User:The C of E/RNCP

Between the 1920s and 1989, Scottish association football club Rangers F.C. had an unwritten rule whereby the club would not sign any player who was a Roman Catholic. This was because Rangers were viewed as a "Protestant club" and as a deliberate contrast to their Old Firm rivals, Celtic who were viewed as a Catholic club. The policy was ended in 1989 by Rangers manager Graeme Souness when he signed Mo Johnston.

History

Prior to the First World War, Rangers did not have any policy regarding religion dictating if they could be signed or not. Prior to the war, Rangers did have a number of Catholic players. In the 1920s, Rangers quietly introduced an unwritten rule that the club would not sign any player or staff member known to be a Catholic. The policy was kept a secret within Rangers until 1967 when vice-chairman Matt Taylor was asked about perceived anti-Catholicism with the "No Catholic" signing policy at Rangers, he stated "[it is] part of our tradition….we were formed in 1873 as a Protestant boys club. To change now would lose us considerable support". The policy was mirrored by Northern Irish club Linfield, who shares a similar fan culture to Rangers, up until the 1980s though it was not as strict as Rangers'.

Celtic on the other hand never had a similar policy banning Protestant players. However until 1992, all of their directors were Catholics. Celtic manager Jock Stein (himself a Protestant) once stated that if he was offered a Catholic player and a Protestant player, he would sign the Protestant. When asked why he said: "Because I know Rangers would never sign the Catholic".

Abolition

The policy was parodied in the BBC comedy Scotch and Wry where the Rangers chairman unknowingly signed a Catholic and tried to void the contract to avoid breaking the policy. In 1986, Englishman Graeme Souness became manager and declared his intent to build a team based on merit rather than relying on personal restrictions. A year later he signed Rangers' first black player Mark Walters to test the reaction. In 1989, Souness signed Mo Johnston, a former Celtic player and openly Catholic. This was Rangers' first signing of an openly Catholic player since the unwritten policy was introduced, though there had been claims in the media that it was done to counter a FIFA inquiry into Old Firm sectarianism. At a press conference following his signing, the English Rangers players attended however the Scottish players boycotted it. The chairman of the Rangers Supporters Association stated "It's a sad day for Rangers, there will be a lot of people handing back their season tickets. I don't want to see a Roman Catholic at Ibrox. Rangers have always stood for one thing and the majority of the support have been brought up with the idea of a true blue Rangers team." As he predicted, Rangers fans responded by burning their season tickets and Celtic supporters claimed he had betrayed Catholicism calling him "Judas". The Rangers kitman refused to lay out Johnston's kit before each match as a protest against a Catholic playing for Rangers.

Despite signing Johnston, several tenets of the original policy still officially remained in place as Rangers did not attempt to sign any further Catholic players for the next few years and because the media had branded Johnston as a "card-carrying Catholic". In 1998, 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. In 1999, Lorenzo Amoruso became the first Catholic captain of Rangers. However in 2002 defender Fernando Ricksen, who had been receiving sectarian phone calls from Celtic supporters, stated ""If you’re Catholic and you play for Rangers, then you are a Protestant. If you play for the Protestant people, you don’t play for the Catholic people."