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  1. We have considered the views of many fans regarding action against Sports Direct. After to today's announcement we would be surprised if any self respecting Rangers fans spent money in his shops. Stopping him taking others money is a priority and as such we shall be starting a series of action to do this very soon. To hit his pocket via a series of actions nationally would not go amiss and as should be possible. What i suggest we do is set up a national network of Sons of Struth branches to coordinate future actions and as such would request as many as possible join us and those willing to coordinate from a local level can contact us to offer their services. sosnofstruth@aol.com As usual any action from SoS will be legal and non threatening to any staff or customers JOIN US http://www.sonsofstruth.co.uk/join-sos.html Craig
  2. Just sent a quick note to the RFB chair (tomclements@rangersfansboard.co.uk) to respectfully suggest his organisation discuss a vote of no confidence in the RIFC board asap. In the absence of any other organisation meeting with the club, I think the RFB should be forced to hold the club directors to account at the earliest opportunity. Feel free to join me...
  3. ...now there's just hatred and bitterness. KEITH looks forward to this weekend's game and tries to see through the nastiness and petty squabbles that surround it. IN the endless search for rational thinking on the subject of Scottish football – and on Celtic and Rangers in particular – social media is seldom an ideal starting point. A digital breeding ground for 
card-carrying bampots and 
extremists of all denominations, it never ceases to amaze just how much rancid hostility and barking insanity can be squeezed into 140 characters or less. Often it is a place where the very dullest of wits go to be unburdened and emptied out on to a screen. More often than not, as will without doubt be the case this week and beyond, it quickly degenerates into online loutishness and a feeding frenzy for the terminally unhinged. Already, the build-up is dominated by anger and insults. This, of course, is not to say every Old Firm fan who lurks around on the internet must slaver and breathe through the mouth. Absolutely not. On the contrary, some of them are fiendishly clever. Every now and then one will pop up quite unexpectedly on Twitter and manage to succinctly nail it. Like the Rangers fan who, when discussing what lies ahead at Hampden this weekend, offered up the following: “There’s no rivalry any more. Just hatred. It’s sad.” That’s the truth, right there. As much as these two clubs and their followers might posture and growl at one another – no matter how many full-page newspaper ads they might take out in the coming days – the reality is their two teams are about to engage in a phoney war. What was once a formidable sporting rivalry is now a fading memory. This fixture is the headline act in Scottish football’s odditorium. Yes, it may well be watched in big numbers but only because it holds all the fascination of a modern-day freak show. As a newspaper man of more than 25 years, there was nothing quite like the adrenalin rush of a Glasgow derby. The ferocity of the occasion made it completely compelling. Then, on top of all that, came the Larssons and Laudrups, de Boers and Di Canios – men whose skills would light up and shine like a thing of beauty making it easier to ignore the surrounding ugliness. Now that’s all there is left. The Great Ibrox Implosion of 2012 and events since have ravaged Rangers and reduced them to a state of irrelevance. There is no contest between these two clubs. None at all. It is hard to imagine Ronny Deila’s Celtic not winning this League Cup semi-final and winning comfortably. His team is stronger and more talented than Rangers in pretty much every department. It ought to be really quite straightforward. But even if it is not – even if somehow Rangers were to spring up and catch Celtic cold with the kind of sucker punches that floored Chelsea and Manchester City over the weekend – in a wider context nothing much will really change. Deila might find his relationship with Celtic fans so badly damaged that no amount of post-match
 fist-pumping from Pittodrie to Rugby Park can fix it. But, even so, he will deliver the club’s fourth successive league title. The summer would then be used to debate whether Deila deserves another shot at qualifying for the Champions League. Even if the general consensus is “no” then Celtic will go on about their business just the same, only with a new man in charge. That’s the worst case scenario at Parkhead. The Champions League remains Celtic’s be all and end all. Over at Ibrox, meanwhile, a once great footballing rival continues to eat its own feet off. The worst that can happen to Rangers fans is that their team might be humiliated. Maybe annihilated. But again nothing really changes. Nor for that matter would a victory, as far fetched as it might seem. Chances are they would be wiped out in the Final by either a resurgent Aberdeen or an equally thriving Dundee United. And even if by some miracle this rudderless, managerless team, which cannot stay out of harm’s way in the Championship, went on to actually lift the League Cup then so what? They’ll be looking inwards because before they can aspire to competing against their neighbours, first they must fix their own house. Where Rangers are concerned, there will be another meeting at Hampden this week which is of far greater significance to the club’s future. And it will take place tomorrow, not out on the pitch but on the sixth floor. Mike Ashley will not attend but his lawyers will be there, or at least they’ll be on the other end of a conference call, as the SFA’s judicial panel gets down to the business of dealing with the Sports Direct tycoon’s interest in all matters Ibrox. His legal representatives will ask for more time – possibly months – to fully consider the charges which centre around their man’s influence in the boardroom. The SFA’s lawyers will argue that no such lengthy delay is necessary to prepare Ashley’s case. It is likely that the whole process will be stalled for two to four weeks. Meanwhile, Ashley is expected to further tighten his stranglehold with another wad of emergency cash, as much as £10million – a great deal more than Rangers require in order to survive until new shares are released. This entire deal appears to be designed to suit Ashley more than to satisfy the needs of a club that may find itself saddled with a huge debt mountain to one man. These are the issues Rangers must tackle before they are even remotely ready to go toe to toe with their city rivals. And even though clarity may be provided when the shareholders vote at an egm a few weeks from now, potentially smashing the current regime and rebuilding the boardroom, there are no quick fixes. For the time being then, this rivalry has had its day. But the hatred rages on. If only it were confined to the land of the hashtag. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-celtic-v-rangers-5043134
  4. Former Italy midfielder Rino Gattuso wants to be Rangers manager one day. Current Rangers team boss Kenny McDowall is working his 12-month notice having handed in his resignation. And 37-year-old Gattuso, who spent a season with Rangers as a player, this month applied unsuccessfully for the vacancy at Hamilton Academical. "My dream is to maybe one day to have the chance to work for this club," he said after attending a tribute match for former defender Fernando Ricksen. "I played today, but manager is a different job. I am sure 100% that this is a big club." Gattuso did not wish to comment on his application to manage Accies after Alex Neil's switch to Norwich City. Hamilton last week appointed former captain Martin Canning as player-manager and insisted that they had already decided they wanted the defender to succeed Neil before they received expressions of interest from the Italian among others. After yesterdays game I would love this to happen! even in a charity game he had more fight in his little toe than our team all season!!! he would shake the team up and get the journey men working for their over inflated wage packet........
  5. ByPAUL THORNTON The Sun Published: 18 minutes ago CHEEKY Celtic fans are planning to light the blue-touch paper on next week’s long-awaited Old Firm clash - with a full page ad explaining why Rangers are a new club. Sections of the Hoops support have clubbed together to take out the message in a Sunday newspaper one week before the tie. The lengthy message sets out why some Celts reckon the Gers are a different outfit from their historic rivals following the oldco’s liquidation in 2012. After organising through forums and supporter sites a group of dozens of fans have clubbed together a four-figure sum to place the statement. The message states: “As Celtic supporters, we regrettably recognise that our club had an association with Rangers (1872) through the collective descriptive term, The Old Firm. We believe this term is now redundant following the liquidation of Rangers (1872). “On 1st February Celtic supporters will support our team in the semifinal against a new club, which came into being in 2012. “This will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs and the purpose of this statement is to place our position on record so that Celtic supporters can enjoy the occasion for what it is and without playing any part in what we see as the Rangers ‘club continuation’ fiction.” The stunt is sure to wind-up Bears who were buoyed by Lord Nimmo Smith’s report which saw Rangers retain their titles in 2013. At the end of December SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster firmed-up that view when he insisted the team were “absolutely” the same club. He said: “It’s the same club, absolutely. “The member club is the entity that participates in our league and we have 42 member clubs. “Those clubs may be owned by a company, sometimes it’s a Private Limited Company, sometimes it’s a PLC, but ultimately, the company is a legal entity in its own right, which owns a member club that participates in the league. “It was put to bed by the Lord Nimmo Smith commission some while ago – it’s the same club.” Bosses at the paper where the ad is due to run contacted Police Scotland to make sure it would not spark trouble between the supports. Last night the force said: “We are aware of the advert.” Rangers declined to comment. But Union of Fans spokesman Chris Graham said: “We’ve been over this time and time again. The football authorities have said it’s the same club and Lord Nimmo Smith has said it’s the same club. “I don’t think Rangers fans are paying any special attention to the online crackpots among the Celtic support who continue to put forward this notion. I’d have thought they’d have better things to spend their money on.”
  6. If loans are given by Ashley Ibrox will not be used as security -Sky Sports News.
  7. The day I take lessons from Easdale on what is and isn't in the best interests of Rangers, there'll be proper fiscal responsibility in Ibrox. Can it be that even after everything he doesn't grasp how detested he is? He lost his right to tell fans what is in Rangers best interests when he started hocking the club off to Mike Ashley. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-30922826 Rangers director Sandy Easdale has said police are investigating threats made against him amid the ongoing and acrimonious battle for the Ibrox club. Officers are believed to be monitoring his home after internet posts allegedly urged fans to attack his house in a bid to remove him from the club. Mr Easdale, 47, said he had also received threats by email and letter. Last week, several hundred fans protested outside Ibrox stadium against the current Rangers board. In a statement released to the BBC, Mr Easdale said: "I have received several threats that are now in the hands of the authorities and I am confident that Police Scotland will get to the bottom of this. 'Violence and intimidation' "I appreciate that feelings are running high but I would like to make an appeal for calm. "This sort of behaviour is not in the best interests of the club, its shareholders or its true supporters." Mr Easdale said members of the Rangers board had been "subjected to an unprecedented level of abuse". "People are entitled to air their views but I hope that all parties will agree that violence and intimidation are unacceptable," he said. "All I want to see is the best possible outcome for Rangers." Police Scotland said it did not comment on operational details. Various fans groups have voiced opposition to the Rangers board for some time amid ongoing financial problems. It is understood that the club cannot pay this month's wage bill and needs immediate funding. A £10m loan has been offered by Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United, who holds an 8.92% stake in Rangers International Football Club - the football club's holding company. In return, Mr Ashley wants security over Ibrox stadium and its Murray Park training complex - a move that has enraged some fans who say the stadium should never be in danger of being taken away from the club's control. About 600 supporters demonstrated before and after the club's abandoned Championship game against Hearts on Friday. Following reports of disturbances, police arrested one man and said they expected to make more arrests after studying CCTV footage.
  8. The Rangers Supporters Trust (RST) is delighted to announce that, following a successful meeting yesterday, the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund (RFFF) has thrown its considerable finances and influence behind the RST's continuing fight to ensure Ibrox remains under the control of the club. We are delighted that the RFFF has taken this decision and would like to thank them for doing so. There is now a substantial legal fund available, should it be required, to fight any attempt by this board to pass security over Ibrox to Mike Ashley. We will work closely with the RFFF going forward to ensure every avenue is explored. http://www.therst.co.uk/news/rst-gains-rfff-support-for-ibrox-legal-fight/
  9. http://www.rangers.co.uk/images/FansBoard/Minutes/RFB_Minutes_080115.pdf
  10. A few months ago rbr suggested that likeminded Gersnet members could donate towards a lifetime membership of Rangers First. There was reasonable level of interest at the time, but for whatever reason it didn't translate into action. A lot has happened since then in the struggle for control of Rangers and the recent requisition for an EGM has galvanised supporter opinion, leading to large numbers of new sign-ups for both RangersFirst and the RST's BuyRangers scheme. The Gers Forum were among those signing up this week, having raised £1000 in 24 hours to buy 2 Rangers First Lifetime Memberships (these are available to groups, whereas BuyRangers requires an individual membership). I'd like to organise a similar effort on Gersnet if there is enough interest. I'm aware that many of us already support RF and/or BuyRangers, while others do not share my enthusiasm for fan ownership. It's also January, so not everyone will have spare cash to donate at this time of year. However, a potentially close vote at the forthcoming EGM will be sufficient incentive for many Gersnetters. A RangersFirst Club 1872 membership costs £500, so if we can get 50 interested Bears together @ £10 each, we can make it happen. If you want to donate more than that, then great. So, my suggestion is this: 1. PM me with your forum name and the amount you'd be willing to commit to as a one off donation. 2. I'll keep a tally of the total. As and when we reach £500, I'll pass everyone's details to Bluedell, who has very kindly offered to help collect the funds. 3. Bluedell can then provide you with details (also via PM) of how he plans to collect the funds and once the full £500 has been received, we'll purchase a Lifetime Membership in the name of Gersnet. Any excess funds received will be donated to RF. 4. As RF operates a one-member-one-vote decision making process, the easiest option would be to hold a brief poll of members prior to any future RF votes. Obviously, such polls are open to members and visitors alike, but for one vote among thousands, it wouldn't be worth creating a more complicated process. If anyone has spotted a fatal flaw in the process, or has any suggestions which would make it easier, please let me know. Finally, I'd just like to make it clear that there's absolutely no compulsion to take part, but it's up to those who do to look into the details of RF if they are not already familiar with it. Cheers.
  11. Chris Graham ‏@ChrisGraham76 24m24 minutes ago WH Ireland Limited: Accept the Legitimate Request for the Rangers EGM https://www.change.org/p/wh-ireland-limited-accept-the-legitimate-request-for-the-rangers-egm?recruiter=216314766&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive …
  12. keith jackson ‏@tedermeatballs I'm not going to use the phrase 'statement klaxon' again. But, yes, I think one will be along very shortly....
  13. ... in his ET interview My headline makes for a good signature. If anything, those currently trying to oust the board have learned (the hard way) that the key is in having enough shares. Let#s hope this goes through, Murdoch sounds rather confident and you'd hope King has done this because he IS confident of success.
  14. In today's Record: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/mortgaging-ibrox-stadium-makes-no-5006216#rlabs=2
  15. I see Rangers First are at over 4k members now, as are the RST The example of Hearts having over 8k members paying in every month was often held up as something we should be quite easily topping with the size of our support Well now we have matched it, and will overtake it at the current rate of sign ups, quite an achievement considering its not backed by the club the way Hearts is I think as the schemes grow, and the numbers look more impressive, people who were not sure will be more likely to say "this could actually work" and sign up Its just a shame in typical Rangers fan fashion its split into 2 factions.. if it was one scheme sitting at 8k and rising steadily every day things would look very rosy for fan ownership imo Any chance of the 2 merging?
  16. ...for stricken star Fernando Ricksen because of gardening leave. THE former Ibrox manager is barred from setting foot in Ibrox of Murray Park under the terms of his gardening leave deal that saw him exit the club. ALLY McCOIST is being denied the chance to say his goodbyes to the Rangers fans at Fernando Ricksen’s benefit game on Sunday by the terms of his gardening leave contract. The Ibrox manager, who was replaced by caretaker boss Kenny McDowall after signalling his intention to work a notice period of 12 months, is not allowed to set foot inside Ibrox or the Murray Park training ground. But McCoist had hoped to play in the charity game for stricken Dutchman Ricksen who is fighting Motor Neurone Disease. However, that could leave him in breach of contract. Record Sport believes the 52-year-old may now ask Ibrox chief executive Derek Llambias for special dispensation. A source close to McCoist said: “He will probably explore all the options in the next few days.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-legend-ally-mccoist-banned-5001714
  17. THE emotional pull of the 1971 stadium disaster in which 66 people died means that Rangers must never give up the lease of Ibrox. ”THE disaster will never leave me. Never a day goes by that it doesn’t go through my mind. “I still get letters from guys who have never been back to Ibrox for a game since that day. I have taken some of them around the stadium for them to see what it is like now. “The new stadium is, in fact, a testament to those who died. In the trophy room there is a beautiful picture of the old stadium up on the wall. For me it is one of the most important things in that room and I make a point of showing it to the people who go there. “It’s important, especially for the young fans who have only seen the new stadium, that they know the history of this club, where we came from and why we came from that point.” Those words were spoken by John Greig as he received his Greatest Ranger Ever award on March 1999. The people guising as the guardians of Rangers would do well to read them and let them sink in. And perhaps listen to the words of a man I interviewed on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Ibrox Disaster. I must have written about hundreds of people in the 20 years I have worked for this newspaper but few of them left the kind of impression a softly-spoken Airdrie man did when he invited me into his home just after Christmas in 2000. Matt Reid was a 49-year-old man but a part of him was forever 19 – the age he was when he survived the disaster but lost his father, one of the 66 people swept to their deaths when the barriers crumpled on Staircase 13. Matt’s description of the horrors of that day remain vivid in the mind of this Glaswegian who was only eight in ’71 but whose own dad was in the crowd that day. He came home. We were among the lucky ones. Matt Reid spent three months in hospital after the crush. It wasn’t only his thigh bone that had broken. His heart was too. He said: “The game was a blank but every other detail is vivid. The final whistle went and we moved straight up the terracing to make our way out. We took a left, walking alongside the back corrugated shuttering, getting 20 or 30 feet, then a surge started and we got carried off our feet. “My father was agitated because people were crushing and he was protective towards me. He was panicking more than me because I’d encountered crushing before at other matches. “When we got to the top of exit 13, people were coming from three different directions to reach it. It was like trying to put a gallon of water into a pint bowl. “The crushing was really bad at the top of the stair but I wasn’t too concerned at that point, certainly not in fear of my life. But when the surging happened again I thought I would be swept down the stairs so I got a grip of a six-foot fence running parallel with the handrail all the way down that stair and I wasn’t for letting go. My father was behind me at that point. “The force of the people coming down behind me was so strong I started to lose my grip. Just at that point I heard metal grinding and crushing just down the stair below where I was. “It was like a wave of people being carried out the way as well as down and that’s when the barriers must have mangled. That’s when my father got swept away. It was as if he had been swept away on a wave of water. “I was still trying to cling on and it must have been horrible for him – the last thing I heard him shout was, ‘Oh Christ, my boy’. After about 10 minutes I finally couldn’t hold on and went down on to the stair, face down and facing the bottom. “Again there were surges and I felt people getting carried over me. I could feel their heels on my back, then when they stopped moving, this guy was standing square on my back. There was nothing the guy could have done but to me he felt about 16 stone. “I was being crushed and that’s when I was sick. The pie and Bovril I’d had during the game came back up. To this day, when I smell Bovril, I’m back there, lying face down on those stairs.” Matt was finally rescued from beneath a pile of bodies and went on to marry the nurse who cared for him in the Southern General Hospital. The one good thing to come out of the Disaster, he told me that day. But for generations of Rangers fans, another good thing came out of that terrible afternoon. Ibrox was rebuilt and in many ways has become a monument to those who fell on January 2, 1971. It’s not only the names of the dead on the wall, it’s not about the statue of Greig – the man, who with Sandy Jardine and the other Rangers players, attended so many funerals in the weeks that followed. No, the spirit of the 66 is seeped into those red bricks. They are a part of that rebuilt stadium. You might not see it but you feel it, particularly every January. Ibrox Stadium is a memorial to these people, as much as it is a stage upon which the hopes and dreams of thousands have been played out over the years. And now the very people who are supposed to be custodians of this club seem to be prepared to hand it over to Mike Ashley. They’ve posted an advance notice with the Register of Scotland, which would mean if they accept another loan from the Sports Direct tycoon and default on the repayment terms, they’d have to sell it to raise the cash to pay him back. Think about that for a moment. The very people entrusted with looking after the best interests of their club have put its ownership of the stadium at risk. The Rangers board which agreed to this set of circumstances have to examine their consciences. Two of them, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach are Ashley’s men of course. As the Newcastle owner drip-fed loan deals to keep the lights on at Ibrox he demanded more and more control. This is a man who refused to pay into the last share issue, then spent £800,000 shortly after buying them from another investor, which meant Rangers didn’t receive a penny of that money. In desperation the club had to go cap in hand to him for more cash and thus he was able to exert even more influence. If Ashley, Llambias and Leach have squared off those tactics in their own minds so be it. But perhaps they should sit down with the relatives of the 66, look into their eyes, and tell them Ibrox may no longer belong to Rangers. If they can do that without blinking then Rangers really are careering into hell on a handcart. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/david-mccarthy-66-reasons-rangers-5001307
  18. I was unfortunate enough to have to chair a “debate” on my twitter timeline this weekend as two polarised views clashed on my timeline in response to one of my tweets. On one side we had someone who wished to lay the blame for the injuries sustained by our Ibrox employees squarely with the SOS, whilst the other expressed a desire to see a “more aggressive approach” to the nature of fans protests. Throughout the course of what was an unpleasant exchange between the two of them, it emerged that the proponent of the “more aggressive approach” was not a member of the UOF or SOS whilst the other was apportioning blame based solely on unconfirmed reports he had heard. It was a discussion which has been very much mirrored on Rangers message boards over the weekend. Some clearly saw Friday night’s events as an opportunity to tarnish the fans groups whilst others appear unwilling to accept that the behaviour of Rangers led to the injuries of the two elderly Rangers employees. Considering the incident which led to the injuries occurred both after and away from the location of the organised protest it seems unreasonable to link the unsavoury incident to the main protest where thousands of bears demonstrated in an emotional, exuberant yet exemplary peaceful manner. Those who maintain they saw no violence or assaults at the latter incident, may well be correct, but you cannot ignore the fact that as a consequence of whatever happened at Argyle House two elderly Rangers employees, George and Liz sustained injures. And that is not, and never will be, acceptable. I’m sure all of us in the Rangers support would wish them both a speedy recovery. I’ve been harping on for months now, almost like some PC Brigade acolyte, about some of the unhelpful derogatory and inflammatory language being used. If we claim as a support that such language dehumanises our support when it is directed against us, does the same argument not work the other way ? Or would anyone care to argue that terms such as “rats” is neither derogatory nor dehumanising ? What is clear from Friday is that those wishing to exercise their right to peaceful protest now goes way beyond the ranks of members of the UOF and SOS. This places an added responsibility on protest organisers to ensure that all participants are clear about both the nature and aims of such protest. The briefing message needs to be clear, consistent and unequivocal that all such demonstrations against the board are to be peaceful in nature. I am also firmly of the opinion that a “more aggressive approach” will be self-defeating. Our board are worthy of utter contempt for their actions, but that does not in any way, shape or form justify violence or threats of violence towards them. Supporters protesting in a peaceful and responsible manner against avarice, broken assurances and opportunistic businessmen playing Russian roulette with our club will capture the imagination – behaving in a manner befitting thugs wont. Furthermore it will turn away many bears who will just not entertain such behaviour. Protesting and demonstrating is one of the few immediate options available to us as a fan base, it is imperative we use it responsibly and do nothing which usurps either its effectiveness or ability to unite our fan base behind a common cause. The proposal which sees Ibrox being used as security against loan is very much a crossing of the Rubicon for the Ibrox support, and has galvanised and unified us as a fan base. Let’s not cross our own Rubicon in the way we protest against it.
  19. ...in Glasgow bars over fears of violence. PUB giants Wetherspoons will black out the League Cup old firm clash and employ extra security staff in all nine of their Glasgow bars on February 1st in a bid to reduce the risk of match day violence. BRITAIN'S biggest pub chain will black out next month’s Old Firm game over fears of violence. Wetherspoon’s say the League Cup semi-final – live on BBC Scotland two weeks today – will not be shown in their pubs in Glasgow . And despite the blackout, all nine of the bars will have extra security staff on duty when Celtic and Rangers meet for the first time since April 2012. Police are visiting pubs across the country to gather intelligence so they can have officers in the right places if violence breaks out. Senior officers want to know how many pubs are showing the game, what type of customers they attract and if they have ever had trouble before. Wetherspoon’s spokesman Eddie Gershon said yesterday: “Wetherspoon’s will not be showing the match in any of its Glasgow pubs. “The decision was taken about a week back.” “The police have been to the pubs to advise that the game is on and ask what measures the pubs are taking. On the day of the match, door staff will be in place where required.” Wetherspoon’s, who have more than 75 pubs in Scotland, say area managers will decide if their bars outside Glasgow will show the game. Police fear the 1.30pm kick-off time for the February 1 game will give fans time to drink before the match and possibly fuel trouble. They confirmed officers are visiting pubs to interview staff but insisted it was normal practice before a big game. One area police are targeting is Ayrshire, where there are large numbers of pubs used by both Celtic and Rangers fans. Superintendent Neil Kerr of Police Scotland’s Ayrshire Division said: “Officers are visiting licensed premises to establish where the game is being shown. We do this for any high-profile events, including past Old Firm matches.” Pubs have been magnets for violence on previous Old Firm match days. Nine police were attacked and injured at the Rowallan bar in Thornliebank, Glasgow, after Celtic beat Rangers 3-0 in February 2011, and a female officer suffered life-threatening injuries. Convicted drug smuggler John Healy, 56, and son Jason, 24, were among six men charged over the violence but the case was dropped after police evidence was lost. There were 280 arrests after the game as trouble flared across Glasgow. Suspects were taken to stations up to 50 miles away because cells in Glasgow were full. One of the most notorious Old Firm encounters was the “Shame Game” of March 2, 2011. Three Rangers players were sent off in the Scottish Cup replay, 12 yellow cards were shown and Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist squared up to each other at the end. Strathclyde Police detained 187 people throughout the day, including 34 at the game, and 40 more suspects were held for domestic abuse offences. First Minister Alex Salmond held a summit with Rangers and Celtic bosses days later. And in 2012, as a direct result of the Shame Game, MSPs passed the controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act. Police then dealt with a record 119 domestic violence cases after an Old Firm game in March 2012. Donald MacLeod, chairman of the Glasgow Licensing forum, said most Glasgow bars will show the February 1 game despite the Wetherspoon’s decision. He added: “Pubs are already required to put strict safety measures in place on match days as a condition of their licence. “This includes providing properly trained and badged stewards “The vast majority of fans watching Old Firm games in pubs do so peacefully. Only a small minority cause trouble. Crime in pubs and clubs is down and most incidents take place in the street. “I’d be more concerned about the easy availability of cheap alcohol in off sales before the game, or even the night before.” Craig Houston of Rangers fans’ group Sons of Struth said the Wetherspoon’s move was “strange” and “could backfire”. He added: “Normally, when you get trouble after an Old Firm game, it’s late at night – not when the game is being shown in a pub. If they’re really that worried about customers’ safety they would shut the pubs at night, but I don’t see Wetherspoon’s doing that. “It seems strange they are penalising fans who can’t get a ticket and want to have a pint and enjoy their game. “If Wetherspoon’s don’t want football in their pubs, fans can decide where they go in future for a drink. It could backfire on them.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/pub-chain-pull-plug-showing-4998413
  20. THERE was a rare moment of unity between Rangers fans groups and the Scottish Football Association when the governing body blocked Mike Ashley’s proposals to increase his stake in the club last month. Then, a Union of Fans statement spoke of the SFA having “done the right thing” in observing their rules on dual ownership by refusing to approve the Newcastle United owner’s bid to increase his Rangers stake from around 9 per cent to 29 per cent. Yet, those same supporters are unlikely to be so taken by the SFA obeying their articles of association should Dave King succeed in his mission to oust the current board. King revealed his intentions on Friday night when he requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting (egm). The South Africa-based businessman, Rangers’ largest single shareholder with a 16 per cent stake, is “confident” he can muster the 50 per cent shareholder support he needs to remove chairman David Somers, James Easdale, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach from their directorship. His plan is to replace them with himself, Paul Murray and John Gilligan. And therein lies the rub. At an egm, which the current Rangers board could stall for six weeks, King could expect the support of the 20 per cent stake controlled by the Donald Park, George Letham and George Taylor consortium. In addition, he is believed to have the ear of a couple of the hedge funds with a 10 per cent holding between them, while individual supporters whose share totals add up to a further 10 per cent would back his efforts to put the Ibrox club into the hands of supporters. That is all well and good, and Ashley deserves to be removed because of his callous disregard for the club and its followers in this week’s moves to gain security over Ibrox and Murray Park. The current board maintain this was in return for the £10 million loan Rangers need to see out the season. But it is important to look beyond Ashley’s game-playing and not forget how we arrived at this point. In the independent inquiry chaired by Lord Nimmo Smith under the auspices of the SFA, the old board were criticised for failing to blow the whistle on Craig Whyte as he sent the club on the road to ruin after taking over in May 2011. King was a member of that board. And it cannot be forgotten either that the reason King was in no position to buy the assets once the old Rangers had been condemned to liquidation the following summer, and save it from the clutches of Charles Green, was that the Castlemilk-born businessman was then in the midst of a decade-long legal battle with the South African Revenue Service. He settled last year by pleading guilty to 42 criminal counts of contravening the country’s tax laws, and kept himself out of prison by plea bargaining on almost 300 other charges, which required him to stump up £41m. As far as failing to meet the SFA’s fit and proper person test, King – who lost £20m he invested in the David Murray Rangers era – does so with bells on. Indeed, it is almost as if the ruling has been written to debar individuals with chequered business careers of King’s ilk. Under section (h) of Article 10.2 that sets out the “considerations” that would be made concerning the board “reserving its discretion” as to whether a person is deemed fit and proper to hold a football directorship, it is stated “[if] he has been convicted within the last ten years of (i) an offence liable to imprisonment of two years or over, (ii) corruption or (iii) fraud.” King was liable for a stretch longer than two years had he not plea-bargained. Moreover, he is caught in a double bind over the fit and proper person rules. Because what also counts against those seeking to meet the criteria is having “been a director of a club in membership of any National Association within the five-year period preceding such club having undergone an insolvency event”. King and Paul Murray – who was sacked from the Rangers board immediately after Whyte took over – both fall down on this basis. They simply cannot be granted permission by the SFA to take up directorships in any Rangers board if the governing body stands by their own rules, which were tightened up because they had failed to act over Whyte’s dubious business past. King constantly puts it out through sympathetic media sources that he is confident the SFA professional game board would wave him through as a Rangers director in the event of gaining a controlling interest. That sounds like bluster, which, as well as the baggage, has led to legitimate questioning of King’s credentials to lead Rangers out of the mire. At times, though, it must be said he talks a good game. As he did in his statement on Friday in which he claimed that, as well as putting the club on a sound financial footing, a second “important task” would be “to conduct a forensic audit of the management and commercial contracts undertaken over the last few years to determine whether they are truly arm’s length and whether the affairs of the company have been pursued in accordance with the fiduciary obligations of those entrusted with that responsibility”. King thundered at the end of this declaration of intent that “any malfeasance will be pursued aggressively and transparently”. For the South African tax authorities, that might read like a sick joke. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-dave-king-s-move-faces-taxing-questions-1-3664643
  21. Who gives the lowest dealing charges. Decide to do my wee bit and up my share holding. Halifax £12:50 per trade.
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