Rangers and Celtic, the two biggest football clubs in Scotland, are both steeped in History. Rangers are famously known as the club that have won the most trophies anywhere in the world, while Celtic were the first club from Great Britain to lift the European Cup back in 1967. As you would expect there is a lot of support for both of these sides, including amongst football writers.

But why do some writers receive huge amounts of abuse for the articles that they are getting paid to write while some journalists who support less well known teams receive little to no flak? This is a question that has discussed a lot recently and a prime example has to football writer for The Times, Graham Spiers.

The main problem for Spiers is that he was brought up a Rangers fan and he is quite open about this. When he writes an article criticising the Ibrox team he will receive many replies – especially on Twitter – from fans saying that he is wrong or ill-informed. When he writes about their bitter rivals he is dismissed as a biased “hun” even though he is talking sense and telling the truth. If you look at it from a neutral point of view it really is quite petty how some fans behave. They don’t look at the bigger picture. Graham Spiers is at the top of his game in the sense that he alone can improve the circulation of a newspaper.

Graeme MacPherson, football writer for the Herald in Glasgow, gave his thoughts on the situation. Graeme is a St Mirren fan. He said that most journalists should be professional and get on with the job at hand as that is what they are paid to do. He told me about ‘Helicopter Sunday’ when Celtic lost the league on the last day of the season thanks to future player Scott McDonald scoring two late goals. “Personally, I believe most of my colleagues can differentiate between their personal preferences and their professional opinion. I know diehard Celtic fans who had to write about Rangers’ success on ‘Helicopter Sunday‘ in 2005 and did so impeccably because it was their job to do. Similarly, Rangers fans wrote copy on that same day in which they were totally professional and detached and most readers would never have known they were fans.”

Graeme also commented on his personal views of Old Firm journalists and what he thinks is best for them. “These writers should, if they want, be able to say that they support either Rangers or Celtic and nothing be made of it. But the truth is, if someone knew that a certain writer had a leaning towards one or the other; any article they write on the Old Firm would therefore be viewed differently in the future. It is easier for them to keep their allegiances private and not be accused of bias or imbalanced reporting.”

Grant Russell, online sports journalist with STV, said: “Allegiances shouldn’t come into it when writing quality copy about football or any other sport. If something is genuinely interesting or insightful, who cares what team they support?”

“There is little to gain for a journalist revealing their allegiance, unless they feel the need to be completely transparent. But if you can write about anything or anyone in a balanced way, then it shouldn’t even matter.” Grant claims that when you are writing an article, everyone will have their own opinion and it is important for this to remain in journalism: “It is important to emphasise that this is just people disagreeing with someone’s opinion. Some take it too far and get personal in their criticism, which is obviously, uncalled for. But every journalist is open to reasonable scrutiny, especially when they offer their opinion. Not everyone is going to necessarily agree with what you’ve got to say. That’s the same whether you are writing about Walter Smith’s signing policy, Andy Murray’s failure to win a Grand Slam or the quality of coaching at youth level. But that’s the point, everyone has their own views.”

Being a supporter of any football team shouldn’t stop you when if you want to become a journalist. “If sports writing, is what you want to do and it is something you are passionate about, then the prospect of someone disagreeing with you or saying you are biased shouldn’t discourage you.”

“If you’ve got a well-researched, well-balanced article, the dissenting voices you hear are only likely to be those who over-analyse articles looking for hints of bias. You also get those who want to challenge your ideas in a reasonable manner, which creates good debate.The thing about sport, and football in particular, is that everyone has an opinion. Their opinion may not be the same as yours. Great. The social media world opens up the opportunity to engage with those who have differing opinions. The positive aspects you can take from that are far more relevant than the odd person calling you whatever.”

From a professional point of view it is easier for journalists to keep their allegiances to themselves. I also spoke to Ross Dunbar, a student journalist who is a Rangers fan and is happy to admit this. “I’m a Rangers fan but I know that if I do write anything on Celtic then I’ll likely come in for abuse about it. It’s why I enjoy writing more about European football and would hopefully be able to do that more in the future as I’m trying to learn a language.”

The way in which journalists are “attacked” in Scotland is an attitude that the media has created. Regardless of who you support, debate and passion can always be stirred up by quality writing. Scottish journalists are always going to be under the eye of the football fans, especially as the internet and social media continues to grow. It will make it easier for their work to be disregarded by fans of any club from the Scottish Premier League right down the grass-roots level.

As long a personal preference stays out of your writing you will always be regarded highly by peers, readers and fans.

This piece was originally featured on Converse Magazine.