Steven Gerrard admits he’s never been so proud of Scottish football after two great rivals united and stood up to racism.
The Ibrox boss was blown away as Celtic joined Rangers in refusing to take a knee in response to the sickening abuse aimed at Glen Kamara by Slavia Prague thug Ondrej Kudela in last week’s bad-tempered Europa League clash.
Hoops skipper Scott Brown also shared an embrace with the Rangers midfielder before the sides fought out a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park.
Elsewhere other Premiership sides such as Dundee United and Motherwell also made a stance and Gerrard hailed the nation’s response.
He said: “Glen has had some fantastic support and we as a club have had fantastic support.
“The reaction from Scottish football has been brilliant.
“I saw other clubs getting involved in the last few days and making it clear they’re not accepting it and are striving to improve things.
“It’s made me really proud to be part of Scottish football, even more so than I’d been.
“I have always been proud to be part of the game up here, representing Rangers and doing this job.
“But the past few days has made me feel really, really proud given the reaction from around the country. It’s been fantastic.
“It feels different so credit to everyone who has played a part in that.”
Gerrard felt both squads opting not to take the knee was a powerful message the game won’t put up with racism any longer.
He said: “I thought it was class and I thought it was class from both clubs.
“Credit to all the people representing Celtic today.
“We knew what we were going to do.
“I spoke to Connor Goldson and James Tavernier on Saturday and they told me what they wanted the team to do and I backed them 100 per cent.
“We do as a club from top to bottom.
“But it was class from everyone and it was great to see everyone on board.
“We need to change things and I believe we will eventually. We just need to keep pushing.”
Celtic captain Brown was determined to show Karama there are matters that go beyond Old Firm rivalry.
He said: “It’s disgusting what happened, to be perfectly honest.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Rangers player or Celtic player, whoever it is. It should never be part of the game.
“It just shows that we’re with him, we stand with him on racism. It’s just that little bit of respect as well, knowing it’s a fellow professional.”
Parkhead interim boss John Kennedy revealed he held discussions with Rangers staff about uniting before kick-off.
He said: “It’s important.
“This is not about rivalries, derbies, opposition teams or anything else. This about unity, about coming together and trying to make a difference. It has gone on too long.
“It seems to be happening more and more even though there is more education and news about it. It is spoken about more and more.
“I don’t know if it is because of that, but there seems to be more of it happening. It is not acceptable, absolutely not acceptable.
“What happens is you give someone, whoever it might be, a punishment for it, a severe punishment at that, it will quickly eradicate it.”
Gerrard hailed Kamara’s focus as he got back to business at Parkhead just days after being involved in the shocking incident against Slavia.
He said: “Glen’s fine and I knew he’d be fine.
“I know the kid, I know his character, having built a really strong relationship with him. He’s so low maintenance.
“He doesn’t want attention, he just wants to go about his business. He didn’t deserve what happened. He didn’t deserve it and it was bang out of order.
“He was deeply, deeply upset but his reaction has been fantastic because he wants to move on and he wants to play football.
“But one thing is for sure, Glen Kamara is loved at this football club and Kemar Roofe is loved at this football club and we’ll do everything we can to stand side by side with them as we do with all our players.”
