"Origins
Prior to the
First World War, Rangers did not have any policy regarding players' religion, and at that time the club did have a number of Catholic players.
[2] In the 1920s, following the rise in popularity of the
Orange Order in Glasgow where Rangers players and directors attended functions,
[3] Rangers quietly introduced an unwritten rule that the club would not sign any player or employ any staff member who was openly Catholic.
[4][5] An indication that the policy was specifically anti-Catholic rather than Protestant-only was Rangers' signing of Egyptian international
Mohamed Latif in 1934.
[6]
The policy was not acknowledged publicly until 1965 when
Ralph Brand, on leaving the club for
Manchester City, told the
News of the World that Rangers operated a Protestants-only policy.
[7] Two years later vice-chairman Matt Taylor was asked about perceived
anti-Catholicism with the ban on Catholics 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".
[8] Northern Irish club
Linfield, which shares a similar culture to Rangers, had a similar policy, though not as strict as Rangers', until the 1980s, as a contrast to their
Big Two rivals
Glentoran.
[9]
Despite the policy, some Catholic players did play for Rangers during this time.
Don Kitchenbrand kept his Catholicism secret and
Laurie Blyth left the club after his Catholic faith was discovered.
[10] Some former Rangers players also stated that the policy extended to non-Catholic players who married Catholics. In 1980, for example,
Graham Fyfe said that he had to leave Rangers because he had married a Catholic woman.
[11] The former Rangers player and
Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson has written that although Rangers' management knew of his decision to marry a Catholic, he experienced "poisonous hostility" from the club's PR officer Willie Allison.
[12]"