Rangers : The club which will not die

PART 1 – THE LYNCH MOB

Like a hate filled lynch mob, they descended upon their quarry of Rangers Football Club. Their euphemism of “Sporting Integrity” providing some kind of false moral platform to justify their actions. Euphemisms are terrible things, contrived to disguise the true nature of both mankind's motivations and failings. “Ethnic cleansing” is a perfect example.

The more observant among us saw that their true motivations ranged from bigotry jealousy and several other wrong and distasteful motivators. But if evil is to flourish good men must remain silent, and to their eternal shame they not only obliged, but at times sought to justify and glorify the actions of the hate mob.

The SPL chairmen have duly capitulated. A month ago the proposed SPL vote, due to take place on Wednesday, had a decent chance of saying "yes" to Rangers. Now there is no chance of that. SPL club chairmen up and down the country have been brow-beaten by their own supporters. A voracious, voluble, impassioned type of democracy has won the day.

I witnessed this overflow of feeling in the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock last Thursday night. Michael Johnson, a Kilmarnock chairman who has been the most willing and prominent to hint at saying "yes" to a newco Rangers, received a verbal battering from a throng of fans.

(Graham Spiers, Glasgow Herald, Saturday 30^th June 2012)

The lynch mob were convinced that their day had come, and on the back of threats of boycotts, should the more rational in our society not bow to their will, came the verbal assurance that they would back their clubs to the hilt, promising the coming months would be characterised by sell out Saturdays. Their motivations were not driven by a love for their own club but rather their abject hatred of Rangers evidenced by a poll (Source Daily Record) which showed that 55% would rather see their own club die than see Rangers re-elected to the SPL. Someone should have reminded them to be careful what you wish for.

These champions of “Sporting Integrity” appear to struggle with the concept of integrity and honouring your promises.

The prospects for the current year would “continue to be tough”. Derek Weir felt that the club (and other SPL clubs too) had been let down by the fans who had influenced the vote over the summer with the promise of increasing attendances – it hasn’t happened. The club will be asking for use of the Society’s overdraft facility in March.

(Motherwell Football Club AGM 2013)

But we are talking about a country which, contrary to it's claims of being “the best small country in the world”, displays all the characteristics of being the best small minded country in the world. Justice, fairness and proper legal process were trampled over, not only by the lynch mob, but shamefully, also by those whose duty it is to protect us all from lynch mob mentality. A chain of events were set in motion which saw Rangers football club, who subsequently would be exonerated of the accusations against them, consigned to the lowest tier of Scottish football.

In time, and in the future many will blame the lynch mob. But what of the moral guardians of our society who had a duty to protect us from the rabid irrational thought and conduct of lynch mobs. Whose responsibility it was to remind everyone of the founding cornerstones of our society such as a presumption of innocence until proven guilty ? They were, and they continue to be, to their shame, silent. And in this silence is their indictment. An indictment which cites cowardice, neglect of duty and abdication of responsibility. Remind them of this when they come to your door in the future canvassing for your vote or they urge you to buy their newspapers.

The name Alex Mooney will not be known to many. But it should be, for Alex appears to capable of seeing that which so many others chose to ignore. His article in The Rangers Standard – “The Witch-Hunt which shamed Scotland” - is written by someone outside the Rangers community, with no great love for our club. The observations he has made serve to usurp any future claim by those who have shirked their responsibility that they were ignorant or unaware of what was going on. For us as Rangers supporters it serves as a grounding and reminder that we are not viewing what has been committed against our club through blue tinted spectacles, nor as one suggested, suffering from a “persecution complex”

PART 2 – THEIR SHAME KNOWS NO BOUNDS

Whenever there is injustice, you can bet your bottom dollar their will be lies. The empty stadia, the fabricated official attendances, the bundle ticket offers (buy two get one free), the failure of sell out Saturdays demonstrate not only the lynch mobs lack of sincerity, but perhaps more significantly the lack of care , concern or commitment for their own football clubs. You have to ask what kind of individual it is who can motivate themselves highly to express their hatred of another football club, but appear lacking when asked to show the same level of commitment towards supporting their own. Furthermore glowing reports of the success of the SPL permeated our ears (“The SPL is booming”) until last week Keith Jackson broke ranks and declared the SPL was dead on it's feet. Not so much boom as bust.

It's now the turn of the SPL, to understand what it feels like to be viewed as toxic. Small wonder as they lurch from crisis to crisis that they have failed to attract a sponsor. If they could see themselves, as others outside Scotland see them, perhaps then they would understand.

Worse was to come however, as the club who so many had condemned, so many had accused, were exonerated by a panel of real tax experts. But there was no outpouring of remorse, no condemnation or examination of the failings which saw the innocent tried, convicted and punished Judge Dread style, by a lynch mob, an incompetent (or as one described them “corrupt”) Football Authority, and a cowardly media.

And there are indications it may get a whole lot worse. As the criminal investigation into the Rangers takeover reaches it's conclusion there have been rumours that the club themselves appear to be the victims of a crime. This will have considerable ramifications both legal and otherwise. Particularly in the east end of Glasgow where some believe they have a monopoly on victim status. Perhaps should it be confirmed that Rangers are the victims of a crime, Celtic will feel moved to write to the Lord Advocate seeking “clarification”.

But perhaps the lack of shame or contrition is best summed up by BBC Scotland and one of their reporters, Jim Spence. “Obsessive” has been a word coined in respect of the Rangers haters, but let me suggest a further addition to the dictionary – Delusional. As my fellow blogger Chris Graham recently reported Jim appeared on the BBC Sportsound Show on the anniversary of our clubs slide into administration where he declared (faster than than you could say BBC Charter) “ Rangers are a new club although Rangers fans will argue the toss on that” . No actually Jim the SFA, UEFA and the very learned Lord Nimmo would argue the toss with you about that, but don't let facts, logic or legal authority stand in the way of your delusion. Which just goes to show – Its not the size of the brain which is important – but how you use it.

(As a side note I found myself driving through Birkhill, a small village on the outskirts of Dundee recently. My attention was drawn to a poseur extraordinaire jogger performing a warm up right at the side of the road, complete in questionable and not very flattering running tights. It was none other than the delusional Jim Spence. I had to pop into the local village pub – the Birkhill Inn – for a shandy after such a shock. But I could not possibly comment on suggestions that Jim's running tights are the subject of considerable mirth in the village and have earned him the nickname “Tiny”)

PART 3 - LOVE CONQUERS ALL

Sammy rises from the sofa, an improvised bed he has been accustomed to on the eve of match nights. No point in waking up the whole family. A check of the clock reveals its 4.30 am. Two cups of coffee later and with the brain kick started he leaves the house, shutting the front door quietly, for the drive to Larne; where, after meeting up with fellow Bears, he boards the ferry for the 2/3 hour journey to Cairnryan. Then the drive up to Glasgow, perhaps time for a very swift refreshment, and Sammy then heads for his beloved Ibrox. 2 hours later Sammy starts the intrepid journey once more, and if lucky, arrives home round about midnight. Home, tired but deeply satisfied. He has seen the Rangers.

On another weekend, on another continent, a Japanese reporter boards a jet to fly 6000 miles to report on a phenomenon. His destination is Elgin in Scotland. Guys like Sammy are the source of that phenomenon. For Sammy and thousands of others like him are part of a support who will not let their club die. The Japanese reporter never got to see the match of course, it being cancelled as the demand of the blue legions for tickets led to an excess of tickets being printed and sold. Of course for a Japanese reporter spared the mindset of Scottish media, this was a sensational climax to his journey. The ultimate scoop.

The Rangers support are defiant, but it's not defiance which motivates us. It's love and loyalty for a football club. Some, even in our native Scotland appear to be incapable of grasping that fact, or perhaps they just don't want to. You have to wonder if a Japanese reporter can grasp that fact why can't others closer to home ?

The lynch mob operated on a manifesto of hatred, lies and accusation in order to shame Rangers. The Rangers support continues to shame Scottish football by operating on a manifesto of love, loyalty and truth. “We will follow in the footsteps of our team” And we did and will continue to do so. The broken records are no longer the oft repeated euphemism of “Sporting Integrity but are in respect of attendances for a club in SFL 3. That club is Rangers, our club, and the support which is earning world wide recognition and respect is us.

But something else has happened. The Rangers support has become awakened to the hatred vented and generated against our club. Some of us bloggers have been alerting our support to this for years, often without success, but that time has well and truly passed. And long may it be so. Perhaps the spirit and soul of this club, “Ready” was not quite as it should have been when this crisis hit us, and when some seized the opportunity to vilify us, we were not quite as prepared as we should have been. That will not happen again. Their hatred has been exposed, the depths they are prepared to sink to have been revealed. The Rangers support is mobilising, awakening, both spirit and soul have been renewed.

It will be 12 months which will be remembered as the year hatred was allowed to triumph over reason, when the unjustifiable was excused, and a country called Scotland shamed itself.

But it will also be remembered for the phenomenon which is the Rangers support. Rangers are coming, and this time we are “Ready”