Andy's Sting In The Tale (13/03/26) "Maybe The Bams Did Us All a Favour Last Sunday?"
- Andy Smith
- Mar 13
- 7 min read
I wish it was funny but it wasn’t.
Not funny in any way.
The weekend Miekelson’s Bams Ran Riot, Again, March 8th 2026.
A date and fan behaviour that could, I think bring a sea change to football in Scotland.
But only if the country and the game actually wants it because it will have to drag some people kicking and screaming.
On a sad anniversary day for Scotland when my old dad would have been 102, it’s not a bad time to put this all into perspective.
The past is the past.
But there is a future to fight for.
Last Saturday a sold out Murrayfield, with no fan segregation and beers on tap delivered a spectacle of full-on support and supporter interaction and passion.
67,000 fans, united by a sport and there to enjoy the game no matter the outcome and always with respect for the opposition.
Don’t say, Andy, that’s rugby and it’s different.
It’s the Tartan Army football attitude too and makes us friends all over the world.
A football organisation where self-policing humour and tolerance is hard wired.
Sunday in Glasgow was different in so many ways.
It was ugly.
And sadly the fans there wanted it to be ugly.
They always seem to.
The long version of ‘Simply the Best’ kicked off the unacceptable chants.
Not by accident either.
And then the racist songbooks were out in force.
Miserable Melodies with no place in our game.
And this is not the minority that we’re constantly being told about by our media.
Every single fan there who belted out the poisonous anthems is part of the problem.
A major part.
Look at yourselves guys.
The nastiness runs deep, very, very deep.
And sadly was the majority.
Always is.
The ‘90 Minute Bigot’ classification we heard 20 odd years ago was convenient Sociological Bull to try to normalise the poison almost to the level of acceptable ‘Glasgow Banter’.
A convenient gloryhole that never existed in reality.
On the day.
Some green fans rushed and overwhelmed some turnstiles.
A planned gambit by an organised, ticketless cohort.
Never a spur of the moment happening by-passers with scarves and balaclavas.
(Rugby fans at Murrayfield on Saturday didn’t feel the need to have balaclavas and pyros or storm the gates.
Nor will the Tartan Army in Boston).
And all the while the idiotic inane commentators praised the ‘Atmosphere’.
Bloody Meeja idiots.
It was and always is and always has been poisonous.
Uglier than ugly and what’s worse.
Under-reported for years by our 4th Estate.
And at last we have people in our media like Martin Geissler and Graham Spiers calling it out.
There was significant damage at both ends, as there always is, but it’s never reported.
Bloody well should be.
Every time.
The Celtic fans should not have gone onto the pitch at the end.
Their plain wrong action and fault, not the polis or stewards.
The blue end response however was immediate, ugly and akin the Hibs Hampden final.
History confirms the blue club has previous and cannot control its own even at home.
I’d say it doesn’t want to.
Why?
Because the reality is all roads lead to finances on both sides.
Ask yourself this.
Why do the two clubs under the current spotlight have significant fan bases way beyond their postcodes compared to the other 40 businesses in the SPFL?
The elephant in the room is, in Glasgow parlance, the difference between the left and right foot.
Two religion franchises so close in the ‘World Religion Spectrum’ that they are virtually inseparable but so far apart in parts of Caledonia and over the North Channel.
Two fan groups being constantly milked by the blue and green commercial machines adept at forever maintaining the differences to continue harvesting their pennies.
Divided by 400 year old nonsense instead of being united by a love of the same game and what it can do.
Two commercial machines that saw all this, could not have been surprised but chose to stay eerily silent until the predictably inadequate responses we got yesterday.
Jointly not good enough
Duopolistically as always.
Strictly business.
None of this would have happened if the match had been under the auspices of Uefa.
Why?
Because of the Uefa Strict Liability Code, a code both clubs sign up to when adventuring for the riches Uefa brings.
Bad fan behaviour exists in the full light of day because there was/is no downside North of the Wall.
These two businesses recognise that it is an occasional side effect of their core differentiation but it is a major part of why they outpunch their postcodes.
This Behaviour should Hurt the perpetrators, not the game.
There has to be a Downside where fan behaviour can seriously impact on their clubs.
Scotland needs to build and bring in a Scottish Version of Strict Liability. (With real and very sharp teeth)
Our 4th estate needs to call indiscretions out for what they are, ‘unacceptable poisons meriting punishments for the clubs’.
It’s time for Zero Tolerance of and for racist indiscretions.
Football is not doing enough to protect its core stakeholders.
Collectively we need to make football safe and non-threatening for all fans.
Andy’s View
Change won’t come from within.
Let’s collectively make last week’s ‘Bamshow’ the Rubicon that has been crossed.
This Week’s Sting
1. World Cup Countdown
2. Answers from the Machine
1. The Age of Uncertainty Continues and Will Continue
Known knowns are the newly anointed King and host of the World Cup is attacking one of the qualifiers.
Normal behaviour by a narcissistic maverick who doesn’t think things through.
Known Unknowns are.
He is predictably unpredictable.
His Bestie, Infantino has his back.
The die has been cast
Meanwhile at home the Tartan Army are preparing to be there.
The shops are full of merchandise, mostly unofficial and therefore cheaper and hoping for a bonanza. PICS
The hype will come and build but there are a lot of bumps to come too.
I’m still hopeful but a little scared.
2. 11 Questions for the Machine
First, thanks Keith.
Last week Keith from God’s Country sent me a description of what this wee blog is all about, courtesy of the ever watching hand of AI.
Big thanks
I’ve now asked the machine the 11 questions below.
Interesting answers from a machine with no skin in the game.
First Keith’s AI description of my wee blog
Andy's Sting in the Tale
Is a weekly blog by the Scottish Football Union Chairman, (previously, and possibly still the Chairman of the SFSA) Andy Smith who lives in Scotland and was the founder of Dalneigh Dynamos.
Andy focuses , mostly on fan viewed issues, kids football , football governance and fan advocacy. It frequently calls for reforms in the game's management, emphasizing community values over corporate interests.
You can read the blog on the Scottish Football Union web site every Friday.
His taste in music is diverse.
That really got me thinking so I asked the machine about last week’s nonsense.
11 Post Ibrox Questions from Andy to the ever watching Machine
(And you’ll find more detail if you dig deeper into the world of AI and ask the same questions because it tells you where its info comes from )
Question 1
Can you please write 300 words about Celtic and Rangers fan behaviour last week in the style of Andy’s Sting in the Tale?
Question 2
Can you write a poem about Sunday’s violence in the style of Andy’s Sting in the Tale?
Question 3
Please tell me the commercial benefit to both Rangers and Celtic that sectarianism and bigotry brings?
Question 4
Does bigotry provide the reason why Rangers and Celtic have so many supporters?
Question 5
How can the fans’ behaviours be changed?
Question 6
How can we stop bigoted songs being sung by Rangers fans?
Question 7
How can we stop Celtic Fans singing pro IRA songs and telling us they are political?
Question 8
How many children did IRA bombs kill during the Troubles? (1969–2006)
Question 9
How many children did Loyalist groups and paramilitaries kill during ‘the troubles’?
Question 10
Why had the Scottish Press stopped reporting the bigoted songs and calling them out for what they are?
Question 11
Who was more at fault for Sunday’s incident at Ibrox, Celtic or Rangers?
All the answers provided by AI can be found here.
Andy’s Sting Blog
Opinions are always mine and mine alone unless they come from AI and then I list them as AI.
And always I will advocate for the “Keysian Amendment,” and wish our leaders and politicians did the same.
i.e. change my/our views/positions if/when better information becomes apparent.
The SF Union are still new and we need people like you to help bring sense back to our game.
If you’re not already a member of the SFU then please help us become the strongest representative force we can be.
And bring the friends who you know care like you do.
Football is ours and is bigger than what we saw last Sunday, or the Fifa power and money that sees King Donald and Jahnnie strutting like the peacocks they are.
The Scottish Football Union is a fan grouping that sees the bigger picture and will always work to use collaboration laced with humour to make the fan the king in Scottish football.
That doesn’t mean fans are always right.
And mindless idiots like we saw last week in Govam don’t speak for fans as a group.
Clubs who by silence condone inherent racism should have the book thrown at them by us all until they bring in deep change from within.
Change for the mutual good of the game.
Every Cloud Has Silver Linings
This last week we have seen a massive upturn in members coming from both sides of the city and beyond too.
You are all welcome.
We are a grouping united by football not divided by the nonsense that some clubs have used commercially to differentiate their positions and as a basis for their macro fan appeal.
And as always feel free to write to me about anything in football or beyond.
Andy’s Album of the Week
Dire Straits: Brothers at Arms
I loved this album but haven’t played it for over 20 years and two tracks frame the problem Scottish Football is wrestling with.
All the clubs should realise they are indeed in this together and no single club or duality should dominate.
We stand and fall by being a brotherhood.
Secondly sectarianism is ‘Money for Nothing’, for a very few clubs.
It shouldn’t be because it is a cancer and I’ve had enough of that to last 5 lifetimes.
9 great tracks.
All foretelling last week’s nonsense and what to do.
So far Away.
Money for nothing.
One World.
Brothers in Arms.
I love refinding stuff like this./
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