Today’s issue features a call from the Rangers Supporters Trust to play the next Rangers match at Celtic Park behind closed doors because of missile throwing incidents in the last match. Let’s be clear - throwing anything at a football game, be it coins or potatoes is reprehensible.
However, this is surely the first time that any supporters group have tried to have sanctions taken against opposition, partly for the actions of their own fans.
In the last match at Ibrox, a missile was thrown at Scott Brown. At Celtic Park, a Rangers supporter threw at least one missile at Barry Robson. Previously, Rangers supporters blamed Stillyan Petrov for being hit by a cup of ice thrown from the Ibrox stands after he had the audacity to celebrate a goal.
If Rangers wish to address crowd trouble, they need look no further than themselves. Already having faced UEFA sanctions for their behaviour, they were extremely fortunate to escape further punishment after some of their supporters made Nazi salutes in Israel.
Earlier this season, the behaviour of Rangers fans appalled the people of Barcelona to such an extent that the British Consul declared himself embarrassed. Terrified that their own fans cannot travel outside Scotland where racism and bigotry targeted at the Irish and Catholics is apparently an acceptable part of cultural life, Rangers have, for the second time been forced to buy up their entire away allocation for the forthcoming UEFA Cup match with Fiorentina.
Despite doing so in the last round, the club, having had the names and addresses of every Rangers fan in the ground, were unable or unwilling to address a racist banner insulting Shunsuke Nakamura and the Japanese. This being a UEFA match, the club could yet be punished for this offence, should any complaint be made – and given the importance of Japan as a market for soccer racist abuse of the country’s best-loved player would be taken extremely seriously.
More recently, Rangers allowed fans to produce a banner at Ibrox insulting the religion of Artur Boruc, again a clear breach of UEFA and SFA guidelines.
And only two days ago, thousands of Rangers fans could be heard indulging in racist taunts against the Irish, singing “the famine’s over, why don’t you go home”. This incidentally was on the same evening that Rangers fans had booed a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, dedicated to the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster.
As “repeat offenders” any of the former issues in isolation could see Rangers face severe punishment – the pattern of crowd behaviour problems presents a powerful case for the most severe action.
Yet we are invited, by the Daily Record, to believe that Celtic has the greater problem, allowing the content of its pages to be dictated by the Rangers Supporters Trust. It would appear that the talks between Celtic and the Daily Record management over the paper’s slur against Jock Stein were less constructive than first hoped.
The Daily Record clearly wishes only to antagonise Celtic supporters and pander to the element amongst Rangers supporters who can convey their IQ on their fingers, which may or may not be an astute strategy for achieving mass sales.
However, as the paper clearly misses no opportunity to attack the good name of Celtic while either ignoring or blatantly lying about the conduct of Rangers supporters, there can be no justification for Celtic retaining any links with the title.
As for the Rangers Supporters trust, how’s that for an oxymoron?
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