ON the same weekend as the next Old Firm match at the end of March, St Mirren and Dundee meet for what could be a crucial contest in the relegation dogfight. In the Championship, Alloa Athletic take on Ross County in a match that could have significant consequences for both, while in League One there will be a ferociously-contested Angus derby between Forfar Athletic and Arbroath. Albion Rovers will continue to scrap for their League Two survival at home to Clyde.

For supporters of all these clubs and the rest, nothing else matters. Some may tune into the Celtic versus Rangers game the next day out of curiosity but few will be emotionally invested in the outcome … not when their own team is fighting for promotion, trying to stave off relegation, or looking to secure derby bragging rights. When your emotional well-being is linked indelibly to the fortunes of a football club, there is rarely need or desire to take an interest in anything else.

Roger Mitchell, of course, believes otherwise. Kris Boyd and Steve Clarke’s comments this week have reignited discussion over sectarianism in this country and its links with football in particular. Having lain dormant and largely ignored for some time, the debate has been long overdue and, amid a tsunami of statements, press conferences, and social media chatter, everyone has weighed in with their thoughts.

The naive hope is that it will prove to be a watershed moment and Scottish football will finally take some decisive action to eradicate the problem. The more cynical take is that there will probably be a lot of noise and promises without any real solution.

Sectarianism is not exclusively confined to the Old Firm and the west of Scotland but it is undeniably the source for the majority of the incidents. There may be bigoted elements among other clubs’ fan-bases but you only have to look at the strength of the reaction from the majority of those other supporters to see how abhorrent and unacceptable they find the notion of sectarianism. It is difficult to imagine there will be too many songs about the Pope, Queen, Fenians or Orangemen during that derby in Forfar next month.

Mitchell, though, is arguing to the contrary. A man formerly responsible for the well-being of 12 clubs in his role as chief executive of the Scottish Premier League now chooses to see everything through the prism of just two. Safely ensconced in Italy and able to throw rocks from a distance, he took to Twitter to suggest that “almost every person deep down has a preference that one [of the Old Firm] win over the other” and to argue that some clubs are more “WATP [We are the People ie Rangers] minded than others”. It was as insulting as it was disingenuous.

The irony was he was making his comments to a man who embodies the polar opposite of the Glasgow-obsessed culture that Mitchell was suggesting exists. Alan Burrows’ remarkable ascent to become an SPFL board member and Motherwell chief executive did not come on the back of funny handshakes or by fraternising in the right organisations. Its genesis, in fact, came a dozen years ago when, as a fanatical Motherwell supporter, he travelled on his own coin to report on a pre-season training camp in Austria for a fans website he was operating.

That set in motion a chain of events that have led to Burrows filling two key posts free from any accusations of Old Firm agendas or bias. Everyone knows he only cares for Motherwell and Scottish football by extension.

Burrows’ career path has been unique but there are men and women like him throughout Scottish football who couldn’t care less about Celtic or Rangers beyond a frustration that, confronted with accusations of sectarianism, the response tends to be just to point at the other club. The idea that they became fans of their club as a convenient way of masking who they truly support is as nonsensical as it is offensive.

Not that the others should become too sanctimonious or complacent. For, while sectarianism may not

be an issue for many clubs, the

recent increase in other aspects of anti-social behaviour, such as

coin-throwing, show it is not just Celtic and Rangers who have to get their houses in order. There is work to be done on that front by everyone.

In the meantime, fans of clubs all across the country will continue going to games and worrying irrationally about the fortunes of their team. Their Saturday nights, their Monday mornings back at work or school, and even the rest of their weeks will depend on that. How Celtic or Rangers get on won’t make a blind bit of difference to any of them.

THE rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool hasn’t always been exactly good-natured either, with songs abounding in either end about the disasters at Munich, Heysel and Hillsborough.

There is enough at stake this afternoon, however, to hopefully make this afternoon’s encounter at Old Trafford all about the football.

A victory for Liverpool will restore their three-point lead over Manchester City with 11 games left to play. United, though, have been relentless domestically under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and will fight tooth and nail to extend their unbeaten record – even if it gives their city rivals a boost in the process.