MARK the date on your calendar, for the following will likely never be repeated. This time, it isn’t the SFA’s or the SPFL’s fault.

I am referring to the lack of punishments that have been handed down from Scottish football’s governing bodies when it comes to the sectarianism that is still all too prevalent in our game, a subject that has been brought starkly into focus by the two charges laid at the door of Ibrox by UEFA of ‘racist behaviour for sectarian singing’ over the past week.

Perhaps these developments will finally be the catalyst to bring the remaining knuckle-draggers among the Rangers support kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and chasten those ’90-minute bigots’ – who I suspect make up the largest majority of offenders - who think it’s all a bit of harmless banter too.

Lads, just for the record, deciding to stop this sort of singing shouldn’t be about ‘keeping it in-house’ to avoid presenting ammo to some supposed campaign against you, it should be about realising that songs about hating Catholics are to be kept in the dark ages where they belong.

I’ve never been an advocate of strict liability. It feels inherently wrong that an entire support can be tarred by a brush deserving of only some within their number, and worse still, that innocent members of that support can be punished by deign of simply supporting the same football team as those who misbehave. It’s an approach that essentially boils down to the notion of flying with the crows, so getting shot with them.

But what this week has at least prompted is a bit of soul-searching from Rangers supporters – and you would hope, further afield – as to what fans are prepared to accept from the folk who stand beside them at the game.

What it has done too is provoke an immediate and emphatic response from Rangers, not only lambasting those among their number who continue to cling on to these ridiculous sentiments and imploring them to stop singing old standards like the ‘Billy Boys’ or ‘Super Rangers’ immediately, but taking the huge step of refusing tickets for their next away game in the Europa League.

You can argue all you like about whether their motivation is to eradicate bigotry or simply to avoid another sanction from UEFA, but it matters not. The fact is Rangers deserve huge credit for taking such a pro-active stance, and it can only be hoped that it jolts some folk out of the 1690’s.

I wonder if perhaps they would go a step further and lead the way in attempting to eradicate sectarianism from our stadiums in the domestic game too? It is only in the power of the clubs to do so.

Because of the - let’s say unusual - structure of our game, the SFA can do very little when it comes to meting out punishments. As for the SPFL, I have been told repeatedly by senior figures at various clubs that there is no appetite to bring in strict liability here, so what can they do? But with these UEFA sanctions, is there a possibility that the mood music among our clubs as well as the old archaic songbook might change?

I am writing this before Rangers’ second-leg tie against Legia Warsaw, so am unaware of whether the sight of 3000 empty blue seats has been enough of a deterrent. But I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that even if it was, then the full songbook will be restored come kick off time in Sunday’s Old Firm fixture at Ibrox.

If Rangers are really serious about tackling sectarianism, then what an opportunity they now have to carry the fight against it to the other clubs in the SPFL and seize the high ground. If these punishments work on the continental stage, then why not propose their introduction on the domestic scene too? Might they even warn their supporters that if the Billy Boys is heard on Sunday, then they will refuse tickets for their next visit to Celtic Park? I would doubt it, but what a statement that would be.

Again, the problem with such an approach is that innocent fans would suffer in the short-term, but would the longer-term benefits outweigh that injustice? Perhaps there will never be a more opportune time to finally tackle this scourge.

Like a pie, a Bovril and glorious failure, sectarianism has long been accepted as just part of the fabric of Scottish football. It will take radical thinking and bravery to disprove that theory.

Do the clubs have the appetite, and the bottle? It’s over to them.

AND ANOTHER THING...

STAYING with Rangers, and it was good to see Ryan Jack getting called up for the Scotland squad as predicted in this column last week. There is no doubt he deserves it for a fine start to the season.

What he definitely doesn't deserve though is to be booed or receive stick from his own country's supporters when he pulls on the dark blue.

When he made his Scotland debut against Netherlands, the booing could be dismissed as the grievances of Aberdeen supporters within the Pittodrie crowd, with their pain still raw following his decision to leave the Granite City for Glasgow. You might not have agreed that was the forum for them to vent their spleen, but at least you could spot the reasoning. It was a similar situation when former Hearts midfielder made his Scotland bow at Easter Road, with the fact he was also at Rangers at that time hopefully just an unfortunate coincidence.

Should Jack be booed by a significant number of Scotland fans at Hampden next week, all it will fuel is a growing - and I believe unjustified - resentment among Rangers fans towards the national side, and a feeling that Rangers fans and players are not welcome in the Scotland set-up.

Rangers players have played a huge and proud part in the Scotland team in years gone by, and let's hope that carries on in the future.

Hampden should be a place where club baggage is left at the door, and we come together as a country.