U.S. National Team midfielder Maurice Edu gets death threats in Scotland
September 14, 2009 – 12:00 pm by Jimmy Shapiro
This post is courtesty of Brendan Dunlop of the Hardcore Footy Show.
American Maurice Edu has been plying his trade in the Scottish Premier League since making the move from Major League Soccer last fall. The former Maryland Terrapin plays in Glasgow, home to one of the fiercest rivalries in all of sports. The rivalry between Rangers FC and Celtic goes far beyond soccer and has a deep history of segregating the city’s Protestants and Catholics. Edu has seen his profile grow rapidly since cracking the starting line up last season and has thus become a target of angry rival supporters.
Edu has a monthly segment called Mo Monthly on “The Hardcore Footy Show” on Hardcore Sports Radio, Sirius channel 98 and made his first in studio appearance this week. He told host Brendan Dunlop about being apart of the intense rivalry and admitted to changing his cell phone number several times because of death threats from fans.
On comparing the Rangers and Celtic rivalry to major rivalries in North America:
“You can’t really compare it to anything we see in North America. The Yankees and the Red Sox have a huge rivalry but this is so different. It gets pretty crazy because the rivalry runs so deep. It goes deeper than football and into religion.”
On his introduction to the rivalry dubbed ‘The Old Firm’:
“My first game with the team was at Celtic Park…I remember just warming up on the sidelines and you could hear the fans heckling you and throwing things. One of them even threw a cell phone at us…I thought ‘This is just kind of crazy’, but it’s where I want to be and I want to experience things like this on a more regular and consistent basis…I’ve definitely taken some abuse. I’ve had death threats and things like that and just been heckled walking around town or driving around…As much as I didn’t want to be heckled and take that abuse from the fans, you have more appreciation for that type of atmosphere. I enjoyed it.”
Listen to Maurice Edu on The Hardcore Footy Show on Hardcore Sports Radio
