The Billy Boys (Reprise)

[boabie 230]

A two-pronged attack methinks: drop the 'f' word from TBB but at the same time think about legal challenges to the singing of songs which seemingly glorify terrorism.

 

There is no need for us to consider legal challenges mate. The legislation is already in place both within criminal law and via SFA rules. The fact is, nobody is interested and nothing any Rangers fan says is going to change that.

[SteveC 150]

D'art...from the first time I saw your posts, I almost worshiped you...a Rangers fan with passion, intellect and wit. I've admired you for a long time.

 

On this topic I'm not sure.

 

I argued long and hard last week what, if anything, was banned re. the Billy Boys.

 

As far as I know:

 

Is singing the Billy Boys banned? No.

 

Is the tune banned? No.

 

Is singing "******" banned? Hmm that's up to the new football act.

 

So I guess we could just sing the non-****** part and all is well as you say?

 

Firstly, there's no way every Rangers supporter will do that...it is a historical song handed down by their fathers and means a lot. Their grandfathers sung it, their fathers sung it...why shouldn't they?

 

Secondly, why do we care what others think all of a sudden? Because they attack us....make us feel small and vilified? Why should we be censored and alter our singing? Many say that's just the way it is in 2015/16 well fuck that. My dad's a great guy and sang it...he never hated anyone. I'll sing it and not hate anyone.

 

It doesn't breed hate. Censorship though does breed hate.

 

Ergo D'Art....I'll sing what I fucking want and show my support to Rangers and our traditions. That doesn't mean I hate anyone. If that becomes an offence then jail me.

C‘mon Lucy, you didn't argue it wasn't banned you just kept repeating that it wasn't and that you'd never read anywhere that it was. This, despite the thread you were bombarding with the same statement in every attack on Bluedell providing you with that very reading matter. In the assumption you'd missed it, it was then referred back to. It doesn't matter how many times we have loved belting it out in the past, I first did so at Ibrox some half a century ago, nor that it clearly rouses the team - no board will ever publicly support the singing of it again because it was previously claimed we were about to ban the song ourselves, in the admittedly tautologous phrase, "coincidently coincided" just as Uefa outlawed it.

 

http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?74781-Rangers-could-face-punishment-over-sectarian-chanting&p=601030#post601030

 

Your heroic offer to accept jail-time to be allowed to sing what you want would, doubtless, have many standing beside you and singing, prepared to take those consequences - what if the club are docked points and made to play in an empty Ibrox, though? Because that's what they are after lost points and revenue. Next time we are neck and neck for a league, the die-hards sing and, boom, we lose the league to them due to docked points. They are after what they will laughably claim as ten-in-a-row any way they can get it (they keep writing to papers that "in reality" they beat that Polish mob 3-0 for the clerical error, ffs) and not only will have no shame in beating us this way but will revel in it.

 

I admire your passion but there's no way Ranges can fight to get the song re-instated given what has happened in the past, the trouble it brings, the image it creates (yes, I know others get off with worse but we are known far and wide for this song and not in a good way) - apart from anything else it won't exactly attract sponsors if we get back into reasonable heights of that again. It's sad because Frankie's answer to you was spot on (though he seems to forget how many homophobes there were back in the day ) - but that's the way it is.

Edited January 4, 2016 by SteveC
to delete an inadvertent space between "a" and "s" in what was supposed to be the word: "as"