The Slow Match Report: Rangers 0 Athletic Club 0

Glasgow Basques in the evening sunshine as resolute Gers dream on

“Do ye’ think they put that sand out for the Spanish?” asked a man on George Square, pointing to a small dusty area opposite Greggs. His partner sighed and offered simply, “Aye, and they put the sun in the sky, Derek.”

By now the hundreds of red and white striped Basques who had earlier congregated here were ambling towards Ibrox. A few dozen remained, awarding the area that happy soundtrack of gabbling Spaniards more typically encountered when stumbling upon a bar-lined square on holiday. It was early evening but the sun still offered heat and the sky was impeccably blue. Two kids with beetle-black hair kicked a ball around and made a goal from William Gladstone’s plinth. If it weren’t for a snappy breeze hurling around empty Tennent’s cans like bowling skittles and a topless local chasing pigeons, we might have been in, well, Spain.

Soon the George Square stragglers headed to the River Clyde, where the parade had begun. There must have been 2,000 or more of them in this great Basque snake, walking deckchairs moving gradually along the Broomielaw and Anderston Quay, and then slithering over the Squinty Bridge towards Govan. Their anthems were merry and triumphant, with the clippety clop hooves of police horses acting as castanets. Jumpers tied around their waists – who knew Scotland could be warm? – most held aloft beer as they sang. There was even the odd can of Strongbow Dark Fruits, as if they were embracing British away-day culture through its liquids. This hybrid behaviour could also be seen in the frequent fashion pairing of Basque berets and tartan kilts.

The red and white invasion snakes from George Square to Ibrox