New-found hatred is as puzzling as it is vicious

Published Date: 02 October 2011
By Moira Gordon
WITH his back to the main stand, Ryan Stevenson didn't see the major flashpoint the last time Celtic were at Tynecastle. What he couldn't miss was the fall-out and recriminations which followed.
That night in May the simmering undercurrent of hatred and venom which has bubbled away whenever Hearts and the Parkhead side have met in recent years, spilled over. Neil Lennon was lunged at by a fan and Celtic supporters scrapped with police and stewards in the stand. It was a night when the morons rather than football dominated headlines. But there had been something in the air that night. The usual tension and rivalry was heightened. The atmosphere was charged and crackled with the uneasy promise of trouble.

When John Wilson jumped a barrier and charged at the opposition manager it merely ignited what had seemed inevitable.

"I missed the incident as I had my back to it. I turned round and saw all the aftermath, someone lying on the floor and the crowd up on their feet. It spoiled the game and Scottish football for a while," says Stevenson. "It was just crazy. People need to realise it's just a game of football. We all love it, I support a team, I love going to watch them but there's no place for that in football. We're all human beings. Neil Lennon has feelings too and a family to go home to."

But, for almost two decades, a match which was once a U-rated version of derby clashes and no more intense than the head-to-head between Hearts and Rangers has descended into mutual hate and revulsion.

The demands on policing and stewarding for these matches now rival those of derby fixtures, with the close confines of Tynecastle casting up even more issues.

Past and present players, management and club officials are at a loss to explain just when the competitiveness became so acute, the disdain so dangerous. Undoubtedly sectarianism has played a part but while the menacing ambience is relatively new to the fixture in historical terms, bigotry isn't, so that can't be all there is to the vitriol.

"Growing up as a fan, and then a player, it was never like it is now and I don't understand it," says Gary Mackay, who holds the record for most appearances for Hearts. "I was at the last game and it was hateful. There was more than an edge to it, but I can't explain why and none of the fans I have asked can tell me either. But it definitely hasn't always been like this."

Stevenson added: "I don't know why but ever since I've been here it's been like that.

"You want these games because you look forward to playing in them. There's something in the air and the game is on a knife-edge. That's why we want to go into it fully focused and make sure we don't start off slowly. We started that last game well then gave away a cheap goal. You can't afford to do that against Celtic or Rangers with the quality they have. It was a hard game.

The atmosphere was probably one of the best I've played in until what happened, happened."

What happened sparked fighting in the stands and sectarian singing emanating from both sets of supporters. The fear is that lasting grievances were created. But it wasn't the first time such bile had risen. In 2002, Hearts launched an internal inquiry after a testy meeting between the sides resulted in a steward being assaulted, ejections and arrests during the match, two Celtic fans being battered afterwards and police horses on Gorgie Road to disperse crowds.

This afternoon Lennon has to walk back into the Gorgie arena, with the rest of the country watching to see how both sets of fans behave. Stevenson may want to see him leave empty-handed in terms of points but, in the Celtic manager's war of attrition with the deranged and despicable, he has an ally in the Hearts player.

"I think wherever he goes he's used to it. He must have some thick skin to go through the things he has been through. It's incredible. It's just a game of football so to have people send bombs to your house is just incredible. I've had a few shouts but that's football. You take it with a pinch of salt. I just go home and spend time with my family. But it's his first shot at management and he's had all that to deal with. Many a man would walk away so it speaks volumes of him as a person."

On-field rivalry allied to off-field humanity is what the game should be about. Today and every day.

Taken from the Scotsman