IT was 50 years ago this summer that two countries went to war over a football match.

That’s right, an actual shooting war in which thousands died when El Salvador invaded Honduras after three World Cup qualifying games in June 1969.

It wasn’t just about football, of course. The two neighbouring countries hated each other anyway, and feelings were running so high that when Honduras won their home tie 1-0, a 17-year-old Salvadorean girl, Amelia Bolaños, shot herself through the heart.

There was national mourning in El Salvador and the nation’s first XI carried her coffin. When Honduras arrived for the return leg, they needed an escort of tanks to make it to the national stadium where their national flag was ritually burned. Not surprisingly El Salvador won 3-0. Hundreds of people were injured in violence before during and after the match. Honduras complained and a play-off was ordered in Mexico City on June 27, 1969. It ended in a dramatic 3-2 win for El Salvador after extra time.

On the day of that last match, with the football encounter dominating all news coverage, El Salvador ended all diplomatic ties with Honduras, alleging “murder, oppression, rape, plundering and the mass expulsion of Salvadoreans” in Honduras where immigrants from El Salvador made up about a fifth of the population. Two weeks later, war broke out when, after a number of border incidents, El Salvador invaded Honduras.

After 100 hours of fierce fighting a ceasefire was arranged and El Salvador agreed to pull its troops out of Honduras in return for the latter guaranteeing the safety of its Salvadorean population. As many as 6000 soldiers and civilians died, many more were injured and there was huge loss of land and property.

Both sides were suspended from competitive international football and Fifa briefly considered expelling El Salvador from the 1970 World Cup, but as usual they ended up ignoring events on planet Earth.

Football was not the reason for the 1969 war, but it was the excuse.

Fast forward 50 years to Scotland in 2019 and it increasingly seems to me that some of those who live on planet Fitba’ have taken total leave of their senses.

For instance, what kind of absolute moron goes to a match with a smoke bomb? How much of an outright imbecile do you have to be to throw a coin at someone playing or officiating or standing in a technical area?

What gives cretins the idea that holding up clearly offensive banners or hanging effigies is somehow part of the game? What kind of halfwit do you have to be to leave your seat and chase a player on the pitch? What sort of dunderhead throws bottles at players or opposing fans?

On Sunday we’ll have the usual sectarian chants at Parkhead and there will be bigoted misbehaviour around the match/excuse. I’ve got news for both sets of miscreants, the 17th century religious wars no longer need replayed in an increasingly secular country – not even the IRA sings about the IRA any more.

Just tell me what any of the foregoing has to do with fitba’?

Those of us who reside on planet Earth are getting increasingly angry at those denizens of planet Fitba’ who just don’t seem to realise it’s just a game. It’s sport, it isn’t life and death, it isn’t an excuse for hate, you don’t identify yourself as some sort of tribe member when you spout your bile, you just look very stupid and cowardly.

I love my country, and I’ve been part of that Tartan Army, but the latest nonsense about the men’s national team makes me think I’ll stick to rugby – and don’t think I’m giving the SRU a pass, because they get it next week…

So Scotland lost a match in some far-off country? Get used to it, because we’re crap and have been for years. We couldn’t hammer San Marino – jeez, we never do, so just be grateful for the three points. You want Alex McLeish to leave his job? I dare you to tell him to his face.

READ MORE: Alex McLeish urges the Tartan Army to stick with Scotland as fed-up fans turn on his players again

It’s all getting just so feeble-minded. The anonymous trolls and the prattling social mediots have completely lost the plot. Losing at fitba’ is not a national disaster – Brexit is a national disaster.

Thinking the repeal of a bad law means you have an entitlement to be a criminal at football matches is the opposite of clever – it’s the mindset of the mindless. Getting yourself in a dingbat tizzy over any part of fitba’ is just plain daft.

Fitba’ is not even close to being important when we don’t have independence and can’t solve child poverty and we have a national emergency with literally hundreds of Scottish people dying of drug abuse annually. It’s time to get a sense of proportion. Fitba’ isn’t worth a playground spat never mind a war.