Glasgow Rangers in the Europa League: The Billy Boys are supposed to be silent

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If the Rangers from Glasgow in the evening (21 clock, live ticker SPIEGEL) receive the FC Porto in the Europa League, they may open again all sections of the Ibrox Stadium, unlike the past two home games in the competition. Twice the Uefa had imposed as a punishment for the songs of some fans a partial closure of the venue.

Each 3000 seats had to remain free in qualifying against Legia Warsaw and the first round match against Feyenoord. In the away game against the Young Boys from Bern Rangers voluntarily renounced to retrieve their card contingent. They locked out their own annex, apparently for fear of further misconduct and a possible ghost game.

The official reason Uefa for the penalties against the Scottish record champion of coach Steven Gerrard was racism. But in the case of Rangers, the problem is less obvious than, for example, in Bulgaria, where domestic fans in the European Championship qualifier against England showed the Hitler salute and scolded dark-skinned players with monkey sounds.

What Uefa took offense is described in Scotland with the vague term "sectarianism". This refers to the fanatical folklore around the Northern Ireland conflict between Protestant supporters of the United Kingdom and Catholic Irish.

Catholics vs. Protestants

She finds expression in the rivalry between the traditionally Protestant Rangers and the Catholic FC Celtic, despite the fact that football is now an international business and Scottish society has changed as well. "As Scotland becomes more secular, the two clubs still attract many fans who identify themselves as either Catholics or Protestants," said Dave Scott of the charity initiative "Nile by Mouth," which fights against religious tensions.

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The Rangers' bankruptcy and interim relegation to the fourth league, as well as political events such as the Scottish independence referendum five years ago, further added to the rivalry between fan groups. The influence of Brexit, however, is controversial.

Fans of the two clubs are still dealing with anti-Catholic songs or IRA symbols, even if they do not play against each other. The Uefa penalties against the Rangers resulted from games against St. Joseph from Gibraltar and Legia Warsaw. The Continental Confederation apparently interfered with a martial song in honor of the "Billy Boys," a Glasgow street gang that was chasing Catholics at the beginning of the 20th century.

Rangers in the victim role

The Rangers responded publicly to the double partial blocking of their stadium. They presented themselves as victims of an incorrigible minority among their own fans dar. The ultra-group "Union Bears" wedged back that the club makes them scapegoats.

In fact, the Rangers and Celtic make it too easy if they just point to their attachment. The conflict between Protestants and Catholics is part of their identity, the clubs have long fueled it. Until the late 1980s, the Rangers refused to sign Catholic players under contract.

In the recent past, the club ran an orange away kit in the assortment, which was allegedly dedicated to the Dutch -type team at the turn of the millennium with coach Dick Advocaat and players like Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Orange, however, is also the color of the Protestant Unionists. "To celebrate elements of this identity and to criticize your own fans - that is a contradiction," says John Kelly from the University of Edinburgh. He is a specialist in the religious conflict in Scottish football.

REUTERS / Russell Cheyne

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How do you get rid of a problem that is closely linked to the club? The Rangers are publicly positioning themselves for diversity, launching a campaign against racism, homophobia and sectarianism in the summer. Whether they discuss their own story in the course of this or in dialogue with their fans is unclear. A request to do so left the club unanswered.

Scientist Kelly says the club needs to educate its unruly supporters. "If you forbid fans to do something, they certainly do, and the clubs have to convince the fans that singing about the Billy Boys or the IRA is wrong, and the fans themselves must be the driving force."