IN his first address to Rangers supporters after being appointed interim chairman last month, John Gilligan pledged that he would not shy away from tackling any contentious issues which might arise during his tenure.
“I'm absolutely ready to put the long-term interests of the club first,” wrote Gilligan in his programme notes for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Dundee at Ibrox. “If that means making decisions that may be unpopular, I will do just that.”
He might have to do exactly that far sooner than he had anticipated. The conduct of the Union Bears during the Europa League encounter with Lyon in Govan last night was abhorrent and cannot and should not be ignored by directors.
Moving the ultras group from the bottom of the Broomloan Stand to the middle of the Copland Stand made perfect sense. They are, for all of their faults, a boisterous and noisy bunch who do much to generate a febrile atmosphere inside the stadium and fire up the Rangers players up on the park on match days.
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They were certainly invaluable to the Glasgow outfit during the four games they played at Hampden earlier this season. That was a difficult move for everyone involved. But they chanted from kick-off to the final whistle in the meetings with Motherwell, Dynamo Kyiv, Ross County and St Johnstone.
Manager Philippe Clement, his squad members and his coaching staff were slaughtered by followers of rival clubs when they formed a guard of honour for the Union Bears after their win over the latter. But they were quite correct to thank them for their vocal and invaluable backing during that time.
So it was entirely understandable when they were given a more prominent position inside Ibrox when the stadium finally, after the delayed redevelopment work was completed, reopened.
But it would also be no great surprise if they find themselves locked out for the foreseeable future either given their actions during the European tie with their formidable French opponents last night.
Members of the Union Bears unfurled banners which read “No Surrender LC + AW” and “Rangers Riot Crew” during the first half and ignited a number of red flares.
It has since been suggested online that LC is Lloyd Cross, who was jailed for six years on Wednesday for his part in an organised crime plot to smuggle £100m of cocaine into Scotland from South America.
AW is Arran Watt, who was arrested and charged after the female St Johnstone SLO was pushed to the ground and had her drum forcibly taken off her before a game back in August. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear.
Incredibly, even worse was to follow. The ultras then started firing rockets over the head of goalkeeper Jack Butland. They exploded and showered sparks over the players. The referee was forced to delay the game momentarily until the disorder subsided.
Setting off pyrotechnics inside a crowed stadium is dangerous, selfish and irresponsible and can, as was witnessed in Scottish football last season, cause serious injury to spectators. For the coordinated display to take place just yards in front of where the disabled supporters were billeted in their plush new section simply beggared belief.
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A hefty UEFA fine is sure to be forthcoming. But Rangers should read the “riot crew” the riot act as well. They must withdraw the season tickets of the imbeciles responsible indefinitely and drive home to them in no uncertain terms that such behaviour will not be tolerated.
The response of the vast majority of the crowd to the pyro show – they started booing and jeering their fellow supporters angrily as their fireworks flew into the night air – last night showed what most Blue Noses thought of the idiocy.
James Tavernier and his team mates had started the match impressively and had passed up some excellent scoring opportunities. The young team should have been concentrating on getting behind their heroes, not disgracing the club they purport to love.
If the Union Bears are locked out of their spiritual home as a result of their stupidity there will be few who mourn their absence.
The scenes at Ibrox also underlined that more, far more, must be done by the authorities to snuff out what is a growing and concerning problem in the modern game.
Representatives from the SFA, SPFL, Police Scotland, Football Safety Officers (Scotland) Association and the Scottish government met at Hampden back in the November of 2023 to discuss a coordinated action plan in the wake of a pyrotechnic mass display by Rangers fans at Dens Park which resulted in players being taken back into their dressing rooms.
Oil tankers which are stuck in the Suez Canal move quicker than they have. Launching an awareness campaign which warns punters of the risks of setting off incendiary devices at games would complement new laws which police officers have available to them to deal with offenders.
A Celtic fan had his head set on fire during a Premiership fixture at Easter Road last season. A young Dundee diehard was scarred for life during a match at McDiarmid park too. Club officials, politicians and governing body executives can ill afford to sit on their hands and hope that no serious incident happens going forward.
