An estimated 80,000 Rangers supporters will descend on Seville for Wednesday evening's Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt despite only 10,000 tickets being made available to the club by UEFA. And that has led to warnings from former star player Graeme Souness amid fears from security officials there could be widespread disorder occurring in the south of Spain.
Frankfurt supporters will also travel in huge numbers and they have caused problems in their past three rounds in the competition - including attacking West Ham fans during the round of 16 when both sides were playing 24 hours apart in Seville; thousands ending up in home seats for the win against Barcelona at Camp Nou; and further attacks on West Ham fans who were drinking in an Irish bar before the semi-final.
Local authorities in Seville last week announced that they would segregate both fanbases but that did not go down well with some Rangers fans because the German fans have been given a square near the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium while those travelling from Scotland without tickets are being asked to watch on a big screen at Estadio La Cartuja, which is a 75 minute walk away.
Souness has pleaded with travelling fans to “behave yourselves” to the extent that he used the phrase four times in a 19-second clip posted on the club’s official Twitter account. The 69-year-old said that any misbehaving would lead to “trashy headlines” that would damage the club for a “long, long time.”
“Hi guys, this is a message for everyone going to Seville,” Souness said. “Go there, have a super time, support your team. Our team has done incredibly well in getting there, when you think the journey we've been on for the last 10 years to be now playing in a serious European cup final, it's a fantastic achievement. They've done their bit, now it's your turn.
“You have to turn up there, behave yourselves - have a party - but make sure you behave yourselves because you're going there as an ambassador for our football club, our great football club, the great Glasgow Rangers.
“You must go there and behave, otherwise we'll get all the trashy headlines, which would damage us for a long, long time. Please go there and behave yourselves, have a super time.”
Rangers’ fears also stem from the ugly scenes caused in Manchester on the day of their previous European final, the 2008 UEFA Cup defeat to Zenit St Petersburg.
An estimated quarter of a million people took to the streets before the game, leading to scenes described by Judge Andrew Blake, of Manchester Crown Court, as “the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the blitz.” Thirty nine arrests were made that evening by Greater Manchester Police following violent scenes and looting in the city centre.
