Now, that may be a weird thing for an 'Arab' to say especially one who was born a Roman Catholic and had, for years, despised the rampant sectarianism which, if not encouraged by the Glasgow Rangers club, most certainly ignored it. So why would I want to see the long life of a Glasgow club? There are really only two teams of merit in the Scottish Football league and Glasgow Rangers is one of them; Glasgow Celtic being the other one. If either of these clubs had to fold then it would not look too good for Scottish club's international bearing. The fact that these two teams will, more than likely, be in European games longer than the other Scottish teams can only be seen as good for Scottish tourism. The visiting supporters spending their money in Glasgow pubs and hotels may, possibly, encourage those foreign supporters to return with their families to visit the rest of Scotland. It also gives coverage to the rest of the world that there is such a place as Scotland.
I am sure that the Rangers board will sort this out and, eventually, have Rangers football club back on course. If they are short of money and looking for a mass of small-time investors I think it will do no harm for the game of football in Scotland if the fans from the other teams invest in Rangers to keep it going. Yes, even you Celtic fans. If Rangers go down who are you going to sing against? It is within the interests of all Scottish fans that our big clubs don't fail.
I am just adding this so that I can link to my club. It's not got anything to do with the story but why should the Glasgow clubs get all the publicity.
More:
BBC Scottish Business
Herald
I think you're probably on your own there Ged. Especially if you claim to be an Arab. Boyd's diving cheated us out of that cup game. All aided and abetted by the useless star struck refs.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing to happen to Scottish football would be if both the ugly sisters leave and move down south ( or Rangers to the Sunday league if they go bust). This will create a competitive league in Scotland. I'd rather watch the match live than sit in front of the telly so Sky etc can go and spin if they think we want their money.
Rangers have run up debts of over a £100m which enabled them to bring in players that stole the cup from other teams who tried to live within their means.
A fresh start for Scottish football without all the sectarian bigotry from the ugly sisters would be excellent. We might even be able to have a pint at half time with them gone. Like civilised countries like England manage to do.
http://www.eastfootball.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?s=f7158809547d9a4a5793f73067478586&t=34757
It wouldn't be the first time that I've been on my own, Monty, and I don't think it will be the last. I wouldn't like to see the demise of any team as it subtracts from the game. I don't think that will happen in their case but you never know.
ReplyDeleteI would find it difficult to disagree with the thrust of your argument apart from sending our football assets down to England; too many of our assets have already gone there. Rather than dump the teams it would be better to change their puerile attitudes towards each other, but that will take time.
I can't see us ever cleaning up Scottish football unless we manage to offload the two ugly sisters somewhere else Ged. Their hatred for each other due to religion is too deeply embedded.
ReplyDeleteThey both want to play down south so hopefully a way can be found to accommodate them.
Oh and Rangers still owe us £100k in gate receipts from when we pumped them in the cup. That money will probably be gone now with HMRC moving n this morning.
Thank goodness Goodie didn't move there. We might have lost the add on bonuses and stuff.
Football all over has got above itself, rather like much else of business, because above all that is now what it is.
ReplyDeleteThe buying and selling of players for massive amounts of money, with everyone getting a cut, and wages for players per week, often being more than most people earn in a year has got out of hand in what was supposedly a "working man's" sport.
The trouble is that to pay these lads' wages ticket prices have gone through the roof, or money is held back from HMRC... and maybe other creditors.
If football has to be a business, then the people who play it must be prepared to pay what clubs can afford, and the clubs' managements must learn to pay up... or take the head of HMRC out for very very expensive "dining episodes".
And there are only so many very rich people who can afford to purchase a prestigious club and run it as a hobby, buying up ever more expensive players as an amusement.
Frankly I've lost interest in it.
But I agree with you Ged. It would be a real pity if Rangers went under, even if they are a set of unionist butchers apron waving loonies.
"It would be a real pity if Rangers went under, even if they are a set of unionist butchers apron waving loonies."
DeleteDon't beat about the bush, Tris. Tell us what you really think.
Monty, I'm not disagreeing with you about their antics but that is down to the greed of the board members and not the club. Yes the bigotry and violence will take time to eradicate, and in some cases it will never be eradicated, but we have to give the clubs a chance. I remember the days when there was ample examples of bigotry between the two Dundee clubs. I hope that has gone now.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any bigotry between us and Dundee FC Ged but maybe it was worse in the 60's and 70's ?.
DeleteUnited helped out when Dundee FC went bust the first time and I used to put money in their buckets in The Wellgate regularly when they had that 'Dee for Life' campaign. We also had a friendly with them when they went bust the second time and shared the gate receipts.
I doubt if Celtic will do the same for Rangers ;)
It's ironic that the club supports the Union and sings God Save the Queen while waving Union Jacks at every game should be allegedly trying to dodge Her Majesty's tax man.
There was always violence between the two teams when in the old first division. Dundee was the protestant team and United the Catholic. I know that Dundee United has helped them in the past and I wonder why all clubs can't be like this. Mind you, I've always said that our city really couldn't afford two major teams. If they had to merge, and I would be for this, could we please have their ground so we can be stopped getting called the 'Arabs' ;-)
DeleteAs to your irony at the end I suspect that there is far more to this than meets the eye. Something's rotten here. I can smell it but cannot not see it. Maybe sometime in the future.
Allāhu Akbar
ReplyDelete