Why Rangers display was spectacular own goal by ultras

The Herald Scotland

07-05-2025

For all that is unsavoury about the Old Firm rivalry - the sectarianism, the occasional violence – it is, for better or worse, the main USP up here when it comes to selling our game to broadcasters the world over.
Like it or not, there is the same sort of morbid curiosity about what might happen in this game to the wider world as there is to the rubbernecker peering at a car accident on the other side of the motorway.
(Image: Steve Welsh - PA) Here, we know there is much more to Scottish football than this one match-up, but as Neil Doncaster will tell you, it is in the financial interests of all that a 'healthy' Glasgow rivalry is showcased on screens as far and as wide as possible.
And let's not kid ourselves here, the baser aspects of that rivalry are not only tolerated by the clubs and the game's governing bodies when it suits them in that regard, but they are often encouraged and exploited.
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Lest I be accused of being a hypocrite, let me say too that the media landscape I am a small (and as many people tell me on social media, an insignificant) part of are as guilty as anyone of ramping up this rivalry and reaping the benefits.
I covered the last two Old Firm matches, and wrote in my reports from both Celtic Park and Ibrox that the presence of a large away support was hugely welcome, and made the fixture feel more like the Old Firm games of old.
What can be forgotten amid our frequently po-faced judgements of the fans who attend these matches is that it is a rivalry, so disdain for the opposition is not in any way unique to Glasgow, or even a bad thing.
But there is a line. And in the current climate, with the tension between the police and the ultras groups in particular so febrile, and the political classes eagerly watching on ready to pounce upon any misconduct from supporters, it is more important than ever for fans to be wary of it.
It won't take much, you feel, for pressure to be brought to bear on the clubs once more to limit access for away fans to these games, and undo all the glacier like progress that has been made on that front over the past few years.
Which brings us to Sunday. It is always a heart in mouth moment when you see a tifo display being unfurled at these games, and sure enough, as the huge banner slowly revealed itself at the bottom of the Copland Stand, you just knew a storm was coming.
There is an old story that does the rounds about a journalist many years ago warning a senior figure at one of our big clubs that if he gave their ultras group enough rope, they would hang him with it, and this rang true at Ibrox at the weekend.
For all that ultras groups like to shout from the rooftops whenever they feel they aren't being listened to or accommodated unquestioningly by their clubs, the Rangers statement regarding the banner after the game spoke of a breach of trust. They had given the Union Bears the rope, and they hung their club out to dry.
Whatever your opinion on the huge image of Graeme Souness brandishing a shotgun above the slogan 'Take Aim at the Rebel Scum', a crude play on a line from Star Wars, being that it was May 4th, the ultras must have known the reaction and the controversy that would arise from it.
That is their raison d'etre, to push the envelope. But maybe they should pause once in a while and ask themselves, how does this benefit Rangers?
Even if they think it's all just a big laugh, the point remains that it is reputationally damaging to the club, as evidenced by the condemnatory statement that was rushed out by the Rangers hierarchy.
It is hard to believe incidentally that Rangers had no prior knowledge of the contents of the banner. If they didn't, it was incredibly naïve, and if they did, well it was a major misjudgement.
If we take the club at their word though, then the Union Bears have only ensured they won't be allowed such leeway from Rangers in the future, not when their reputation is at stake and a potentially transformative takeover from 49ers Enterprises is almost at completion.
You only have to witness the slightly bizarre spectacle of 40-odd police officers seizing the banner with evidence gloves on after the game, or have been on London Road prior to the last Old Firm game where fans were kettled and denied access to Celtic Park, to see that the authorities are watching these groups and all fans closer than ever.
You might think the reaction to the display has been OTT, with people asking First Minister John Swinney his opinion on it. Or you may think that it was appalling, and that Rangers should be hammered for it.
Either way, in my book there were far more serious incidents that took place which also gave plenty of ammunition to those who would see this game played behind closed doors given half the chance, never mind shutting out away supporters.
There was the shameful mocking of the Ibrox disaster by a fan in the Celtic end, an incident that saddened all the more when the video footage showed a young fan behind him aping his actions. This man has now lost his job and his reputation.
At the other end of the stadium, there was a half bottle of Buckfast thrown at Viljami Sinisalo, not the first time that a glass bottle has made its way into that penalty box towards a Celtic keeper, as well as other missiles.
(Image: Steve Welsh - PA) The individuals involved, Rangers have promised, will be identified and banned for life. Actions, as these fans have already discovered, or are about to shortly, have consequences. And whatever you think of the Rangers banner, the same goes for speech.
The Union Bears are free to write whatever they want on their displays, but they too are not free from the consequences. And unfortunately, the tens of thousands of fans who had nothing to do with it may well be caught up in them too.
Let's just hope that this day of delinquency doesn't set us back several steps as both Celtic and Rangers work to restore the atmosphere at this fixture to somewhere near where it once was.
And Rangers will hope that it doesn't impact their shot at a potentially brighter future.