Bhoys, bears and bigotry - Bill Murray

Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow Giants. The Bhoys and the Bears. The 'Old Firm'. Despite the rivalry of the great Glasgow teams, their traditions are inextricably intertwined in what has been called 'a business based on bigotry'. Rangers entered a new world of sport and big business in April 1986 when they signed Graeme Souness as player and manager, and more notably when he was joined by a new owner, millionaire businessman David Murray. Both were committed to taking the Ibrox club into the elite of European football - even at the expense of signing Catholic players, which the club had hitherto avoided.Celtic were slow to react to this challenge but after years of squabbling found unlikely salvation in th form of expatriate millionaire Fergus McCann. Under McCann and Murray the Old Firm rivalry was modernised beyond recognition as the clubs entered a new world of globalised sport in which the bigotry of the past was a barrier to the riches awaiting Europe's top footballing sides. After five momentous years at Celtic. McCann left the club shortly after the frustrated Rangers attempt to beat the Jock Stein record of nine League flags in a row. With that albatross removed from the necks of both clubs, it might have been expected that a sense of sanity would prevail. But turmoil continued: new managers came and went and after an interlude with Dutch coaches both teams sought inspiration nearer home: Celtic with Ulster-born Catholic Martin O'Neill and Rangers with former Aberdeen and Scotland player Alex McLeish. In the mean time, Murray passed the chairmanship at Ibrox to John McCelland and once more the two clubs seemed to have entered another era. it was one in which the past continued to haunt them, however. Celtic with their 'Bhoys Against Bigotry' campaign and Rangers with their 'Pride Over Prejudice' project tried to present a new image of the Old Firm, emphasising the best aspectss of their long history. Getting rid of their old image, though has often seemed...