THE Union Bears attempted to take a banner depicting a police officer as a pig into Ibrox for the Scottish Cup clash with Raith Rovers.
The fan group chose to boycott the last eight clash after being informed that part of their display would not be permitted into the stadium on Sunday.
Speculation that the Ibrox board blocked the banner because of criticism towards the Light Blues hierarchy quickly spread online but was dismissed by club sources during the 3-0 victory as Michael Beale’s side progressed into the semi-final draw.
And we can now reveal that the highly offensive banner showed a police officer mocked up as a pig alongside a ‘1 3 1 2’ - an alternative to ACAB - slogan.
The group have previously displayed an ACAB - which stands for All Cops Are B******* - message during Premiership fixtures at Ibrox and at away venues across the country.
But the new large surfing banner was an escalation in the situation and it is understood the group were told that it would not be permitted into Ibrox after it was viewed by senior security staff at Rangers.
The group opted not to take their seats as their section in the Broomloan Front remained unoccupied for the duration of the fixture and a club spokesman said: “Rangers refused to allow an offensive banner relating to the police service to be displayed at today’s match. “The Union Bears elected to absent themselves from the stadium because the Club would not permit the offensive anti-police banner display.”
Connor Goldson and Scott Arfield were on target either side of a Ryan Nolan own goal to secure a straightforward victory over Ian Murray’s side.
The absence of the Union Bears was noticeable throughout the afternoon and there was little atmosphere around the ground as Rangers produced a sluggish showing just days after their impressive win away to Hibernian.
The Ultras group have been vocal critics of the board in recent times and insisted it was ‘time for change’ during the Premiership win over Kilmarnock as they accused the hierarchy of taking their eye off the ball following the 55th title win two seasons ago.
The lack of colour and noise contributed to a low-key afternoon all round but boss Beale was only focused on the football as his side took care of business and overcame their Championship visitors with ease.
Beale said: “I don’t really know what’s going on there, I just felt there was a level of expectation from the crowd in the stadium today, it was a slow game and everyone was expecting us to be free-flowing like we were in midweek.
“But styles make games and they stayed in and made it difficult at times. They had ten players around their 18-yard box and they were blocking little things.
“That’s fine, we had to find a way to get through that. Kilmarnock in the second-half last week went really defensive as well and that’s fine but it made for a sticky game.
“The really top teams who pay millions for their players find those moments difficult - we’ll go away and work on it. In terms of the fans, in a quarter-final they expect a lot.
“We played well in midweek and I know they were happy with that and I’m sure they’ll be happy they’re going back to Hampden.”
The issue with the Union Bears seems set to rumble on in the coming days and the debate will no doubt split sections of the Ibrox support.
A photo posted on social media showed members of the group holding a message reading ‘Ross Wilson Director of Failure’ as the Ibrox recruitment chief came under fire once again following previous displays that also targeted managing director Stewart Robertson.
Boss Beale was irked with the ‘standards’ banner that was unfurled at Livingston last month and the group had their say shortly after the full-time whistle as they hit back at the version of events put forward by the club.
A statement from the Union Bears read: "Union Bears had planned to display various legitimate message banners at today’s match highlighting different issues surrounding our club and support.
“Prior to the match Police Scotland and Rangers FC jointly removed these materials without our knowledge and blocked access to regular matchday materials.
“From Rangers FC this is a clear breakdown of trust and an attempt to silence our groups’ valid concerns. As a consequence, we made the difficult decision to remove active support and not enter the ground as a group.
“This attempt to suppress the feelings amongst the Rangers support will not be successful and only stands to confirm the concerns that the fans hold. Union Bears. No surrender.”
