The Scottish Cup: all about the Rangers

It seems that there are some supporters of rival clubs who will be buying tickets to watch the Rangers versus Dundee United Scottish Cup tie at Tannadice this Saturday. This of course is the game that Rangers supporters are to boycott. There are apparently between 200 and 350 tickets sold for the Rangers end at Tannadice, a stadium that has already seen crowd trouble this season, after which Dundee United accepted a £13,500 UEFA fine.

It is believed that these tickets have been bought by supporters of rival clubs, namely Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibs. Once again the enemies of Rangers come out of the woodwork. Perhaps they are suffering withdrawal symptoms now that their “favourite” team Rangers play their football in another league.

The worry is not that there may be trouble in the stadium, because of that there can be no doubt. Any fans who buy tickets to the game of their biggest rivals can only be looking for one thing. Although all clubs have their own hooligan elements the real concern is what goes on in the minds of these football fans who are so obsessed by their rivals that they have to buy tickets to go and watch them. The question has to be asked – do they not have a team of their own to support? No club in history can have rivals so obsessed that they are fixated on every detail of the club and virtually live and breathe Rangers. This is surely a mental health issue!

Are these supporters going to wear the colours of their greatest rivals, the famous blue of Ibrox?  It will be a miracle if there is no trouble at Tannadice and with Scottish football looking for new sponsors, more crowd violence at Dundee will be the last thing the game needs. God only knows what William Hill, who sponsors the Scottish Cup, will be thinking and saying after the game. This will be William Hill’s last year as sponsor of the trophy. Good luck finding another if trouble flares.

With the decision to sell tickets for the away end, United Chairman Stephen Thomson may have set something in motion which he cannot control. One can only ask why the police have not taken Thomson to task. This in the week that United’s manager Peter Houston left the club, after being told they could no longer afford him and that he could stay only if he accepted a wage cut. He is being replaced by Jackie McNamara, who will leave Partick Thistle to take charge of United ahead of the cup tie.

Football in this country is now secondary to the petty squabbles of clubs whose best days are behind them. When football should be working to make the product more attractive, and heal the wounds, United have shown once again that by allowing fans of rival clubs to buy tickets for the Scottish Cup tie, they have pandered to the bigots

And if there are any Rangers supporters amongst the away end then they should be ashamed of themselves. The club and manager Ally McCoist have asked real Rangers fans to stay away. Those who ignore this request are doing all those whose allegiance is to Rangers a disservice.

No matter what happens on Saturday at the Scottish Cup tie one thing is sure; that with the fans of the other SPL teams buying tickets to this game it proves one thing that Scottish football is and always will be; all about the Rangers.

Follow me on Twitter @Cyberted72

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/42143

http://rangersthefallandrise.wordpress.com/

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