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Between the 1930s and 1970s, the Scottish football club Rangers had an unwritten rule whereby the club would not knowingly sign any player who was a Roman Catholic. [1] [2] This was because Rangers were viewed as a Protestant, Unionist club, in contrast to their Old Firm rivals, Celtic, who were viewed as an Irish Catholic club, although Celtic never adopted a similar signing policy.
The foundation of Celtic, a club with a distinct Irish Catholic identity, was crucial in the subsequent adoption by Rangers of a Protestant, Unionist identity. [17] From around the 1920s onwards Rangers had an unofficial policy of not signing Catholic players or employing Catholics in other roles.
Rangers F.C. is owned and operated by The Rangers Football Club Limited ("TRFCL"), which, in turn, is a subsidiary of the holding company Rangers International Football Club Plc ("RIFC"). The latter company, RIFC, also owns other corporations related to Rangers including Rangers Retail Ltd, Rangers Media Ltd and Garrion Security Services Ltd ...
Rangers' traditional support was largely from the Protestant community, and for decades the club had an unwritten rule whereby they would not knowingly sign a player of the Catholic faith. [21] The policy was decried by Graeme Souness when he became manager, and he brought ex-Celtic forward Mo Johnston to the club in a very public move away ...
Rangers' traditional support is largely drawn from the Protestant Unionist community, whilst Celtic's traditional support is largely drawn from the Catholic Irish community. The first Old Firm match was won by Celtic and there have been over four hundred matches played to date.
The church was called "Catholic" meaning "universal" from very early in the second century, a tacit acknowledgement of the many different cultures it encompassed. Early Christianity suffered great, although intermittent, persecution from the state until Emperor Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, legalizing Christianity.
Teams such as Dundee (though founded before Dundee United on entirely secular grounds), Heart of Midlothian and Lanarkshire teams such as Motherwell and Airdrie are contentiously perceived by some as Protestant clubs. Rangers are seen as having retained a Protestant identity, despite signing a number of Catholic players since the 1980s.
The most popular category of sports mascots are animals, with Eagles (symbolic of America) at the top of the list followed by Tigers, Bulldogs and Panthers (symbolic of aggression). Of religious meanings, only Saints is in the top 100 in popularity with Catholic, Protestant, and public schools represented. [5]