Rangers appeared to be on the brink of a civil war between hardcore supporters and the boardroom after the club’s ultras opened fire on the hierarchy – and pulled the plug on plans to celebrate Ibrox’s 125th birthday.
Fans’ group the Union Bears have this evening released a stinging statement in which they claim they were refused early entry into the stadium ahead of Sunday’s 1-0 win over Hearts in order to set up a Remembrance Day display. They insist they have been punished for previous banners in which they called for change at the top of the club – and targeted former chairman Douglas Park for particular criticism.
And now, with caretaker John Gilligan attempting to hold the club together off the pitch while manager Philippe Clement comes under mounting pressure for sub-standard performances on it, the situation is beginning to feel critical. The statement reads: “The Union Bears have always took immense pride in producing our Remembrance Day display.
“Unfortunately this year, due to sanctions imposed on us by the board, our preparation and ability to carry out the hundreds of man hours required to produce such a tifo were severely hampered. These sanctions were imposed by board members who appear to believe that punishing a vocal element of the support will cover up their continuous shortcomings in the boardroom.”
The group go on to claim that club sanctions hit them in the pocket while attempting to raise the cash for a similar display to mark the stadium’s big anniversary bash – and insist they will not now be able to mark the occasion as they had originally planned.
The statement goes on: ”The club also restricted access to our pre-match stall, which significantly impacted our merchandise sales during a month we are raising funds to order the material required to carry out our preparations for a 125th Ibrox anniversary tifo.
“Unfortunately due to financial constraints caused by lost revenue and a lack of opportunity to seek alternative venues at short notice to facilitate such a display that we would consider appropriate for commemorating such an occasion we will not be commencing with our plans for an Ibrox anniversary tifo.
“In recent years we believe we held a sustainable relationship with the club however, in recent months, through yet another power shift, we have yet again become the focus of an ego driven campaign by select board members who solely want to harm the group and limit our match day capability.”