In 2012 the first ever legal intervention was conducted by the Scottish government in an attempt to eliminate sectarianism from Scotland’s highest level of professional football, by passing the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act 2012. This decisive action was in reaction to one of the most infamous Old Firm derbies. The 2nd of March 2011 went down in infamy as the most ill-tempered clash between these two bitter rivals, a heated affair both on and off the pitch with the referee dismissing three Rangers players and issuing a total of 13 yellow cards. Off the pitch more than 229 people were arrested within the greater Glasgow area and 34 arrests were made inside the stadium for sectarian and racial offenses. A game with this level of violence had not been seen for decades and was reminiscent of a bygone era that many thought football had left behind. Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond labelled the game as “shameful” and with the passing of the Act, the first steps were taken to eradicate sectarianism from Scottish football for once and all.
However,12 years on from that infamous night at Celtic Park the question still remains is sectarianism still shrouding Scottish football in the dark ages of the 20th century? Or has real change been imposed upon this deeply divided rivalry and has it changed people’s experiences of what it is like to be in Glasgow on derby day.