Rangers F.C. signing policy

This workforce was overwhelmingly Protestant and Unionist, and many of them chose to give their support to Rangers, who had an existing, albeit solely competitive, rivalry with Celtic.

[5] The influx of largely loyalist workers to Glasgow also helped precipitate an upswing in popularity of the Orange Order in the city and surrounding areas.

[10] Two years later vice-chairman Matt Taylor was asked about perceived anti-Catholicism with the ban on Catholics at Rangers; he stated "[it is] part of our tradition ... we were formed in 1873 as a Protestant boys club.

South African Don Kitchenbrand kept his Catholicism secret[4][13][14] and Laurie Blyth left the club after his Catholic faith was discovered.

The same examples of low animal life who force their support on Glasgow Rangers are one and the same with the foul-mouthed drunks who cause us great embarrassment every July when they turn up to 'support' our annual rallies".

[23] Graeme Souness became Rangers manager in May 1986 and declared his intent to build a team based only on merit, saying that signing players who observed another religion or had a different skin colour[a] "felt completely normal".

[4][24][26][27] Johnston had recently agreed to return to Celtic from Nantes, but the deal had not been completed, and signing such a prominent ex-Celtic player was an especially big coup for their rivals.

[29] Johnston's agent Bill McMurdo felt that Rangers would need a "very special person" to cope with the pressure of being the first player to break the policy.

[33] This prompted a group of loyalists to gather outside the newspaper office demanding the story be retracted, while their telephone switchboard was jammed with angry callers.

[28] Celtic supporters felt Johnston had betrayed them, calling him "Judas",[35][36] while Souness was given little or no credit for ending this source of anti-Catholic discrimination.

In that same year, Rangers lifted a ban on players making the sign of the cross at the behest of Gabriel Amato but warned them not to do it in front of supporters.

[46] When the player says he had to leave a match early to attend mass, the manager tries to find excuses for voiding the contract to avoid breaking the policy.