Forever in Blue Genes

[Big Spliff 0]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQLWF_ItzYs]Money Talks.[/ame]But it don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk.

 

More and more I’ll acknowledge I’ve been concerned with the finances of Rangers FC. It used to be that it was only a game to me. Then David Murray came along and I even had a ‘Bank Of Rangers’ fiver on my wall, a big blown up thing that represented our financial might in relation to Celtic – and to be honest, I loved it. It was a kind of ‘We Are The People’ x 10; the ultimate partner for the trophies and happy days – we are much, much richer than YOU. GIRFUY as they say these days!

 

Nowadays I feel that the off-the-park stuff is more important than it used to be; too important. I scrutinise the reports, I analyse what they mean, I interpret Rangers’ accounts and draw conclusions. I ask for views and points of view; I really do care about Rangers as a business, because I see it as Rangers’ way of securing its future at the level it we are accustomed to. But why?

 

At the end of the day I got into all this as a young lad who loved football. Even in the early 80’s, I never cared about wages, sponsorship, TV rights, facilities, representation, communication. It just didn’t matter. I heard someone say the other day that back then they didn’t even care who the team manager was; just as long as Rangers were winning.

 

I love the history of Rangers, but I have to be honest and say I’m more interested in the future. I worry about Rangers. I really do. And now I see what Rangers could be; much more than a football club and a business; more of a social enterprise, serving its community and a hub for all things blue, and the things we stand for. Rangers permeates all corners of life in the west of Scotland and beyond. Everybody knows our name. We are a huge and remarkable club. We are truly unique.

 

And the more I think about it, the more I am beginning to find the financial and commercial focus on the club to be somewhat distasteful and a million miles from what the game should be all about. I know the world has changed from the 70’s and 80’s - I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’m not hankering for a fuzzy-wuzzy past where everything was sweetness and light. I’m not pretending that everything was better in the 70’s or that modern life is rubbish. Far from it.

 

But I do honestly yearn for the day when all we talk about is football. I bet a lot of people feel the same.

[Bluedell 5,329]

But I do honestly yearn for the day when all we talk about is football. I bet a lot of people feel the same.

I don't. I much prefer to talk about the finance. :devil:

 

[Super_Ally 0]

I don't know if the fact that football fans now take a greater interest in all aspects of the club, above and beyond results on the field and including aspects such as finance and the clubs PR and branding is due to:

 

a) On a personal level at least, as I age and (hopefully) develop growing maturity, I recognise the implications of each of these aspects on one another and ultimately performance and results on the field (which is what it's all about at the end of the day).

b) The internet age and the easier access to and freer exchange of information.

c) A social trend (or whatever you want to call it) of changing attitudes of football fans and a growin interest into all aspects of their club mediated by a factor as yet unidentified by myself or possibly as a result of b.

 

There is of course the possibility that it is a combination of these and other factors.

 

I too find I am far more interested in other aspects of the club than merely results. Personally I would be a growing interest in finances primarily down to (a) and (b). A growing concern with other aspects such as the clubs reputation would be primarily down to (b) I think and as well as a growing awareness of how the club are portrayed in the internet age there is a perceived greater abiltity to "fight back" as the common man is given a voice through various mediums.

 

However, due to my age (being only 24 I can only really comment on the experiences of a football fan from the 90's onwards) I may well have a different perspective to many others.

 

Results are still the be all and end all for me. There is only a greater focus on other issues when we are not achieving on the field of play imo. For the vast majority of the support afflicted with a general malaise towards being an active supporter of the club (more active than merely turning up every week anyway). However, I would say this last paragraph is less applicable now than it was a couple of decades ago.

 

I dunno if I've just wandered off on numerous tangents or if that supports the views expressed in your OP?

 

Edit: Ps. Bloody accountants. BD!!!

[Big Spliff 0]

I don't. I much prefer to talk about the finance. :devil:

 

 

lol, yeah i know

[franker 1]

Big Spliff

"I love the history of Rangers, but I have to be honest and say I�m more interested in the future. I worry about Rangers. I really do. And now I see what Rangers could be; much more than a football club and a business; more of a social enterprise, serving its community and a hub for all things blue, and the things we stand for. Rangers permeates all corners of life in the west of Scotland and beyond. Everybody knows our name. We are a huge and remarkable club. We are truly unique."

 

I like you worry about the clubs , in fact in 43 years of following Rangers and i have never been more concerned regarding the finances and future direction of our club. One can only hope that with the inevitable pressure on the present custodian in this business climate, he may get back to the table with prospective buyers.

[Big Spliff 0]

I don't know if the fact that football fans now take a greater interest in all aspects of the club, above and beyond results on the field and including aspects such as finance and the clubs PR and branding is due to:

 

a) On a personal level at least, as I age and (hopefully) develop growing maturity, I recognise the implications of each of these aspects on one another and ultimately performance and results on the field (which is what it's all about at the end of the day).

b) The internet age and the easier access to and freer exchange of information.

c) A social trend (or whatever you want to call it) of changing attitudes of football fans and a growin interest into all aspects of their club mediated by a factor as yet unidentified by myself or possibly as a result of b.

 

There is of course the possibility that it is a combination of these and other factors.

 

I too find I am far more interested in other aspects of the club than merely results. Personally I would be a growing interest in finances primarily down to (a) and (b). A growing concern with other aspects such as the clubs reputation would be primarily down to (b) I think and as well as a growing awareness of how the club are portrayed in the internet age there is a perceived greater abiltity to "fight back" as the common man is given a voice through various mediums.

 

However, due to my age (being only 24 I can only really comment on the experiences of a football fan from the 90's onwards) I may well have a different perspective to many others.

 

Results are still the be all and end all for me. There is only a greater focus on other issues when we are not achieving on the field of play imo. For the vast majority of the support afflicted with a general malaise towards being an active supporter of the club (more active than merely turning up every week anyway). However, I would say this last paragraph is less applicable now than it was a couple of decades ago.

 

I dunno if I've just wandered off on numerous tangents or if that supports the views expressed in your OP?

 

Edit: Ps. Bloody accountants. BD!!!

 

Not at all mate, that expands perfectly on what I mean.

 

Anyway, I'm just happy to get a reply - any old shit would have done because I posted the same thing on FF at roughtly the same time and within 25 mins the thing was on page 2, probably never to be seen again!

[Norris Cole 0]

And the more I think about it, the more I am beginning to find the financial and commercial focus on the club to be somewhat distasteful and a million miles from what the game should be all about.

 

Absolutely nail on head. Money has ruined football. When I was a kid I was obsessed not only with Rangers but with the game as a whole. I would read as many match reports in the paper as I could, and for hours pore over every score and league table from all the leagues, Premier to Third Division to Highland League and English scores, Anglo-Italian Cup, the lot. Would never dream of missing Match of the Day and had scores of football strips, Newcastle, Scotland, Brazil, PSG, Ajax, Holland, France, bloody Bolton at one point.

 

Then money came along, and the discussions we used to have in the playground while swapping stickers (never did get my hands on Isaac feckin' English of Partick) were replaced by whose owner has the most billions. Good honest pros playing for the joy of the game were replaced by repulsive, greedy, cheating scum like Ronaldo. The Premiership became the Premiershite. Overpriced, overhyped, soulless, sanitised dross full of players with little or no passion for their club but plenty for their multi-millionaire lifestyles. Just last week I had my eyes assaulted by an article on Salomon Kalou's �£100k drinks bill for his 24th birthday party, when the rest of us (who are still in a job) barely have enough for a handful of games a season to fund such lifestyles. No-one can break into the Top Four through developing a group of young, talented players any more, you need the owner of fecking Abu Dhabi to pump limitless amounts of cash into the club.

 

I despise what football has become these days, and am now not a football fan, merely a Rangers supporter. If it ain't Rangers I'm simply not interested. If I want to see sport played in the right spirit for the right reasons I'll watch the cricket or the rugby, or go and watch a lower or non-league game. Even with Rangers however, as the OP says, you look for the latest news and if it isn't t@ig propaganda by Spiers and friends it's yet more breakdown of the latest club accounts. We won a fantastic against-all-odds Double last year and it was immediately ignored in favour of the bheasts' pathetic manager hunt and yet more (yawn) sensationalist headlines over our balance sheet. As much as I am concerned with the continuing financial sustainability of the world's most successful football club, it's the 11 men on the park and the jersey they wear that I support.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Norris Cole

[Frankie 8,145]

I certainly can't say for sure but I really feel supporting a football team must be more stressful now than ever.

 

Before you turned up to the game (which you could afford to go to or even watch on TV for nothing on occasion) and sang the songs you wanted before going to the pub, having a ciggie, then enjoying a chippie on the way home.

 

Now, many people can't afford to attend, can't afford to watch it on the telly, are not allowed to sing songs, have to stand outside the pub to have a ciggie and are scared to eat fried food and drink alcohol in case hospitals refuse to treat them in the future.

 

Add in internet/fanzine culture where we binge ourselves on debate about the club 24/7, is it any wonder we start to feel sick more often.

[Norris Cole 0]

That is a very good post Frankie. Welcome to the world of Sit Down Shut Up Give Us Your Money football.

[26th of foot 5,827]

Even after Neil Diamond had long left the comforts of the Brill Building, Rangers paid out a small Dividend to the club shareholders most years. At the height of Diamond's mid-seventies pomp and still retaining a lock of his own hair, Rangers persisted in rewarding those that invested in the club. Somewhere around 1980, Rangers refrained and Neil entered a quarter century period of little to no chart success.

 

One of Diamond's creations was sang by the Monkees, 'I'm a Believer'. Ironically, the Monkees were a manufactured band, specifically created for the same named TV show. Our Dearest Leader is a manufactured Rangers supporter and these several years it has become harder to maintain the 'I'm a Believer' mindset.

 

These last several years, finance or the mismanagement of it has played an increasing role in our continuing love affair with the club. Increasing disappointment has haunted all our dreams. As stated, it hasn't always been this way. We enjoyed halcyon days.

 

My generation of football supporter regularly visited other grounds to watch other teams. Born and bred in Lanarkshire, I watched all the county sides, particularly in the early seventies if Eddie Turnbull's fantastic Hibs side were visiting. You got lifted over the turnstyle or you paid 10 pence for the Boys' Gate. I attended national cup finals that did not involve Rangers. It was the football that mattered, no one mentioned finance.

 

In the mid-eighties, my professional life took me to London for a year. I would cross the river, like a few hundred other Scots and watch Brentford/Millwall/Charlton. It was a more recognisable Scottish experience. A dozen wee groups scattered around the terracing, all gathered around a big arm held radio tuned to BBC Radio scotland on the medium wave. A dozen arms would go up to your front and right, it was the expat Jambos celebrating an announced goal at Dens. Meanwhile, Millwall would be toiling against Bristol Rovers. Each of the groupings would experience the emotional rollercoaster of Saturday fitba. No one talked money.

 

The cost of football would NOT allow the above paragraphs these last few years. There is a genuine lack of tolerance too. On Saturday last, I had three conversations with mates before kick-off and during half time on the concourse. The subject matter was unfailingly, 'the Bank'.

 

Another product of the Brill Building was Carol King, her Tapestry album remained in the charts for over a decade. The opening track was a thumping piano power chord, 'I feel the earth move under my feet'. That's the emotion I prefer to associate with my Rangers.