Andrew Watson was the first black football player to represent Scotland. Watson never turned professional, however, so Arthur Wharton is sometimes reported as being the first black British footballer.
The book Race, Sport and British Society says there was racist abuse of Celtic player Paul Wilson by Rangers fans in the 1970s: "Rangers fans repeatedly bayed 'Wilson's a Paki' when Celtic played Rangers". There have been reports that some Rangers fans used to sing "I'd rather be a darkie than a Tim".The book Sport and National Identity In the Post-War World says "black players in Scotland were greeted with bananas thrown from the crowd and a barrage of 'monkey grunts', notably Mark Walters of Rangers and Paul Elliott of Celtic."On 2 January 1988, Rangers winger Mark Walters made his debut in the Old Firm derby match at Celtic Park. Rangers lost 2â0 and Walters was subjected to racist abuse from opposing Celtic fans who were caught on camera chanting like monkeys, throwing fruit, (mostly bananas) onto the pitch and dressing in monkey costumes.It was reported that Rangers fans used "implicit racism" on the same day by singing "I'd rather be a darkie than a Tim (Celtic Fan)".Although Celtic slammed the perpetrators, the Scottish Football Association remained silent. According to Walters, he experienced even worse racial abuse in Edinburgh against Hearts.Following racist abuse aimed at Walters, Rangers banned some of their own season ticket holders. Andrew Smith from The Scotsman newspaper stated: "It is depressing to think that enforcement as much as enlightenment might account for Walters being the only black footballer in this country to have had bananas thrown at them."
Rangers captain Lorenzo Amoruso issued a public apology after a match in December 1999 for making racist comments against Borussia Dortmund's Nigerian striker Victor Ikpeba.In March 2003, Rangers fans were accused of racially abusing Bobo Balde and Momo Sylla. Rangers chairman John McClelland stated that ""There was such a crescendo during Saturday's match although I thought I heard noises of this kind I can't be 100% sure."In May 2004, Marvin Andrews condemned racism from some Rangers fans.