The Old Firm

I'm just listening to Question Time and Scottish football violence comes up. I know there was violence at the last game but it was probably nothing like it was in the seventies. In fact, I tend to go and watch Old Firm games for the violence, but only on the television in Bethnal Green. My good old friend from Soho drinking days Gordon McLean described an old firm game as one of the most frightening things he ever attended back in '73, with a certain nostalgia.

Certainly I'm sure there's more than meets the eye than one berk squaring off against another.

This puts me in a quandary, being a passive type, but what I do notice in all types of football commentary, is the obsession with the decisions of the officials. It now appears to dominate the whole conversation. This is not how it used to be. So, can my little marxist theory of value come in to play once more?? We try to make violence disappear with rules, as if there are not enough rules on the football pitch. More money: more rules: less activity: more lawyers.