I have heard many stories recently of away fans being ejected from grounds for spurious reasons such as standing up or waving a non-offensive flag. Indeed home fans are frequently threatened with expulsion from Tannadice for standing, yet when Old Firm fans come to visit, they are frequently seen standing in large numbers and nothing is done. Equally, on visits to Old Firm grounds, fans are generally treated very harshly. I know of one guy who bought a (very) expensive seat at Parkhead, only to be told when he got there that he had to sit in a different section, a section of cheaper seats that had restricted viewing. If he refused he was not to be allowed access to the ground at all, and was told this very forcefully. Another fan I know was thrown out of Parkhead for, wait for it, waving a Scotland Flag !!! He was ejected from the stadium for waving his own country's flag, in his own country. The reason? It might have inflamed the home support. (For those of you who don't know, Celtic have traditional links with Ireland). Is it then permissible to suggest that the home support are maybe a little trigger-happy when it comes to being inflamed? Can a man be ejected for waving a Scotland flag in Scotland? Is there any other ticket/seat arrangement e.g. cinema where if you bought a ticket for a certain section, and that section was somehow inadmissible, that you would be forced to sit in the cheaper seats, be treated very rudely, and be expected to like it? And if you didn't like it, well, you can go home.
Another point often made is that Old Firm fans visiting Tannadice are not ejected for standing whilst the home fans frequently are. Or at least are constantly badgered to remain seated. One reason for this could of course be money. The Old Firm traditionally bring a large following and therefore lots of revenue to smaller clubs. Could it be that these OF travellers are treated with kid gloves then? Quite possibly. The revenue aspect must surely be taken into consideration for smaller clubs. This seems an ironic point as Old Firm fans are notoriously badly behaved. A Dee Fan I know of was spat on whilst walking down the street at a recent Dundee-Celtic game, and I myself could recount numerous tales of Old Firm fans' ungentlemanly behaviour. It may sound like I'm citing one or two examples to back up a sweeping generalisation, but this simply isn't the case. Certainly all clubs have their trouble-makers, and violence has reared its ugly head at every SPL Ground at one time or another, but it seems that at every game involving the Old Firm you are likely to run into an angry drunken mob who may (for example) spit on you as a passer-by, if they can find the time between urinating in the street that is. The dichotomy here is that the worst behaved fans are being treated like the best-behaved fans, whilst the decent fans are often treated like convicts.
Of course there are thousands of Old Firm fans who simply go to the game and never cause any trouble, but it does seem, and evidence would suggest, that there seems to be an unusual amount of very bad-behavers amongst their fans, and whilst the unruly fan may be the minority there, it's still a problem, made worse by them being treated like angels.