McGeady expects Tartan Army abuse
From his breakthrough at Celtic as a 17-year-old he was racially abused at virtually every ground in the country as the SFA paid lip service to their various anti-racism campaigns.
While the football authorities patted themselves on the back at media launches and photo opportunities racist football fans were given a free ride to target Glasgow born McGeady for playing for Ireland while the Scotland team was packed with players like Craig Makail-Smith, Nigel Quashie, Graham Alexander, Liam Bridcutt and Russell Martin.
The draw for the Euro 2016 qualifiers has put Scotland and Ireland together with McGeady expecting another night of abuse when the two teams meet on November 14.
“I’m expecting a bit of abuse from the Scotland fans,” the Everton midfielder told the Sunday Mail. “It’s also bound to happen to James ( team-mate McCarthy). I expect the verbal abuse will be worse if the game is played at Ibrox but I won’t let it bother me.
“I hope we can get off to a good start and aim for second place. We don’t really want a play-off as that could be a nightmare. There is a big chance for ourselves, Scotland and Poland to finish second.”
The group is bound to catch the imagination of Celtic fans with two former hoops managers going head to head in Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan with Roy Keane assisting O’Neill.
Ireland qualified for the last European Championships in 2012 while Scotland’s last appearance was in 1996 in England.