A dad-of-two claiming he was sacked for being a Rangers fan told how supporting the Ibrox side was his “religion” as he seeks £80,000 in a discrimination battle.
Eddie McClung described his lifelong devotion to the Light Blues at an employment tribunal hearing in Glasgow on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old alleges he was terminated from a subcontractor role at a Grangemouth energy site due to his allegiance to the club.
Now a judge must decide whether supporting Rangers constitutes a “philosophical belief” meriting similar protection against workplace discrimination to religion or gender.
Representing himself for the landmark case, Eddie told the hearing: “I live my life in accordance with being a Rangers fan.
“I don’t go to church. I go to Rangers. It’s a belief to me.”
But lawyers for his ex-bosses told Judge Lucy Wiseman that “support for a football club is not a belief system”.
Eddie, from Bonnybridge near Falkirk, launched the action against energy construction firm Doosan Babcock, recruitment firm NRL, and his former boss Donald Ross.
He claims he was let go after managers said there was not enough work for him, but he was actually targeted for supporting Rangers.
Eddie said a toilet at the site, where a large number of Celtic and Hibs fans worked, was defaced with graffiti mocking the 1971 Ibrox Disaster where 66 people lost their lives.
If he’s successful in persuading the judge that being a Rangers fan is a “philosophical belief”, the claim will proceed to a full tribunal hearing in what’s believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK.
During the hearing, Eddie described his dad taking him to an Old Firm game when he was eight and the “amazing” experience making him a “Rangers fan for life”.
He said: “Going to games has left me with memories I will never forget.
“If people say their religion is protected, how many times do they go to church? I would argue it’s as important to me as someone who has a religion.”
Eddie told how the loss of his job in May 2019 led to his marriage breaking down while the covid lockdown left him struggling to make ends meet and forced to sell his home.
He said: “Rangers keeps me going. It gets you out of a mundane life where you’re sitting at home and depressed.
“You wake up on a match day and you’re buzzing. Then you get to the game and there’s the energy with the whole stadium bouncing and 50,000 people singing.
“It lifts you to levels you can’t get to in normal life. It’s like being part of something bigger than a football club.
“I’ll go to games until the day I die. It’s a life commitment.”
Eddie said financial struggles left him able to attend only 12 games in the past year and he was devastated to be unable to afford the trip to Seville for Rangers’ appearance in last month’s Europa League final.
He added: “Discrimination happens at work because you are a Rangers fan. Supporters need protection against that happening.”
Lindsey Miller, acting for Doosan Babcock, said Eddie was “clearly a devoted fan” but added: “I struggle to identify a ‘belief’ in his argument.”
Ms Miller said: “Rangers is a thing. You don’t have to ‘believe’ in it. Mr McClung is a very active supporter of Rangers rather having a ‘belief’ in it because it exists.
“There is no requirement to hold a particular belief to support Rangers. It doesn’t require anything expressly to be a Rangers fan.
“It’s my contention that being a Rangers fan is not a philosophical belief.”
Lesley Finlayson, acting for Donald Ross, said: “Support for Rangers is not an actual belief. There must be belief in a philosophy or doctrine. Support for a football club is not a belief system.”
Other examples of philosophical beliefs in the workplace include pacifism, humanism and atheism.
Judge Wiseman told the hearing at the Glasgow Tribunal Centre she would consider the submissions and set out her judgement at a later date.
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