FOOTBALL fans across Scotland are being urged to kiss bigotry goodbye in a new online campaign highlighting their love of the game and their rejection of sectarianism.
The #KissBigotryGoodbye campaign has been launched by anti-sectarian group Nil by Mouth and will see fans post selfies or photos of themselves on social media sites stating the person, place or thing that makes them love football.
The new campaign is a collaboration between Nil by Mouth and students from City of Glasgow College who won a competition organised by the charity to come up with an idea to highlight the positives of being a football fan in Scotland.
The campaign has the support of football writers Daniel Gray and Ron Ferguson, national fans group Supporters Direct Scotland, junior side Rossvale FC, and Partick Thistle mascot and social media iconKingsley.
In an early contender for Goal of the Season, broadcaster Annie McGuire posted a photo of herself kissing Scottish footballing pundit Chick Young.
Nil by Mouth charity was founded by teenager Cara
Henderson following the brutal sectarian murder of her school friend and Celtic fan Mark Scott, 16, in 1995 as he made his way home from a game at Parkhead.
His killer Jason Campbell, who is now serving a life sentence, singled him out due to the colours of his replica shirt.
Nil by Mouth campaign director Dave Scott said: “Football fans often see us in the media responding to incidents that reflect badly on the game.
“So we have come up with a campaign which highlights that the vast majority of fans simply want to support their team and enjoy the beautiful game.
“There are many brilliant people involved in the game who run supporters buses, wash kits, drive kids to matches, coach teams free of charge and work behind the scenes at our clubs.
“We all have our different teams and differing opinions, but we’re all united by this love of the game, and its eccentricities. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the joy, and forget that football isn’t always the problem – it can be part of the solution.
“The start of a new season is always an exciting time and with the national team also riding high we are hopeful that fans from clubs across all levels of the Scottish game will post their photo displaying their love of football and use the KissBigotryGoodbye hashtag.
“So far we have seen fans posting photos taking their children to their first game, side by side with their football heroes, sitting in favourite seats in the ground, celebrating a victory, and even wearing their teams’ colours on their wedding day. Our message is simple: Love Football, Banish The Bigotry.”
Over the past few months sectarianism in Scotland has been big news with the outcome of a two-year Scottish Government investigation and the first report on how Scottish women feel about it.
The Government’s Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism said there was an unwillingness from those in charge of the game to address the issue from within the sport. The group released its findings which included a raft of recommendations for churches, schools, football clubs, media and government bodies. It also said that sanctions were urgently needed within football, which was welcomed by Nil by Mouth.
Scott also insisted that bigotry had gone beyond football and the advisory group’s calls for more action to tackle online sectarian abuse was equally important.
Last month, the charity also held a conference against religious bigotry called Beyond Religion And Belief in Edinburgh.
And the first report into how Scottish women feel about sectarianism was published by women’s rights campaigners Engender.
Recommendations included ending segregation in schools and having public officials declare membership of groups such as the Knights of St Columba and the Orange Order.
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