Inside the meteoric rise of ex-Rangers ultras chief turned power-hungry mob boss waging gangland war across Scotland

Scottish Sun

22-05-2025

THE former football ultra waging gangland war in Scotland rose from the terraces to the top table of the criminal underworld.
Ross McGill emerged as a force in the stands during the period Steven Gerrard was in charge of the Glasgow giants.
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Ross McGill has transitioned himself from an ultras chief to a menacing mob boss
Credit: The Sun Glasgow
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McGill was previously given a send-off from an unsuspecting Steven Gerrard after stepping down from his ultras role
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Ross McGill, pictured centre, leads hundreds of hardcore Rangers supporters
Credit: The Sun Glasgow
Dramatic footage captures former Union Bears ultra Ross McGill with hundreds of hardcore Gers supporters during matchday marches.
The 31-year-old acts as a ringleader, bellowing instructions through a megaphone as the intimidating mob set off pyros amid thundering drum beats.
McGill looked to be revelling in his leadership role with the Ibrox fanatics as cops kept a close eye on their movements ahead of a powderkeg Old Firm derby in March 2018.
Sources say McGill's ability to rally troops to his call has served him well in his current and far more sinister position at the top table of a fearsome crime mob.
A source said: 'There is no doubt McGill was a natural leader and you can see it when he's at the front of a Union Bears march.
'A lot of the guys in the UB movement are serious people who you wouldn't want to cross.
'So it takes a strong character to lead them and win their trust.
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'McGill had that in spades and he loved being in the limelight.'
The Scottish Sun was first to unmask McGill after the ultras-chief turned power-hungry mob boss launched a revenge campaign of violence against underworld rivals.
Former aspiring businessman McGill rose to prominence in football circles as a key organiser and public-facing figure of the Gers ultras movement.
The UB group started around 2007 when McGill was a Rangers-daft 13-year-old and talented youth athlete growing up in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.
By his late teens he began a journey through the ultras ranks that would see him become a prominent leader of the group known as a 'capo'.
There are many pictures and videos of McGill standing at the front of the Ibrox club's most vocal supporters section with his megaphone in hand.
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Ross McGill became a respected figure in the Union Bears leading chants at fever pitch
Credit: Getty
He quickly became a respected figure in the group and was also seen leading marches to Ibrox stadium with the usual masked hoards, pyros and footie chants at fever pitch.
Brimming with a self-confidence verging on cocky, McGill rarely - if ever - hid his face like many of his fellow supporters.
He was seen in some quarters as the respectable face of the fan movement and was even interviewed in a supporters podcast about his talks with Ibrox chiefs.
McGill told of his efforts to persuade club chiefs to provide a designated standing section for the UBs but he told of his frustration that the club would not play ball.
He aired his views during an interview with host Cammy Bell on Heart and Hand where he even offered to find the cash to pay for their proposal.
By GRAHAM MANN
THE probe into the gang warfare has been called Operation Portaledge, Scotland's top officer said.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell revealed the name of the investigation into the gang war, believed to be linked to McGill, which flared up in March and escalated in April.
She said 35 people have been arrested in Glasgow and Edinburgh, 14 stolen vehicles have been recovered and 3,000 hours of CCTV has been reviewed.
Ms Farrell also praised fire crews from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service following a spate of firebombings.
She said: 'I want to thank our communities in making Scotland a hostile environment for those involved in organised crime.
'We'll continue to work with partners at international, national, regional and local levels.'
The Ibrox protest hit the headlines in February 2019 when Gers were playing Dundee - after club chiefs rejected calls for a move to another section.
Asked by Bell if fans could pay for the construction of an area dedicated to ultras, McGill said: 'I think that could be an option. That's something that we've said to the club in the past, that we could do a crowd-fund idea.
'I'm pretty sure we could get the money, but then again, I don't know if the club would want that to happen.'
Bell quizzed McGill before he was being investigated by cops over alleged links to drug dealing and organised crime.
The hood - previously hailed by Gers supporters for his UB leadership - revealed he had met with club bosses to discuss the doomed plans.
McGill said: 'We met with the club a week or two ago about a safe standing proposal.
"We want to basically do it, kind of the fieldwork at the Broomloan Front.
"The club knocked it back. They didn't really give us any good reasons.
'They just basically said that that's something we can try again in the future.
"Despite someone at the club saying that it could happen next season but as soon as it went to the board, they knocked it back."
McGill was making his mark nonetheless and when he decided to step away from his leadership role he was given a send off in 2021 by then manager Steven Gerrard.
He posed for a photo at the Ibrox tunnel as he and the Liverpool and England legend beamed for the camera.
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James Tavernier was awarded the player of the year from Ross McGill and the Union Bears
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James Tavernier posted online after receiving the award from Ross McGill
Light Blues skipper James Tavernier, 33, shared a picture on Twitter in July 2019 when McGill presented him with a trophy from the ultras.
The ace wrote: "Honoured to have received last year's player of the year award from Ross and the Union Bears last night."
In September 2021, McGill announced he was leaving his role as so-called UB "lead capo" - sparking a wave of tributes from fellow fans.
One wrote on a forum: "Wish him all the best, he's built that group from nothing and led a tremendous singing section for years."
Another added: "He has been absolutely fantastic. Cap doffed sir.
"Replacement has big shoes to fill, but we wish him all the best."
Another Light Blues fan chipped in: "All the best to Ross and thanks for the tireless efforts in bringing colour and of course the noise."
Gerrard, Tavernier and fellow fans would have had no clue that by then McGill was well and truly on the police radar and had a court date looming over allegations he was involved in drug dealing and serious organised crime.
It's claimed he initially fled to Spain in early 2022 before switching to Dubai where he resurfaced as an aspiring mob boss who launched a bitter gang war amid claims he'd be ripped out by rival dealers.
The people he blamed were associates of caged Edinburgh crime kingpin Mark Richardson who is a long-standing ally of Glasgow's notorious Daniel clan.
Word quickly spread through the underworld that McGill - at that time virtually unknown to the public - was the ambitious and furious mobster behind a wave of attacks across Scotland.
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Mark Richardson and his allies have been targeted by Ross McGill
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McGill is behind a wave of attacks targeting gangland hoods across Scotland
Initially he was only referred to by the nickname Miami and the watching world got a glimpse into the luxury lifestyle he was living when a picture emerged of him grinning behind the wheel of a white Rolls Royce.
He is among scores of gangsters who have fled to the UAE where they can rake in millions and live a life Scots back in the schemes where they came from can only dream off.
There is no extradition treaty between Dubai and UK authorities so villains can enjoy the fruits of their ill-gotten gains, living a seemingly untouchable life of luxury.
They spend their days living in fire star hotels under blistering sunshine, driving supercars and yachts, enjoying champagne lifestyles, mixing in nightclubs with beautiful women and social media influencers who show off to their millions of followers.
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Ross McGill, nicknamed Miami, poses in the back of a luxury Rolls Royce
But peel back the veil of glitz and the glamour and there is an uglier world of drug dealing and violence that fuels the gangsters' greed.
It doesn't play out in Dubai where the notoriously strict authorities there don't tolerate trouble but in Scotland where a stream of willing foot soldiers have been doing McGill's dirty work.
It has resulted in months of carnage across Glasgow and Edinburgh and sparked in a wave of police raids and more than 30 arrests, before McGill's true identity was revealed.
Sources say he uses Spanish connections to keep his hands clean of violence he orders in Scotland.
Mobsters in Marbella are said by sources to have played a key role in identifying targets and recruiting foot soldiers to carry out McGill's instructions.
It's claimed the Costa Del Sol hoods linked to the notorious Lyons gang have been heavily involved in plotting against members of bitter enemies from the Daniel crime family.
Leading figures based in the sunshine bolthole include Steven Lyons, 44, and Ross Monaghan, 43, along with other convicted mobsters operating from Spain.
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Mob boss Steven Lyons
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Hood Ross Monaghan is also operating out of Spain
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Steven 'Bonzo' Daniel's family have been ruthlessly targeted by hoods working for McGill
Credit: Spindrift
The Scottish Sun unmasked and named the bearded and charismatic hood who sources say has set his sights on becoming Scotland's number one gangster.
There have been claims of attempted truce talks initiated by heavies sympathetic to Steven 'Bonzo' Daniel whose family have been ruthlessly targeted by mobsters working for McGill.
He has rebuffed any efforts to end the chaos and is said to have the backing of the Daniels' long-standing enemies in the Lyons crime family.
Evidence of McGill's determination to make his mark as a ruthless leader not to be crossed was reinforced on Monday when three thugs following orders stormed a garage in East Kilbride.
The car repair firm in East Kilbride is run by convicted heroin dealer Robert Daniel, 50, who it's claimed was the main target for the trio who were armed with knives and machetes.
Two other victims, aged 45 and 41, were on the receiving end of a bloodbath that resulted in both being rushed to hospital.
There's no doubt McGill's meteoric rise has stunned Scotland and sources from the criminal underworld are warning of more carnage to come.
A source said of McGill: "He is not the typical guy you would expect to be involved in organised crime, never mind at the top of the tree.
"But he has charisma and can come across as a very affable and credible guy.
"There's another side to him though and when you look closely you can see chaos in his eyes."