The death of Queen Elizabeth II affects all areas of life in Great Britain. Hardly anyone who does not position himself. So did the supporters of the fans of the Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers. The reactions are not always in the interest of the monarchy.
The fans of Glasgow’s arch-rivals Rangers and Celtic reacted very differently to the death of Queen Elizabeth II before their clubs’ Champions League games. Celtic supporters displayed banners mocking the late monarch in the stands ahead of Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw against Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. Minutes into the game, fans chanted, “If you hate the royal family, clap your hands.” Players from both teams wore black ribbons to commemorate the event.
Commentators from the broadcasting British broadcaster BT Sports apologized after pictures showing fans dressed in green and white and their banners. This was reported by the newspaper “Belfast Telegraph”.
The background to the antipathy is the club’s Irish roots. Northern Ireland has remained part of the British Kingdom since the Republic of Ireland gained independence over 100 years ago. For decades, a bloody civil war raged there between mostly Protestant supporters of the union with Great Britain and Catholic advocates of reunification with the EU member Republic of Ireland.
The Rangers fans in Glasgow’s Ibrox Park, on the other hand, honored the Queen with a choreography. The British Union Jack with the likeness of Elizabeth II in the middle could be seen on the grandstand. In addition, the national anthem was played, which was sung by many spectators, and there was a minute’s silence before the 0:3 against SSC Napoli.
The blue, white and red club and its supporters are seen as supporters of the monarchy and kingdom, unlike Celtic fans. The rivalry is also lived out openly in the Glasgow city derby – the so-called Old Firm.
For a fan of English championship club Preston North End, the death of the monarch has implications for his future leisure plans. He received a lifetime stadium ban from his club after a tasteless tweet.
As the “Guardian” reports, the fan expressed his wish for the rest of the week on Twitter shortly after the news of his death. He would be happy about a fatal accident involving the entire royal family, he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted. In another, he asked if he would be expelled from the stadium for booing during the minute’s silence.
The fan then joked that they will be doing the Nazi salute in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. In his tweets he tagged the club. He informed the fan that the deleted tweet had “crossed the lines of acceptance” and by tagging the club he would receive a lifetime stadium ban.
Also last week, on the anniversary of the Queen’s death, fans of Irish club Shamrock Rovers sang the lines “Lizzie’s in a box” to the tune of the hit song “Give It Up” during their conference league game against Djurgarden. This was not well received by everyone.
