I Hate Rangers

When Rangers went into administration last week there were a number of people who couldn’t help but smile. The reason for this is that Rangers are in short a disgrace to football.

The Old Firm match is built up as one of the great football rivalries between two great clubs. Rangers have never won the European Cup, and considering the fact that they and Celtic are the only clubs that ever seem to qualify from Scotland this shows how far the Scottish league is from the top of world football.

Scots will say that in the 60’s and 70’s the Scottish game was on a level with the English league. In that period Scottish clubs won two European trophies, English clubs won 16 and would go on to win European trophies in every decade to date. The insistence of all Scottish fans that they are a powerhouse in world football is reflected all too clearly in Rangers. They insist they are one of the forces of European football but they are far from it.

Rangers only recent success was reaching the UEFA Cup final in Manchester in 2008. They lost to Zenit St Petersburg in a forgettable game. It is what happened after the game that will be remembered though. Rangers fans went on the rampage, trashing Manchester and leaving the city in ruins. The Manchester United victory parade for the Champions League success had to be cancelled and the city was left in a state similar to the riots of last summer.

This mindless behaviour is all too common from Rangers fans. Every time they play Celtic you can guarantee there will be some trouble. This is not a footballing rivalry, it is sectarian and bigoted violence.

It is publicised as one of football’s big rivalry but in truth the football seems to get in the way of a good fight for some fans of these two “great” football clubs.