Follow We Will by Chris Graham

Author:Chris Graham [McKillop, Stewart Franklin, Chris Graham, John DC Gow and Alasdair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPORTS & RECREATION / Football
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Published: 2013-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER VII

We Were the People

ALASDAIR McKILLOP

THE RANGERS STORY boasted a long list of characters and some bizarre cameos but ultimately the most important people were the fans. They were the ones who avidly consumed reports detailing what was happening to their club and they were the ones who devoted their time and resources to nursing it through a period none of them were conditioned to imagine. At times, it felt as though these remarkable efforts were being given a begrudging acknowledgment by those who believe supporting Rangers is merely about success, defiance or, at worst, bigotry. Others seemingly ignored them completely and some even accused Rangers fans of having a dysfunctional culture that succours a dangerous underclass.1

Something clearly went badly wrong at Rangers. This was not the fault of the media, online bloggers or HM Revenue and Customs. An accumulation of poor decisions made by those responsible for ensuring the club’s welfare was to blame. This is not to say there weren’t those who revelled in the misfortunes of the club or even tried their utmost to maximise the damage inflicted. Although the crisis originated up the marble staircase at Ibrox, a number of professional bodies deserve to be scrutinised for the way they discharged their duties before, during and after the formal entry into administration of The Rangers Football Club PLC. Supporters were routinely and unfairly criticised for not acting to avert the disaster that befell their club. Such critiques conveniently overlooked the lack of convincing strategies available for the modern football fan to hold majority shareholders and billionaire owners to account. Over the years, however, Rangers fans displayed a tendency to conflate criticism of individuals with criticism of the club itself – something past owners arguably cultivated and exploited. Being able to make the distinction is a lesson well worth learning for future generations of fans.

It would be unfair, however, to depict Rangers fans as completely in thrall to either Sir David Murray or Craig Whyte. For example, during the Murray era, the Rangers Supporters Trust’s (RST) ‘We Deserve Better’ campaign sought to draw attention to various financial failings, the lack of strategic vision at boardroom level and a tendency to treat:

Rangers fans with disdain as ‘customers’ instead of valuing and working with them as ‘supporters’ and part of the Rangers family.2

It is possible to see this campaign, and documents such as Setting the Standard, which was produced by the Gersnet website, as evidence of a support that was well capable of engagement, imagination and reasonable criticism. These were two notable examples of Rangers fans trying to take responsibility for the direction of the club and there was a culture of dissent which varied in intensity throughout the stewardship of both Murray and Whyte.

Football naturally encourages nostalgia but this has been exacerbated over the past two decades by the incredible transformations witnessed in the game. There is a widespread yearning for the bygone days of yore, even among those who never experienced them first-hand. In Scotland, a once

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