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  1. ...if they want to get their club back Former Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray has told supporters to make some "noise" if they want to get their club back. The former pension fund manager was speaking after Monday's stormy Ibrox AGM. The 90-minute meeting saw PLC chairman David Somers, chief executive Derek Llambias, director James Easdale and his brother Sandy - chairman of the club's football board - face a barrage of abuse from shareholders. Chants of "out, out, out", "sack the board" and "scumbags" were hurled at the directors as they made their way out onto a flimsy tent erected on the Ibrox pitch. There was little detail given to the irate fans on how the board plan to bridge the £8.3million funding gap which currently separates the Glasgow giants from safety, other than to say a fresh share issue was to be expected, while Somers was the focus of much of the ire after comments which sparked even more anger. Despite the flak, the chairman, Llambias and James Easdale were all re-elected to the PLC board with the help of Mike Ashley and other institutional investors. But Murray claims the fans must act if they want to force real change. Speaking outside the AGM, Murray - who was the club's first chairman after it was reformed following its 2012 liquidation crisis, only to quit a year later after falling out with Charles Green - said: "That was the most arrogant display I have ever seen in third of a century of attending AGMs. "There was complete disregard for shareholders and fans. They say they will operate without fans. We actually ended up knowing less than when we started, which takes a bit of doing. "What can the fans and shareholders do? They have to make more noise. I am not saying they should boycott but they have to make a lot more noise. I think eventually the board will get worried that that the fans are not turning up and not buying kit. The mood in there, well, I have never known anything like it. "Will fans turn their backs on the club? In the short term, yes. But my message to the fans is to stick with it. We will be here a lot longer than them." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/u/murray-rangers-fans-need-to-make-some-noise-if-they-want-to-get-their-club-back.1419322367
  2. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/mccoist-set-to-face-the-music-but-rangers-fans-will-have-little-to-192156n.114751404? McCoist set to face the music but Rangers fans will have little to sing about AND now the end is near ... Christopher Jack Sports Journalist Wednesday 17/12/2014 and so he faces the final curtain.. Ally McCoist likened his appointment as Rangers manager to taking over the mic from Frank Sinatra. Today, he will face the music. McCoist has taken the blows and did it his way at Ibrox, but his time in the spotlight is coming to an end, and he will soon exit the stage. Whether it comes in the aftermath of his meeting with Derek Llambias and Sandy Easdale today, at the end of the season or in 12 months' time, the day when McCoist is no longer Rangers manger is approaching. Like all matters at Ibrox in recent years, money is at the heart of the matter and the crux of the discussions. McCoist is due several hundred thousand pounds if the board wish to dispense with his services before the end of his notice period, but with an £8million black hole in their finances, they seemingly have no way to pay the 52-year-old off. He will leave with a cheque, but there is unlikely to be a thank you for his efforts. Whatever figure is settled on, McCoist will be due every penny for what he has done for Rangers, the fights he has had to fight, the controversies and characters he has had to deal with and overcome. However a deal is struck, whether it is in cash now or later or even shares, it will be a fraction of the multi-million burn that has seen Rangers blow their chance of financial stability and a platform, on and off the field, to go on and establish themselves at the top of Scottish football once again. It is only a matter of time before the most remarkable managerial reign in Rangers' illustrious history comes to an end - but it will solve few problems. McCoist's abilities as a coach and tactician have been called into question for some time. The argument for not having him as manager can be fairly easily made and stacked up and many fans will be pleased there will be new methods on the training pitch at Murray Park and instructions from the Ibrox dugout. Against a different backdrop, he probably wouldn't have lasted as long. But McCoist's ethos and approach to the game, the failings of his side and embarrassing results, are not Rangers' biggest problems. Defeats to Hearts, Alloa and Queen of the South have piled the pressure on his shoulders but football, even with the Premiership in sight, is of secondary importance once more. The heart and soul of Rangers is up for grabs. The proud, distinguished club, Scotland's most successful, is a shadow of its former self and another cornerstone is about to be removed when McCoist departs. There is a different feel around Rangers these days as supporters, battle-scarred and weary, turn their back on the club in their thousands. Familiar faces have gone, standards have fallen and bonds have been broken. Where past generations could put their faith in Bill Struth, Willie Waddell or Walter Smith, the fans of today have a far different proposition. Some of those who have made their way up the marble staircase in recent years and do so today are not of the same calibre. They don't appear to hold the same values or share the love of, and commitment to, the club. Fans may not want McCoist the football man, but they need McCoist the Ranger. His rallying cry of 'we don't do walking away' during the dark days of February 2012, became the motto of Rangers' fight for survival and his most famous soundbite. McCoist may leave the club, but it won't signal the end of his service as he goes back to simply being a fan, and surely a concerned one at that. His departure will be welcomed by those whose only focus is football, but some fans will once again miss the big picture. Having fought so hard to save the club, his club, during its fight for survival, and been instrumental in the battle to retain their titles, McCoist has seen the face of Rangers change significantly in the last couple of years. Colleagues have been punted out the back door in a bid to save thousands of pounds while millions are haemorrhaged through bad business decisions and 'onerous' contracts. Friends have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas, and left the club without the golden handshakes awarded to so many who have given nowhere near the same level of service. It should serve as a warning of what has been and what is coming that McCoist feels he is now better off out of Ibrox. There may be better people available to manage the team, but there is nobody better than him to manage the club. McCoist will become the third Light Blue legend to say enough is enough at Rangers. John Greig continues to stay away from the club, as does Smith, and McCoist has now decided he doesn't like what he sees behind the famous red brick facade. Smith removed himself from a 'highly dysfunctional environment' when he stepped down as chairman in August 2013, yet there has been little progress made since then to resolve the myriad of issues facing the club. The faces in the boardroom may have changed but the problems remain, the questions stay unanswered and the fears are very much justified. McCoist's decision to step down should set alarm bells ringing once again. The savage cuts, the headlines, the in-fighting and politics have taken their toll. In truth, he is probably better off out of the place. But Rangers will not be in a better place with him out of there. With McCoist gone, who do the fans turn to and put their faith in? Who can they be sure is acting in the best interests of Rangers? Would they trust Easdale, chairman of the football board, to hand-pick the right man to lead the club back to the Premiership and oversee that journey? Or would they rather Mike Ashley, the man who has bulldozed his way to control and has the club's merchandise channels tied down in his favour, continue to call the shots from afar? Whoever has the final say, the outcome for McCoist will be the same and the future for Rangers will be uncertain. There will surely be few fans who will be glad to see the back of McCoist, the man they remember as a nine-in-a-row hero, their record goalscorer, Super Ally. He has been let down by a series of chairmen and chief executives, seen promises made and broken. He has been let down by too many of his players, with performances abject and faith not repaid on the pitch. He deserves better than the hat-trick being completed with the fans letting him down and deserting him at the end, too.
  3. http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12183967.html Who in the name of hell thought up this idea ? Put in your notice and receive a significant increase in salary ?
  4. UoF Statement on Retail Deal - 75p in every £10 goes to club "Since the release of the accounts for RIFC PLC, the focus has rightly been on the almost immediate requirement for more cash simply to pay bills and also the board’s wish to raise £8m in equity finance despite recently turning down a valid, fully funded offer for £16m. However, having had the accounts analysed by qualified accountants, we feel it is important to bring Rangers fans' attention to the absolutely disgraceful reality of the retail deal which has been entered into with Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. We have become accustomed to David Somers', Comical Ali style proclamations about our club. He stated recently that Rangers "make quite a lot of money" from the Sports Direct deal but that is not how the accounts read in our analysis. In fact, despite the loyalty of the Rangers fans seeing £7.6m spent on retail in the year covered by the accounts, the club's share of that spending is a paltry £590k. That means that for every £10 spent by Rangers fans on merchandise, the club receives only around 75p. The accounts also reveal that Rangers Retail has an obligation to purchase stock at a higher price than it is able to be sold at. In the second half of the year covered by the accounts it appears that the portion of profit due to the club is an unbelievable £2k. For comparative purposes, the much maligned JJB agreement, our previous retail deal, made the club a minimum of £4.8m a year over the term of the deal, over 8x the amount we are making from Sports Direct. Crucially, it is also not clear whether the club has yet received a penny of the £590k it is due or whether it is still retained within Rangers Retail. Indeed, from inception it would appear that the club has only received £100k in dividends from the venture with Sports Direct. Mr Ashley has loaned money to strengthen his stranglehold over our commercial operations, whilst funds due to the club through Rangers Retail, over which Sports Direct has effective control, are retained. We have always feared that the deal Charles Green did with Sports Direct was dreadful for Rangers. Mr Somers' ridiculous defence of it, on behalf of this discredited and incompetent board, can be added to the list of reasons why he, the Easdale brothers, Norman Crighton and Derek Llambias are rightly distrusted by the vast majority of our fans. In light of the information revealed in the accounts we urge fans to stop buying merchandise from club stores, which are now under Mr Ashley’s full control or being shut down, and Sports Direct. Your loyalty is being abused and the club is not benefiting from the money you are pouring into Mr Ashley's pockets."
  5. Rangers Supporters @rangersfctrust · 2h2 hours ago The RST has tonight released the following statement:Read: http://tl.gd/n_1sj12bm The RST has tonight released the following statement: The Rangers Supporters Trust is disgusted to learn that a group of Celtic fans daubed offensive, sectarian graffiti, mocking the Ibrox disaster, on the walls of Tynecastle stadium during a recent visit there. We are even more disgusted by the attitude of Celtic Football Club towards this incident, which is to try to distance themselves from the behaviour of their fans rather than taking responsibility for it. We welcome Ann Budge's recent statement and fully support her attempts to highlight the disgraceful behaviour of a sizeable minority of the Celtic support. The group responsible for this are affiliated with The Green Brigade, who have been encouraged and tolerated by Celtic Football Club officials. This despite outward shows of support for the IRA and various offensive banners including one protesting against Remembrance Sunday. In the past few years we have seen riots in Dundee, wide-scale vandalism and disorder at Fir Park and Tynecastle and various acts of public disorder in Glasgow centred around Celtic fans. Throughout all this, Celtic's PR machine, has sought to quell reporting of these incidents and no substantive action has been taken against the perpetrators by the Celtic Chief Executive, Peter Lawwell. Celtic Football Club has a major, ongoing issue with their fans which their constant denial of facts will not solve. Their official fan groups, including the Celtic Trust, seek to legitimise this behaviour by, for instance, campaigning for the right to display public support for terrorism without penalty. We hope that belatedly, with their fans' disgraceful mocking of the Ibrox disaster, Celtic will start to take their hooliganism problem seriously and the SPFL and SFA will do likewise, despite the strong influence wielded by Celtic in their boardrooms
  6. Reading on Twitter and other forum that a 9th minute anti Ally protest has been planned. Lots of discussion for and aginst, what I can't find is who is organising it? Any ideas or is it a non event?
  7. http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/299-an-open-letter-to-ally-mccoist Also available in the print edition of the Scottish Daily Mail (5/12/2014)
  8. Our club is on a trip to extinction under this moron,when does our waring fan groups unite,and demand his firing? he is killing us,and this is an actual fact.
  9. Union Bears As you will know, the group took the very difficult decision back in May not to renew our season tickets due to the selfish, malicious and borderline illegal actions of our club’s current and previous incumbents. This was a decision echoed by nearly 15000 season ticket holders and the crowds at Ibrox so far this season have reflected the feeling of many Rangers supporters. We watched with hope and expectation as Dave King submitted his £16 million offer of funding in exchange for a majority stake in the club. We then watched with resignation but not shock as Mike Ashley and his friends within the Board room blocked this move and instead pushed through Ashley’s £2 million emergency loan secured against Rangers assets and on the premise of complete Board control. Like all other supporters, we wanted a clean break from people like Charles Green and his murky investors, but it is clear this isn't going to happen. It therefore brings us to a crossroads, as a group and as individuals. Mike Ashley has his grip firmly on the throat of our beloved club and nothing and nobody will make him remove it, as has been demonstrated in his time in charge of Newcastle Utd. It has thrown up a pertinent question which must be answered by not only us but every Rangers fan. Do we maintain our boycott for potentially years in the hope that someone saves us? Or do we elect to support the team on the park and explore other ways of enforcing change at Rangers? After much discussion we have elected to follow the latter path. As of 03/01/2015 we will be returning to the stands on a permanent basis. This is not a gesture of support for those now in charge of our club, nor is it an admission of defeat. It is simply a change of tactic. As a passionate group of supporters whose best attributes lie in what we achieve in and around the stadium on a matchday, we feel hamstrung by our absence and therefore the group needs to go back to being present within Ibrox. We have tried to boycott, to fall in line with other fan groups who have done their level best to encourage change within the club. But in reality all that has taken place over these past few months is a strengthening of Mike Ashley, Sandy and James Easdale, David Somers and many others’ positions within Rangers. It’s the sorry truth. We would like to make it clear that we will not be attending the League Cup semi final as a group, and feel it would be wrong to take tickets ahead of fans who have been attending games on a weekly basis. As we won't be attending as a group, it will make it impossible for us to pull off a display. We would therefore ask all Rangers fans to do their bit by making our end as colourful as possible, with flags, banners, streamers and anything else they can. We will however be planning more displays between now and the end of the season, and look forward to bringing some noise and colour back to Ibrox. Although we return to Ibrox on a permanent basis we won’t be doing so as supporters of the regime. Yes our money will be going towards their bonuses and onerous contracts in the short term, but the Union Bears will throw our weight behind another path towards long term change and that is fan ownership, and more specifically Rangers First. Rangers First is a Community Interest Company which was established at the beginning of this year with very simple goals; to gather together the financial clout of the Rangers support, purchase shares in the club and ultimately put it back in the hands of those who matter. Rangers First already owns over 500’000 shares in RIFC (roughly 0.6%) without any real offline publicising. As a group we hope to support them in the ways that we do best as they move forward towards greater awareness and support for fan representation and ownership. Of course we urge all those who stood with us in BF1 over the years to ask themselves the same question we did and decide what the future holds for you with regards to match attendance. But we will not try and influence your decision in any way. It’s an individual’s choice to make. What we do urge every singly Rangers supporter to do is visit http://www.rangersfirst.org, learn about the initiative and sign up. Put the money you used to spend on Rangers merchandise and funding Ashley's empire of zero hour contracts into something worthwhile. The strength of our support should not be measured or remembered by how many of us turn up at Ibrox or elect to stay away in protest, but rather by the lengths we will go to right the wrongs of those before us and stand shoulder to shoulder with one common goal; delivering the Rangers we all deserve. We owe it our children and grandchildren. If you would like to join the group in BF1 for the second half of the season then please send the following details to transfers@unionbears.co.uk or as a message to the Union Bears Facebook page: Full Name: Address: Date Of Birth: Contact Number (Mobile & Landline): Rangers Number: Do you have a season ticket already? (Yes/No): Union Bears
  10. http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12147393.html
  11. The Rangers Supporters Trust today announced that it has formed Fleshers Haugh Limited to produce a range of merchandise whose profits will be used to purchase shares in the club. Trust Chairman Gordon Dinnie said – “For a number of months now we have been selling red and black shirts but it’s obvious from the demand that fans also want other forms of merchandise. We set up Flesher Haugh to develop a range of quality merchandise which will be a credit to the club’s traditions and generate funds which will enable fans to buy more shares and make the club stable.” “I’m asking for fans with experience and skills in merchandising, design and manufacturing to come forward to help us build an enterprise which provides a real fans alternative.” More information to follow. http://www.therst.co.uk/latest-rst-statement/
  12. I thought this was quite well written from Chris Jack regarding last night's crowd. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/empty-seats-tell-story-of-rangers-fatal-rift-186382n.25722001
  13. Some words on recent events from yours truly via TRS: http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/330-the-fog-on-the-clyde
  14. ...has kept him away from Ibrox. Former manager, who will make rare appearance in stands for League Cup quarter-final against St Johnstone, says he is "better not going" because of club's problems. By Ewing Grahame 10:00PM GMT 27 Oct 2014 Comments8 Comments Walter Smith will make a rare appearance at Ibrox on Tuesday night for Rangers’ League Cup quarter-final against St Johnstone. Smith, 66, led Rangers to nine championship successes and also won the Scottish Cup five times and the League Cup on six occasions during his two spells as manager. Yet he reveals that the internecine warfare – which has been waged with increasing frequency and hostility in the boardroom since the consortium fronted by Charles Green seized control after the old club’s descent into liquidation in 2012 – has persuaded him to limit his attendance at matches following his resignation as chairman in August last year. The increasing influence wielded by Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, and the departures (which Ashley had called for) of chief executive Graham Wallace and director Philip Nash may yet bring stability to the club but, until the fighting stops, Smith’s visits will be collectors’ items. “Before I left the board at Rangers I was going to few of the games,” he said. “I’ve been to one or two but I haven’t been to an awful lot since I left. “I watch the TV coverage and read a lot about it but I don’t go along to many matches. At first I didn’t go because I didn’t want people thinking I was ... not interfering, but going to watch Alastair and the boys I’d left there. That was the main reason for not going back. “When Charles Green asked me to go on the board I went back and going to games was another aspect of it. “Since I left the board, the reason I don’t go back is because is everybody keeps saying to me: ‘You are supporting that side, your are supporting this side or the other side’. “I think I’m better not bothering going. I miss going to the games. I’ll go to the occasional one and I’ll go on Tuesday night to see how they do against St Johnstone.” Smith was at the national stadium on Sunday to see Davie Wilson, a childhood idol, inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. “Wee Davie worked beside my old man when he was a boy, strangely enough,” he said. “I went to Ibrox and watched him play in that fantastic team of the late 1950s and early 60s. It was an enjoyable period to go and watch them. “He was one of the main ones and the number of goals he scored for a winger was incredible. Nowadays we don’t have wingers of that type. “Davie and Jimmy Millar also came to play at Dundee United when I was there and he was a fantastic professional. They could have tailed off at the end of their careers but they had a great attitude and it was good for a young player like myself to see that, “It was a big thrill – I’d never have imagined I’d have played alongside him. He was terrific, down to earth. Davie was also assistant manager at Dumbarton when I went there for a year.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11190909/Walter-Smith-reveals-how-long-running-internal-warfare-at-Rangers-has-kept-him-away-from-Ibrox.html
  15. Dave King Statement re Rangers FC It is appropriate that I give feedback to the Rangers fans before departing for South Africa. Over the last few weeks Paul Murray, George Letham and myself have constructively engaged the Rangers board and (at the request of the board) Sandy Easdale regarding our proposal to invest 16 million into the club as soon as is practically possible. When investing in any public company there are numerous regulatory and compliance requirements that have to be dealt with. There are also SFA compliance issues that arise when investing in a football club in Scotland. An obvious further complication in Rangers case is the seeming lack of authority of the Rangers board to make decisions without reference to key shareholders who appear to be “the power behind the throne”. Prior to commencing the implementation issues referred to above it is necessary to reach an in-principle agreement with the board that can then be put to shareholders. In this regard it is important to recogniser hat the so-called Easdale Block represents more than 25% of the shares in issue and could therefore block the implementation of our proposal even if recommended by the board. Likewise, a combination of other shareholders could veto our proposal. I attempted to meet with Mr Ashley on my visit but neither he, nor his colleague, Mr Bishop, acknowledged my request for a meeting. This is their right but is unfortunate given the present concerns from supporters that Mr Ashley is using his shareholder status to put pressure on the board to alienate the rights and trade mark of the club in favour of his personal interest. I will make a separate announcement and appeal to fans on this topic at the appropriate time. Our initial proposal to the board was to invest the full 16m by way of equity at 20p per share. The board requested that we consider a debt/equity mix that would reduce dilution for existing shareholders and allow the debt component to be advanced prior to the extended time frame required for the approval of additional equity. We are amenable to this and to working with the board on the mechanics necessary to ensure that this is achieved provided that the full investment is recognised by way of board representation. We wish to appoint an equal number of members to the board and have the key say regarding the appointment of the Chairperson. We will not invest funds and let the existing board determine how these funds are spent. That has not worked well in the past. In any transaction of this nature there are a number of interests to be consulted and considered. The board has apparently engaged constructively on our proposal while advancing its own points as to what it believes is in the best interest of the club and its shareholders. Sandy Easdale has similarly apparently engaged constructively including highlighting some concerns. I have today responded to these concerns in writing. He will now consult with his co-shareholders and hopefully revert soonest so that we can proceed to agreement and the earliest possible implementation thereof. Unfortunately, I have to again deal with a point that I have covered previously. Despite our agreement with the board on confidentiality (that we have strictly complied with) we were faced with the inevitable combination of truth, half-truth and fallacies peddled by Mr Irvine on behalf of his employers. He states in particular that he is voicing Sandy Easdale’s directly communicated thoughts. Sandy has assured me that this is not the case regarding his recent nonsensical utterings. On that point, I have recently had the amusement of reviewing over 100 email communications between MrIrvine and Craig Whyte during the period that Mr Irvine was attempting to advance Mr Whyte’s business interests. My review of these emails indicates to me that he carefully identifies journalists that he believes lack journalistic integrity and ability and can therefore be fed by him for the benefit of whoever pays him. I urge fans to continue to ignore the nonsense that comes from these sources. We have a lot of work to do over the next few months to regain the club. I would not be here without the support of the fans and neither would my co-investors. We are going to need to draw on your support again over the coming months.
  16. Duleep Allirajah sports columnist It’s time to stick up for football fans’ right to trade insults. Freedom of speech is a right that most of us would wholeheartedly defend. The freedom to speak one’s mind is a hallmark of a democratic society; an essential safeguard against injustice and tyranny. We’ll all sign the online petition and buy the wristband when it’s Vladimir Putin locking up members of Pussy Riot. So, why do so many liberals find it difficult to defend free speech for football fans? Why does the Society of Black Lawyers want Spurs fans prosecuted for referring to themselves as the ‘Yid Army’? Why did we allow the Scottish parliament to criminalise anachronistic songs about the war in Ireland? And why no howls of protest when student Liam Stacey was jailed for posting a racially offensive tweet about Fabrice Muamba, the former Bolton footballer who suffered a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane? Let’s try to unpick this conundrum. The argument for banning offensive football songs contains an implicit assumption that freedom of expression is a right which only applies to speech that has some value. It’s a protection for those with something worthwhile to say: radicals, artists, social critics, comedians and satirists. Football chants clearly don’t fit into these categories. There’s clearly nothing particularly enlightening or artistic about the majority of terrace chants. By and large they’re just playground insults. Some are witty and inventive but most are crude, tasteless and puerile. So why defend the right to trade crass and hurtful insults at football? Take, for example, the notorious Spurs chant aimed at Sol Campbell which alleged that their former captain was a ‘Judas cunt with HIV’. Was this really the type of speech John Stuart Mill had in mind when he wrote On Liberty? I’d argue that this vulgar little ditty is exactly the form of expression we need to defend. Inoffensive speech doesn’t need protection. It’s the offensive stuff that the censors want to curb. When it comes to terrace jibes, it’s not the content of those chants I’m defending; it’s the right to express views or sentiments which cause offence. I don’t care if the chants have little or no artistic merit. The point is that rights are meaningless if we attach conditions to them. And yes this means we have to defend the expression of views we find personally abhorrent. As George Orwell said: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ Many liberal-minded people would agree that terrace banter, which is traditionally vulgar and insulting, shouldn’t be restricted. But, they will often qualify this by saying that we have to draw a line somewhere. Racist chanting, they would argue, crosses that line. Invariably, once a line is drawn, the boundary is liable to shift. In 2008, two Newcastle fans were arrested for chanting ‘shoe bomber’ at Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mido. In 2009, a Millwall fan was arrested for calling a Gillingham player a ‘pikey’. A number of fans have been arrested for homophobic chants directed at Brighton fans. These arrests raise the question: at what point do terrace insults cross the line? Any such boundary is inherently subjective. One person’s playful banter is another’s hate speech. Dave Kitson, the ‘flame-haired’ former Reading and Stoke striker has argued that jibes about ‘gingers’ are no different to racist chants. Last season three Gillingham fans were arrested for allegedly calling Rotherham manager a ‘fat Scottish wanker’. As soon as you accept that some speech is unacceptable it becomes very difficult to know where to draw the line. As I said, terrace banter isn’t a form of folk poetry; it’s the trading of insults. However, there’s a double standard evident in liberal attitudes to insulting language. Two years ago the actor Rowan Atkinson and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell fronted a successful campaign to amend Section 5 of the Public Order Act which criminalised the use of ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour’. Atkinson quite rightly warned that the outlawing of insults was having a ‘chilling effect on free expression and free protest’. Campaigners pointed to a series of controversial prosecutions under the act including a student who called a police horse ‘gay’ and a 15-year-old who held up an anti-Scientology placard. The campaign to amend Section 5 was laudable but why has there been no similar campaign to defend the right of football fans to insult each? Why is terrace banter any different? Why no crusade to scrap the Football Offences Act 1991 which makes it an offence to ‘engage or take part in chanting of a racialist or indecent nature’ at a football match? Some insults are evidently more equal than others. There’s a distinct whiff of class snobbery at play here; an unspoken belief that free speech is only meant for ‘people like us’, and not for foul-mouthed, white working-class football fans who are easily incited by hate speech. The trading of insults at football matches is largely ritualistic and theatrical. Terrace chants are an adult variant of the ‘your mum’s so fat’ playground jibes. Do we really believe that the Welsh are sheep shaggers or that Scousers are hubcap thieves? I doubt it. Most supporters know the rules of engagement and are pretty immune to the namecalling and taunts. But there will always be some sensitive souls who are appalled or upset by certain chants. However, just because a chant offends or upsets people, it doesn’t follow that it should be illegal. As Tory MP David Davis, who backed the campaign against Section 5, said: ‘The simple truth is that in a free society, there is no right not to be offended.’ There’s nothing noble about terrace jibes. But we cannot be selective about which forms of expression we seek to protect. The right to hurl vile and offensive abuse at a football match might not be a fashionable cause, but it’s the acid test of whether we are serious about protecting civil liberties. Duleep Allirajah is spiked’s sports columnist. He will be speaking at the debate From Yid Army to Green Brigade: free speech for football fans? at the Battle of Ideas festival, held at the Barbican in London on 18-19 October. Get tickets here. http://www.spiked-online.com/freespeechnow/fsn_article/in-praise-of-terrace-banter#.VEJFrRbgVHi
  17. After last night’s extraordinary scenes in Belgrade, where the Serbia-Albania match was called off when a drone flew a pro-Albanian flag over the pitch, we look at sport’s other great incendiary political gestures, from Souness to Gazza. • Souness plants flag on enemy territory Graeme Souness was never one to back down from conflict and he certainly found it while managing Galatasaray in 1996. Facing fierce Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Cup final, Galatasaray, who had won the home leg 1-0 at home, secured the cup with a 1-1 draw in Fenerbahçe’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. Souness, perhaps emboldened by the victory, decided to celebrate by taking a gigantic Galatasaray flag and planting it in the middle of Fenerbahçe’s pitch. The incident sparked a predictably violent response from the home fans who rained objects down on the pitch, while medal presentations had to be temporarily halted after the Turkish President was hit by a bottle Press reaction was equally furious. Souness was condemned for his insulting gesture and considered responsible for the Fenerbahçe supporters’ riotous behaviour. Funnily enough, Souness didn’t have his contract renewed at the end of that season, having lost out on the Turkish title . . . to Fenerbahçe. Souness though was unrepentant. “One day I would’ve got round to planting a flag at Celtic Park if I’d stayed on as manager of Rangers,” he said later. • Gascoigne plays the pipes Paul Gascoigne could hardly be considered a political animal but he managed to stir up some serious controversy after he played a mock flute during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park while warming up as a second-half substitute. The gesture, which is symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers, is considered a Loyalist symbol insulting to Catholics. Gascoigne first made the mime after scoring his first goal for Rangers in 1995 with the suggestion he had been egged on by team-mates and knew nothing of its significance. But this time the gesture infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. He also received death threats and left Rangers at the end of that season. • Baghdatis sparks furore Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot tennis player, found himself at the centre of a storm at the at the 2008 Australian Open when a video posted on YouTube almost a year earlier showed him holding a flare chanting slogans such as “Turks out of Cyprus” at a barbecue hosted by his Greek Australian fan club. The local Turkish Cypriot community claimed it was a “racist attack” and a “straightforward provocation of our community”, and called for him to expelled from the tournament. However, he was allowed to play on with Baghdatis claiming he was not calling for Turkish Cypriots to leave Cyprus, but rather an end to Turkey’s military occupation since 1974. • Football goes to war Perhaps the only time that a sporting event has resulted in conflict, the “Football War” between El Salvador and Honduras was sparked by best-of-three World Cup qualifiers in 1969. Honduras, who won the first match 1-0, lost the second 3-0 in San Salvador after Honduran players endured a sleepless night before the game, with rotten eggs and dead rats allegedly thrown through the broken windows of their hotel. Honduran fans were also attacked at the game By the time of the third match, won 3-2 by El Salvador after extra-time on June 27, tension had ratcheted up so much that Honduras broke off diplomatic relations By July 14, El Salvador had invaded Honduras. When the conflict ended on July 20, between 1,000 and 2,000 people had been killed and 100,000 had lost their homes. It took 11 years to negotiate a peace treaty. Ironically El Salvador hardly shined in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico either. They lost all three of their group games without scoring. • Black power salutes In perhaps the most famous political protest made in a sporting arena, Tommie Smith and John Carlos both raised a black-gloved fist during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City in a silent demonstration against racial discrimination. The Afro-American pair had finished first and third in the 200 metres with Smith triumphing in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Smith and Carlos also wore human-rights badges on their jackets along with Peter Norman, the Australian silver medal-winner. “If I win I am American, not a black American,” Smith said later. “But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight.” The response from the IOC was swift, banning both American athletes from the Games and dubbing their actions as “an act of racial protest.” The pair were largely ostracised on their return to the US and Norman was also censured by Australian athletics for his involvement. But their brave action is now regarded as one of the most eloquent statements ever made in the fight for racial equality.
  18. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2789354/furious-rangers-fans-staged-angry-protest-against-mike-ashley-s-increasing-influence-sports-direct-stores.html
  19. ...the Ibrox throne is big enough for Mike Ashley and Dave King. AS King and Ashley continue to vie for control at Rangers, KEITH insists it may be in both men's interests to discover a common ground that incorporates the interests of the club and its fans. THEIR tanks have rumbled into Edmiston Drive, ready for the climactic Rangers shootout. But before Mike Ashley and Dave King begin blowing each other to bits outside the Big Hoose, perhaps it might make more sense for them to find a better way. Maybe, before the guns start blazing, there is a chance for them to discover common ground. Of course, that would require a bit of common sense and where this club is concerned there is seldom any place for sound logic. But let’s indulge ourselves for a moment in any case and pretend that the two men, who seem so willing to go to war over Rangers, may still be capable of some eleventh-hour reason. Ask yourself this. If you were Ashley why on earth wouldn’t you want King to take control? Those closest to the Sports Direct boss – and even those Newcastle fans who can’t stand the sight of him – all agree that his primary focus is on protecting and expanding his bargain-basement retail business. Which makes perfect sense. Okay, so Slazenger polo shirts and laceless Lonsdale trainers might not be everyone’s giant novelty mug of tea but Ashley’s firm has always been more Buroo-lander than Zoolander. It’s a high street jumble sale and it’s made the man a fortune. This real-life Derek Trotter is a genuine billionaire. Not like the last one who, for all anyone knows – including Glasgow’s finest for that matter – may be currently strolling around some town centre in Panama dressed in Lee Cooper and Le Coq Sportif. He always did have a bulging eye for a bargain. But be that as it may, Ashley deserves to be taken a great deal more seriously. Which is precisely why now might be the ideal time for King to sit him down for a chat, assuming of course that he really is serious about handing over so much of his children’s inheritance. King has not always convinced and not just because of the 41 criminal convictions for stiffing the tax man which have stained his name in South Africa. His PR has been poorly thought out and his strategy over the last 12 months impossible to fathom as he has tip-toed around the edges of this farrago without ever looking prepared to get his feet wet or his hands dirty. But finally he has waded back in, promising an initial £16million bailout and more millions to follow. For that reason alone he deserves to be taken seriously, even by those who continue to doubt him. If Ashley counts himself among those cynics, what would be the harm in asking to see the colour of his money? Because if it really is the case Ashley is interested only in what is best for his own business, there is no reason for this pair to remain hostile over the running of Rangers. Yes, in an ideal world, King may wish to walk into Ibrox on day one and rip up the retail contract Ashley is apparently so determined to protect. This seven-year kit deal, of course, was gifted to him by Charles Green and has been described by those who have seen it as a ludicrously generous and one-sided agreement. Green later wasted a small fortune of Rangers money on legal fees in a failed attempt to have it annulled but the consensus is that this contract is watertight. In other words, Rangers have already sold the jerseys to Ashley and there is nothing King or anyone else can do about it, even if it means the loss of millions of pounds. And this is where logic ought to kick in because if Ashley wants to keep coining it in from shirts and merchandise then surely King’s arrival as a potential saviour stands to make him even richer? King, after all, is perhaps the one man capable not only of uniting a fractured Rangers support but also prepared to throw good money after bad in the reconstruction of a club which continues to hang by the thinnest of threads. If indeed there is enough cash left in the bank to cover this month’s payday then November’s could be a killer. But only in this omnishambles could a business that is wheezing and gasping for breath continue to keep a £30m life-saving injection so stubbornly at arm’s length. King wants to save them. But he can’t get his money bags across the front step. And, yes, logic dictates that Ashley must see the sheer lunacy in this. Over the past few months around 15,000 Rangers fans have gone missing from Ibrox. The numbers are so large that they have blown a hole in Graham Wallace’s attempts to keep the business afloat. And there is a danger many more thousands will follow if Ashley guns King down in the battle for control, while also boycotting his stores. However, if King was to walk back in, flanked by fellow lifelong supporters such as Paul Murray and George Letham, then it is almost certain business will begin to boom again at the turnstiles and in the club stores which Ashley also now has firmly in his grasp. King plans to plough £8m into the coffers with Murray, Letham and a group of wealthy fans cobbling enough together to match him pound for pound. Straight off the bat, that’s £16m that Ashley doesn’t need to bother looking for down the back of his office sofa. There will be more to come as King intends to invest his whole £30m in returning his club to a fit and competitive state and to restore a stadium which, much like the team, is in a state of decay. This is King’s manifesto and so long as he can convince Ashley he is for real and that the money is there and good to go, then both Rangers and Sports Direct stand to benefit from it hugely. So tell me, what possible logic is there in Ashley blowing this man away? The answer is, there isn’t any. Or at least, none that is obvious from the outside of this wretched mess. Which means there must be something hidden from view, perhaps even something deeply suspicious behind the naked act of aggression earlier this week which saw Ashley set his sights on Wallace and Philip Nash, the men trying to facilitate King and his consortium. What else is there to hide here? Surely nothing that stretches back to when Ashley climbed into bed with Green in the first instance and began this merciless pumping of Ibrox? Come to think of it, who on earth did bring these two together? He already owns the strips and the shops which sell them. He bought the stadium’s naming rights for a quid. And had Wallace not grown a pair last month then he would have owned the club’s badges by now as well. But it’s hard to see the value in any of it if Ashley’s power grab does indeed drive more and more of the customer base away. In fact, it will cost him millions of pounds in emergency loans just to continue to light up an increasingly empty stadium. If he’s not careful he could end up sitting alone in the directors’ box with only his drinking buddies, Sandy and James Easdale for company and if that thought doesn’t terrify him then it should. This club is broken and it needs fixed, not by a bunch of Trotters Independent Traders but by those who genuinely care for it. If Ashley cannot, or will not, see the logic in that then it will indeed be time to clamber back into the tanks. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-another-rangers-war-4411056
  20. keith jackson @tedermeatballs · 9s 10 seconds ago OK bed time. Back page will be up soon. Suffice to say a multi million pound bailout offer has been made by a three man consortium. https://twitter.com/tedermeatballs/with_replies
  21. Tuesday 7th October 7pm. Grovsner Hotel Gt Western Rd Glasgow. Public meeting for all fans concerned with recent events at our club and who wish to explore possible actions available to the fans. We have one guest speaker confirmed so far and the meeting will include a Q&A session Much better from Craig here. Hope it goes well.
  22. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...n-Rangers.html MIKE ASHLEY has doubled his stake in Rangers. The Newcastle owner now owns around nine per cent of the Scottish Championship club. Investment group Hargreave Hale confirmed it was behind the sale of £853,000 worth of shares in the fallen Glaswegian giants. Ashley’s purchase came hours after Gers fans threatened to boycott his Sports Direct stores over the cut-price deal he struck for the Ibrox naming rights. A spokesman for fans’ group Sons of Struth said: “We call on Mike Ashley to cancel his contract before the October 11. “If he still retains the naming rights after this point, we will instigate an immediate series of actions aimed at his Sports Direct stores.”
  23. Rangers fans group Sons of Struth threaten boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct shops Ashley has been targeted after purchasing the naming rights to Ibrox for £1. The threat of a boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct retail group along with the business interests of other Rangers directors has been made by dissident fans’ group, the Sons of Struth, following a ballot of supporters. The group, named after Rangers’ longest serving manager, Bill Struth, staged a demonstration behind the directors’ box at Ibrox during the team’s recent meeting with Inverness in the Scottish Communities League Cup, but have now raised the possibility of direct action against McGills Buses, a transport group owned by the Rangers football board chairman, Sandy Easdale, and his brother James, who serves on the plc board. Ashley has been targeted because Sandy Easdale recently revealed that the naming rights to Ibrox had been sold to the Newcastle United owner for £1. Easdale himself has been the subject of condemnation from the Rangers support - whose boycott of season tickets has reduced the club’s income from that source by half - because he has been seen in the company of Rafat Rizvi, who was sentenced to 15 years in absentia when convicted of fraud in an Indonesian court. Rizvi, a UK citizen, is the subject of an Interpol international arrest warrant but cannot be extradited because the UK has no treaty with Indonesia. He was pictured recently in Glasgow along with Easdale and Malyasian businessman, Datuk Faizoull Bin Ahmad, who was named as a potential investor in the troubled club, although he subsequently denied any intent to take a stake or any knowledge of Rizvi. The Sons of Struth issued a statement detailing the results of their poll, which did not specify how many fans’ opinions had been sampled, although it is thought that they have around 3000 members. The statement read: "Due to recent events, such as Sandy Easdale's meeting with convicted fraudster Rafat Rizvi, his broken promises of having investors lined up and the selling of our stadium’s naming rights to Mike Ashley for £1.00, Sons of Struth have received an increased level of calls for tougher action against the board, Sports Direct and, Easdale-owned McGills Buses. “Recent polling of our members resulted in 99.35% calling for the removal of Sandy Easdale as a Rangers director and 97.19% wishing Mike Ashley to cancel his 7 year contract for the naming rights to Ibrox, 92.87% want to boycott McGills buses and 87.47% want to boycott Sports Direct in attempt to achieve the removal of Sandy Easdale and cancellation of Mike Ashley's naming rights agreement. “89.64% of those polled want to see some sort of boycott at matches with an aim of removing Sandy Easdale. The general feeling amongst our members is that he lies to fans and shows no respect to his position through his close association with Jack Irvine and his meeting with a man on Interpol's most wanted list. His words and actions are disrespectful to the position he holds as a director of Rangers Football Club. “Our firm belief is that Sandy Easdale is an obstacle to future outside investment and, despite his recent outlandish claims that the fans' actions may put the club's future in danger, we firmly believe that after 100,000 season ticket sales in three seasons the blame for the clubs perilous financial position lies squarely in the boardroom. “The club operate a "football board" which is viewed in the eyes of the fans as nothing more than a vehicle to allow Sandy Easdale a directorship as he may not be eligible for a seat on the PLC board. Does this "football board" have any other purpose? “We shall release our intentions for further protests and boycott action in the very near future and in the meantime would encourage the board to immediately remove Sandy Easdale if they wish to avoid this. “Sandy Easdale has been heard in the past to claim that if the Rangers support do not want him at Ibrox he would leave. We would ask him to take the hint and go before his association with our club causes more damage. “Sons of Struth also call on Mike Ashley to cancel his naming rights contract before the 11th of October. If he still retains the naming rights after this point we will instigate an immediate series of actions aimed at his Sports Direct stores. “We would ask all Rangers supporters in the meantime to use discretion when deciding to give either Sports Direct or McGills Buses their custom. We will hold a public meeting of Rangers fans in October at at a venue to be announced." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11131196/Rangers-fans-group-Sons-of-Struth-threaten-boycott-of-Mike-Ashleys-Sports-Direct-shops.html
  24. Unloved owner in the North East should concentrate in taking over at Ibrox – it would be perfect for both Newcastle United and Rangers. Given the problems he has had at Newcastle United and the resentment he has caused during his seven years as owner, it may seem curious to suggest Mike Ashley is the ideal man to buy Rangers. Newcastle were a mediocre mid-table club when Ashley bought them and that is all they remain, yet Ashley could still be the ideal person to restore Rangers to its former glory. Most Newcastle supporters cannot wait to see the back of him. Although there is appreciation for the work he has done to improve the club as a business there has – with the exception of one fifth-place finish in 2012 – been little, if any, progress as a football club. There is animosity on both sides, Ashley is still bitter about the way supporters turned against him in the aftermath of Kevin Keegan’s resignation back in 2008, while they are convinced he is content for a proud club to be stuck in a monotonous mid-table wasteland while he uses it to promote his other business interests. The refusal to take cup competitions seriously is a wound that will not heal. Rangers fans also have their misgivings about Ashley’s intentions. So do the Scotland Football Association, who do not like the idea of one man owning two clubs, even if they play in different domestic competitions. Yet, if Ashley wants to buy Rangers, the SFA should let him. I don’t think there is a conflict of interests, just as there isn’t with Manchester City’s owners starting an American franchise, New York City. The opposition of the SFA to him increasing his stake to more than 10 per cent is a major barrier. He would, in theory, have to sell Newcastle first, but he has denied he wishes to do so. At least, he has denied he wants to at the moment. In a statement published on the Newcastle website, it was said Ashley will consider selling Newcastle at the end of next season, which interestingly is the earliest Rangers could be back playing in Europe. Uefa rules stipulate two teams owned by the same person cannot play in their competitions, which is reasonable enough as they could meet in a competitive fixture. That should not matter now if Ashley moves to save Rangers. Ashley would be an unusual fit for the knight in shining armour role. He is more market trader than chivalrous hero, but just because he has made his billions selling cheap sportswear should not disguise he has been phenomenally successful because of his business brain. Just because an idea is simple does not mean the man who came up with it isn’t a genius and few are better at making money than Ashley. Of course, being clever and innovative in business does not automatically mean you will be any good owning a football club and Ashley hasn’t been for Newcastle. The division between followers and leader saps its strength. The bitterness will not go away, there have been too many callous calls from Ashley, too many mistakes and too many perceived insults for Newcastle’s supporters to forgive and forget. Newcastle are paralysed by the lack of ambition in the boardroom. Many believe the only cure is a new owner and a new start. Ashley, though, is able to provide Rangers with exactly what they need, a secure financial footing and stability in the boardroom. He has the money to end the threat of economic meltdown and, as he has shown at Newcastle, he can turn a loss making business into a profitable one within a few years. The crucial difference between Rangers and Newcastle is that being a stable business in the Premier League is not enough to compete with the top clubs. Ashley stopped wanting to put his own money in to sign players and cover losses when he fell out with the fans and you cannot blame him. However, a stable business is all that is needed to return Rangers to the top of Scottish football because they are capable of generating far more income than their rivals. Only Celtic can rival Rangers in terms of gate receipts, sponsorship prestige and media interest, so all Ashley has to do to restore the old order is remove the spiral of debt repayments. Emotionally, no matter how much he tries to put a brave face on, the abuse Ashley receives as Newcastle’s owner must take its toll. There are only so many times you can be told you are overweight and not wanted. Ashley has broad shoulders and claims he is not particularly bothered what people think and say about him, yet he has also shown a thin enough skin to ban all three local papers for offering their supporting for a protest march calling for him to sell up last season. Ashley has still managed to make a project turned sour work for him. The exposure has been good for his retail chain, proving once again that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even when he changed the name of the ground, provoking fury on Tyneside and beyond, Ashley ignored it and watched his other business interests prosper. Premier League exposure is one of the most powerful marketing tools around and Ashley’s sport shops are undoubtedly better known now than they were when he took over. Yet, although he has described the relationship between his sport shops and Newcastle as extremely beneficial for the former, it is still only responsible for a tiny fraction of its vast profits. He would barely notice if he lost them and there is every chance he can make even more if he buys Rangers. Not only do they have more fans worldwide than Newcastle, they are also far more likely to win trophies and success is a good thing to be associated with. Under his steadying hand, Rangers would almost certainly return to the Champions League, watched by huge television audience across the continent. Europe is the most obvious market place for Ashley’s other business to expand. They look made for each other, but Ashley has not made a move yet. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/11121232/Newcastle-United-owner-Mike-Ashley-perfect-for-Rangers.html
  25. "Following the publication of updated holdings in Rangers International Football Club PLC, the Union of Fans feel it is important to continue to highlight the position of Sandy Easdale. Mr Easdale and his associates have invested just enough to keep them above the 25% mark required to hold a veto over any inward investment to the club via a further, more substantial, share offer. Despite owning only around 5% of the club himself, Sandy Easdale claims to hold proxy voting rights for around 26%. We have long been concerned that Mr Easdale refuses to disclose who he actually holds these proxies for and instead disguises them through Beaufort Nominees. Mr Easdale's recent meeting with convicted fraudster Rafat Rizvi would lead us to believe that some of those proxy voting rights may be held on behalf of Mr Rizvi. It is also clear from this recent announcement, despite PR stories placed in the media to the contrary, that Mr Easdale has not purchased Charles Green's shares. We are therefore in a position where Mr Easdale appears to hold, through Beaufort Nominees, proxies for people such as Charles Green, Rafat Rizvi and Imran Ahmad. Our concern is that Mr Easdale will continue to act, as he always has done, in the interests of those shareholders and not in the interests of the wider shareholder base and the club itself. We have been clear that we feel that Mr Easdale should be removed as a club director but the PLC board appear to be unwilling or unable to enact that much needed change. Regardless, Mr Easdale is in a position, with the backing of shareholders who appear desperate to mask their identities, to block much needed investment into Rangers. We would ask Mr Easdale to confirm publicly that he and his associates will not oppose any resolution at the upcoming AGM which would allow fresh investment from those who care about the future of our club. If Mr Easdale ignores this request or refuses to answer unequivocally then, in the near future, we will recommend what course of action we believe fans should take. We are also concerned at newspaper reports that the annual accounts and therefore the AGM may be delayed. We would ask the PLC board to clarify if this is the case and to explain why, after what they described as a successful fund raising, there would be any reason to delay publication of the accounts."
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