A very unusual article appeared in The Times yesterday, Why do Rangers fans besmirch club's name with ugly chants?

Unusual because, as the writer, Graham Spiers, candidly pointed out, there is a press aversion to covering the subject, especially in Scotland.

Spiers reports that Rangers fans were guilty of bigoted, offensive chanting when their club played a recent match in Lisbon. There were shouts of "F*** the Pope" along with the singing of The Billy Boys (for the uninitiated, a sectarian song that includes the line, "We're up to our knees in Fenian blood").

Despite official disapproval from club officials and warnings from European football authorities, the anti-Catholic chanting shows no signs of abating.

"So," writes Spiers, "you would think it might be deemed quite a news story that such songs have come back into fashion at Rangers... though the press in the main isn't touching it."

Why is that? Spiers offers three possible reasons:

First, it "is a wearying topic, not so say embarrassing for modern Scotland. "Two, there are some, no doubt, who will not want to embarrass Rangers or cause the club any trouble, especially as they might go far in this season's Europa League. "Three, a commercial media needs to keep it customers onside, whether they are bigots or not. "So the refrain, 'don't touch that subject', is sometimes interpreted as self-protection."

In other words, the newspapers in Scotland are prepared to remain mute, overlooking the bigotry, because they fear a loss of sales.

Isn't the free press a wonderful thing? It is certainly to the credit of Spiers and The Times (which sells about 24,000 copies a day in Scotland) that they broke the wall of silence.

News broadcasters have also failed to cover the misbehaviour by Rangers fans. Spiers writes: "There has been little media pressure brought to bear on the problem", and adds:

"It is far better for Rangers, frankly, if the media remains quiet on the subject. What really makes Rangers worry is when comment is passed on their supporters' behaviour, because that only adds to the inherent danger of Uefa punishing the club again."

He concedes that Rangers executives "have tried to lance the boil among their fans" but without notable success.

As for Celtic, Spiers laments that "pro-IRA chants" are heard. Though "less virulent than Rangers' problem... it embarrasses Celtic and needs to be tackled."

And how did commenters react to Spiers's piece? In predictable sectarian fashion, of course.

Source: The Times (behind paywall)