.' In this case maybe not...