Born under a Union Flag - Rangers, Britain & Scottish Independence.
Edited by Alan Bissett and Alasdair McKillop.
Luath Press, 2014.
Paperback £8.51. Kindle £4.31. 150 pages.
A quick look at the titles advertised in the back of this book will confirm that Luath Press have made a real effort to cover all the bases when it comes to this September’s big decision, and they are to be commended for this slim volume. It is to be hoped that the common fatigue surrounding the referendum can be overcome by the target audience, and there is certainly enough here to infuriate, reward and provide material to entertain and to illuminate. It is not a guide to the issues or positions of both sides in the September squabble, but does its best to present an assortment of views and viewpoints and to delve into the wider issues associated with the Club and its support as relates to Britain, Britishness and Scottish independence.
Many football fans will have read and enjoyed the previous effort from the publisher and some of those involved return here for the sequel. It’s a pity, then, that amid some very fine writing and some thought-provoking chapters this occasionally has a little of the difficult second album about it.
Those thumbing through looking to tick off the extreme opinions and sate their prejudicial appetites might be a little confused: there is nothing in this book that is any further to the right than the policies and rhetoric employed by the majority of mainstream Britain-wide Unionist parties and commentators. That said, and this is an interesting and clearly deliberate choice, there are many voices within that one would clearly identify as feminist, republican and socialist, and at least one other whose opinions might seem a little more to the left than anything you will read or hear regularly in the mainstream.
It would be harsh to suggest there is an attempt here at box-ticking but it is certainly the case that some members of the support will pick up this book and find little within to confuse them into thinking they are studying in the mirror. But that is certainly no bad thing – for too long, and for too many, the diversity and sheer breadth of the Rangers family has resembled a very restrictive stereotype.
And yet for all that, and to me at least, the best elements of this book are to be found where the contributors fully engage with the types of Unionism so popular within the Rangers support and the ways in which both the Club and the mass of the people have expressed those attitudes and in turn have and have not changed those views as the mindset and political realities within and without have developed.
A small note of regret before we get to chapter one - the foreword and introductions courtesy of the ubiquitous Professor Adam Tomkins and Richard Wilson are splendid and will likely leave the reader with the thought that more from both would have been welcome.
This collection gets off to a frothy, polemical start with a personal expression and denial of traditional identification by Gail Richardson that is deliberately provocative, both in sequencing and in content, but engaging nonetheless. Although some later chapters may often cause and raise problems with the overall tone - and indeed with the aim of keeping a clear sense of the point of the entire enterprise – the personal touch present in many of the submissions will likely appeal even to those who profoundly disagree with the underpinning social or political viewpoints expressed within the chapters.
Of course, it’s not all “here’s my story and why I’m X and Y.” Chapter two is amongst the most impressive in the whole anthology, as Professor Graham Walker seeks to understand how the common public opinion and national significance of Rangers FC has changed over the past few generations. It is particularly strong on the way some within the support have diluted their unionism by neglecting the positive partnership aspects, and required reading on the ways in which we ought to engage with certain processes lest we become further marginalised.
Harry Reid’s contribution – despite the capacity for some regrettable inferences and a line which when stripped of context will allow some to entirely dismiss the good points he has to offer – allows us a non-Rangers perspective on the issues highlighted by Professor Walker, and he has some very interesting things to say on the unique Scottish identity of the RFC and the special place it holds within this nation. An outsider will often provide food for thought, and Reid’s informed musings on why those within the professional classes of Glasgow are not engaging with their natural club of choice ought not only to be more considered but also something that those in charge, and equally those who wish to effect change, should be making attempts to remedy.
Alasdair McKillop is one of the few writers with the expertise or inclination to present his argument with support from political and historical evidence, and as such his very serious chapter is as impressive as it is frustrating. McKillop’s passionate yet scholarly approach to the problems associated with being a British club in Scotland brings out some of the more honest and weighty elements of the self-analysis at work in the heart of the book. On the importance of a written constitution, and the need to become less extroverted and more proactive and welcoming in our approach, and to how we define and present ourselves to the modern world, this touches on the absolutely essential. The only complaint will be the RSI involved in nodding along with his many elegantly expressed sentiments and frustrations.
It should be noted that the frustration mentioned above is not to be found within his chapter, but is highlighted unfortunately by the strength of the presented material. It is the case that on too many occasions throughout the collection certain contributors are allowed not only to run away with a version of events that is inaccurate but to perpetuate myths and legends about Scotland and Rangers that do not stand up to the historical record. One of the more regrettable aspects of this selection is the consistent unwillingness or inability to engage adequately with much beyond the skeletal or condensed details of the Club’s history, and this is all the more frustrating when those such as McKillop and Walker show the way, and others engaged to contribute can and have in the past written so eloquently on the matter.
But we are now moving very close to the disservice of reviewing a book of one’s own imagining and not the one in front of us, and I wish to dwell no further on what is a minor irritant.
Alex Wood offers revealing details of the trip of the ‘ex-fan’ along the road from Ibrox to Brechin but the notion presented that the ‘Famine Song’ can offer great revelations into fan culture - when in reality it is something that has only appeared as a refrain and the ‘song’ itself has found public exposure only through the YouTube video of the inadequate composer – places a stain on the otherwise impressive thinking.
Regardless of one’s views on the referendum, it should go without saying that there are persuasive arguments in favour of both sides. It is certainly the case that there is a strong emotional claim to make for separation, and it is perfectly feasible to construct an impressive intellectual action in favour of independence. As concerns the former, Colin Armstrong’s contribution would touch even the most-hardened cynical Unionist, even if they will surely find it very difficult indeed to understand how some of the conclusions follow from the personal experiences so vividly captured on the page. On the latter, and more on this in a moment, Alan Bissett’s contribution to the very enjoyable badinage chapter with John Gow presents a rousing articulation of the best attempts from the YES campaign at establishing the thinking persons’ guide to the benefits of going it alone and removing Scotland from the poison tentacles of the 1707 Union.
The to and fro exchange between Messrs. Gow and Bissett is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the book and is perhaps more entertaining than most of the other chapters. The format is as old as the hills but in recent times has been very effectively and enjoyably perfected in the case of Bill Simmons and Malcolm Gladwell’s combative email exchanges on Grantland. Thankfully, for both the reader and the two writers involved, we have not the space here for such lengthy, rambling flirting and as such John’s popular cultural references to his love for Bananarama and Alan’s attempts to use John Milton to frame exchanges in his work elsewhere are (sadly?) absent. What is present is a considerable attempt to be passive-aggressive friendly while attempting to argue about identity, nationality, progressiveness and the realities (and otherwise) of political affiliation and the historical effects, aims and achievements of the UK since that Union of 1707 and beyond. It is well-argued and lively throughout, and deeply troubling in many respects.
A less kind reader may consider this to be the first time in this compilation where a true stereotype is given free rein (Separatist Bingo enthusiasts will be able to call ‘House’ without great difficulty) but in the exchanges about historical Britain – the days of Empire, the contributions thereof, and the place of the UK in recent decades and contemporary life – we are presented with a world-view that some will find distasteful, and the proudest declaration yet of some of the worst sorts of historical revisionism. This chapter raises as many questions as it answers and, despite some reservations, is all the better for it being presented in such a manner.
Of the remaining contributions, Pamela Thornton’s is too short to make much of an impression, while Iain Duff delivers some fascinating insight into the way identity works for those in exile, how professional sport has adapted and manipulated nationality and the naïveté behind some of the assumptions about an independent Scotland and the very nature of the ‘superior’ Scot. John Robertson MP seems to have put his scribble through a think-tank consumer focus machine (while not lacking in character and honesty it is incredibly carefully-constructed lest it should offend), while the words of Will McLeish (who has seen the inside of sports journalism and the political world) will impress many as he dissects and guts the actions of HMRC and offers a persuasive case on how important is the matter of taking responsibility; those at the Club let us down in this respect and McLeish believes that the voters entrusted with the chance to maintain a social union but as an independent nation should learn the lesson.
We finish with a chapter from Allan Wilson which is an especially well-written meditation on the ability of people to choose, and to break free from restrictions placed on them throughout their life, in social, political, economic and sporting spheres, and a heartfelt final word from Eileen Reid, where the twin messages of self-confidence and local pride are backed by the occasional but always impressive words of one of the finest local orators of the past century: her father, the late, great, Jimmy Reid.
This cannot have been an easy book to edit or to attempt to bring toward a shape where it could be enjoyed by the greatest audience while maintaining the integrity of the projected aims. It will cause some to test its durability as the paperback ricochets back off the nearest wall, and others will protest that there are many voices – many competing, indeed traditional, expressions - denied much room within these 150 pages. But it is a welcome addition to the recent explosion of literature on Scotland’s greatest sporting institution and there are some moments of real inspiration – some thoughts and ideas that deserve much greater and broader consideration - within a mostly worthwhile and eloquent compendium.