Letters to the Editor: Towell must learn religious bigotry has no foothold in Edinburgh derby

Published on Sunday 3 April 2011 21:41

I WAS intrigued to read that Richie Towell, the Celtic player currently on loan at Hibernian, is of the opinion that supporters of the Heart of Midlothian are hostile towards him because of his religion ('I'll get abuse because I'm a Catholic, says Towell', 2 April).

Has he not considered that is because he is a Celtic player, the Old Firm teams being Hearts' main rivals at the top of the Premier League?

He is probably too young to be aware that several former Celtic players have graced the maroon jersey, been popular with the supporters, and given their all for the club, John Colquhoun, Brian Whittaker and Stephane Mahe being amongst the most prominent.

If this young man looked at the Hearts line-up that faced him on Sunday he would see a largely cosmopolitan team, presumably of various religious persuasions, including one of his own countrymen.

If he finds what he perceives as sectarianism "enjoyable", perhaps it says more about him than the alleged perpetrators.

HARVEY D. FREW

Coates Gardens

Edinburgh

THE article about Richie Towell is a despicable attempt to lower the Edinburgh derby to the level of the Old Firm. I'm not so naive to say that there are no bigots amongst the fans (unfortunately there is a minority of idiots), however to try and tar the rest of the fans with the same brush is uncalled for and just trying to stir hatred up ahead of the derby is totally irresponsible.

Most Hearts fans don't even know who this guy is let alone what religion he is (not that it matters one bit).

It's journalism like this that stirs up latent bigotry and people of lesser minds who might not have given him abuse will now think they have a reason to dish out verbal abuse.

You may think that highlighting bigotry is helping to banish this from our game, but in cases like this, you are merely adding fuel to the fire, in this case, totally irresponsible.

GORDON ARCHBOLD

Calder Road

Edinburgh

STEWART Regan, the chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, didn't get it quite right when, in reference to the Old Firm, he stated "It will take a generation to get rid of sectarianism" (Scotsman Sport, 30 March).

I believe that the answer to the problem is regeneration, which, as the cognoscenti among you readers will know, means spiritual rebirth or reformation of life. This requires faith in Jesus Christ who declared to an inquirer "You must be born again".

It is well known that many supporters on both sides of the Old Firm claim to have religious reasons (both Protestant and Roman Catholic) for their respective allegiances, but how many of them would or could claim to be regenerate, or born-again Christians?

To be fair, they lack encouragement.The SFA is at fault for arranging football matches to be held on Sundays, the very day set apart for worship and spiritual refreshment, and the clubs are compliant for financial reasons. I feel it is time for the people of Scotland to awaken to the spiritual malaise that afflicts our nation, and to 'remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy'. Where are the 21st-century Eric Liddells?

DONALD JACK

Summerside Place

Leith