Ally Baffled By Easter Road Choice

[ian1964 10,419]

DJ: Why is it okay to hold a Scottish final at Parkhead but Ibrox is Ramsdens no-go?

 

I FIND it strange that the Scottish Cup final will be staged at Celtic Park this season for one simple reason:

 

 

 

There is every chance Celtic, who are the cup's defending champions, will be playing in it.

 

But, at the same time, we are told that Ramsdens Cup final cannot be held at Ibrox.

 

Why? Because Rangers are playing in it. That seems unusual to me.

 

I thought it would have made sense on many levels to hold the final against Raith Rovers at the Govan ground next April.

 

Raith could have had as many tickets as they wanted for their supporters. Rangers fans, meanwhile, would have snapped up all the other available briefs.

 

There would have been a full house of well over 40,000 for the match.

 

Financially, it would have been far, far better for the Kirkcaldy club.

 

I find it strange that in this day and age, when cash is king in football, that Raith have turned down the chance to bank another £100,000 or so.

 

I would have thought they would have gone for that option. But clearly they are not interested in the money.

 

They obviously feel it will increase their chances of winning by playing the game at a neutral venue.

 

And, to be fair, I can certainly understand their stance.

 

Grant Murray's side has been playing well and they deserve to be in the final. They clearly put glory ahead of their bank balance.

 

I think the SPFL have maybe looked at it and thought: "Rangers fans will not be keen to go to Celtic Park and give money to their greatest rivals."

 

The tournament organisers then had to say: "What are the other options? What is the next biggest stadium available?"

 

That is why they have gone for Easter Road. It is close to Kirkcaldy. It is about an hour from Glasgow.

 

But the capital venue will still not be big enough. Yes, it will be sold out. But many thousands of Rangers fans will still be left disappointed.

 

A lot of Light Blues supporters will not be able to see their heroes play in their first cup final in three years and that is highly unfortunate.

 

The Rangers players must realise - and I am sure Ally McCoist will have been telling them this - they have a chance to make history by winning the Ramsdens Cup.

 

Rangers are only going to be in the lower leagues for, in all likelihood, another season.

 

This, then, is probably one of two chances they have to win the competition.

 

So they could make their own little bit of history by winning the final and lifting the trophy. They could be the only Rangers players ever to do so.

 

I know that supporters of many other clubs in Scotland will be having a laugh at Rangers playing in the Ramsdens Cup final.

 

But look where the Glasgow club was 18 months ago. To have the chance to win a trophy, any trophy, highlights the progress that has been made.

 

Rangers booked their place in the final when they recorded a narrow 1-0 win over Stenhousemuir at Ochilview on Tuesday night.

 

I have heard a lot of people say it would have been a different story had Darren Smith had scored a sitter when the score was 0-0 in the second half.

 

But the game really should have been done and dusted long before that. Rangers had hit the woodwork twice and had forced a few fine saves from the opposition goalkeeper.

 

It is unreasonable to expect McCoist's men to score five or six goals every time they take to the field. And, in the end, they won the match.

 

Fair play to Stanhousemuir. They had been thrashed 8-0 at Ibrox in the league the last time they played Rangers. They set out to regain their pride and did so.

 

Rangers will have to play better in the final at Easter Road to overcome a team that is doing well in the SPFL Championship.

 

However, they will be helped by the fact the game will be played on grass.

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/dj-why-is-it-okay-to-hold-a-scottish-final-at-parkhead-but-ibrox-is-141157n.22569733

[ian1964 10,419]

Rangers supporters' group chief baffled by decision to host Ramsdens Cup Final away from Ibrox or Parkhead

 

THE SPFL have announced the Rangers v Raith Rovers final will be held at Easter Road but Mark Dingwall reckons it should be staged at a far bigger venue.

 

 

 

RANGERS Supporters Trust chief Mark Dingwall has questioned the "peculiar" decision to host the Ramsdens Cup Final at Easter Road.

 

The SPFL announced yesterday that Gers will take on Raith Rovers at Hibs' ground next April - but that met with a mixed response from supporters' groups.

 

Dingwall is angry that thousands of supporters will now miss out on the occasion and says Ibrox or Parkhead would have been a more suitable venue than the 20,421 capacity Easter Road.

 

He said: “It’s peculiar the football authorities didn’t arrange for the Ramsdens Cup Final to be played at Ibrox or Parkhead - that would have ensured a huge crowd to accommodate Rangers season ticket holders and ensured that all the Raith fans who witnessed their League Cup triumph in 1994 could have been accommodated.

 

“The Scottish Cup Final and semis could likewise have been arranged to ensure a balance between semis and finals at Ibrox and Parkhead.

 

“In any event I’m sure the final will be a great day at a packed Easter Road.”

 

However, Drew Roberton, spokesman for the Rangers Supporters Association, is convinced fair play has been served with the choice of venue.

 

He said: “In the interest of sporting integrity it would not be right for Rangers to play the final on our home ground. The finals of cup competitions should always where possible aim to be played at neutral venues.

 

“At the risk of upsetting Hibs fans, Tynescastle would probably have been a better venue as it generates a better atmosphere. But we are happy to go to wherever the final is to be played. I would imagine in addition to the regular Raith Rovers fans there will be fans from Kirkaldy turning out to support their local team.”

 

Raith chairman Turnbull Hutton hailed the SPFL’s decision to host the final at Easter Road rather than a half-empty Ibrox.

 

The Starks Park chief claimed the financial benefits of playing the lower league showpiece at the 51,082 capacity Light Blues stadium doesn’t add up as not enough fans would fill it.

 

Hutton said: “I didn’t see the logic in having the game at Ibrox unless we all knew beforehand where the final was going to be played.

 

“I just can’t see the logic in having the final played at the home ground of one of the finalists as it should be at a neutral venue.

 

“I hear the argument of there being a lot more money generated etc, etc, etc. but I’m not convinced there would be 40 odd thousand or 50 thousand fans at Ibrox.

 

“Frankly, I don’t buy that for one minute.

 

“You just need to ask yourself what the last crowd was at Ibrox for a Ramsdens Cup tie. Was it around 15,000? That backs up my argument.

 

“It will be a far better occasion for the participating teams, tv audience and the sponsors if you are playing in front of a packed stadium at a neutral ground.

 

“It’s a good and sensible decision. It’s a neutral venue, the ground will be full and it’s handy for our fans. Easter Road is where the final should be played."

 

Despite Ibrox and Celtic Park being confirmed as venues for this season’s Scottish Cup semi-finals and final, Hutton believes that decision is one which all fans will support.

 

He said: “I can understand the Scottish Cup semi-finals being played at Ibrox and the final at Celtic Park as Hampden’s out of commission and you need to play a final somewhere.

 

“They have announced this now so nobody is under any illusions.

 

“But they never announce where the Ramsdens Cup Final is going to be held until you see who the finalists are. Without Rangers the Ramsdens Cup was a great competition for the smaller clubs and you were lucky to get 10,000 for the final.

 

“But this is a unique situation with Rangers which could be a one off or a two off situation.

 

"Just because there is an issue with Hampden Park and for whatever the reason Celtic Park wasn’t in the equation, you can’t turn around and say we’ll just have it at Ibrox as they are in the final.”

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-supporters-group-chief-baffled-2660762

[Gribz 743]

I hear the argument of there being a lot more money generated etc, etc, etc. but I’m not convinced there would be 40 odd thousand or 50 thousand fans at Ibrox.

 

Regardless there would still have been a lot more than the 20000 that will squeeze into Easter Road. But I am still all for neutral grounds.

 

The only time id say a final at a participating clubs ground is ok is during Champions league, World Cup , European Championships....they are named years in advance.

[ian1964 10,419]

Regardless there would still have been a lot more than the 20000 that will squeeze into Easter Road. But I am still all for neutral grounds.

 

The only time id say a final at a participating clubs ground is ok is during Champions league, World Cup , European Championships....they are named years in advance.

 

I actually think Ibrox would be full for a cup final involving Rangers, Turnbull Hutton is a prick,so he is willing to give up extra potential cash boost for his club by not wanting to play at Ibrox,and yet he is ok with,if the BHEASTS reach the cup final,playing playing at the peado dome!, even if Raith managed to get to the final!.

[ian1964 10,419]

Craig Swan: Ramsdens Cup Final venue choice will cost our game £500k

 

CRAIG can't understand the SPFL's decision to host the Ramsdens Cup Final at Easter Road - a choice he says will cost our game hundreds of thousands of pounds.

 

 

 

SCOTTISH football must have metal feet, that’s the only explanation as to how it can continue to limp on given the fact they take a sawn-off shotgun and try to blast holes in them every two minutes.

 

How else do you explain the decision to play the Ramsdens Cup Final at Easter Road?

 

At a time when we are struggling to get people through the turnstiles we have decided to turn over 20,000 customers away.

 

At £25 a ticket, say, that’s £500,000 the game is not getting. It’s as simple as that.

 

Let’s face it, if Rangers can persuade crowds of over 45,000 to go to Ibrox for a League One game there is a fair chance you will get the same amount for a cup final.

 

There will now be people from Kirkcaldy who, even if they only want to go and see their team in a one-off occasion, will be denied. You couldn’t make it up.

 

There is one plus point. With the way things are going for Hibs and the contempt in which their fans now hold boss Pat Fenlon and chairman Rod Petri, it could be the only full house seen at Easter Road for the rest of this season.

 

However, to jest is to miss the point. It’s madness. Celtic Park must surely have been an option. If the Parkhead club didn’t want the game then fair enough. That is up to them.

 

Hampden is also out due to the Commonwealth Games so surely you go to the next available venue with the biggest capacity – Ibrox.

 

It isn’t ideal that the host ground should be home to one of the finalists. But there is a strong chance it will happen for the Scottish Cup Final this year given that favourites Celtic are the hosts.

 

If it’s not going to be a problem then why is it now?

 

If it was at Ibrox you give as many tickets to Raith as they want up to 50 per cent. If they sell them, great. If they can’t Rangers fans will snap them up and we’ll get a full house.

 

Spare us the stuff about a neutral stadium equidistant from the home grounds of the finalists, as Neil Doncaster rattled on about. If Aberdeen and Inverness get to the League Cup Final they’ll be dragged down to Hampden so that argument doesn’t wash.

 

Actually, there’s a fair chance one of them might be dragged down the road for a semi-final with a 12.30pm kick-off. It’s happened before.

 

If we’re not asking fans to get out of their beds at 5am to make eight-hour round trips, we’re boarding up turnstiles and not letting them in.

 

Raith chairman Turnbull Hutton usually has plenty to say for himself so it was no surprise he described the option of Ibrox as bizarre.

 

Do you know what is bizarre? Having to tell a wee boy who wants to put his Rovers or Rangers kit on to see his heroes in a final that they can’t get in because there are no tickets for him.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/craig-swan-ramsdens-cup-final-2663448

[ian1964 10,419]

It would be excellent if we had a beam back to Ibrox for this and had 30k turn up, Hutton would look a bigger idiot than he is and would be spewing at the lost cash.

[der Berliner 3,255]

Silly us! We simply forgot that the SFA and the SPFL are now prosperous businesses who don't need all the money they can get!

[ian1964 10,419]

Silly us! We simply forgot that the SFA and the SPFL are now prosperous businesses who don't need all the money they can get!

 

Any other company would sack them for negligence!

[MikeN63 0]

next time we hear some SFA or SPFL official spout forth about the need for sponsorship, football being a business, etc, etc, try not to choke on your coco pops!

[True_Ger_1872 2]

I heard today that Easter Road was now being considered for the League Cup Semi-finals.....Rod Petrie clearly benefitting from his position i see....