Half & half scarves ... WTF !!!

[NAE NOOKIE]

Seen a report on the BBC news from outside Old Trafford this evening and not long finished watching the highlights on MOTD. On both the news and the highlights fans were wearing half red and half blue scarves ...... at a derby match ..... a DERBY match FFS !!!

I'm all for fans getting on and mixing before and after the game and stuff, the more the better ( though some clubs will never do that with each other as we know all too well ) but there's a bloody limit and deliberately wearing the other clubs colours is crossing the line, for me it flies in the face of what makes football the spectacle it is, it claws at its very soul FFS .... Its the first step in sucking all the passion out of the game and turning it into some plastic, corporate pile of insipid garbage, which is what the EPL seems determined to do ..... I hope to hell I never see a stall outside ER selling this pish and if there ever is the fans set the bloody thing on fire!!!

Hells bells, I wouldn't even wear maroon kecks tae a derby ..... a half maroon scarf would be bloody unthinkable !!!

[HoboHarry]

Seen a report on the BBC news from outside Old Trafford this evening and not long finished watching the highlights on MOTD. On both the news and the highlights fans were wearing half red and half blue scarves ...... at a derby match ..... a DERBY match FFS !!!

I'm all for fans getting on and mixing before and after the game and stuff, the more the better ( though some clubs will never do that with each other as we know all too well ) but there's a bloody limit and deliberately wearing the other clubs colours is crossing the line, for me it flies in the face of what makes football the spectacle it is, it claws at its very soul FFS .... Its the first step in sucking all the passion out of the game and turning it into some plastic, corporate pile of insipid garbage, which is what the EPL seems determined to do ..... I hope to hell I never see a stall outside ER selling this pish and if there ever is the fans set the bloody thing on fire!!!

Hells bells, I wouldn't even wear maroon kecks tae a derby ..... a half maroon scarf would be bloody unthinkable !!!
Yer a dinosaur...........:wink:

[givescotlandfreedom]

Most of those wearing them seem to be football tourist types who don't realise how ridiculous it looks to normal fans.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Yer a dinosaur...........:wink:

That's the thing mate, I'm not. I'm all for progress in football and anything that makes the game better from a fans point of view is a good thing, but ye gods there's a limit. As much as pricing ordinary fans out of the game this sort of pish is symptomatic of an ongoing drive to sanitise the game .... I don't want to see hatred, but this namby pamby nonsense is going to sanitise out of the game everything that makes it great, next thing you know it'll be like the bloody Rugger and you'll have folk going 'sshhhhhhh' as an opposition player comes up to take a penalty.

It may well be the fitba tourists, who especially infest the likes of Old Trafford ... but even if it is the locals should be setting them straight before they turn fitba crowds into fitba audiences ..... how boring would that be.

I acknowledge that your comment was tongue in cheek by the way :greengrin

[Pete]

This is the trade-off. The money comes from these "tourists" and far away die-hard fans in India and Sweden so you can't blame them for treating a match as an occasion when they do come over for a game.

Since 1992, Sky have been marketing games like Southampton v Everton as some super unmissable blockbuster and I guess the sheep have finally taken the message on board. It's a shame for the fans who were there before it went crazy as they are surrounded by people who probably think that the Kippax is a type of Pokemon.

[HibsMax]

$$

[Chorley Hibee]

Seen a report on the BBC news from outside Old Trafford this evening and not long finished watching the highlights on MOTD. On both the news and the highlights fans were wearing half red and half blue scarves ...... at a derby match ..... a DERBY match FFS !!!

I'm all for fans getting on and mixing before and after the game and stuff, the more the better ( though some clubs will never do that with each other as we know all too well ) but there's a bloody limit and deliberately wearing the other clubs colours is crossing the line, for me it flies in the face of what makes football the spectacle it is, it claws at its very soul FFS .... Its the first step in sucking all the passion out of the game and turning it into some plastic, corporate pile of insipid garbage, which is what the EPL seems determined to do ..... I hope to hell I never see a stall outside ER selling this pish and if there ever is the fans set the bloody thing on fire!!!

Hells bells, I wouldn't even wear maroon kecks tae a derby ..... a half maroon scarf would be bloody unthinkable !!!

My sentiments exactly. I saw the same report and a little part of me died inside. Is this really what the game I love has become.

[hibstag]

This is the trade-off. The money comes from these "tourists" and far away die-hard fans in India and Sweden so you can't blame them for treating a match as an occasion when they do come over for a game.

Since 1992, Sky have been marketing games like Southampton v Everton as some super unmissable blockbuster and I guess the sheep have finally taken the message on board. It's a shame for the fans who were there before it went crazy as they are surrounded by people who probably think that the Kippax is a type of Pokemon.
i was watching MOTD a few years ago when Rooney scored in this fixture and celebrated in front of a section of city fans who where all foreign they were all taking photos of him on their phones at the time I thought imagine that happening in the east stand with big nose or some other yam

[hibstag]

i was watching MOTD a few years ago when Rooney scored in this fixture and celebrated in front of a section of city fans who where all foreign they were all taking photos of him on their phones at the time I thought imagine that happening in the east stand with big nose or some other yam

or any other scottish fixture between any clubs at any level ò

[Onion]

Seen a report on the BBC news from outside Old Trafford this evening and not long finished watching the highlights on MOTD. On both the news and the highlights fans were wearing half red and half blue scarves ...... at a derby match ..... a DERBY match FFS !!!

I'm all for fans getting on and mixing before and after the game and stuff, the more the better ( though some clubs will never do that with each other as we know all too well ) but there's a bloody limit and deliberately wearing the other clubs colours is crossing the line, for me it flies in the face of what makes football the spectacle it is, it claws at its very soul FFS .... Its the first step in sucking all the passion out of the game and turning it into some plastic, corporate pile of insipid garbage, which is what the EPL seems determined to do ..... I hope to hell I never see a stall outside ER selling this pish and if there ever is the fans set the bloody thing on fire!!!

Hells bells, I wouldn't even wear maroon kecks tae a derby ..... a half maroon scarf would be bloody unthinkable !!!

Just makes both clubs look stupid in the eyes of proper fans, the kind of thing you'd expect if the match was played in soccer country or the far east. Merchandise for soccer tourists and corporates.

[Finn2015]

Sad sad event for happy clappers

[marinello59]

Just makes both clubs look stupid in the eyes of proper fans, the kind of thing you'd expect if the match was played in soccer country or the far east. Merchandise for soccer tourists and corporates.

By proper fans do you mean fitba snobs who get upset by perceived breaches of supporter etiquette? :devil:

[Keith_M]

By proper fans do you mean fitba snobs who get upset by perceived breaches of supporter etiquette? :devil:


Will you be wearing a half maroon, half green scarf to our next game against Hearts?



:cb

[greenginger]

Imagine some poor deluded football tourist making his way to Celtic Park yesterday with a half and half blue and green scarf.

He would get banjo'd by both sets of fans ! :greengrin

[hibsdaft]

So Scottish football isn't so bad after all...

That said , 50/50 scarfs have been around for years and are actually part of our football culture. Something that seems to get lost in the rush to slate these tourists. Its just we only ever had them for European games and the like, not domestic rivalries, where they are obviously absurd.

[marinello59]

Will you be wearing a half maroon, half green scarf to our next game against Hearts?



:cb

Will I ****. :greengrin

[Keith_M]

Will I ****. :greengrin



Funny but I thought you might say that


:greengrin

[worcesterhibby]

EPL get's less and less interesting the more money they have...Leicester provided some light relief last year, but the spending this year has been stomach turning...I don't watch it any more..and the day a Hibs v Hearts match is watched by a bunch of tourists wearing half and half scarves is the day I stop following the Hibees. Hopefully that day will never come.

[greenteam]

Seen a report on the BBC news from outside Old Trafford this evening and not long finished watching the highlights on MOTD. On both the news and the highlights fans were wearing half red and half blue scarves ...... at a derby match ..... a DERBY match FFS !!!

I'm all for fans getting on and mixing before and after the game and stuff, the more the better ( though some clubs will never do that with each other as we know all too well ) but there's a bloody limit and deliberately wearing the other clubs colours is crossing the line, for me it flies in the face of what makes football the spectacle it is, it claws at its very soul FFS .... Its the first step in sucking all the passion out of the game and turning it into some plastic, corporate pile of insipid garbage, which is what the EPL seems determined to do ..... I hope to hell I never see a stall outside ER selling this pish and if there ever is the fans set the bloody thing on fire!!!

Hells bells, I wouldn't even wear maroon kecks tae a derby ..... a half maroon scarf would be bloody unthinkable !!!

Agree 100%..actually scares me..id hate not having the banter and sometimeshate of our rivals (strong word, but sometimes I hate them)..if you take away the passion and the competitive desire to support your own team whats the point. HOH us still fresh in my memory and on match day a Hearts fan is an enemy. .ok after the game its back to banter, but if I ever owned anything that resembled "HERTZ PINK"..I would be thinking ive gone insane

[Keith_M]

Anybody remember the half-and-half ski hats of the 80s?

My recollection is that they were mostly worn by Casuals who had a link to another Club's crew - Rangers & Chelsea and Celtc & Everton hats spring to mind.

The Celtc mob used to get some stick for wearing hats with a big patch of blue on it from non-Casual Celtc Fans.

[3pm]

There was a problem with the Hibs / Hertz Scottish cup ones. The Hertz bit fell to bits with 10 minutes to go.

[--------]

Imagine some poor deluded football tourist making his way to Celtic Park yesterday with a half and half blue and green scarf.

He would get banjo'd by both sets of fans ! :greengrin


And that's exactly what's wrong with football in Scotland.

It's OK to 'banjo' someone just because he or she happens to be wearing the 'wrong' colours?

Eroding the levels of hatred surrounding the game of football. Shocking! How could they think of doing such a thing. Carry on with this sort of thing, and it'll soon be safe to take the wife and kids.

[Gatecrasher]

And that's exactly what's wrong with football in Scotland.

It's OK to 'banjo' someone just because he or she happens to be wearing the 'wrong' colours?

Eroding the levels of hatred surrounding the game of football. Shocking! How could they think of doing such a thing. Carry on with this sort of thing, and it'll soon be safe to take the wife and kids.
There's some things perfectly acceptable but wearing a half and half scarf to a Derby isn't one of them, I'm not saying they should be done in but maybe pointed and laughed at.

[Fisherrow Harp]

Anybody remember the half-and-half ski hats of the 80s?

My recollection is that they were mostly worn by Casuals who had a link to another Club's crew - Rangers & Chelsea and Celtc & Everton hats spring to mind.

The Celtc mob used to get some stick for wearing hats with a big patch of blue on it from non-Casual Celtc Fans.
I do mate. It almost warrents it's own thread on which teams were coupled together on which hat 😄

[hibs0666]

And that's exactly what's wrong with football in Scotland.

It's OK to 'banjo' someone just because he or she happens to be wearing the 'wrong' colours?

Eroding the levels of hatred surrounding the game of football. Shocking! How could they think of doing such a thing. Carry on with this sort of thing, and it'll soon be safe to take the wife and kids.

Did you wear a half & half scarf to the cup final?

[jgl07]

Imagine some poor deluded football tourist making his way to Celtic Park yesterday with a half and half blue and green scarf.

He would get banjo'd by both sets of fans ! :greengrin
Anyone who had a half and half scarf would have probably purchased it outside the stadium anyway.

Does it do harm to anyone? Does it outrage sensibilities?

But encouraging tourists to attend matches might help explain why virtually all English Premier League matches are sold out while in the Scottish Premiership only four clubs can rely on getting much more than 5,000 through the gate.

[hibs0666]

With the rise of man city's bank balance it would be no surprise if there are now thousands of football tourists that support both manchester teams at the same time.

[--------]

Did you wear a half & half scarf to the cup final?


No. I didn't have a ticket. Besides, I happened to be working that weekend.

And it wouldn't have been wise or possible, given the level of bile and hatred in Hampden Park that afternoon.

Which is my point - I think half-and-half scarves are silly myself, but football should be a game, not an arena for people to work out their atavistic hatreds and insecurities on one another, and then justify the carnage by pointing the finger at 'them' at the other end of the ground.

A few years ago I thought briefly that we were just beginning to show signs of growing up and leaving some of this crap behind.

Now I realise that that was just because The Rangers were in League 2 and then League 1 and the bad feeling that club and their support carry as baggage everywhere they go wasn't being reported as fully as before. Now they're back, and it seems it's getting to be just as bad as it was when I first started watching Hibs 50 years ago.

I don't like the way so many Rangers supporters translate their support for a football team into an all-justifying hatred of everything 'not Rangers'. I don't like the way so many Celtic fans equate their support for Celtic into some sort of elevated Irish Republican crusade, which actually translates into unthinking support for paramilitaries and terrorists and a total and tragic misunderstanding of the history of the country they claim to love. (A good few Hibs fans do this too.) I don't like the Old Firm and the sectarian, ethnic hatreds they bring to the game I love.

BUT ...

The thing is, it isn't just in The Rangers' support - it's everywhere. I don't find it relaxing or enjoyable in any way to sit among people whose main motivation for being at the game seems to be to vent their anger, frustration, hatred and contempt for the opposition and their supporters, and it concerns me how easily I find myself accepting this and even being drawn into it.

As Nietzsche said, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you ..."

Or as another wise man once observed - "holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned ..."

[NAE NOOKIE]

And that's exactly what's wrong with football in Scotland.

It's OK to 'banjo' someone just because he or she happens to be wearing the 'wrong' colours?

Eroding the levels of hatred surrounding the game of football. Shocking! How could they think of doing such a thing. Carry on with this sort of thing, and it'll soon be safe to take the wife and kids.

I don't think he was saying it would be acceptable mate, just probably inevitable in the toxic atmosphere of the game he was on about.

Eroding the 'levels of hatred' around the game is a good thing, nobody is denying that or would wish for anything else. But on the other hand there's an edge to football that if it was lost would diminish the game as a spectacle and as an experience, in order to keep things civilised around football you don't have to remove the passion and rivalry. If Hibs were playing Barcelona or something I wouldn't be that bothered to see half & half scarves, I wouldn't wear one personally, but as part of the occasion I could sort of get it.

But when you are playing your direct competition and especially in a derby match all I'm saying is that the idea of wearing both teams colours just dilutes the passion and takes away the edge that makes some games the games they are. There's a difference between acting in a civilized manner and getting so cozy that you will turn the inside of football grounds into a sanitised corporate entertainment where customers come along to form part of the audience.
If you delve a wee bit into some of the fans who follow 'soccer' in the USA its the very fact that the game we follow has that edge that turns them on to it, its the very fact that American Football and Baseball are so sanitised and corporate that they turn away from it .... when they are looked down on by followers of these two sports their go to defence is to point out that compared to these sports 'soccer' culture is so much more passionate and colourful. The last thing I want to see is for football to end up just another entertainment with the traditional passion and rivalries ripped out of it, the half and half scarf thing is just the start of that slippery slope if you ask me.

I was never more proud of being a Hibs supporter than the day I was walking along Albion Road 10 minutes before kick off in a derby. There was a Hearts fan walking along amongst the Hibs fans and a couple of lads started having a go at him, one of them looked like he was about to aim a punch, but before he got the chance 3 or 4 Hibs fans jumped in and told them to stop being ********s and the Yam was able to walk along unmolested ..... That's what it should be like. Fans mingling and getting on, but please not to the extent where it becomes such a love in that if Hibs lose a derby at ER the scoreboard flashes up 'congratulations Heart of Midlothian'

[Keith_M]

I do mate. It almost warrents it's own thread on which teams were coupled together on which hat 😄


OK then, Fill in the dots

Hibs & .....


:greengrin

[Keith_M]

.....

As Nietzsche said, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you ..."

Or as another wise man once observed - "holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned ..."


Quoting Nietzsche on DotNet?

Jeezo, this site is really going downhill.

[NAE NOOKIE]

As Nietzsche said, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you ..."



These foreign coaches and players always have something clever to say :bitchy:

[--------]

I don't think he was saying it would be acceptable mate, just probably inevitable in the toxic atmosphere of the game he was on about.

Eroding the 'levels of hatred' around the game is a good thing, nobody is denying that or would wish for anything else. But on the other hand there's an edge to football that if it was lost would diminish the game as a spectacle and as an experience, in order to keep things civilised around football you don't have to remove the passion and rivalry. If Hibs were playing Barcelona or something I wouldn't be that bothered to see half & half scarves, I wouldn't wear one personally, but as part of the occasion I could sort of get it.

But when you are playing your direct competition and especially in a derby match all I'm saying is that the idea of wearing both teams colours just dilutes the passion and takes away the edge that makes some games the games they are. There's a difference between acting in a civilized manner and getting so cozy that you will turn the inside of football grounds into a sanitised corporate entertainment where customers come along to form part of the audience.

If you delve a wee bit into some of the fans who follow 'soccer' in the USA its the very fact that the game we follow has that edge that turns them on to it, its the very fact that American Football and Baseball are so sanitised and corporate that they turn away from it .... when they are looked down on by followers of these two sports their go to defence is to point out that compared to these sports 'soccer' culture is so much more passionate and colourful. The last thing I want to see is for football to end up just another entertainment with the traditional passion and rivalries ripped out of it, the half and half scarf thing is just the start of that slippery slope if you ask me.

I was never more proud of being a Hibs supporter than the day I was walking along Albion Road 10 minutes before kick off in a derby. There was a Hearts fan walking along amongst the Hibs fans and a couple of lads started having a go at him, one of them looked like he was about to aim a punch, but before he got the chance 3 or 4 Hibs fans jumped in and told them to stop being ********s and the Yam was able to walk along unmolested ..... That's what it should be like. Fans mingling and getting on, but please not to the extent where it becomes such a love in that if Hibs lose a derby at ER the scoreboard flashes up 'congratulations Heart of Midlothian'

I agree with you. The first derby I was at, we lost 3-1 after a run of wins and draws. I was 16 and not very streetwise. Three Hearts fans 2-3 years older than I was started giving me grief, and I began to realise that I was in real trouble. A guy behind me - in his 30's I'd say - nudged my shoulder and told me to get behind him, then told the guys harassing me to GTF. he told me to stay with him and his mates, and he walked me out the ground at the end and saw me safely on my way. These guys were Hearts fans, and I'm very grateful to them for saving my skin. That's how it should be.

Prestige friendlies pre-season like the Barca game at Murrayfield a few years back - parti-coloured scarves make a very good memento of the occasion. Not at derbies or League deciders, I agree. But rivalry is one thing - I have no problem with that - but hatred? Really?

Because that's what some of us are fondly reminiscing about here. And emotions like hatred lead to actions that lead to worse.

I go to speedway. There's no lack of rivalry there and I celebrate beating Glasgow like I celebrate Hibs beating Hearts. But the line there's drawn a long way short of hatred - well, OK, maybe there ARE one or two bampots that cross that line - and we still manage to enjoy our sport.


Quoting Nietzsche on DotNet?

Jeezo, this site is really going downhill.

The guy might have gone mad, but he was no fool.

Nor was the other guy. You do know who HE was?

Three's the charm: "Receive wisdom from wherever it may be found, and pay no heed to the labels we place upon one another. Therein lies true growth and maturity ...."

[Keith_M]

The guy might have gone mad, but he was no fool.

Nor was the other guy. You do know who HE was?

Three's the charm: "Receive wisdom from wherever it may be found, and pay no heed to the labels we place upon one another. Therein lies true growth and maturity ...."


Eric Cantona?


:dunno:

[--------]

Eric Cantona?


:dunno:

Aye, that'll be right ... :devil:

[KWJ]

Only scarf I own these days is a half n half with Scotland and Brazil from the friendly at the Emirates.

Keep hoping my Hibs one will show up at some point but I've no seen it for about 10 year :(

It may be time.

[StevieC]

i was watching MOTD a few years ago when Rooney scored in this fixture and celebrated in front of a section of city fans who where all foreign they were all taking photos of him on their phones at the time I thought imagine that happening in the east stand with big nose or some other yam

My memory of an incident involving Rooney, fans and phones was on his return to Goodison as a Man Utd player .. somewhat different though.

[InchHibby]

OK then, Fill in the dots

Hibs & .....


:greengrin

Torino

[hibstag]

My memory of an incident involving Rooney, fans and phones was on his return to Goodison as a Man Utd player .. somewhat different though.
I remember that to proper football rival behaviour...

[Hibrandenburg]

Aye, that'll be right ... :devil:

Buddhaghosa?

[jacomo]

I agree with you. The first derby I was at, we lost 3-1 after a run of wins and draws. I was 16 and not very streetwise. Three Hearts fans 2-3 years older than I was started giving me grief, and I began to realise that I was in real trouble. A guy behind me - in his 30's I'd say - nudged my shoulder and told me to get behind him, then told the guys harassing me to GTF. he told me to stay with him and his mates, and he walked me out the ground at the end and saw me safely on my way. These guys were Hearts fans, and I'm very grateful to them for saving my skin. That's how it should be.

Prestige friendlies pre-season like the Barca game at Murrayfield a few years back - parti-coloured scarves make a very good memento of the occasion. Not at derbies or League deciders, I agree. But rivalry is one thing - I have no problem with that - but hatred? Really?

Because that's what some of us are fondly reminiscing about here. And emotions like hatred lead to actions that lead to worse.

I go to speedway. There's no lack of rivalry there and I celebrate beating Glasgow like I celebrate Hibs beating Hearts. But the line there's drawn a long way short of hatred - well, OK, maybe there ARE one or two bampots that cross that line - and we still manage to enjoy our sport.



The guy might have gone mad, but he was no fool.

Nor was the other guy. You do know who HE was?

Three's the charm: "Receive wisdom from wherever it may be found, and pay no heed to the labels we place upon one another. Therein lies true growth and maturity ...."

You speak a lot of sense Doddie, as always.

But, at the same time, football is a proxy for war.

Hibs was formed because indigenous Edinburgh folk wouldn't let the Catholic immigrants play with them. Now we are accepted member of Scottish football, but retain the identity of our tribe.

We once had a reputation for casual violence, but now the Hibee nation travels in peace - as it should be.

Euro 2016 was a celebration of once-warring nations coming together in peace - except for moron English and Russian hoolies.

The forthcoming England v Scotland games should be the same - blood and thunder on the pitch, but peace off it.

This is the problem - some people can't or won't accept that battles are now confined to the pitch, and let their hatred spill into actual violence on the streets. This is fuelled by irresponsible clubs (Der Hun) and media (DR) who give stupid people misplaced justification for their grievances.

Such behaviour belongs in the past.

But half & half scarves? With the possible exception of certain friendlies, no way. I refuse to wear the colours of my enemy!

[Hibrandenburg]

For what it's worth its quite common here in Germany. Most clubs have got a partner club and the fans go along to support the other team if they're playing in their neck of the woods.

[Lucius Apuleius]

Was given a "present" the other night of a half and half badge for the cup final. Thanked him but not something I will be wearing anytime soon!

[NAE NOOKIE]

For what it's worth its quite common here in Germany. Most clubs have got a partner club and the fans go along to support the other team if they're playing in their neck of the woods.

The Yams must have loads of partner clubs :greengrin

[KWJ]

Was given a "present" the other night of a half and half badge for the cup final. Thanked him but not something I will be wearing anytime soon!

Did one half say 3 and the other 2?

That'd be awright I spose.

[G B Young]

I agree with you. The first derby I was at, we lost 3-1 after a run of wins and draws. I was 16 and not very streetwise. Three Hearts fans 2-3 years older than I was started giving me grief, and I began to realise that I was in real trouble. A guy behind me - in his 30's I'd say - nudged my shoulder and told me to get behind him, then told the guys harassing me to GTF. he told me to stay with him and his mates, and he walked me out the ground at the end and saw me safely on my way. These guys were Hearts fans, and I'm very grateful to them for saving my skin. That's how it should be.

Prestige friendlies pre-season like the Barca game at Murrayfield a few years back - parti-coloured scarves make a very good memento of the occasion. Not at derbies or League deciders, I agree. But rivalry is one thing - I have no problem with that - but hatred? Really?

Because that's what some of us are fondly reminiscing about here. And emotions like hatred lead to actions that lead to worse.

I go to speedway. There's no lack of rivalry there and I celebrate beating Glasgow like I celebrate Hibs beating Hearts. But the line there's drawn a long way short of hatred - well, OK, maybe there ARE one or two bampots that cross that line - and we still manage to enjoy our sport.


In my view it's segregation that helps to tilt the balance between rivalry and hatred. It's a very tribal vibe, with each set of fans restricted to their own area. I think there should be some experimentation with a return to non-segregated matches. I know folk will say it could never work in a derby or a game against The Rangers given the present relations between the clubs, but we're not in the 1970s any more when alcohol and worse flowed freely on the terraces and a football match could be a genuinely scary place to be. It would be interesting to see how willing those who spout the worst bile would be to repeat their views when sat among opposition fans. I fully agree that football brings with it an edge that can be exciting but it also brings out the worst in a lot of people who would otherwise never think of speaking or acting in such a way in any other public place.

And yes, I do attend the 'b****y rugger' on occasion and surprising as it may seem to some there is genuine rivalry between clubs, some more than others. However, it doesn't prevent fans mingling and having a drink in each other's company. Same goes for internationals when Edinburgh's pubs rake in a small fortune as fans co-exist without a hint of trouble. Doesn't mean you can't support your own team with passion though. And even if your team gets beat it's a consolation that you're not going to run a gauntlet of aggro afterwards if you happen to find yourself in the company of rival fans bent on making your day as unpleasant as possible. Unlike football, your disappointment can be diluted by a drink with fans of the other team, who are by and large just the same as you (with the exception of the worst of Hearts or The Rangers fans). The following quote from Trainspotting sums it up when it comes to football:

"After the match he left the rest of them to head to the station and meet Stella. The bulk of the Hearts support were also headed up that way. Stevie was oblivious to the heavy vibes. One guy shouted in his face. The c****s won 4-1, he thought. What the f*** did they want? Blood? Obviously."

[Keith_M]

For what it's worth its quite common here in Germany. Most clubs have got a partner club and the fans go along to support the other team if they're playing in their neck of the woods.


I've noticed that and still find it weird.

[Hibrandenburg]

I've noticed that and still find it weird.

Not keen on it myself but I can see the attraction of meeting up with partner clubs for a good session twice a year.

[Edson Arantes]

Surely some folk here wore half Hibs and half Sevco scarves to the final?

In the interest of sportsmanship and general niceness.