Union Bears in crisis! The Rangers fans split over violent sectarian idiocy ahead of Celtic match

Several fans of The Rangers have hit back at the 'open goal' flyer while others blame (this) 'Taig website' 

Scanning social media to cobble together online posts as some sort of news story is both the epitome of lazy journalism and typical of the modern media.

However, a Google search led me to stumble onto the FollowFollow (FF) discussion of the Union Bears flyer inciting sectarian violence.

(Confession: Yes, I occasionally used to log in to laugh at the delusional expectations or disproportionate reaction to disappointments. It was a guilty pleasure that I weaned myself off.)

For those who don't know FF, it was once the staunchest of all opinion-formers for Rangers fans and the Scottish mainstream media.

Now that “former” is more accurately applied to the club that once played out of Ibrox  – and other forms of social media reign supreme – the old site run by Mark Dingwall (a sort of Jim Traynor with reduced charm) has seen its influence wane.

However, FF would still be considered a hotbed of the most extreme reactionary Ibrox-related opinion to be found on social media.

So responses to the Union Bears flyer on its forum have been interesting.

Yes, many are echoing their post on Friday claiming victimisation with a defiant “No surrender”.

Some are even blaming this “Taig website” for publishing the story on Wednesday.

But numerous others have declared the flyer a massive own goal that will finally end cooperation between The Rangers FC and the fans' would-be Ultras (or perhaps more appropriately, “Ultras”).

With apologies to the FF posters here, who will almost certainly be declared “Timposters” due to being quoted here, the range of replies is revealing.

SuperA: “While  I love what the UB do I did think the leaflet was going to draw unwanted attention.”

BroomloanWATP: “Call me a handwringer all you want but the second I saw the word "fenian" on that flyer I knew this would happen. “

Wilkinsvolley: “That’ll be us boxing clever again.”

The Crimson King: “We could spend 10 pages agreeing with each other over the real meaning of the word, and the waste of police resources, but come on, the UBs have to be a bit smarter than sticking 'March against the fenians' on a bloody poster in modern Scotland.”

Papa Smurf: “Regardless of the lack of a level playing field, it's a bloody rediculous [sic] flier. What on earth did the creator expect.

Does not show anyone in a good light.”

arnietac1: “Unless someone can explain the mindset behind this then all I see as an Auld timer is a cluster %^*& of an own goal here.”

Herbie53: “UB should have anticipated this being the response, bit naive of them to use that word so openly, an unnecessary “own goal” it seems like.”

HCMC_Loyal: “As others have stated...a massive own goal. Hopefully it goes off without incident and the only thing the press can report after the game is a magnificent home win.”

Gattuso72: “What do you expect from a group who will spend a large majority of the game singing about religion/Irish terrorists then wondering why nobody else is joining in.

“IMO they make it impossible for the clubs board to support them in anyway.

“You can see why the club are so reluctant to safe standing if it’s the UB who take centre stage.

“I await the accusations of ‘imposter’ etc. but in reality I’m just a bear who thinks these guys could/should be doing much more to promote our club in a better light.

“You’ve got the platform. Let’s try not to be like our ugly neighbours.”

Buffallo72: “Another example of our obsession with them. If the GB had made a flyer showing a bear being kicked with the H word their would be uproar. Yet another example of so called fans damaging the clubs [reputation]. I’m sure there will be plenty of bears with young kids who will avoid this like the plague. I await the many videos uploaded to social media showing loads of wee guys dressed in black singing the ‘Tiffany’ song among others. A march to celebrate our great club now why not do that? Celebrating late great players like D for example? Or is all that just a bit too leftfield because it doesn’t mention them? Saw a video of Porto and Basel fans doing this and it looked great. Pity we couldn’t lose our baggage for once on this.”

Tommyhlrsc: “So a Taig website [this blog] asks this morning for the Polis to take the boys of the UB's to task?....The puppets that run Police Scotland do exactly that....Tail wagging the dug right enough.

“Wolf Tone was a Fenian, folk in Scotland not allowed to say that now?”

We'll leave the last word from FF to Southpaws:

“F*ck sake! Have the ‘union’ bears been living under a rock for the past twenty years? Of course a banner with the word ‘fenian’ and the depiction of a knuckle dragging Neanderthal kicking a [Celtic] fan on the ground was going to bring huge condemnation.

“I would imagine more than one complaint was made to police Scotland. Just as the club is beginning to get its act together on the pitch an element of its support is dragging its good name once more through the mud with this sectarian sh*t.

“Rangers is a football club and not a religious or political organisation with a support, the majority of which is happy to have moved on from the religious baggage which had previously demonised and damaged the clubs reputation.

“Sadly there is still a sizeable minority bent on pushing their own agenda of [ignorance] and intolerance more akin to their upbringing and lack of a desire to put Rangers FC first and foremost in their actions.

“The whatabootery is just plain facile, since when did we take our behavioural cues from the ‘beast from the east’? Rangers F.C. does not operate nor play to the base standards of that club, nor should its supporters. Rangers songs and Rangers songs only should by sung at our games, barring perhaps GSTQ and rule Britannia.

“Enough is enough, if you want to protest religion, politics, eulogise the death of Bobby sands or any such totally unrelated to football and therefore Rangers FC. Why not try and find the correct platform to so do and spare the rest of us from your outdated and bigoted repertoire.”

The messages above are highly selective. There are numerous others praising the Union Bears, insisting that they will attend the march and using the kid of bigoted, racist language that has become associated with fans of clubs based at Ibrox Park.

As I said in my last post on this blog, this story is not yet finished.

None of the posters on FollowFollow expressed even the slightest sympathy with Celtic and that is absolutely fair. We don't expect compliments from our rivals.

But it is clear to see that the actions of the Union Bears have created a schism in the ranks of The Rangers, which could only be a good thing.

Maybe those calling for decency, 21st-century tolerance and common sense will eventually win the day.

With the support of The Rangers Football Club and the Scottish Football Association, the club might one day be defined, not by its hatred of all things Celtic, Catholic or Irish, but by its football.

We patiently await that day.
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Blogging for the public good – police take action against Union Bears’ violent threat to Celts

Social media can set the agenda and help make people a little safer

Nobody likes people who blow their own trumpets and this blogger rarely does. (In fact, it rarely has a trumpet worth blowing.)

While the newspapers love to claim victories that are often nothing to do with them, it is only the most delusional, self-aggrandising of bloggers (and there are a few) who would dare to do so other than in very rare exceptional cases.

And, no, your humble blogger is not claiming a victory but taking what seems a reasonable opportunity to flag up that social media can lead to positive change and that this blog can claim to have participated in that process this week.

Two days after calling for action against the Union Bears who had announced a march before their team’s match “against the Fenians”, this issue is a major mainstream media news story.

It has been reported in several popular news outlets that a criminal investigation has been opened and the Union Bears are complaining today that they have been "intimidated" by the media and that some members have been visited by police.

The blog is also quoted – with a link – in the Evening Times, something that you are unlikely to find in some of the most popular Celtic blogs which are now running the story (though some such as Indy Celts can be supportive of other Celtic blogs).

This is exactly the response that was hoped for when the original piece was written.

Point-scoring is part-and-parcel of football rivalry – but this was something different.

It was an arrow shot in the air in the hope that, if enough people read it, there might be at least a “quiet word” from Police Scotland in the ear of someone who might otherwise incite or perpetrate violence against some innocent person.

The best that can be hoped for is that, such is the focus on the issue and the protagonists, that there will be no other news story about someone getting hurt for no good reason.

That’s the only victory worth having – not lamenting an attack on a player or fan after the fact.

The Union Bears have, predictably, reacted with defiance, following some truly idiotic interactions on Twitter that resulted in the author of the original flyer being outed by one of his own friends.

And this story still has legs.

But the power of social media to raise awareness and put issues into the public forum, which the mainstream media may then follow, is clear to see.

The police know that any problems will lead to media and political pressure and will be watching the activities of the Union Bears very closely.

The public – especially Celtic fans and players – should be a little safer on Sunday.

The two pieces previously published on the issue in this blog have been amongst the most popular ever on this blog – the initial article is comfortably the most-read and the second is in the top five.

But, before you think this really is just a trumpet-blowing exercise, here’s the kicker.

The effectiveness of social media relies entirely on the users and their willingness to share or promote articles that they think are of some value.

Whatever part the articles on this blog played in doing some good was entirely thanks to the countless people on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms who helped to spread the word.

So, thank you and pat yourselves on the back. Some people are, hopefully, a little safer because of your work, though they will never know it (and it’s worth making a special mention of Celtic NewsNow and the Glasgow Celtic Stream).

This is the Celtic family – trying to do some good.

As usual, with success.
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Falkirk Twidiot outs The Rangers pal as author of Union Bears ‘Bash-a-Fenian’ post

Meet Jamie, the Union Bear trying to stir violence against Celtic fans and players

After yesterday’s post about the Union Bears and their walk before the “match with the Fenians”, which incited violence against Celtic fans and players, you might have expected those smart fellows to keep their cards close to their chest.

But then you’d have reckoned without the smarts of “Falkirk Fan”, Dave, and Jamie “from Fife”.

Responding with a number of “crying laughing” (pishing myself) Emojis, Dave decided that the post, quoting the call for “dark clothing” was so comical that he felt compelled to say to the previously unnamed Jamie:

“JamiepRFC wit have you done”

Jamie replies further down the thread:

“Everybody has to dress like the rainbow now, the meltdown because the dark clothing is unbelievable we’ve worn dark clothing for 5 years in our section”

The punctuation is Davie and Jamie’s.

(Note, the post only referenced the call to wear dark clothing to highlight the idiocy of the flier.)

Left, Jamie who created the flier inciting violence and, Right, Dave,
who exposed him. (No payment has been received from Stone Island)

You can follow the threads for yourselves, presuming that neither Dave, nor Jamie have “protected” their accounts.

New Blog Post
Why The Rangers and Police Scotland must take action against the Union Bears https://t.co/QnlXhNuayP

— One Star Means More (@theceltsarehere) March 7, 2018

Both have been asked directly if Jamie was, as seems clear from the dialogue, the creator of the flier calling for the march, with images of someone in a Celtic shirt being kicked in the head.

Dave claims to be a Falkirk (not Rangers or, presumably, The Rangers) fan, who likes Ajax and then claims to support Celtic, Bohemians, and St Pauli while having the Union Jack and flag of Israel on his profile page.

He later claims that Jamie is a good “Fife c*unt”, though it has been impossible to verify more than a third of that statement, thus far.

However, let the last word about Jamie go to Dave.

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Why The Rangers and Police Scotland must take action against the Union Bears

Incitement to attack Celtic players and fans shows they are dangerously out of control

At the best of times they're unpleasant – a “permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace,” as one journalist famously said of the club they commemorate.

They set out to offend and sometimes achieve the notoriety they are seeking with the crudest displays of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry.

The Union Bears are a  group of people who you wouldn't leave alone with sharp objects, never mind an egg and a microwave,

But, when those who are motivated by little other than being noticed and don't get the attention they crave, they can quickly move towards becoming dangerous.

And that appears to be the case with their fans' march before Celtic visit Ibrox on Sunday (or the “match against the Fenians”, as they put it).

Forget the obvious copycatting of the Green Brigade with their Corteos – no one has a monopoly on walking the highways (and many of the Union Bears are will be experienced street-walkers).

But the banner calling on supporters to take to the streets “in dark clothing” carries a clear incitement to violence against Celtic supporters and/or players.

The “Goodnight, Green White” has a silhouette image of someone wearing a green-and-white hooped jersey being kicked in the head, which could only reasonably be interpreted as encouraging physical assaults.

This should particularly concern the Scottish Football Association, given the number of  incursions by fans of The Rangers in recent years, especially in light of the rioting at Hampden after the 2016 Scottish Cup Final.

There can be no excuses for Rangers continuing to accommodate this group of dangerously out-of-control thugs and Police Scotland must take all necessary measures to prevent threats to public safety.

The time to act on that is now, when the incitement is so explicit as it is with the Union Bears' poster.

Waiting until after the called-for assaults have taken place is not an option.

Ironically, as many will be aware, the image they chose to adapt is a famous one with Anti-Fascist Action (AntiFA) groups for years (you can read about its origins here) but it's not the first time that extreme right-wing hate groups have missed the irony of their own messages.

But, while the march has, as with most Union Bears activities, been met with mockery, the potential consequences are serious.

There is no place for this in football and there is no place for this in Scotland.

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Extreme excitement at The Rangers shows they know they can't touch Celtic

You only have to watch the reactions of fans of The Rangers as their black ball comes out of the bag, signalling a Scottish cup semi-final against Celtic to realise, that our domestic football world is unipolar.

Supporters of Tranmere Rovers might exude similar excitement, if drawn against Liverpool but a better comparison would be with Accrington Stanley.

You see, the people are guaranteed their big day out. They know they can “get the battle fever on” (© Jock Wallace) and eye-poppingly spew bile about which legend-in-the-making is going to nail whichever Celtic player is commanding their immediate irrational hostility.

In truth, the post-liquidation Ibrox club of Warburton, Caixinha and Murty hasn’t quite lived up to its ancestors in demonstrating the art of kicking seven shades of biological waste material out of their opponents.

Sure, they signed Bruno Alves and, yes, he looks like a bad-ass mudda but generally, they haven’t been quite as cynical on the field as Rangers were famed for until 2012.

But the frothing fans have, if anything, got worse. It’s something akin to the British Empire mentality.

When Britain was successfully running roughshod over countries across the world, you would hardly imagine that its supporters felt they had much to prove. They were on top of the world and retained an arrogant presumption that it would always be that way.

Now that the empire is consigned to history, however, those who never accepted that fact are more aggressive than ever in pretending that things are as they were. Talking up their chances of having a square go with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, etc.

But the reality is that Britain will never seriously compete for supremacy of any kind again and that any realignment of Scottish football is unlikely to feature a duopoly of Glasgow clubs.

And that’s why fans – and players – of The Rangers were cheering being drawn against Celtic in the cup. They’ve got a little confidence after a string of modest results and they think that they are back in the big time.

And that means Celtic.

Fans of very few Scottish Premiership clubs would be celebrating at drawing any team. The “big draw” is the stuff to excite small clubs who will relish the chance to be the talk of the country for a day. And, maybe – just maybe – they’ll give the big bhoys a bloody nose.

It’s comparable to the excitement Celtic fans used to feel when drawing Barcelona – but being skelped by Barcelona quickly grew tiresome and, while every dog inevitably has its day, The time when The Rangers emerge as a major power in Scottish football is not yet upon us.

While the papers will stoke the anticipation of the tie, the reality is that in footballing terms it’s probably the kindest that Celtic could have hoped for.

Aberdeen and Kilmarnock would have been more dangerous and the fewer times we play Motherwell with their tactical violence the better.

Kilmarnock and Hearts have already beaten Celtic this season so, logically, there is a possibility of The Rangers emulating them if we don’t play to top form.

But that’s the point – if the Celtic players perform close to their best, we will win.

And the dogs, who feel they have been thrown a bone, will have to wait for another day.

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