Obsessed and Football Crazy

Like most European cities, Glasgow is obsessed with “the beautiful game”—football, or as we know it, soccer. Two major teams call the city home in a fierce rivalry: the Rangers are generally recognized  as a Protestant team with unionists ties to England, while the Celtics are the Catholic team is also beloved in Ireland. Fans are combative - it's almost impossible to eliminate the sectarian emotions the two teams generate. On a sunny Easter afternoon we took the subway to Ibrox Stadium to watch the Rangers in a match against Edinburgh’s Heart of Midlothians (not exactly a fighting name but their fans managed to come up with some fierce chants). Stepping out of the station, we were caught up in a swell of people and mounted police, pop-up sausage roll stands, football scarf vendors, and Union Jacks. Security was tight but not nearly as intimidating as the match we attended in Athens where fans were subject to metal detectors and frisking. Still, cops were stationed at the foot of every section and the opposing team’s fans were segregated from Rangers’ supporters by an empty bank of seats and two officers providing a human barricade on every row. While women were in the stands, soccer is still very much a male spectator sport with lads outnumbering women by at least 100 to 1. And, although alcohol isn’t sold in the stadium, you can be sure all the men made a beeline for the nearby pubs (and beforehand) as soon as the Rangers pulled off a 2 to 1 win.