I’ve been accused of a few colourful allegations in my time, not least in my attitude towards football crowds in Scotland.
I have written copiously over the years about sectarianism in Scotland – in football, that is, not in society, where I think it is much diluted – and this has led to accusations of prissiness.
“He wants to drive the banter and passion out of the game,” it has been said of me.
“He’s a kill-joy.”
“He’s a faux-offended middle-class toff who wants us all carted off to jail.”
“Spiers doesn’t understand football – he thinks we should all behave like we are in church.”
For someone who has been attending Scottish football matches since the age of seven, and who loves the game and its traditions, this has been a bit peculiar to hear.
There is an academic and writer in Scotland called Dr Stuart Waiton – the “bonkers professor” as I lovingly know him – who is wont to put it about that I’d rather football matches were more akin to luvvy west end wine parties.
“Another crepe, Torquil?”
In Scotland this week the subject of “sanitising” football has reared its head again, for two reasons.
First, the malfunctioning Offensive Behaviour at Football Act has come under fresh scrutiny, with critics wanting it either revised or binned.
Second, with offensive eruptions among Rangers and Celtic fans recently, the debate about “strict liability” has emerged once more.
Let’s stick to the nature of football crowds for the moment. I do not want the game “sanitised”. I do not want some pristine-pure Mary Poppins atmosphere at our matches.
The joy of football is the raw emotion – and tart comment – of the crowd. That emotion and that jagged polemic are in part what make the game so great.
The idea that the football atmosphere should more resemble that of a west end theatre is absurd. I’m all for football’s racket and noise, and the ruder and more barbed, the better.
What I don’t much care for are the open, blatant prejudices which, were they shouted in the street, would lead to someone’s arrest.
I don’t need to over-egg this point, I’ve made it often enough. There have been thousands of people at matches chanting bigoted songs, and I found it embarrassing for our game and our country.
Rangers, in particular, have had to address this issue in recent years, and have made significant strides in rooting it out.
Celtic have not been immune to offensive chanting either by supporters, and have had to issue statements on the subject.
Football games can have plenty colour and atmosphere, surely, without stuff about the Pope and the IRA? Can’t they?
There is a surge in Scotland now towards so-called “strict liability” whereby each club would be held specifically accountable for the “actions” of its fans.
What strict liability does – almost ruthlessly – is take away any grey area, any foggy argument. It simply rules out any religious, political, sometimes even cultural expression among fans which it deems irrelevant to football.
The current dismay among the directors and fans of FC Barcelona highlights the pitfalls of strict liability, as implemented by UEFA.
Twice now Barca have been fined by UEFA for the brandishing of the Catalan flag – the Estelada – among supporters.
The club, in its geographic and cultural context, has long been a symbol for Catalan independence among some fans. Jordi Mestre, the Barcelona vice-president, has said he will “fight UEFA” and “never allow a limit on people’s freedom of expression”.
This is the problem with strict liability: it can be tyrannical in its use and strip football clubs of their cultural setting.
Personally, I don’t believe supporters should be allowed to spout religious or racial prejudice.
I do believe supporters should be allowed to celebrate the history and context of their club, to whatever degree these might be disputed.
Of course, in Scotland, around Rangers and Celtic, this becomes a problem.
There are groups at both clubs who alight on a particular political standpoint – either British unionism or Irish nationalism – and make it their “distinct”, their badge of honour.
On top of this they sometimes place these identities in the context of The Troubles of Northern Ireland, and so we get this IRA/UDA/UVF stuff trotted out as part of the sagas of Ibrox or Celtic Park.
Legions of younger Rangers and Celtic fans, I find, simply cannot be bothered with this. As Walter Smith once put it, “they just love the club, for the club’s sake”.
In the case of the Old Firm and their pains, I hope these younger supporters prevail. There are growing numbers of them emerging.
That said, we’ve been saying this for years, and here we are in 2016 still addressing the vexed subject.
I’m all for fans celebrating their club’s cultural place. It is when bigotry or racism towards others kicks in that I have a problem.
I remain unconvinced, if this current Barcelona case is anything to go by, that strict liability is the answer.
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