Before last November's Scotland-Ireland game, Dundee born long-time Celtic fan George Galloway tweeted his disgust at the idea that so many Celtic fans were supporting Scotland.
NO Celtic fan of Irish descent would EVER have supported Scotland over Ireland in the past. Now, it seems, all of them are. Changed days...
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) November 11, 2014
Celtic fans welcome to support the country which colonised the land of their fathers then "welcomed" us as immigrants like a case of Ebola
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) November 12, 2014
When Alex Salmond took over the leadership in 1990, the SNP were a small, quaint fringe party. They were mistrusted by Labour voting Celtic fans, many of whom were orientated towards Ireland, and who regarded them as 'Scottish Tories'.
Galloway was and is vigorously opposed to the cause of Scottish Independence, going on a 'Just Say Naw' tour across the country last summer. He encapsulates the views of many old-style Celtic supporters who dislike the SNP. They fear that independence will result in the Protestant establishment in Scotland grabbing more power. This feeling contributed to Catholics to giving a resounding 'No' to Scottish devolution back in 1979.
However, now the SNP are the biggest party in the country and projected to win a remarkable 52 seats from 59. And the Catholic vote is an area in which they have made the greatest strides. In last September's referendum, Glasgow was one of only two constituencies in Scotland to produce a Yes vote (the other was Dundee).
(Yes, this image is photoshopped - see this story '23 Stories That Will Dominate The GAA On Their 150th Anniversary)
However, while the Irish assumption that Celtic supporters are all SNP lovers may have been faulty, the view that all Rangers supporters are stern unionists is wide of the mark.
A survey on gersnet.co.uk reported that 30% of those polled will vote for the Scottish nationalists, one point more than will vote for the Labour party. The Tories meanwhile only got 23% in this poll.
The idea that all Rangers fans are union jack loving unionists while Celtic fans are romantic nationalists appears to be inaccurate.
